When we were in Seattle I found this really cool book called "American Style: Classic Product Design from Airstream to Zippo". The writer and photographer makes the point that the design of common American items is often taken for granted and we don't appreciate how wonderful these items in terms of design because they are so ubiquitous and the Americans couldn't possibly create things as cool as the Europeans. The book does make you look at things in a different way.

One comparison is the Farberware & Atomic Espresso/Cappuccino Maker:



Commentary:

"Here are two contrasting coffee maker designs of the streamlined modern style: the Farberware percolator and the Atomic Espresso/Cappuccino maker. In an interesting comparison the completely automatic Farberware exemplifies an American tradtion of easy-to-use, neophyte-proof design, wheras the Atomic espresson maker appears as complicated to operate as it really is."

Some items chosen for inclusion...perhaps you'll look at these in a different way!

Campell's Chicken Noodle soup label
Lucky Strike cigarattes
M & M package
Black and Decker Dust Buster
Mason Jar
Krptonite Bike Lock
Duracell Battery
Apple Macintosh
Traditional rural mail box
Stanley steel thermos
Panavision movie camera
Kodak carousel projector
Frisbee flying disc
Slinky toy
Steinberger Bass
Learjet
Life
Time
The New Yorker