Book Description
Hella Jongerius: Misfit is the second major monograph published by Phaidon on Dutch contemporary product designer Hella Jongerius (born 1963), offering a comprehensive overview of her decades-long creative practice and distinctive design language. The book explores how Jongerius continuously navigates the boundaries between industry and craft, high-tech and low-tech, and traditional craftsmanship and contemporary manufacturing, shaping a body of work that is difficult to categorize yet immediately recognizable—what she defines as a “Misfit” aesthetic.
Written and designed in close collaboration with Jongerius herself, the book presents her complete body of work while incorporating deep reflections on materials, color, production processes, and traces of use. It reveals how her designs respond to questions of value, humanity, and meaning within industrialized production. Contributions by three leading voices in contemporary design and cultural criticism—Louise Schouwenberg, Paola Antonelli, and Alice Rawsthorn—offer critical perspectives from curatorial, theoretical, and design-historical viewpoints, examining Jongerius’s significance and influence within contemporary product design.
Featuring more than 350 high-quality images, the book meticulously documents details of form, materiality, and making. The overall graphic design is by renowned designer Irma Boom, whose experimental yet cohesive layout echoes Jongerius’s ongoing engagement with imperfection and difference.
In addition, a special collector’s edition is available in custom-designed packaging and includes a limited-edition vase designed by Hella Jongerius and produced by the historic Dutch ceramics manufacturer Royal Tichelaar Makkum, further extending the book’s value as a collectible design object.
Hella Jongerius: Misfit is not only a survey of design works, but also a profound dialogue on materials, manufacturing, culture, and design ethics. It is an essential volume for product designers, craft researchers, design collectors, and readers interested in contemporary design thinking.
Publication Details
Authors: Paola Antonelli, Hella Jongerius, Alice Rawsthorn
Publisher: Phaidon
Format: Softcover
Dimensions: 26 × 20 cm
Pages: 308 pages