This thoughtful, thought-provoking guide approaches playground design from a logical but often-overlooked starting point--the child. All too often, play facilities are designed for the benefit of those who build and maintain them rather than those who use them. "Design for Play" begins with an examination of what play is--a learning process--and shows that the typical playground, a sterile expanse of asphalt relieved only by steel swings and steep slides, is dangerous not only to children's physical safety but also to their mental and emotional development. This book demonstrates that there are sensible alternatives to the "asphalt-desert" playground.The criteria for design outlined here are based on the needs of all those who are involved with playgrounds--and on the lessons to be learned from the way children play in the streets of our cities, when they invent their own facilities and create their own play environment. The practical application of these criteria is illustrated and evaluated in the case history of a major playground and in a survey of creative play facilities in the United States and Europe.Also discussed are the design of playgrounds for handicapped children and a variety of neglected opportunities for play facilities, including rooftops, sidewalks, and barges.Richard Dattner, an architect, has designed numerous playgrounds, including the highly acclaimed Adventure Playground in New York City's Central Park. A number of these are pictured in this fully illustrated book.

10 years ago Barbara Hendricks brought together thinking from child development and child psychology perspectives on play with practical issues confronted by designers and policy makers. The result was a beautifully-crafted, well-illustrated guide challenging established notions of play provision. This second edition brings the text up to date from 2001 to 2010 with added discussion about new ideas for play area designs and what has not worked in the past decade.

'Truly something that's just a beautiful, slick, and very enjoyable little publication' – CreativeBoom "Graphic Design Play Book features a variety of puzzles and challenges, providing a fun and interactive way for young visual thinkers to engage with the world of graphic design" – Eye Understand how graphic design works and develop your visual sensibility through puzzles and activities! An entertaining and highly original introduction to graphic design, the Graphic Design Play Book uses puzzles and visual challenges to demonstrate how typography, signage, logo design, posters and branding work. Through a series of games and activities, including spot the difference, matching games, drawing and dot–to–dot, readers are introduced to graphic art concepts and techniques in an engaging and interactive way. Further explanation and information is provided by solution pages and a glossary, and a loose–leaf section contains stickers, die–cut templates, and coloured paper to help readers complete the activities. Illustrated with typefaces, poster design and pictograms by distinguished designers including Otl Aicher, Pierre Di Sciullo, Otto Neurath and Gerd Arntz, the book will be enjoyed both by graphic designers, and anyone interested in finding out more about visual communication. An excerpt from the book: How many ways are there of saying 'hello'? Probably a zillion. And there are surely just as many ways of writing it. In CAPITALS, and with an exclamation mark ! Or with a question mark ? Or maybe both ?! As a tiny black word in the middle of a white page; or with large, multi–coloured, dancing letters ; maybe with a simple shape or an image. Being interested in graphic design means looking at and understanding the world around us. And being aware of the multitude of signs that shape our daily life day after day and freight it with meaning – whether it's a stop sign, a cornflakes packet, a psychedelic album cover, a seductive headline on the cover of a magazine, the more subtle typography of a page in a novel, a flashing pharmacy sign or the credits of a sci–fi film. Thinking about this plethora of signs was what led us to conceive this introduction to graphic design as a collection of beacons and benchmarks – as a toolbox for exploring and learning in a simple and intuitive way through play, alone or with others, whether you're a child or an adult. These are experiments, a series of suggestions, with no right or wrong answers. The four sections of this book – typography, posters, signs, identity – are all invitations to dive in, explore and let your eyes and your hands take you on a voyage of discovery! – Sophie Cure and Aurélien Farina

10 years ago Barbara Hendricks brought together thinking from child development and child psychology perspectives on play with practical issues confronted by designers and policy makers. The result was a beautifully-crafted, well-illustrated guide challenging established notions of play provision. This second edition brings the text up to date from 2001 to 2010 with added discussion about new ideas for play area designs and what has not worked in the past decade.

This book is a way of sharing insights empirically gathered, over decades of interactive media development, by the author and other children’s designers. Included is as much emerging theory as possible in order to provide background for practical and technical aspects of design while still keeping the information accessible. The author's intent for this book is not to create an academic treatise but to furnish an insightful and practical manual for the next generation of children’s interactive media and game designers. Key Features Provides practical detailing of how children's developmental needs and capabilities translate to specific design elements of a piece of media Serves as an invaluable reference for anyone who is designing interactive games for children (or adults) Detailed discussions of how children learn and how they play Provides lots of examples and design tips on how to design content that will be appealing and effective for various age ranges Accessible approach, based on years of successful creative business experience, covers basics across the gamut from developmental needs and learning theories to formats, colors, and sounds

What we make, makes us. This is the central tenet of Artful Design, a photorealistic comic book that examines the nature, purpose, and meaning of design. A call to action and a meditation on art, authenticity, and social connection in a world disrupted by technological change, this book articulates a fundamental principle for design: that we should design not just from practical needs but from the values that underlie those needs. Artful Design takes readers on a journey through the aesthetic dimensions of technology. Using music as a universal phenomenon that has evolved alongside technology, this book breaks down concrete case studies in computer-mediated toys, tools, games, and instruments, including the best-selling app Ocarina. Every chapter elaborates a set of general design principles and strategies that illuminate the essential relationship between aesthetics and engineering, art and design. Ge Wang implores us to both embrace and confront technology, not purely as a means to an end, but in its potential to enrich life. Technology is never a neutral agent, but through what we do with it—through what we design with it—it provides a mirror to our human endeavors and values. Artful Design delivers an aesthetic manifesto of technology, accessible yet uncompromising.

Digital Vernacular addresses the why and how of digital fabrication in hundreds of step-by-step color images, illuminating a set of working principles and techniques that join theory with practice. Authors James Stevens and Ralph Nelson reconcile local traditions and innovations with globally accessible methods and digital toolsets. By combining ethics with hardware, the book will root you in the origins of making, ensuring a lasting and relevant reference for your studio practice. The book opens with the origins and principles of the digital vernacular, then outlines digital vernacular tools including computer numerically controlled (CNC) mills, laser cutters, and 3D printers. You'll even learn to create your own digital fabrication tools out of inexpensive materials. The book concludes with the processes of the digital vernacular, including techniques for removing, joining, forming, and adding. A companion website at make-Lab.org hosts additional step-by-step processes and project outcomes.

Design and Anthropology challenges conventional thinking regarding the nature of design and creativity, in a way that acknowledges the improvisatory skills and perceptual acuity of people. Combining theoretical investigations and documentation of practice based experiments, it addresses methodological questions concerning the re-conceptualisation of the relation between design and use from both theoretical and practice-based positions. Concerned with what it means to draw 'users' into processes of designing and producing this book emphasises the creativity of design and the emergence of objects in social situations and collaborative endeavours. Organised around the themes of perception and the user-producer, skilled practices of designing and using, and the relation between people and things, the book contains the latest work of researchers from academia and industry, to enhance our understanding of ethnographic practice and develop a research agenda for the emergent field of design anthropology. Drawing together work from anthropologists, philosophers, designers, engineers, scholars of innovation and theatre practitioners, Design and Anthropology will appeal to anthropologists and to those working in the fields of design and innovation, and the philosophy of technology and engineering.

If you were to design a building that prioritises occupants’ happiness, what would it look like? How would the materials, form and layout support healthy ways of living and working? Delving into the evidenced-based research on architecture and mental wellbeing, The Happy Design Toolkit helps you to create happier places. It explores how factors, such as lighting, comfort, control over our environments and access to nature, exercise and social interaction, can impact how we feel. Easy-to-understand tips include bringing nature into your developments with roof gardens and living facades and countering social isolation with communal areas that encourage chance interaction. Each of the featured architectural interventions includes an analysis of the wellbeing benefits as well as the potential limitations or associated challenges. From sparking joy in individual homes and workplaces to encouraging healthier lifestyles through landscaping and urban design, this book demonstrates how wellbeing concepts can be integrated across a range of scales and typologies. Packed with inspiration and advice, The Happy Design Toolkit will breathe new life into your projects and help you create a happier and more inclusive built environment for everyone. Features real-world examples including Marmalade Lane co-housing by Mole Architects, Francis Holland School by BDP, Maggie’s Centre Oldham by dRMM Architects, Kings Crescent Estate by Karakusevic Carson Architects and Happy Street by Yinka Ilori. Over 100 hand-drawn illustrations of design details and elevations. Essential reading for architects, interior designers, landscape architects and students.