Book Reviews : Product Design and Manufacture, Authored by John R. Lindbeck, Western Michigan University; Contributing author, Robert M. Wygant, Western Michigan University; Published by Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey 07632, 1994

This comprehensive volume introduces the methods and theory of concurrent or simultaneous design where all aspects of product design and manufacturing are involved-from the outset of the planning effort-as a totality. This book begins with an examination of the background for design as an inquiry into the genesis of artifact planning and making. Here, it can be seen that people have always developed the things they use in direct response to need, and as a reflection of the prevailing technology and aesthetics. From this base, attention is directed to design theory, looking first at the fundamental functional, material, and visual requirements of a product, and then moving to an examination of the approaches utilized by industrial, engineering, graphic, and craft designers. Considerations of design materials follow, as an introduction to the nature and diversity of the substances of which products are made. Manufacturing processes are presented as an overview of the