Outside the Box: Cardboard Design Now reconfigures the conception of a generic industrial material into one of myriad artistic, creative, and practical purposes and potential, revealing just how far it is possible to push the medium by the way of contemporary design. Like paper, cardboard is often overlooked as an artistic medium. Its versatility makes it almost unavoidably ubiquitous, but not necessarily inspiring. This perception on cardboard is slowly changing into an altered and contemporary attitude to the possibilities of cardboard's uses in contemporary design. From minimalist packaging, children's toys, decoration to furniture and even small and large-scale interior architecture, cardboard is now being embraced by designers around the globe as a medium with huge potential. Examples of these designs with cardboard include; a cardboard wendy-house designed by Peter Henke at Dutch irm Kidsonroof; pop-out toys and decorations created by A4A; interior design companies who re-articulated card-based storage as elegant, minimal additions to household product design and the internationally renowned, minimalist Japanese retailer Muji who has created products such as cardboard speakers and picture frames, In addition to its potential as a durable material for construction, there is also the sustainable credentials of the material. Cardboard is positioned at the forefront of the ecologically-minded, whether by utilising reconstituted recycled material or by the use of off cuts and residue in industrial product manufacture and contemporary design. The environmental benefits are an encouraging factor for eco-conscious designers and Outside the Box profiles some of these leading designs. Drawing on historical and traditional approaches, Outside the Box: Cardboard Design Now charts the medium's evolution through to modern practices, profiling some of today's most inspirational and provocative artists and designers working across the fields of art, design and sculpture. Among the artists featured is Frank Gehry, whose Vitra-produced corrugated cardboard furniture has received much international acclaim. The work of Shigeru Ban is included, whose cardboard disaster relief housing, churches and cardboard schools have seen his work exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art New York and cited as a leading auteur in the forward-thinking realm of eco-architecture. As a companion to Black Dog Publishing's Paper: Tear, Fold, Rip, Crease, Outside the Box unpacks the creative possibilities of a material wrongly dismissed as staid and uninspiring. SELLING POINTS ? Outside the Box: Cardboard Design Now is the irst book on cardboard that looks further into the versatile material, at how cardboard is used in a creative, artistic and practical way in contemporary design. ? Outside the Box focuses on all aspects of cardboard in contemporary design, from packaging, toys, to furniture, architecture and sculpture. ? The book includes the work of internationally renowned artists and designers including Frank Gehry, Shigeru Ban, Peter Henke, RealMade, Paul Coudamy, Magma, Studio Caproso, Vitra, Charles and Ray Eames and Habitat, amongst others. ? Outside the Box is an inspirational volume for designers, artists and visual enthusiasts, providing new and creative ideas for an often under-appreciated material. ? Attractively packaged with a cardboard cover. AUTHORS Michael Czerwinski is the Public Programme Manager for the Design Museum, London. Has also written books for the Museum and is also an artist. Santiago Perez is Twenty-first Century Endowed Chair/ Assistant Professor at the University of Arkansas. ILLUSTRATIONS 200 colour tb/w illustrations
