John Vassos: Industrial Design for Modern Life

The only book that goes into great depth about the life and inspiring industrial ground breaking design of John Vassos. His illustration work has relevance today for both industrial artists and graphic designers. His striking Art Deco style incorporated into his industrial design and illustration should be studied and more well known for all the contributions thIs artist turned Everyday objects into items of functional beauty. As an artist I am inspired by the book and hope younger artists can become more familiar with the powerful drawings like the phobias as well.

Not an interesting read, at least from an industrial design standpoint. Wish they had expanded on his actual designs and renderings.

Shapiro has written an accessible and intellectually engaging account of John Vassos's life and career. The work is fascinating in its depiction of a creative, progressive, artistic spirit who navigated his way through corporate America to become the chief in-house designer for RCA. Vassos was able to combine a modernist aesthetic with a deeply-felt humanity, resulting in products that were both stylistically of-the-moment as well as eminently functional (Think Apple in the middle decades of the 20th century). Shapiro captures Vassos's growth, his influences and his impact. This book will especially be of interest to those interested in design, art, and style, cultural history, economic history, and the development and impact of 20th century modernism.

One of the best obscure books about a man we all know. Without Danielle Shapiro's book we wouldn't have known that we knew John Vassos. This is the only book about him. Certainly a man of his time, but not of ours, even though his designs are still with us. You can't escape his importance.'