Materials and Design: The Art and Science of Material Selection in Product Design

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Summary: Wow!
Review: Amazing new perspective on matials and design! A must for any inspired designer/Product Manager.

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Summary: Individual chapters address multidimensional issues
Review: Collaboratively written by Mike Ashby (Professor, Engineering Department, Cambridge University) and design materials expert Kara Johnson, Materials And Design: The Art And Science Of Material Selection In Product Design is a thoroughly "user friendly" instructional guide to the scientific and systematic crafting of products from a variety of materials. Individual chapters address multidimensional issues, shaping joints and surfaces, rules of thumb for selecting certain materials over others, and much more in express, college-level detail. Enhanced throughout with full color photography and numerous illustrations, Materials And Design is strongly recommended as an extensive, superbly organized and presented, instructional resource and professional level reference.

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Summary: A good introduction to design, materials, and processes
Review: I teach product design at Ohio State to students from several engineering disciplines, and this latest book from Prof. Mike Ashby is exactly what I've been looking for. It gives an overview of product design from the perspective of the industrial designer, something engineering students need to appreciate. More importantly, it also provides a wealth of useful data on a wide range of materials and fabrication processes. In addition, each chapter has a thorough annotated reference list - valuable to anyone just entering the field. All this, and it's a beautiful example of book design, in the bargain. Regrettably, it suffers a bit from a lack of proofreading, as many books seem to these days.