Hacking Design

What if you could press a button and have a machine build you any product you wanted? What if we all had the means to modify our physical environment, to tweak and subvert objects produced for us by designers and manufacturers? A new generation of hardware hackers is making steady progress toward making these hypotheses reality, building vibrant communities in the process. And designers are experimenting with open-source creation and customization, trying to come to terms with the hackers’ visions of the future. Hacking Design examines the conflicts and commonalities between hackers and professional designers, and uncovers shared ground on which the two creative communities can work together. DesignFile is the new line of e-books on topics and trends in design published by the Cooper-Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. There will be six to twelve titles published annually, each ranging in length from 7,500 to 20,000 words. Building a consortium with institutional partners and design practitioners, Cooper-Hewitt's series will bridge the academic, museum, design, and publishing worlds. Inaugural members of the e-book consortium are Parsons The New School for Design and the School of Visual Arts.