Commercial Products Books

Its an incredible reference. I recommend that book to everyone with an opened mind, bcs its is the new world for an advertising.

a bit long winded. but some great interviews and copy. makes for a great coffee table book.

While I disagree with some of the details Radin's fundamental insight is sound. Whereas human value systems are characterized by value-pluralism (see for example Concepts and Categories, Isaiah Berlin, Princeton Univ. Press) business and capitalism require value monism (i.e., utility is a scalar) and are in contradiction with one another. Technically, the error in capitalism is that utility should be a vector rather than a scalar like money. (Theory of Games and Economic Behavior, von Neumann and Morgenstern, Princeton Univ. Press, 1944, pgs 19-20)

Radin deals thoughtfully with some virgin territory in legal and social theory -- the question of what theoretical grounds might underlie the common intuition that some valued (indeed cherished) things should be treated by the law as (in whole or in part) "not for sale." Such items as children, body parts, sexual relations, votes, opinions, and the like are among the candidates for this status, and many things that are traded on markets have commerce in them restricted for reasons that relate neither to market efficiency nor fair distribution, but rather to the transformation in meaning (and ultimately value) that can occur when it something is treated as a commodity. Radin's discussion of these novel issues does not resolve them in any simple way, but better than anything else on the subject reveals how sticky they can be. T. Gre

This Taschen book looks at a topic that is very hard to find anywhere else: East German commercial design. Yeah, not a terribly exciting subject but the book serves as a frieze of what life was like in the Communist east. Some designs looked bauhaus while others looked like designs used in the West some 10-20 years before. Overall, the quality appeared to be barely-adequate to shoddy. For a diversion don't miss the volksporn on page 106 and 107!

If there is a problem with some of Taschen's "Icon" series books, it can be that they're just too brief a glimpse at too large a topic. This can particularly be the case when the Icon book is excerpted from a much larger Taschen book study, as with their Tiki book or their great series of American ads of decades from the 1920s to 1980s.

In this case, the format works well, because it is such a small topic; product design in East Germany, which was the most technologically advanced, and consumer friendly, of the Communist nations. Coming out of the Third Reich and before that the Weimar Republik, I'd say that East Germany was also the most aesthetically forward-thinking Communist nation. This led to a fasinating mesh of Soviet austerity with German design.

What you get here is a good 100+ pages of photos of consumer items made in the DDR from the end of the cold war to the fall of the wall, give or take a year or so. The photography is up to Taschen's usual exquisite standards, and it may just be reading too much into it, but it seems Taschen will always try a little harder when it relates to things German.

As an American looking at these images I have a sense of being nostalgic for something I never experienced (If there is a word for such a feeling, it is most likely a German word). Soap, toothpaste, appliances, food and drink... These items seem to have come from a parallel universe - not just different, as products in Western Europe from the same time would have been, but with that slightly cheap, inferior quality: that "just off" feel about it, that you know would have been evident in the taste and feel of these items as well.

It is good that the images are of the products themselves, and not taken directly from advertisements for such products, which would cast it all in a different light. The other great thing is that these items could easily just slip away from all counsciousness, since we don't value recent history much in our culture. Taschen preserves a great number of fine examples here, many of which could easily have slipped away forever.

Of the many fine Icon books Taschen has released, this one seems more complete, and properly fitted to the small, cheap, functional format. Ausgezeichnet!

This book combines everything anyone ever wanted to learn or just as a great reference guide!

Every one of the 208 pages is loaded with large full color, sharp photos, along with comprehensive text. 16 chapters cover items from almanacs, calendars, catalogs, fans, to postcards, posters, signs and trade cards. One chapter deals with investing in paper advertising. Provides information about looking for the next paper advertising collectibles. Everyone interested in any kind of advertising will love this beautiful book and enjoy having it in their library !

I found this book very interesting. They talked about strategies of some companies which I found helpful in design and marketing directions.

This book is very attractive, first by the cover, second by the title. It's very informative and necessary for the ones who are interested in packaging design.

In order for any organization to fuel its growth, it must excel at product development. How to do this? An organization must first approach development with new proposals from every corner of the organization. Evaluate these ideas rationally and systematically and then select the best ideas. The organization's goal is to create a portfolio of the best selected ideas to help the organization grow. An organization must then manage these projects in four stages: building case justification, concept feasibility, product development, and pilot and production startup.

Taking a new product from the basic idea to the product requires many steps that are connected in specific ways. An organization must rely on marketing intelligence, product definition, planning, research and development, process development, product launch, and after sales service. To be successful an organization must learn:

· Brainstorm new product ideas
· Coordinate the production and manufacturing processes
· Ensure an effective IT system is in place
· Lead the development instead of just managing
· Create loyal customers and keep them satisfied
· Create a quality product or service
· Measure and manage operations
· Manage the organization's intellectual property
· Manage the organization's liability
· Create effective Research and Development Systems
· Harness technology now and in the future

Francis' book should be read - and heeded - by anyone interested in creating successful new products. It is particularly valuable because it provides a comprehensive view of the processes and problems of creating new products. He not only describes the core process from idea generation through product launch, but he also includes the often neglected issues of information systems support, accounting for the costs and benefits of R&D programs, and patents and other legal issues associated with intellectual property.

The scope of the work is broader than it first appears to be. Francis, a well-known expert in manufacturing, describes product creation processes and methodologies equally useful for manufactured products and for service "products".

The book is rich in checklists on important topics, such as metrics of R&D performance, computing your leadership quotient, and motivating workers. He ends each chapter with a section called "Ideas for Action". These are tips on what to do to move from his printed page to action in the reader's organization. They are very useful.

The most important message of the book is that successful product creation cannot be left to the R&D department; it requires the joint efforts of every organizational function. People from other departments who affect product creation will find this book very valuable, as will the R&D people themselves.

I bought this book and loved it... but in the processing of moving I misplaced it and had to co back to Amazon and buy it again... it's that good!

Sugarman is brilliant marketer and seems like a great human being. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in mastering the art of marketing... whether on tv or not!

Jesse Cannone

Sugarman is a TV home shopping success and after reading his book I now know why! Hard work, good insight, lessons learned both good and bad and energy! It is a tough business and this investment will pay off many times if you stick to Joe's way!

Well organized and concise with lots of photos of good packaging design. A great book to turn to for inspiration.

This is a relatively thick, small-sized book that's a joy to hold in your hands. It's compact, the bright hard-cover is silky and the inner layout is clear and glossy. The book is so easy to handle that I'd take it with me everywhere if I had a good reason to do so! It's a joy to hold, to read and to look at.

The book is divided into small chapters, covering most topics related to the universe of packaging design: market considerations, legislation, structural design and packaging types, surface graphics, typography and more. But each chapter is but a mere synopsis; this is not a book that expands much on these key topics, and it ends up not being very useful if you're trying to learn the specifics of each topic. The book also doesn't cover specific packaging materials at all, like other packaging books do. This is a great introduction to packaging design, but that's all. It's also a wonderful source of eye-candy, as each chapter features full page reproductions of original and innovative packages. Each image is commented and generally mentions the designer of each package, but there is no note on the materials, which leaves you wondering in a lot of cases. The last portion of the book is devoted to (very) brief case studies, which, once again, are mostly for show. But that said, it's a great show! Most of the featured packaging designs are truly original and beautiful.

"What is packaging design?" focuses mostly on theory and not on practical aspects, and that's simultaneously its strength and its downfall. In the end, you will know what packaging design is, but you won't know much about the process behind packaging design. If you're looking for the latter, try a different book.

After reading the Art of the Start, I decided to purchase it and this book, Rules for Revolutionaries. As with the Art of the Start, I found the book motivating and an interesting read. The one downside of the book is that there is some overlap between it and The Art of the Start.

Mr. Kawasaki is an ethusiastic author and this book is an adequate primer on the subject of entrepeneurship and general business 'starts'. The best book on this though is his 'Art of the Start'. That is the book you want for the same material, refined, updated and better organized.

This is one of my favorite books on the right mindset for startups. Go against the grain, overcome all obstacles, spend as little as possible, be excellent. Highly recommend.

I like this book a lot, it's clear, simple and fun to read. It has a step by step approach. And if you like to know certain clues about how nice products like the iPod and the Macs have created their way into the consumer's world, you will like this book even better.

Guy Kawasaki is a genius. I mean it: here's a guy who wrote a book back in 1998, who is most famous for being the Chief Evangelist at Apple. Yet his book bypasses tech talk altogether as its focus and succeeds at presenting us with a volume that, even ten years later, is loaded with wisdom that any self-respecting entrepreneur ought to be reading.

The philosophy underlying the rules for revolutionaries sounds quite simple yet it's very powerful: create like a god, command like a king, work like a slave. Each of these parts in his book is further broken down to facilitate digesting it. Since others here have done a find job at analyzing the three main components in the past, I am focusing on the aspects that stood out for me.

Work the edges: Kawasaki borrows the concept of "edges" from architecture to have revolutionaries focus their energy where it is going to be best spent. By edges, he means where one surface or material meets another or changes into another. He says: "The action is not in the centers or areas of sameness," and he is very much right about this. Examples of this are: how a customer service representative deals with a customer, even more so with a customer who is bringing up an exceptional issue; and the user interface of software or product, where the user interacts with the functionality.

"Revolutionary products don't fail because they are shipped too early. They fail because they aren't revised fast enough." He doesn't condone poor product design with this comment. He rather condemns poor product management. In coming up with a recipe for great products, he expands a concept he introduced in a previous book seven years before: DICEE,
-D for deep: the mark of a deep product is wishing it had a feature after you've used it for a while and then discovering that it already does.
-I for Indulging: it is more than what you minimally need and costs more than what you could have minimally spent.
-C for complete: this focuses on the documentation and the customer service.
-E for elegant: without elegant design, people cannot figure out how to use deep products.
-E for evocative: you should strive to create something that some people will love rather than something everyone will merely like.

"Sometimes you have to 'hear' what people would say if only they knew better." How many times, while managing a product, have you heard nice-to-have feature requests that sounded like essential to the people requesting them?

"A significant gulf, the 'chasm,' exists between the market made up of early adopters, and the markets of more pragmatic buyers." Do everything you possibly can to make the chasm as small as possible, which means tearing down barriers for your product users to learn about your product, care about your product enough to change their existing habits, gain access to your product, be able to afford it and learn how to use it.

After you have broken down or lowered the typical barriers to adoption of your product, you should build a cocoon around your customers so the competition can't attack you.

Evangelism starts with a great product or service. With success typically being equal to Facts (features customers want) divided by price, one can increase success by adding more features (increase the numerator) or reducing the Price. Evangelism provides a third method for increasing the numerator: adding Emotions to the Facts before dividing them by the Price.

"Make the optimal solution feasible -as opposed to making the feasible solution optimal." -this is one of the most brilliant phrases in the whole book!

"Ensure backward compatibility for evolutionary improvements to your product. But when it comes to revolutionary leaps, make your product so innovative that people won't care about backward compatibility."

"The more information you give away, the more you get as people come to trust you and see mutual benefits." -who remembers that movie?

"Big titles mean little to revolutionaries. All you care about is that a person 'gets it' and wants to help you." -very true!

"Tolerate criticism. Not only should people feel free to plug competitive products, they should be able to criticize your own... first, this produces good PR because tolerating criticism on a company-sponsored site is unheard of; second, this produces few and voluminous customer feedback."

And last, but not least: "As long as customers are still complaining, they still want to do business."

Now I am reading "Selling the Dream", another one of his books. I am convinced!

Ulrich and Eppinger do a very nice job presenting the product development process. What I found particularly helpful is their practical approach to cross-functional development and a very complete treatment of the front end. They deal quite a bit with establishing a company strategy and how to translate that and customer needs into products. Many other references try to cover details in the whole development process, but I found their focus refreshing and of particular interest to me as an engineer who leads development teams. I also plan to use this book as a text for a class I teach in product development.

The Ulrich/Eppinger text is excellent as always, but the 4th Edition differs from the 3rd in only a few trivial ways. Save yourself some money and buy a used 3rd Edition.

Ulrich has created an understandable companion text for product development. What is refreshing about this text is that it guides the developer through the elements of product development that are essential to reducing the concept of the product to practice. It is a great instructional guide.

This is a good reference manual for understanding the various techniques that are available for the fuzzy front end of product design. It would be a good text for project managers in product development.

PROs
1) It is well written and easy to assimilate.
2) Seems complete for the traditional manufactured consumer product.

CONs
1) Not strong on a current pre-emptive DFSS techniques for robustness and quality (such as QFD and axiomatic design).
2) Does not address system complexity issues and tools (software vs hardware, interface issues, complexity, functional flows).

I have the pleasure of taking a seminar with the author, but I was disappointed at his writing. The book is hard to follow, and lack structure.