Arranging Things: A Rhetoric of Object Placement

This design world classic will be widely available after decades of high demand. Our updated format, featuring a new foreword by the author, is the first re-edition to follow the book’s 2003 publication and the original, sold-out print run. Koren’s visual journey through the heart of design philosophy is paired with original paintings by artist Nathalie Du Pasquier, presented here in an immersive, full-page format.

Koren offers longtime fans and new readers an accessible strategy that can be used to analyse any arrangement, framing design as a form of ‘persuasive communication’. The American artist and author applies his original framework to paintings he commissioned from Du Pasquier, a founding member of the renowned Memphis Group, using a series of rhetorical principles to draw meaning from these still lifes. Koren invites readers to consider the mundane–from the familiar chrome of an espresso maker to a deck of cards, an off-kilter tablescape, or a spiral of seashells–and understand the resonance behind everyday objects. ‘Most arrangements are little noticed, yet some stop you in tracks’, he writes. ‘A “successful” arrangement … is one that powerfully engages your attention and sustains your interest’.