Ecodesign: The Sourcebook

Rating:
Summary: great fun to browse
Review: For those of us who appreciate both good design and environmental issues (recyclability, energy used in manufacture, durability, etc.), this book offers a wonderfully wide spectrum of products that will inspire and enlighten... and possibly make you reach for your credit cards, thanks to the lists of manufacturer contact info in the back. However, you should realize that a significant portion of the products shown are "one-offs" or case studies -- they are not available for purchase. I feel that the author's descriptions are inconsistent -- sometimes helpful or interesting, sometimes not. But the vast array of products presented are generally quite well chosen from what must have been a truly dizzying number of possible entries, and nicely organized. I appreciate the inclusion of vehicles, although I have been watching that particular area of product development (EV's, FCV's, etc.) closely enough to wish that the author had opted to include certain other models, and had more complete or current facts about some that were presented, such as the General Motors EV1, which was a brilliantly designed electric car with a massive waiting list, mysteriously pulled out of production by GM for extremely dubious reasons. In summary, Ecodesign is quite enjoyable, with a huge number of fantastic designs for a wide range of products.

Rating:
Summary: excellent book for designers
Review: this book is cool - lots of pictures, the text is brief. there is a good mix of concepts and production products ( concepts are always more fun to look at and have more pure ideas. production parts show how it all works in the real world). in fact, the best part of the book is that it finds positive things about a lot of products. it isn't demanding that we stop using plastic or batteries - just finds the best examples of products that use them wisely.

One important section is buried in the back. pages 327 - 330 give eco-design strategies. the are brief desicriptions of how to design an "eco" product. for example, one says "self-assembly: designs that are assembled by the consumer, therefore saving valuable space in transport and storage". most writers would take several pages to say the same thing.