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A review by swordvampire
CAPS LOCK: How Capitalism Took Hold of Graphic Design, and How to Escape from It by Ruben Pater
challenging
informative
slow-paced
In all seriousness, CAPSLOCK was a very solid read; Pater covered a lot across multiple topics to better contextualize the impact of graphic design historically, especially to illustrate how it diverts attention from the evils of bureaucracy and western imperialism throughout history. It demonstrated the performative nature of design advocacy and design thinking as systems used by designers today, as well as providing alternatives. Think examples and interviews from design collectives and using specific design projects to demonstrate how design can be wielded.
All that to say, a book critiquing capitalism that heavily quotes Marx (and the Communist Manifesto itself) as frequently but barely discusses communism outside a brief comment on how it has failed was rather odd. It just felt like the book was missing something without it, and doesn't touch much (if at all) on design work done in Asia, Africa, or Eastern Europe. I think this is an oversight of a book that so heavily critiques capitalism and Western involvement in other countries.
I got a lot out of this read, but it does leave me wanting to read further on the sources it quoted to further expand my thoughts. This would be an interesting read within the academic spaces of Graphic Design since it introduces a lot of ideas that could allow students to expand their approach to the creative process, and makes for a better think piece on how to use design for social causes than the current curriculum.
All that to say, a book critiquing capitalism that heavily quotes Marx (and the Communist Manifesto itself) as frequently but barely discusses communism outside a brief comment on how it has failed was rather odd. It just felt like the book was missing something without it, and doesn't touch much (if at all) on design work done in Asia, Africa, or Eastern Europe. I think this is an oversight of a book that so heavily critiques capitalism and Western involvement in other countries.
I got a lot out of this read, but it does leave me wanting to read further on the sources it quoted to further expand my thoughts. This would be an interesting read within the academic spaces of Graphic Design since it introduces a lot of ideas that could allow students to expand their approach to the creative process, and makes for a better think piece on how to use design for social causes than the current curriculum.