Soft Electronics

A book that explores iconic retro designs from the 1960s and up to the 1980s.

Dutch online designer Jaro Gielens is an avid collector of vintage consumer electronics, home appliances and electronic games. His impressive collection includes more than 1,200 boxed products. Following his first collaboration with Gestalten, the book Electronic Plastic that introduced readers to handheld and tabletop devices originally launched in the 1970s and 1980s, Gielens now explores the golden era of industrial design in Soft Electronics. The book documents some of the most iconic designs that revolutionized the world of home appliances. Dating from the 1960s all the way to the 1980s, the examples capture the birth of a new era, one that affected both product design and human behavior.

Stylish as well as unprecedentedly functional, these small household appliances changed daily routines and activities forever. The book covers everything from coffee grinders to blow-dryers and electric fruit presses. All of the examples are based on Jaro Gielens’s collection. Made in an era before planned obsolescence, the products combined bold aesthetics with quality craftsmanship and long-lasting materials. The book has 256 full color pages and comes with a flex cover with stitch binding. It’s a perfect gift for any design lover, but especially fans of the retro era of product design. You can find Soft Electronics online from Gestalten at a price of $60, and it comes with free shipping in the US. Photography © Gestalten.