Made in Russia

An irreverent survey of surprisingly enduring icons of Soviet design. This knowing survey presents some of the more populist but nonetheless enduring work in graphic and industrial design that was a product of the Soviet era — a period that remains politically sensitive and underexplored, yet whose influence on the objects and aesthetics of Russian daily life has been profound. Made in Russia celebrates fifty such masterpieces, ranging from pioneers of Soviet technology such as the Lada car, the Sputnik rocket, and the Lomo camera, to icons of quotidian culture such as the fishnet shopping bag, the beveled twelve-sided glass, a Cold War-inspired arcade game, and Misha the Olympic bear. After an introduction from editor Michael Idov and an essay on the place of design in Soviet culture by Gary Shteyngart, the objects are presented with a short accompanying essay from one of today's best-known Russian writers giving a brief history of its creation, and each is illustrated with black-and-white archival images. Three color sections throughout the book include additional images of a selection of the objects. Designed by the creator of The Russian Criminal Tattoo Encyclopedia series, the book is as much an intelligent reading book on forgotten aspects of Soviet culture as a tongue-in-cheek illustrated survey of an under-acknowledged but prolific period in Russian design and creativity.