Outgrowth of the author's thesis (doctoral--Royal College of Art, 2013) under the title: Purposes, poetics, and publics : the shifting dynamics of design criticism in the US and UK, 1955-2007.Product design criticism operates at the very brink of the landfill site, salvaging some products with praise but consigning others to its depths through condemnation or indifference. When a designed produ…