25 Champions of Design

UK design company jkr has compiled 25 image-heavy essays on design greats into a book called Champions of Design. Subjects include the likes of Apple, Ducati, Marmite, and Ray-Ban. The essays originally appeared in Marketing magazine.

Here’s an excerpt from the Converse essay:
“Broadly, its products fall into two types. The classics, in their famous livery, preserve the brand’s authenticity. Then, the ‘editions’ use these classics as a blank canvas, from which a bewildering array of editions, collaborations, film and music tie-ins are spawned… The myriad logos and liveries can be confusing to the casual observer: why a certain star on this, but a different one on that? But big brands avoid dreary monolith status by allowing one wonky wheel on the vehicle. It keeps them soulful.”
Each essay includes an informative and often entertaining timeline:

jkr is giving away the book in electronic form — either read it onscreen or download the PDF to your desktop.
Thanks to David Airey for alerting us to this resource.