An Introduction to Design and Culture, 3rd Edition

1    Consuming modernity

Conspicuous consumption and the expansion of taste

The department stores had fostered an extravagant taste not only for clothes but also for ‘things one might do without’.¹

Although the term ‘design’ did not have any common currency until the middle years of the twentieth century, the idea of imbuing goods and images with aesthetic and functional characteristics that attracted consumers and met the needs of users has a long history. That history was closely linked to the development of modern society and culture.

As a modern concept, design developed as a direct result of the expansion of the market for consumer goods and the democratization of taste. For centuries, hand-made furnishings, ceramics, glass, metalwork, ...