The Politics of Design: A (Not So) Global Design Manual for Visual Communication

by Ruben Pater

Many designs that appear in today's society will circulate and encounter audiences of many different cultures and languages. With communication comes responsibility; are designers aware of the meaning and impact of their work? An image or symbol that is acceptable in one culture can be offensive or even harmful in the next. A typeface or colour in a design might appear to be neutral, but its meaning is always culturally dependent. If designers learn to be aware of global cultural contexts, we can avoid stereotyping and help improve mutual understanding between people.

Politics of Design is a collection of visual examples from around the world. Using ideas from anthropology and sociology, it creates surprising and educational insight in contemporary visual communication. The examples relate to the daily practice of both online and offline visual communication: typography, images, colour, symbols, and information.

Politics of Design shows the importance of visual literacy when communicating beyond borders and cultures. It explores the cultural meaning behind the symbols, maps, photography, typography, and colours that are used every day. It is a practical guide for design and communication professionals and students to create more effective and responsible visual communication.

Genres: Design, Nonfiction, Politics, Art, Art Design, History, Sociology

192 pages, Paperback

First published May 10, 2016

Reviews

[Eva (now on Hardcover) · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's not enough writing about the intersection of design and politics, so I had high hopes for this "(Not So) Global Manual". The Politics of Design is full of single-page anecdotes, and feels more like a collection of lightly-researched blog posts than a serious printed reference. Most of the book is dedicated to pointing out cultural and political missteps that have been made by designers in the past, but there are no guiding principles to link these stories together into something actionable that designers today can use to improve their own work. The book ends abruptly after one anecdote, without a conclusion.

There are several typos, printed references to pages on Wikipedia, and pages where text color contrast almost certainly does not meet minimum accessibility requirements—a spectacular oversight for a book that dedicates an entire section to color and contrast. Overall, formatting feels sloppy: text is misaligned, margins are painfully tiny, fonts and colors seem chosen at random... I can't tell if this is brutalism or just poor design.

All that said, I did learn a few new things, and the entire book can be read in one sitting. I'd like to see a second version of The Politics of Design that approaches these topics more seriously, backed by more research, and with more consideration toward the design of the book itself.

[Paula Cruz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gostaria de dar 3.5 estrelas para esse livro, pois 3 considero uma nota de livros "ok" e 4 se refere a livros "muito bons" (e 5 é uma nota de "livros perfeitos"). Este livro está justamente nessa média: é um livro bem legal, mas não seja a ser um livro SURPREENDENTE. É basicamente um livro de estudos de casos. Verdade seja dita, até mesmo no título ele se mostra como um apanhado de conhecimentos, e até aí tudo bem, já que nem todo livro no mundo precisa ser específico e profundo. Ou até: nem todo mundo precisa começar pelo Foucault ou pelo Barthes (inclusive, é aconselhável não começar por eles risosssss). Ainda assim, fica aquele gostinho de "tá, mas pra onde vamos a partir daqui?" quando a leitura termina.

Infelizmente temos bem mais livros — não acadêmicos — sobre cores do que sobre política no design, e ter um livro que aborda, mesmo superficialmente, algumas questões nesse tema já é um avanço. Por conta disso, gostaria que este livro estivesse disponível quando eu comecei os estudos em design. Hoje, após anos de leitura e estudo na área, considero impossível escolher cor sem pensar em contexto cultural; ou começar um projeto sem pensar na efemeridades das imagens. Talvez, lá atrás, esse livro tivesse me impactado mais. Porém, agora, como mestranda praticamente formada, essa leitura não acrescentou tanto.

[Andrea Rossi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy to read collection of anecdotes and examples about the fact that design is inherently not neutral or universal. The book doesn't go deep into the topic, but does a good job at making the reader more aware

[Sérgio Ferreira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great handbook on the politics of creating designs, giving foresight into all aspects of the profession: type, image and layout construction. Focus a lot on arabic problematics and how graphic design in the so-called West doesn't necessarily fit into other places' different cultural aspects.

[laya · Rating 5 out of 5]

every design either serves or subverts the status quo

[Fábio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interessei-me por ler “Políticas do design” pois acreditava se tratar de um ensaio aprofundado sobre como se dá o design do mundo que nos cerca, de um mundo que é cada vez mais um mundo cultural, fabricado, tecnológico… e político. Entretanto, o que Ruben Pater entrega são textos curtos, anedóticos, sobre episódios do design — do mau design, do design mau, ou do igualmente imperdoável design ingênuo.

Chama atenção o projeto gráfico de “Políticas do design”. Afinal, é um livro para ser lido pelas imagens mais do que pelo texto. Pelo que parece, a edição brasileira seguiu, o mais fielmente possível, o design do original. Fato é que o livro não é agradável (visualmente) de ler — falta de contraste, ausência de padronização das fontes, alinhamentos aleatórios. Creio (ou desejo crer) se tratar da intenção do autor em “renegar” os princípios de design de modo a nos conscientizar sobre eles. Talvez seja a demonstração de que abdicar do design não leva a um design neutro e que, portanto, nós não podemos nos furtar a fazer escolhas. Que sejam, portanto, escolhas estudadas, testadas e includentes.

Por um lado, a estrutura baseada em textos curtos e muitas ilustrações possibilita a leitura da obra em uma única sentada. Por outro, dá a sensação de ser um aperitivo: não sacia a fome do assunto. Abre o apetite? Não, não mais do que o que já havia de início. Mas quem resiste a um bom aperitivo?

[Ronnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

collection of 1-2 page anecdotes, thus, the topics covered are not explored in depth with any particularly profound criticality. that said, i enjoyed the book as it as. its brevity and breadth made this an interesting read to me that touched on both themes i was already aware of and (much more) new ideas / histories / artifacts that i was not. will surely inform my own explorations outside the book.

[Alten · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting collection of short essays about design related topics like typography, colors, photography. Unfortunately every essay is just one or two pages long, so everything is on a pretty superfical level. While some texts are inspiring and even surprising, some of them are just disappointing ("Color psychology" to name one).

The chapter about typography was the most interesting one in my opinion, especially the essays "Arabic Adaption of Latin Logotypes" and "Ethnic Typography". Every now and then I have to think about them - the last time was when I was standing in front of a book store, where I saw Sebastião Salgado's "Africa" (the letters were set in Papyrus).

[fredi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Das Buch hat mir gut gefallen und mir einige neue Erkenntnisse geliefert. Allerdings hat mir leider etwas die Tiefe gefehlt. Es werden viele Beispiele gezeigt, auch die aber nur in wenigen Sätzen eingegangen wird. Vielleicht hätte man lieber nur ein Thema fokussieren sollen - zum Beispiel Typographie - und dann noch näher auf die Beispiele eingehen können.

Aber all in all ein Buch, das jeder gelesen haben sollte, der in der Medienbranche arbeitet!
Sehr augenöffnend.

[Helena Alcazar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting for graphic designers who are concerned about capitalism

[Melody Foster · Rating 3 out of 5]

easy read with some interesting points but not too in depth

[Eduardo Peretto Scapini · Rating 5 out of 5]

genial, leitura obrigatória demais

[Jona Meijer · Rating 4 out of 5]

In twee treinreizen uitgelezen, top boek. Veel wist ik wel al, maar was wel een chille opfrissing met goede voorbeelden. Voorbeelden waren vooral dingen die niet goed zijn in de (ontwerp)wereld, maar juist dat uitlichten is denk ik ook nodig. Verderrr heb je veeeel invloed als ontwerper, je kan echt veel zeggen met weinig of weinig zeggen met veel.

[Keen Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

“In the world of choice architecture, ‘dark patterns’ are methods to manipulate the user into making a choice against their will.”

I absolutely loved this book. Pater manages to pack so much in here, like the various sections on translation fails make for entertaining reading, the Mazda Laputa, in Spanish it meant whore, Mitsubishi Pajero means wanker in Spanish too. Back in 1928 a certain soft drink translated in China as “bite the wax tadpole” or “female horse stuffed wax” eventually correcting it to, “happiness in the mouth” the latter clearly being the most hilarious of all translations.

Elsewhere we learn that blue pills work better as depressants, whereas red ones act better as stimulants. We cover election ballots, map projections, the ubiquity and persistence of corporate BS and the small print, designed not to be read and our ever present cultural bias.

“Since any question that is put on a form looks legitimate relevant, the applicant is likely to answer them.”

The section on data manipulation within graphs was fascinating, such as the cumulative graphs, like the Apple one from 2013, which in spite of sales dropping for the last three quarters, this fact can be easily swallowed and hidden within a simplified graph which will always show an upward trend as it adds the sales of each year onto the previous year so it can only ever increase.

The US military (not an outfit exactly renowned for its intelligence) during the invasion of Afghanistan dropped cluster bombs (around 1 in 10 failed to explode) and made them the same colour and font as the food rations they were dropping at the same time?... Over 1 million were dropped, before they decided to change the colour of the rations.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough, it covers so much and the colours and graphics are great too, it’s playful, smart and enlightening read, this also makes for a nice accompaniment to some of work done by Marshall McLuhan, John Berger and Victor Papanek.

[cantread26 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book should be called something else because the title is misleading maybe something more like expanding the way you think about design? But overall was enjoyable to read it's a bunch of super (super) short snippets of knowledge on topics ranging from typography to color to images to diversity.

It wasn't that well written imo but had some cool references to past major errors and miscommunications across cultures in design or to studies exposing differences in the way we perceive symbols and images around the world. Like the image with the storm going in a direction determined by the direction you read or the unfortunate translations of product names to other languages.

So... COOL for sure would recommend as a quick fun fact read but I don't think it lives up to it's graaaaaaaand title.

[Akmal A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buku ni bukanlah satu buku yang lengkap menghuraikan isi-isi seperti tajuknya. Tapi cukup sekadarnya lagi-lagi untuk orang yang macam aku sendiri yang baru-baru nak meneroka bahan bacaan yang berfokuskan kepada reka grafik . Tapi apa yang paling menarik tentang buku ini ianya memberi juga satu pendekatan baru untuk sentiasa mereka sesuatu sesuai dengan konteks dan setiap design memang tidak terlepas dari unsur-unsur politikal. Bahasa merupakan satu teras penting sebelum mereka bentuk dan inilah yang tekankan pada awal buku ini bagaimana bahasa berkembang dengan mengambil contoh daripada perkembangan bahasa dari peradaban besar seperti peradaban Barat, Mesir Purba dan Islam. Seterusnya penentuan reka grafik sangat penting kerana ianya adalah untuk tujuan komunikasi bukan sahaja estetika. Banyak bahan bacaan lanjut yg disarankan untuk dibaca untuk mengetahui lebih dalam lagi dan secara peribadi buku ini boleh habis dalam masa 2-3 jam dan cadangan bahan bacaan itu membuatkan aku rasa buku ini penting di baca untuk pemula yang mana ingin serius menekuni bidang reka grafik ni.

[Hyeonji Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a designer, woman, Asian who is living in a western country, I really enjoy reading this book. This book contains interesting discourses in a variety of aspects in visual design. I was thinking about intersectionality, decolonizing, decentralizing in design while I read the book. It was written very easy to read and offered many appropriate visual examples.

[Facundo Matiaude · Rating 4 out of 5]

Siento que este libro le rompería un poco el ego a todos mis colegas diseñadores que creen que el dIseÑo pUedE SaLvaR el MunDoO. Diseñar para todes es imposible, lo que producimos día a día es fútil, y la imagen un campo minado de matices y rincones inexplorados. Besitos.

[Pau Sánchez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Muy interesante y muy bonito esteticamente🤓👆🏻 con muchos ejemplos de la politica vinculada al diseño. ppeeeroo se queda un poco bajo de contenido al ser solo eso: ejemplo.
Hubiese estado guay un hilo conductor a través del libro y los ejemplos

[Moy · Rating 3 out of 5]

nice pocket book with good introductions to a lot of different topics! could see what he was trying to argue and achieve but could have been a little bit more indepth? like I get it was an intro but it was a bit to surface level for my liking

[Alva · Rating 4 out of 5]

This gave me a tiny existential crisis. Is everything I believe to be true created by white cis men?
…It’s not often you read a book that makes you feel like you know nothing when you’re done reading it.

[Guilherme Garcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bom livro, na prática uma coletânea de curiosidades demonstrando o papel político do design. Funciona como uma boa introdução ao assunto, adoraria ter lido algo assim na faculdade.

[Maria Nolasco · Rating 4 out of 5]

aprendo mais sobre design e comunicação visual com o trabalho do ruben pater do que em qualquer cadeira que tive sobre estas temáticas

[holly bone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just stunned by this book, great design and such a pleasure to hold and so easy to read. Going to buy this for everyone I know tehee

[Breno · Rating 4 out of 5]

Achei o conteúdo extremamente rico, crítico, direto e revelador sobre o eurocentrismo do design contemporâneo. É uma leitura fácil e rápida que recomendo para todos.

Minha única ressalva é ter sido escrito por um europeu - ressalta ainda mais essa estrutura.

[Ahimsa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book doesn't live up to its promise but it is interesting and engaging.

[Mila · Rating 3 out of 5]

Introduceert telkens hele interessante onderwerpen om er vervolgens niet dieper op in te gaan. Beetje rare rode draad maar wel sterke bronnen!

[tiijasaurus · Rating 3 out of 5]

tosi helppolukuinen ja helposti lähestyttävä. Lyhyitä esseitä fonteista, väreistä, symboleista ja infographeista etc. Kivan visuaalinen, about puolet sivuista oli kuvia — tää tosin johti siihen että esseet oli lyhyitä ja jäi pinnallisiksi. Mutta hyvä kirja for commutes, koska ehtii lukee esseet kerralla :D. Ite luin tän kun etin inspiraatiota mun International relations topics in data & crisis kurssin lopputyötä varten, (ja varmaankin teen sen kartoista ja kartta infographeista) ja tuntu et sain täst kuitenki jotain irti siihenkin, vaik olinki jo vähän tutustunut osaan aiheista. Suosittelisin tätä kirjaa kenelle tahansa aloittelijalle ja jos haluaa saada sellaisen yleisen overview:n, mut toi title on ehkä vähän misleading, koska täs ei ollu mitää isoo narratiivia jota seurataan, vaan enemmän silleen näytettiin ja kerrottiin miten monia erilaisia asioita liittyen miten erilaisia design aspecteja (fontteja, valokuvia, infographeja) on käytetty kertomaan specific political narratives of those certain topics; eli ei niiku oo jotain yhtä tiettyy punaista lankaa vaa enemmän sellaisia snipettejä näistä monista aiheista jotka kyl liittyy siihen miten design voi olla poliittista… jos tos on järkee.:. 😅..

[Micky · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is not useful to anyone wanting to learn about design. The book is merely a series of random snippets on, for example, how capital letters are sexist and maps are racist. Not surprising, cultural Marxists believe everything created by white men is sexist, racist and every other -ist you can think of. It's all the usual multi-cultural, pro-immigration, anti-capitalism, anti-white propaganda.

The author states up front that he is political; of course he doesn't state which side he is on, but is obviously far-Left. My spidey senses were already tingling when I saw his name, Ruben Pater (every single time?). I found his Twitter and unsurprisingly he is a supporter of Antifa, a global terrorist organisation who dress up in black outfits, wear masks to cover their faces, and organise in large numbers to physically assault anyone who opposes immigration. Some of their other activities include throwing urine balloons and smashing skulls open with bike locks.

Thankfully I picked up this book for free. Normally I give unwanted books to charity, but this book was torn to pieces and went straight into the trash.

[Rebecca Worth · Rating 3 out of 5]

The idea behind this book is important but unfortunately, its production quality undermines its value as a critical text. I really enjoyed the breadth of research but it is as if the content was published too early in its development – with blatant grammatical errors and missing or misplaced references. Brief advisory sentences are tagged onto the end of some, but not all, articles, which felt inadequate and inconsistent. The book ends abruptly, without any concluding statement to weave the threads of research together into a strong, actionable argument.

Despite its errors, I would still recommend it as mandatory reading for BA design students.