MODgent

Chasing the Perfect: Thoughts on Modernist Design in Our Time

In Chasing the Perfect, cultural critic Natalia Ilyin delivers her astute, incisive, and wry observations on design and the world it has molded. According to Ilyin, “Modern design is based on deeply idealist notions, and its inherent perfectionism has dovetailed beautifully with our commodity-based economy’s need to keep people itching so that they will buy things and keep the society chugging along. I began Chasing the Perfect because I started to become aware of this collusion, this silent pressure that a language of design based in perfectionism had brought to bear on me and on designers like me.”

I bought and read this book last year with only a mild interest at first. But as I read, I found myself pleasantly surprised. This book is not just for designers, but instead gives great insight on many aspects of human life. I particularly enjoyed when Ilyin describes relationships and how many try to design their partners into perfect mates, instead of appreciating their unique quirks and flaws. I highly recommend this book.