Prof. Bernhard E. Bürdek's (Dean of the Faculty Product Design at the Academy of Art and Design, Offenbach am Main/Germany) book was first published in 1991 by the Cologne publisher DuMont and became within a few years a standard work on Design. It was then translated into Italian (1992), Spanish (1994), Dutch and Chinese (1996). The author deals here with the following themes in the current, completely reworked and extended 3rd edition,
1. Design and its history
2. Design as an indication of Globalisation
3. Design and methodology
4. Design and theory
5. Design and it's context
It is a comprehensive book that shows the orientation of product design to students and practicing and lecturing designers. In a clear extension of the first (1991) and second (1994) edition, the worldwide design activities have been plainly intensified and well-founded.
In the chapter on Methodology, there are now explanations about mind mapping, the scenario Technique or mood charts. Especially noted are the Empirical methods which have had a great meaning since the 1990s. These include: Target group determination through milieus, Product clinics, Usability and NID (non-intentional design).
The paragraph about design and its theory has also been made clearly updated: Aim, Object, and Method of Design have been described. The represented 'disciplined' design theoretical position (the Offenbach approach) on the basis of other Internationally comparable positions is discussed and leads to the description of the "communicative function" of Design. Formal aesthetic, the marking and symbolic function (the Offenbach trinity) is newly interpreted and now appears in a completely new light.
Design and context covered themes are mentioned here: "From Corporate Design to Service Design", "From Design Management to Strategic Design", "Architecture and Design", "Utopian, Visions, Concepts and Trends", "Micro-electronic and Design". Here the new centers for the future of digital culture are described: The Media Lab in Boston, the ZKM and the HfG (Academy of Art and Design) Karlsruhe, the Bauhaus University in Weimar/ Germany as well as the Interaction Design Institute in Ivrea/ Italy. "From the Digital to the Biological Age" finally describes the end of Digitalisation and takes a look at the forthcoming development of the 21st century.
A detailed and well-founded bibliography offers diverse ideas, which are reinforced in this book by collected themes.
Design finds itself today- and this is from an International perceptive, at the same level as other sciences. When it first manages to develop disciplined knowledge, it is then in the position to be introduced into projects.