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.

A (Not So) Global Design Manual for Visual Communication

The Politics of Design

Lewis Ngugi

If there is one book everyone, even those who are not in the design profession, should read is this one. 

The basis of this book is for us to unlearn and learn new ways of perceiving everything we know and have consumed. 

I have frowned, laughed, been disgusted and been quite intrigued by what I’ve read and seen in this book. 100% worth your time.

Didn't learn much that I didn't already know, but it's a good ref book for people who make things. Could have been more robust.

Laura Hilliger

Zach Grosser

Must read book for designers (and everyone).

Eva Decker

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.

Udit Desai

Eye-opening read on some parts of design that have some biases, politics, and ideas behind them.

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

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