This is the 'designer' age. People in the West talk of designer labels and designer violence. The word 'designer' has become an adjective loaded with the symbolism and imagery of the consumer society. For the first time in history, it is possible to live a 'designer lifestyle'— if you can afford it. But what does the word 'design' mean? The subject of design covers a wide range of activities, from materials technology at the hard end to styling and marketing at the soft end. The number of people who have made a contribution to the history of design at any of these levels is vast. Actually the term can also be confined to meaning the people who had the ideas and who invented the forms which changed our taste. The term 'design' as we now use it is a modern invention, a product of the division of labor and other economic changes thrown up by the Industrial Revolution in the 18th and 19th centuries. With the rise of mechanized production and standardized products, there came the need for disciplined product planning. No longer did the person who had an idea for something go on to make it. The new order, in which the designer had the idea and the factory-worker manufactured it, meant the designer achieved a new and unprecedented status in the system. The 20th century design has had an important influence on the Western way of life. Objects have acquired not only culture status, but massive symbolic significance through people's perceptions of them. The Coca-Cola bottle--the most famous bottle in the world and the classic piece of modern package design now symbolizes the power of the 20th century Western civilization to penetrate and erode other cultures. From modern painters such as Warhol to many contemporary films, Coca-Cola has become a symbol of cultural imperialism, and is such a familiar part of the consumer landscape that it is almost invisible. The possibility that the Coca-Cola bottle was too familiar worried the company so much that several years ago they redesigned the famous logo and the bottle, and changed the taste of the syrup as part of an on-going battle with rival company Pepsi. So loud was the public outcry, however, that the company quickly reinstated all three. Making an image and making an object have become indivisible parts of the design process. Coca-Cola owns nothing more than the recipe for a syrup and the copyright on a logo, yet it is a multimillion dollar business. Now design is at the cutting edge of business competition. The importance of design has changed through the various phases of industrial growth, and in the years to come it will increasingly assume a high priority in corporate. Today, placing the idea of quality foremost in purchasers' minds is so important that it has spawned a new science-design technology. In today's business environment, the research and development of design ideas has become an essential part of the manufacturing and selling processes. How many meanings does the author give the term 'design'?