An argument for a design philosophy of better not more.Never have we wanted owned and wasted
so much stuff. Our consumptive path through modern life leaves a wake of social and ecological
destruction--sneakers worn only once bicycles barely even ridden and forgotten smartphones
languishing in drawers. By what perverse alchemy do our newest coolest things so readily
transform into meaningless junk? In Meaningful Stuff Jonathan Chapman investigates why we
throw away things that still work and shows how we can design products services and systems
that last.Obsolescence is an economically driven design decision--a plan to hasten a product's
functional or psychological undesirability. Many electronic devices for example are
intentionally impossible to dismantle for repair or recycling their brief use-career
proceeding inexorably to a landfill. A sustainable design specialist who serves as a consultant
to global businesses and governmental organizations Chapman calls for the decoupling of
economic activity from mindless material consumption and shows how to do it.Chapman shares his
vision for an experience heavy material light design sensibility. This vital and timely new
design philosophy reveals how meaning emerges from designed encounters between people and
things explores ways to increase the quality and longevity of our relationships with objects
and the systems behind them and ultimately demonstrates why design can--and must--lead the
transition to a sustainable future.
