Book: Usefulness in Small Things

Industrial Facility's Sam Hecht and Kim Colin have always kept a curatorial eye out for the forgotten objects of mass production. Their hugely successful consultancy has been responsible for some of the calmest and most satisfactory pieces of product design of the 21st century - and they have the awards to prove it.

Throughout their career and travels, Hecht and Colin have kept an expert eye out for things that work in unexpected ways. What began as 'Under a Fiver', a collection of disregarded and disposable design from around the world, has now evolved into this handsome catalogue, photographed throughout with an artist's eye for colour and composition by Angela Moore.

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href="/gallery/art/usefulness-in-small-things/17052403">See more from the catalogue, Usefulness in Small Things

Introductory essays by Paul Smith and Deyan Sudjic set the scene for the various chapters, 'Care', 'Modified', 'Duality', 'Straightforward' and 'Situation', covering everything from single use objects to ingenious fusions of two complementary functions (marked by a curious compulsion to catalogue toothbrushes, amongst other things). An exhibition to accompany the launch of the book is being held in collaboration with Paul Smith and Rizzoli in Milan from 13-17 April 2011.