Michael Graves Designs: The Art of the Everyday Object is the inside account of Michael Graves' one-man design revolution. In creating more than one thousand objects for the home over the last three decades, the acclaimed architect has elevated everyday objects-from toasters to toilet brushes-into enduring icons that have redefined the American home. In recent years, with the resounding success of his collaboration with Target Stores, Michael Graves has become a household name, equivalent in the public eye with the very concept of "good design." In Michael Graves Designs: The Art of the Everyday Object, author Phil Patton surveys this fascinating career in design and retail, from kitchen accessories for Alessi to hotels and household objects for Disney, crystal bowls for Steuben, boutiques and packaging for Lenox and more. Going behind the scenes in Graves' Princeton, N.J., studios, Patton offers an exclusive look at the firm's passionate quest to make high style accessible to every shopper with eye-catching, witty, and formally beautiful products. In his own words, Graves describes the thought and process behind his uniquely American body of work.
With more than 300 color images, including rare examples of Graves' famous personal sketches, product models and prototypes, technical drawings, and specially commissioned photographs of the studio in action, Michael Graves Design: Art of the Everyday Object celebrates works of art that work. AUTHOR BIO: Michael Graves is one of the world's most famous and accomplished architects and designers. He received the National Medal of the Arts in 1999 and the 2001 Gold Medal of the American Institute of Architects.
Phil Patton is the author of Bug: The Strange Mutations of the World's Most Famous Automobile and Made in USA: The Secret Histories of the Things that Make America. He is a frequent contributor to the New York Times, Wired and Esquire.
