About
A discussion of CAPS LOCK: How Capitalism Took Hold of Graphic Design by Ruben Pater (2021). A book about how design shapes the world through the lens of capitalism. Pater provides inspiration and examples of organizations committed to dismantling the relationships between capitalism and design.

The book includes four parts. We’ll be discussing Parts 1 and 2 on Thursday, December 9th, and Parts 3 and 4, on Thursday, January 20.

About book
Capitalism could not exist without the coins, notes, documents, graphics, interfaces, branding and advertisements; artefacts that have been (partly) created by graphic designers. Even anti-consumerist strategies such as social design and speculative design are being appropriated within capitalist societies to serve economic growth. It seems that design is locked in a system of exploitation and profit, a cycle that fosters inequality and the depletion of natural resources.

CAPS LOCK uses clear language and striking visual examples to show how graphic design and capitalism are inextricably linked. The book contains many case studies of designed objects related to capitalist societies and cultures, and also examines how the education and professional practice of (graphic) designers supports the market economy and how design practice is caught within that very system.

The content of CAPS LOCK is structured in chapters with titles of professions that designers can occupy (such as Educator; Engineer, Hacker, Futurist, Activist, etc.). These titles respond to the importance of not just how designers make work, but also how they perform daily economic and social roles.

About author
Ruben Pater (1977, NL) was educated as a graphic designer, worked in several design studios, also independently, and as an educator (e.g. MA Royal Academy of Art, The Hague). With Untold Stories Pater makes critical work on the edge of graphic design, journalism, and activism.

CAPS LOCK is an inspirational book full of sources for design students, educators, and visual communicators all over the world, just like Ruben’s first book The Politics of Design (BIS, 2016). www.untold-stories.net; @unlisted_roots; @capitalslock

Organized by Christian Solorzano