Design equals desirability and status. Used to sell all types of goods in the mid-eighties retail boom. By close of decade 'green design' emerges in reaction to frenzy of conspicuous consumption. Recession shakes design world, companies collapse. Designer decade gives way to new directions.
Designers gear up for the next millennium.
We're just over a year into the 2000's and cellular technology looks like it's going to be a big issue in the decade ahead - it's already allowing us to envisage 'smart' and intelligent products in the home, and WAP technology is letting us view the internet via our mobile phones. At the latter end of the decade, after the planned introduction of the A380 Airbus in 2006, we have yet to see whether the superjumbo airliner will alleviate the problems of overcrowded airports, limited runway space, and the growing number of aircraft in the sky, not to mention 'Economy Class Syndrome' triggered by minimal passenger legroom. Over 4,000,000 colour transparencies and black and white prints. A large variety of general subjects. Contemporary and archive collections.