Capitalism could not exist without the coins, banknotes, documents, information graphics, interfaces, branding, and advertising made by graphic designers. It seems design is locked in a cycle of exploitation and extraction, furthering inequality and environmental collapse. How do we better understand the relationship between graphic design and capitalism, and how do we build more ethical alternatives?
BIO:
Ruben Pater (1977, NL) works between journalism and graphic design. Under the name Untold Stories, Pater creates visual narratives that support solidarity, justice, and equality. He is a tutor at the BA Graphic Design, and the MA Non Linear Narrative at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague. The Politics of Design (BIS, 2016), is his first book about cultural bias in graphic design. His second book CAPS LOCK (Valiz, 2021) retraces the role of graphic design in capitalism. Pater is based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
