From the Back:
Capitalism could not exist without the coins, banknotes, documents, information graphics, interfaces, branding and advertising made by graphic designers. Even strategies such as social design and speculative design are easily appropriated to serve economic growth. It seems design is locked in a cycle of exploration and extraction, furthering inequality and envrionmental collapse. CAPSLOCK is a reference work that uses clear language and visual examples to show how graphic design and capitalism have come to be inextricably linked. The book features designed objects, but also examines how the professional practice of designers itself supports capitalism. Six radical graphic design collectives are featured that resist capitalist thinking in their own way, inspiring a more sustainable and less exploitative practice of graphic design.
If there is a way to write about the violences of design, CAPSLOCK: How Capitalism Took Hold of Graphic Design, and How to Escape From It by Ruben Pater is how you do it [all 552 pages, sources included]. This book is incredibly thorough, hammering down from the start with clear intentionality about the purpose behind its creation and what it will be discussing section by section. Pater doesn't skip a beat when transitioning throughout Western history from feudalism to contemporary post-truth capitalism while simultaneously maximizing and minimizing scales, from product to globe, in order to truly emphasize the entrenchment of capitalism and graphic design on our understanding of reality. What I came to love most about this extensive series of essays was how comprehensive it was. Pater practices what he preaches simply through the vernacular he uses throughout CAPSLOCKS. All the material put forth is comprehensible thanks to the avoidance of unnecessarily sophisticated and design-exclusive vernacular. Rarely did I have to find myself looking up the definition of a word in order to understand the context in which he meant it. There was no falter, no break time, and from start to finish I was able to lock in and understand everything he was bringing to the table. Fluid reading. To further this, Pater also backs up each claim with sources relentlessly. I strive to source as many references in my essays as Pater does in this book. The high degree of consideration held for the audience and their grasping of the information he provides displays lack of hubris Pater has as a design educator and a genuine interest in helping others identify the detailed workings of design in the facets of bureaucracy, colonialism, consumerism, work culture, education, etc., and find ways to navigate themselves and their practice out of it.
Pater primarily focuses on Western countries throughout the book but often includes examples from African, Asian and South American countries as well. Making connections to other regions was done to bring the reader back into the contemporary moment, displaying that the exploitative practices learned in general history courses are still going on today, even if our branded society tries to mask it. I found myself appreciating Pater’s honest dismay when discussing distressing realities, such as slavery, child labor exploitation, company extortion and abuse to get his point across. As an individual who is in the design field and a POC, it’s seen all too often that discussions revolving around the gravity of these upsetting matters and their connections to the (design) world aren’t given the blunt criticality they deserve due to making (often white) people uncomfortable. Pater provides a substantial amount of evidence regarding disenfranchisement and corruption to empathetically illustrate the effects of consumption. That is important. The information presented continually compounds on itself and can feel overwhelming, but Pater does not leave his audience hanging. There is always another way, and he shows it to you. In the final unit of the book, Pater provides individual and collective techniques that the reader can hone to maneuver out of standard capitalist practices. Once again, these mechanisms flow between scales, countries, and mediums with links and references to follow up for guidance. It was a crucial ending to such a book, and I do find myself looking at the websites he provides or researching the collective design practices he details.
While writing this commentary, I came to the hitch that one might take Pater as black and white due to how comprehensively streamlined he writes. I think the most easily misinterpretable aspect to take away from this book is the generalization that all of the things Pater talks about are intrinsically bad. “Good” and “bad” lie on a vague yet limiting spectrum, and alternative words with broader descriptors should come into use unless one is really emphasizing the value inheritance of a point. [For example: Fruit being a healthy dietary choice is an objective fact because there is unbiased research to show for it. Fruit is essentially good for the human body.] Let’s be realists; the damage of capitalism, colonialism, imperialism, and industrialism has been done, and the systems are in place. When combating these concepts, one should understand that the continuation of hoarding global scale wealth, hierarchy, exploitation, privacy invasion, intrusive advertising, union denying, and exclusivity, to name a few, feed these concepts and are objectively bad; however, they are rooted in the “unbiased” mechanisms of [sustainable and equitable] resource extraction, business building, education, and bureaucracy, which are unavoidable yet necessary when it comes to conducting life in a technological global citizen condition. It is the means of achievement that needs doing away with, not the mechanics for how everyday life functions in the 21st century itself. I have to add that this would require an economic balancing globally. The standard of comfort achieved by most post-industrial countries cannot be environmentally sustained and perpetuates systems of oppression; as a result, economic degrowth would have to occur for the global north, while economic growth would have to occur for the global south. Pater even discusses this necessity in his book. Easier said than done, of course, but through global comfort and economic balancing come more equal rights, freedoms, and equities.
On a more personal note, I can have the tendency to be hyperbolic when I write, but I mean it when I say this book has changed my perspective immensely not only as a designer but also as a consumer, a craftsman, a traveler, and all of the above. In a general sense, one of the largest concepts this book helped bridge for me was decolonizing design. To display my humility, I didn’t really know what this meant. I would repeat it and think about it, but I didn’t consciously comprehend it. My lack of knowledge on actual forms of career practice made it difficult for me to conceptualize decolonizing design at all. How do I, as an “all of the above,” decolonize design effectively? The conclusion I have come to currently is, first, the acceptance of my privilege as an American in a wealthy country and, second, actively working to decolonize my life through all autonomous means. I act upon these insights by being cognizant of where my money is going and what media and big tech companies I am giving my attention and electricity to. Money has always been important, but screen time has become a value in itself. By denying what I watch or websites I go to, I am removing a connection with an ad, and I am not an extra cent in someone’s bank account [also denying cookies, using an ad blocker, and pirating]. These practices have opened my world more as I find ways to subvert my conveniences by exploring local and open-source alternatives, scavenging or making my own materials, increasing my digital literacy, taking part in no-sale/no-buy communities, and, if all else fails, slowly but surely learning how to go without. I would be living in a fantasy if I didn’t address that some of these things are unavoidable and provided by privilege, so being aware of my consumption is needed. Everyone’s mileage varies, but intentionality always goes a long way either for yourself or your community.
My hash out aside, I think everyone should read CAPSLOCK: How Capitalism Took Hold of Graphic Design, and How to Escape From It by Ruben Pater, whether you call yourself a designer or not. There are many lessons to learn that are applicable to many people from all walks of life, and it will without a doubt shift the way you perceive your reality if you are willing to let it.