Victor Papanek, Path of a Design Prophet

Victor Papanek's 1970 book Design for the Real World infuriated professional designers. It it he said the best thing they could do was to stop designing. In particular, he attacked style driven industrial design and trickster advertising. He was thrown out of several professional societies, yet was invited back to be a keynote speaker, because he told the truth, that design was too often style and fluff. Whole populations were being ignored- the handicapped, people in developing countries, the elderly, and children. Young people rallied to his call. His book was published in 23 languages, and has never gone out of print. Today, Victor Papanek is recognized as the father of sustainable design. Al Gowan's book tells how all of this came to be.