When Tucker's brother and sister-in-law die in a car accident and leave their two children in his care, he asks his best friend, Rena, to marry him to prove to the social worker that he can provide a stable home life for the children. Rena agrees in hopes that their friendship will someday turn into love.
"Why do contraceptive practices work for some couples and not for others? How do couples decide the number of children they want? What are the implications of family design in terms of the "population explosion?"Family Design is a thoroughly documented study undertaken by Social Research, Inc., for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Based on intensive interviews with 409 husbands and wives, it applies the framework of family sociology to a problem that has previously been studied mainly from the demographic point of view."--Provided by publisher
New York Times best seller Ever since Gabrielle Stanley Blair became a parent, she’s believed that a thoughtfully designed home is one of the greatest gifts we can give our families, and that the objects and decor we choose to surround ourselves with tell our family’s story. In this, her first book, Blair offers a room-by-room guide to keeping things sane, organized, creative, and stylish. She provides advice on getting the most out of even the smallest spaces; simple fixes that make it easy for little ones to help out around the house; ingenious storage solutions for the never-ending stream of kid stuff; rainy-day DIY projects; and much, much more.
The development of modular product families holds enormous economic potential for companies, as there are always great opportunities but also risks associated with all life phases of a product. However, these fundamental and far-reaching effects inevitably lead to conflicting objectives when defining modular product structures, which makes decision-making in product development particularly complex.Considering relevant theories from decision theory and product family design, this book presents an innovative method to support decision makers in the development of modular product families. The central element of the method is a novel Modularity Decision Dashboard (MDD), which interactively visualizes all decision-relevant data. The findings presented here confirm that applying the method to real-world decision-making problems leads to a more balanced ratio between internal and external variety, and thus significantly contributes to the efficient economic benefit of modularization.
This book discusses how product platform and product family design can be used successfully to increase variety within a product line, shorten manufacturing lead times, and reduce overall costs within a product line. The material serves as a reference and a hands-on guide for practitioners involved in the design, planning and production of products. Real-life case studies that explain the benefits of platform based product development are included.
Advances in Product Family and Product Platform Design: Methods & Applications highlights recent advances that have been made to support product family and product platform design along with successful applications in industry. This book provides not only motivation for product family and product platform design (i.e., address questions about “why and when should we platform”) but also methods and tools to support the design and development of families of products based on shared platforms (i.e. address the “how” and “what” questions about platforming). It begins with a general overview of product family design to introduce the general reader to the topic and then progress to more advanced topics and design theory to help designers, engineers, and project managers plan, architect, and implement platform-based product development strategies for their company. Finally, successful industry applications provide readers and practitioners with case studies and “talking points” to become platform advocates and leaders within their organization.
“A series of deceptively simple—and fun—exercises . . . A marvelous invitation to anyone with an interest in creativity, invention, and design.” —Michael Bierut, Partner, Pentagram, New York Even concert pianists do warm-up exercises to limber up the fingers and clear the mind for the performance ahead. Designers are, or should be, no different. This delightful collection provides fifty-two exercises or activities to jump-start your creative juices, free you from creative block, start a new project, or finish an existing one. Each exercise offers insight into the innumerable small decisions involved in design. How to join this part to that, how to establish a pattern or continue the series, how to say it without words, what fits, and what doesn’t? For established practicing designers or creatives in any field, these activities are sometimes playful, sometimes challenging—but always enlightening.
In a world of divorce, casual sex, and homosexual unions, "family"?once the bedrock of our culture?is becoming a matter of uncertainty and argument. From some quarters, traditional roles for men and women are ridiculed. And standing firm in a healthy, well-functioning family is harder than ever. So how can you have a happy home? How can you pass on strong morals to your children in a world going awry? By following God's divine plan for family life," writes Bible teacher, pastor, father, and grandfather John MacArthur in this book. There's no magic formula. There's no gimmick. It's not about how many times you do something, or who is in charge of this or that, or what kind of processes or methods you use. It comes down to answering these questions: "Am I committed to obedience to the Spirit of God? Am I committed to the controlling influences of the Word of God? Am I going to live out a Christian life?" If you can answer yes to all of those questions, then you are bound to have a successful, fulfilled, God-honoring family life.
We all know what families look like when they’re broken. But how were they meant to look? Authors Glenn Stanton and Leon Wirth rediscover the Creator’s majestic plan behind this essential, endangered institution—and bring it down to earth with practical application for every spouse and parent. This book is an extension of Focus on the Family’s much-anticipated The Family Project, a 12-week church and small group series that will change the way moms, dads, wives, and husbands see themselves—and help them build healthy households from the best blueprint of all. While following the topic outline of The Family Project curriculum, this book stands alone and delves into the subject areas more deeply. It provides a solid exploration of God’s design and the transformative purpose of biblical families, and also offers down-to-earth helps for living out God’s design in your own family, along with inspiration for helping others do the same.