Design Since 1945

If this is your first design book, it's a good place to start. The author manages to survey the evolution of major design areas (industrial/product, graphic, furniture, domestic ware, textile) in the US, UK, Italy, Scandinavian countries, Germany, and Japan from 1945 to 1990. It is a quick read, a little light on the amount of conceptual information, and decently illustrated as far as color, size and matching text with photos. One almost feels this is (part of) the material for a college intro class in design history. Even though this is the 2001-reprint of a 1993 edition, the book leaves out important design developments of the 1990's. Nothing is being said of, say, Windows 95 or the Aeron chair from Herman Miller. Considering how much is being left out relative to how much it is covered I recommend this book as a decent starter.