Work, Life, Tools: The Things We Use to Do the Things We Do

By Stanley Abercrombie and Milton Glaser

Work, Life, Tools artfully examines the tools people use in their everyday lives. Developed by Steelcase Design Partnership and designed by Milton Glaser, this original portrait of late-twentieth-century American work and culture serves as a time capsule for generations to come. Fifty individuals from diverse backgrounds and professions were asked to identify the most essential tool used in their daily lives. Captured in a wide variety of work settings in large-scale color photographs, each person is pictured with his or her coveted tool. Analytical and anecdotal writings about the importance of the chosen item -- presented along with compelling interviews -- explain the relationship of the tool to each person's professional and personal accomplishments. Seen here are Simon & Schuster's Michael Korda and his OXXXX fountain pen, the Guggenheim's Thomas Krens and his binder clip, DC Comics' Jenette Kahn and her bed, Duane Michals and his camera, art critic Arthur Danto and his Compaq Aero computer, architect Laurinda Spear and her set of scales, and Francis Ford Coppola and his IBM ThinkPad 560 computer, as well as other engineers, architects, designers, writers, editors, filmmakers, musicians, actors, curators, artists, and entrepreneurs. Stanley Abercrombie's introductory essay explores the importance of tools and their design, the relationship between work and leisure, design and the workplace, tools as agents of change in work, and our constant need to adapt and change.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1885254830
• ISBN13: 9781885254832
• Release Date: December 1997
• Publisher: The Monacelli Press
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 2.22 lbs.
• Dimensions: 10.9" x 0.6" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

An elegant visual book for /about people who love tools

My favorite Christmas gift -- the cover is Red, the stock feels great to the touch, and there's plenty of white space. It's a book and an exhibition in one. It's filled with people who love their work. Work, Life, Tools qualifies as great design. (Hats off Milton Glaser, and to Steelecase for being enlightened enough to fund the exhibition.) This book cum exhibition guide ranks high on the visual, aesthetic and conceptual pleasure scale. My favorite aspect: the way the bios portray the multiple talents and the "I don't just do one thing" truth about their subjects. It's filled with lots of practical ah-has. You get to peek into people's work spaces. It represents a fascinating spectrum of thinking about work. And, it's amazing to me how loyal people are to their fountain pens (as one who's committed to Deluxe Uni-balls.) I loved it!