A question I frequently get from students of design, new staff and clients is "What books should I read to learn about modern design?" To which I never have an adequate response. There are not many books written on modern design in general and few with broad perspective. Most design books cover specific branches of design, such as architecture, interior and graphic design, and these titles usually focus on a particular style or period. The result is that one really needs a library of titles for a modern design overview. Additionally, entertaining books on industrial design are scarce, as the subject tends to be treated in highly academic language.

The publisher Phaidon has taken a crack at changing all this with its recently issued Phaidon Design Classics, a three-volume tome of 999 products. This is a reference set for those of us who've grown weary with the common reference to the Bauhaus as the true birthplace of design. In addition to presenting design from a broader cultural perspective, the set solves a problem in design reading and research and it is highly entertaining and refreshingly non-academic.

One of the best features of the Phaidon set is that it presents items chronologically, rather than by genre, style or geography. The products kick off with Zhang Xiaoquan scissors, a Chinese household variety dating back to 1663. You will recognize their form if not their name, and these scissors are still in production to the tune of 45 million pairs annually. The next nine entries are: a Japanese teapot, English sheep shears, the Windsor chair, the jigsaw puzzle, the hot air balloon, traditional white china by Wedgwood, a garden bench, Le Parfait preserve jars and a galvanized metal dustbin, which takes us up to 1830. Continuing on, we see that 1913 was an especially good year, getting credit for the zipper, pencil, can opener and the dinghy. In 1921, Chanel No. 5 and the Filofax appeared. The year 1945 boasts th e Slinky and the Eames LCW Chair. It is this refreshing stretching of the boundaries of design that makes this collection a kick. Much more than a style guide, it is a history book on innovation, function and aesthetics that gives you the ability to draw newfound parallels and cultural inferences. Each object has a page or two of copy and contextual background drawn from the minds of more than 50 contributing writers.

Broader questions about design are revealed obliquely by studying the five indices, which are especially well conceived and repeat in each of the three volumes, so you don’t have to toggle between books. In the chronological index, the 1950s and ’60s stand out for holding more than twice as many entries as the ’30s, ’40s, ’70s and ’80s, revealing the mid-20th century as the golden era for design in general, not just in furniture. In the index of designers, which name appears most frequently? Achille Castiglioni with 24 mentions, followed by the Eameses with 15, Richard Sapper with 12 and George Nelson with 11. Designers Joe Colombo, Henry Dreyfuss, Jean Prouvé, Arne Jacobsen and Marco Zanuso show up with around 10 mentions each, and the living designer with the most mentions is Jasper Morrison with eight. I think this is a pretty accurate listing, especially having Castiglioni at the top of the heap. Which female designer is acknowledged more than any other? Marianne Brandt (she was unknown to me beforehand).

The best thing about the selection of design classics is that you will likely disagree with a number of choices. Design appreciation is subjective, after all. This collection will help create dialogue, controversy and make us think. I made my list of what I thought should be included before I opened the text, and I found all of my top picks, except the Apple Macintosh and Nelson’s Bubble Lamps. There are, of course, dozens of products from DWR’s collection in this pantheon, the first being Marcel Breuer's Laccio Tables (1925) and the last being Jasper Morrison’s brunch set (2003). There are expected examples such as De Lucchi’s Tolomeo Lamp and Nelson’s Marshmallow Sofa, and less obvious pieces such as the Fortuny lamp. Click here for more images.

In the midst of reviewing these highly relevant as well as educational entries, I began thinking about the design of soccer balls, particularly the new one with the organic graphics used in the current World Cup. Turning to Phaidon Design Classics for reference, I easily found some background on soccer balls in entry number 720, the Adidas Telstar football designed for the 1970 World Cup. This classic ball was composed of 20 white hexagons and 12 black pentagons, and remains the iconic soccer ball today despite the new cool one.