Lecture
Thursday 27 May 2021
Ruben Pater
CAPS LOCK: How capitalism took hold of design, and how to escape from it
Capitalism could not exist without the coins, banknotes, documents, information graphics, interfaces, branding, and advertising made by graphic designers. Even strategies such as social design and speculative design are easily appropriated to serve economic growth. It seems design is locked in a cycle of exploitation and extraction, furthering inequality and environmental collapse. CAPS LOCK is an upcoming book by Ruben Pater at Valiz Publishers that uses clear language and visual examples to show how graphic design and capitalism have come to be inextricably linked. The book features designed objects, but also examines how the professional practice of designers itself supports capitalism. Six radical graphic design collectives are featured that resist capitalist thinking in their own way, inspiring a more sustainable and less exploitative practice of design.
About Ruben
Ruben Pater (b. 1977, NL) is trained as a graphic designer. For a decade he worked in graphic design and advertising studios, after which he decided to start his own practice. Informed by his experience, Untold Stories produces critical work between graphic design, journalism, and activism. He is tutor at the BA Graphic Design and the MA Non Linear Narrative of the Royal Academy of Art in the Hague. His first book The Politics of Design (BIS publishers, 2016) has been an inspirational source book for design students, tutors, and visual communicators worldwide.
