HARTFORD, Conn., Nov. 29, 2006 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- For centuries, historians and researchers have interpreted human history not only through documents but also through visual images and artifacts that originated in prehistoric times. Readers are invited to join author Anne Banks' journey through the past by reading her fascinating new book What is Design?: An Overview of Design in Context from Prehistory to 2000 A.D.
What is Design? is an overview of the process of design as it has evolved from the earliest visual images and artifacts from prehistory to our modern practice of design. Originally written as a textbook for design students and design professionals, it was also published for the public interest in the design arts and fine arts. Every object has a story to tell about its period in time, its culture, its maker, and ways of making. This thought was the idea behind the making of this book -- that we can read this story through the interpretation of the forms of objects.
Major themes addressed included the roles of nature and environment, technology, the cultural and economic setting, style, prominent designers and architects, the machine's effect on design, and the example of how design theory relates to the practice of design. The book also emphasizes the important influences on modern design that have come from the Bauhaus and the French decorative arts. Containing well-researched chapters that are accompanied with supportive illustrations, this book is a wonderful kaleidoscopic journey through art history.
With a combined focus on architecture, design, art, culture and history, What is Design? is an informative and intelligent book that will attract a wide range of readers, especially history buffs, museum goers, researchers, design students, and professionals. Anne Banks wrote this book not only to provide a comprehensive look at design but also to enlighten readers by showing them a new and exciting way to think about things they live with everyday. This book is bound to excite readers with discussions of the Arts and Crafts, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, Greek and Renaissance design, graphical and industrial design and the Art of Posters.
About the Author
Anne Banks is an artist and educator who received her B.A. from Wellesley College and M.F.A. from The George Washington University. She exhibits her work in the Washington, D.C., area as well as nationally and abroad. She is professor emeritus at Northern Virginia Community College where she was instrumental in developing a course in the history of design.
What is Design? by Anne Banks
An Overview of Design in Context from Prehistory to 2000 A.D.
Publication Date: June 13, 2005
Trade Paperback; $25.99; 74 pages; 1-4134-5657-X; 978-1-413456-57-8
Cloth Hardback; $31.99; 74 pages; 1-59926-137-5; 978-1-599261-37-9
To request a complimentary paperback review copy, contact the publisher at (888) 795-4274 x. 472. Tearsheets may be sent by regular or electronic mail to Marketing Services. To purchase copies of the book for resale, please fax Xlibris at (610) 915-0294 or call (888) 795-4274 x. 876.
For more information, contact Xlibris at (888) 795-4274 or on the web at www.Xlibris.com.