This isn’t like any other book on your bookshelf. That’s perhaps the greatest compliment I can offer this stealthy 552-page paperback exploration of the intersection between capitalism and graphic design. The organization of the stories and structure of the book is haphazard. The margins are uncomfortably tight. There’s an entire section on the branding of bananas, followed by a later exploration of who should dare to call themselves a designer (and who shouldn’t). The result is a book that’s a bit like a tasting menu alongside a buffet, seemingly designed to simultaneously frustrate you and open your mind. Ultimately, the book did get me thinking differently not just about graphic design, but about the way capitalism influences just about everything we see. For those reasons, CAPS LOCK is my pick for the Non-Obvious Book of the Week.
About the Non-Obvious Book Selection of the Week:
Every week I share a new “non-obvious” book selection. Titles featured here may be new or classic books, but the date of publication doesn’t really matter. My goal is to elevate great reads that perhaps deserve a second look which you might have otherwise missed.