Between 1981 and 1995 Cubic 3 Design (Ton Hoogerwerf (1956) and Gerwin van Vulpen (1958)) designed humorous objects that resist the idea that an object should be functional. Their 'joyful counter-method' had its origins mainly in British punk and in subcultures that had emerged from it: new wave and new romantics in particular. For a while, the work linked up with foreign anti-design movements that went against functionalism. Design had to express the constantly changing zeitgeist, according to Hoogerwerf and Van Vulpen, and therefore be heavily decorated. It led to 'camp' vases made of polyurethane foam, troll lamps that solved loneliness, Rock Hudson napkin holders that made AIDS a subject of discussion and a 'trash' interior for the Rijksdienst Beeldende Kunst in The Hague. Cubic's 'good taste of bad taste' is examined in more detail by Yvonne Brentjens. At the same time, the book sketches a powerful picture of the 1980s and the first half of the 1990s.