Design Between the Lines (Hardcover)

Patrick Le Quement

ISBN 10: 185894676X / ISBN 13: 9781858946764

Published by Merrell Publishers Ltd, London, 2019

About this Item

Hardcover. The car industry and the way in which cars are created have changed beyond all recognition over the last half-century. Automotive styling was once the grudging afterthought when the engineers had finished their work. Now, following a short flirtation with exotic Italian design houses, it has evolved into sophisticated design carried out by multitalented in-house teams honing carefully crafted brand identities. One of the visionary designers at the forefront of that revolution has been Patrick le Quement. Most widely acclaimed for his 22 years in charge of Renault Design, resulting in such standout models as the Twingo, Scenic and Avantime, le Quement has enjoyed a 50-year career that has also taken in Simca, Ford and Volkswagen-Audi. Design: Between the Lines is not a straightforward autobiography; rather, le Quement charts his journey through five decades of thoughts, actions, failures and successes. He offers fascinating commentaries on design and the creative process, and on some of the extraordinary automotive brands that make up our shared cultural heritage. Presented as a series of 50 brief essays or 'perspectives', le Quement's thoughtful and astute observations from the street, from the design studio and from his seat in the boardroom give the reader a penetrating and often amusing insight into the high-level workings of a global industry, its triumphs and tragedies, and the foibles of the decision-makers responsible for running it. A lively complementary text by the automotive journalist Stephane Geffray accompanies each of le Quement's perspectives, and illustrations are provided by the automobile designer Gernot Bracht. Design: Between the Lines will appeal to all motoring fans and enthusiasts of good design. SELLING POINTS: A witty, unique perspective on car design, written by one of most influential figures in the automotive industry Presents a series of 50 brief essays on subjects ranging from classic motors and le Quement's personal memories of Detroit to the fundamentals of good design With 100 specially commissioned illustrations and a foreword by the 'design guru' Stephen Bayley 100 illustrations Presented as a series of 50 brief essays or `perspectives', Patrick le Quement's thoughtful and astute observations from the street, from the design studio and from his seat in the boardroom give the reader a penetrating and often amusing insight into the high-level workings of the global car industry. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9781858946764

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Design Between the Lines (Hardcover)
• Publisher: Merrell Publishers Ltd, London
• Publication Date: 2019
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 185894676X
• ISBN 13: 9781858946764
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Bracht, Gernot
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

The car industry and the way in which cars are created have changed beyond all recognition over the last half-century. Automotive styling was once the grudging afterthought when the engineers had finished their work. Now, following a short flirtation with exotic Italian design houses, it has evolved into sophisticated design carried out by multitalented in-house teams honing carefully crafted brand identities. One of the visionary designers at the forefront of that revolution has been Patrick le Quément. Most widely acclaimed for his 22 years in charge of Renault Design, resulting in such standout models as the Twingo, Scénic and Avantime, le Quément has enjoyed a 50-year career that has also taken in Simca, Ford and Volkswagen-Audi. In his foreword to the book, Stephen Bayley calls le Quément perhaps the very most original designer working in the conservative car business at the turn of the millennium . Some 60 million cars across the world now bear the unmistakable stamp of le Quément. Design: Between the Lines is not a straightforward autobiography; rather, le Quément charts his journey through five decades of thoughts, actions, failures and successes. He offers fascinating commentaries on design and the creative process, and on some of the extraordinary automotive brands that make up our shared cultural heritage. As Bayley notes, for le Quément, design is as much a matter of thinking as a matter of drawing . On a broader, more philosophical level, le Quément also shares his views about life in general and that remarkable contraption called the automobile , which has so influenced the lives of millions of people the world over from the late 1800s to the present day. Presented as a series of 50 brief essays or perspectives , le Quément s thoughtful and astute observations from the street, from the design studio and from his seat in the boardroom give the reader a penetrating and often amusing insight into the high-level workings of a global industry, its triumphs and tragedies, and the foibles of the decision-makers responsible for running it. A lively complementary text by the automotive journalist Stéphane Geffray accompanies each of le Quément s perspectives, and illustrations are provided by the automobile designer Gernot Bracht. Design: Between the Lines will appeal to all motoring fans and enthusiasts of good design. As Chris Bangle, the former Director of BMW Design, remarks: Few car designers have had a career so filled with innovative successes that they have inspired a whole industry; fewer still have the skills to share it. Engaging and revealing, Patrick relates his personal experience and deep knowledge of car design in a very enjoyable manner.

About the Author

Patrick le Quément was born in France and educated in the UK. He studied industrial design at the Birmingham College of Art and Design in the 1960s and went on to become one of the most influential automobile designers of his era. His international career has taken in Simca, Ford, Volkswagen-Audi and Renault, where he was Senior Vice-President of Corporate Design. Since 2010 he has been active as a naval designer, and in 2013 he co-founded the Sustainable Design School, based in Nice on the French Riviera. Among the numerous awards he has received are European Designer of the Year and the Lucky Strike Designer Award from the Raymond Loewy Foundation, both in 2002, and the EyesOn Design Lifetime Design Achievement Award in 2015. Stephen Bayley is an author, critic, broadcaster and curator. In 1989 he co-founded the Design Museum in London with Sir Terence Conran. His many books include Harley Earl and the Dream Machine (1983), Design: Intelligence Made Visible (2007), Cars (2008) and Death Drive (2016). He is a Chevalier de l Ordre des Arts et Lettres, an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects, a Trustee of the Royal Fine Art Commission Trust and a Fellow of the University of Wales. Stéphane Geffray is a Paris-based writer, journalist and adjunct teacher at the Université Paris Est-Créteil. His work appears regularly in the French editions of Octane and Enzo magazines. He also is a former editor of Rétroviseur, a leading French classic-car magazine. Gernot Bracht is an automobile designer, illustrator and teacher of transport design and sketching techniques. Following a design career at various carmakers, including Renault in France, he now consults for several German automotive suppliers. He has taught at the School of Design of the Hochschule Pforzheim in Germany since the early 2000s and also lectures at FH Joanneum University in Graz, Austria.