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Dictionaries, at their most basic, consist of a list of words and meanings. ‘Craft’ shows that how this list is compiled, and meaning subsequently analysed, varies considerably. Johnson's methods were based in active reading and a personal scrutiny of the text. He included illustrative citations for the majority of words and senses in the dictionary. The OED relied on volunteer readers for such citational evidence, though this could be unrepresentative.The computer has transformed the craft of modern dictionary-making. Corpus lexicography stresses the interconnectedness of words and meaning, and the importance of context and collocation in the ways in which meaning, usage, and sense division are analysed and understood. ...Less

‘Money, markets, museums’ explores relations among artistic, educational, civic, commercial, and spiritual values and the impact of corporations, groups, nations, and wealthy individuals upon the art market. Art and money interact in many institutions — in particular, museums. Museums preserve, collect, and educate the public and convey standards about art's value and quality, but changing patterns of funding have combined with the competing claims of ‘tribal’ groups to challenge the aims and values of art museums. However, museums are only a part of the current story of the art market, because wealthy collectors worldwide have greater buying power. ...Less

‘Objects’ encompasses a spectrum of three-dimensional artefacts encountered in everyday activities in contexts such as the home, public spaces, work, school, and transport. Objects are a tangible expression of ideas about life. Our experience of such objects is visual, yet involves all senses. There is a tension between designers' and users' concerns. The need to keep pace with evolving technologies further constrains designers. Are objects primarily the plaything of designers' egos, in a manipulative effort to create wants? Or are they the answer to the needs of users on the levels of application and meaning? ...Less

‘Function is one of the most hotly debated terms in design. ‘Utility and significance’ distinguishes between these two concepts in order to understand the meaning of function in design. Utility is the quality of appropriateness in use. It is concerned with how things work. Significance explains how forms assume meaning in the ways they are used. It is concerned with expression and meaning. Culture has a huge bearing on significance, and the human capacity to invest psychic energy to objects is powerful and is important for design and should not be ignored. ...Less

Typography is design for reading; a set of visual choices designed to make a written message more accessible, more easily transmitted, more significant, or more attractive. Some letters are more legible, some are designed for particular technologies, and some strike us as having intrinsic emotional associations. What determines the shapes of the letters we use? ‘Perfect letters’ explains how our capital alphabet comes from the letters the Romans cut in stone, and our small letters come from the handwriting of Renaissance scribes. It also discusses the invention of printing in the 1440s, the ‘new typography’ movement of the 1920s that promoted sans serif typefaces, and more recent ideas about letter construction. ...Less