Synopsis "The Experience Book: For Designers, Thinkers & Makers"
Contrary towhat one might imagine, there is no such thing as an experience designer. Atleast not in the sense that we might talk of an individual recognised as such.To make experiences is to be human. Shaman, architect, food engineer - you nameit, they are all experience designers. Informed by an understanding of people'sneeds and wants - our stories, our rituals, our myths - the beautifullydesigned experience has the power to transform lives. The Experience Book is an ode to that power.Essentially, it is a book abouttime and how we use it to design and make experiencesthat define the spaces we live, work and play in. Divided into a guidebook anda sourcebook, it begins by explaining what it is about the human mind that sodeeply feasts on the notion of the experience, and then employs this knowledgeto suggest a method or framework fordesigning experiences. The guidebook done, the sourcebook serves asinspiration for the art of experience design, with precedents drawn from the past 35,000 years' worth oftransformative experience making.One of the first publications about theattributes that together make what is fast becoming a recognised discipline, The Experience Book is beautifully presented. Comprised of a wonderfully eclectic range of written forms, illustratedby a fantastic mix of drawings and photography, and backed by historicaland contemporary examples from the worlds ofarchitecture, branding, fashion, music, art, sport and business, it introducesthe maker of experiences as part ethnographer, storyteller, master planner andperformance artist.Challenging theorthodoxy of function, reasserting process over monument and product, delighting in the unexpected, and championing the spectator over the spectacle, this is a book for anyone interested in the power of design, be they creator, communicator or consumer.
