Deyan Sudjic, 2009
Book
In all its forms, design is the DNA of our societies. With this statement, Deyan Sudjic, design critic and historian and former director of the Design Museum in London, introduces the premise of his book The Language of Things, first published in English in 2009 and later translated into Italian by Laterza.
The book asks what the objects we choose to own reveal about us, and how design goes beyond shaping the form or function of a product to become a language that expresses identity, values, and desire. Using carefully chosen examples, Sudjic examines how objects shape our understanding of the world, functioning as tools of symbolic communication and markers of status.
The essay moves between sociology, semiotics, and material culture, raising timely questions about the appeal of consumption and the relationship between aesthetics and identity.
Luxury, Industrial Production, and Symbolic Value
A central section of the book focuses on the relationship between design, luxury, and status. Sudjic traces the evolution of the concept of luxury, once linked to rarity and non-utility, and now often shaped through aesthetic and narrative choices in the context of industrial production.
When objects can be manufactured with precision and in large quantities, their appeal is no longer tied to how they are made, but to the sense of exclusivity they manage to convey. To create this effect, producers rely on costly materials, subtle finishes, and details intended to suggest craftsmanship and attention.
Appearance often outweighs function, as seen in luxury car interiors that use standard components while presenting a refined visual identity. Symbolic value also shapes objects like mechanical watches, chosen less for accuracy than for their cultural weight.
Sudjic notes that luxury design often plays a role similar to that of religion. It offers rituals, promises, and symbols that give meaning to material things. And when design approaches art, the boundary between the useful and the superfluous becomes another way to signal value.
Why the book is interesting
Years after its release, The Language of Things remains a relevant work for anyone seeking to understand the symbolic function of objects. Sudjic shifted attention toward the cultural meaning of everyday things, showing that a toaster or a lamp can be read as a text, revealing something about the values and conditions of their time.
The book helped broaden the scope of design criticism, moving it away from novelty around products and toward a more structured reflection on the role of objects in consumer society.
Without moralizing, Sudjic offered a framework for understanding the mix of desire and guilt that often shapes our relationship with material things. He also encouraged a more attentive perspective among readers, designers, and curators—one attuned to the underlying intentions in objects and aware that design, at its core, is a form of storytelling.
