SHORTER NOTICES
Designers in Britain is a "Biennial Review of Graphic and Industrial Design," and includes work not only by members of the society responsible- for the compilation, but also examples selected from the %Mole- field of contemporary design in this country. Some 1,000 reproductions are arranged under the main headings "Design for lIndustry " and "Design for Marketing and Publishing," and provide a fair survey. " Textiles " and "Book Jackets" are the best sections, and these entries suffer least from the prevailing slickness. Judged by the standard of modern design, the jobs reproduced are very good ; but the shortcomings of the standards themselves are shown by the fact that, in the industrial section, there are few domestic articles one would choose to have in one's own home. Smooth and efficient though the international contemporary idiom is, it lacks humanity—yet as art is said to mirror its age, we doubtless have the design we deserve. Throughout the book there is a conspicuous lack of national feeling: many of the leading designers in Britain are not native to this country, and it seems a pity that the traditions of Chippendale and the Beggarstaffs are not being developed into a particular contemporary idiom. Designers in Britain is thorough in its job of recording ; the illustrations are well reproduced ; the introductory pages are on shoddy paper, and two errors on the contents page should surely raise a blush from so professional a society.
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