Who Can Afford to Be Critical?: An Inquiry into What We Can’t Do Alone, as Designers, and into What We Might Be Able to Do Together, as People

by Afonso Matos (Editor)

On the conditions and limits of critical thinking for design culture under capitalism Design schools increasingly urge students to address social, political and environmental issues in their work. But who can afford to work in this way after graduation?
In a dynamic style that draws from multiple contributors, Who Can Afford to Be Critical? discusses the limits that affordability, class and labor impose upon the educational promise of holding a "critical" practice. Why do we tend to ignore the material and socioeconomic constraints that bind us as designers, claiming instead that we can be powerful agents of change? Instead of focusing on the dream of ethical work under capitalism, could we instead focus first on designers’ own working conditions, as one immediate site for collective action? Over the course of four chapters, this publication delves into the modes of precarity in critical graphic work and possible paths toward emancipation from that position.

Genres: Design, Nonfiction, Art, Theory, Research

90 pages, Paperback

Published September 5, 2023

Reviews

[elle · Rating 5 out of 5]

(I had this book added to gr just so I could write this review LOL)

I was really lucky to pick up a copy of this at Perimeter Books while I was in Melbourne. It’s a very idea-dense zine but dug into the feeling of disillusionment I’ve felt about the industry and the situating of designers as gods that operate outside/above the frameworks of capitalism & labor. And the idea that design can change the world and be the silver bullet to overcoming capitalism & neoliberalism.

It’s been… uncomfortable to see “design” or “designers” as an entity that is somehow both impervious to all these frameworks yet still be a bit self-mastubatory about how it can be the one to rescue us out of those frameworks. I absolutely loved the interviews with DAE students— who were basically having the same conversations I’ve been having with my friends since we became professionals— interjected or further given more context by snippets of essays or articles. Really dense, thought-provoking stuff. Funny, self-aware, but also not doused in irony or self-importance. It made me hopeful about how we can move past how the word “design” or “designer” seems to colonize everything it so much as grazes.

Ran into terms like the “deprofessionalization” of design which argues for the idea that everyone is a designer/everything is “design” under the happy idea of democratization. This dissolves any kind of idea that even formally-educated or trained, professional designers have any kind of “expert knowledge” (do we? lol). That then dilutes any opportunity for collective action or organizing because we’re all too busy trying to self-brand and individualize ourselves/our practices because that’s the only way to make a living. Designer-as-author, designer-as-activist, designer-as-intellectual are all reactions to the fact that we’ve, over time, identified less and less as workers with little to no material agency, and more as freewheeling actors who somehow must overcome or exist beyond an industry and world full of precarity, alienation from our labor, and exploitation.

Lots of interesting stuff about how the dissolution of the International Typographic Union in 1986 (due to the personal computer & other tech advancements BUT ALSO deliberate anti-union sentiment largely in newspapers) was the canary in the coalmine for designers that signaled this estrangement from other workers or labor movements as a whole, and our relationship to materiality, conversations re: capital, production, and collective bargaining power.

[Florenz Blancaflor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Started this a long time ago but for whatever reason never read the last 10 pages T.T

Very very helpful thoughts. Makes me want to transcribe more conversations w friends. Eases the occasional sadness that I do software engineering instead of design frfr. Designers should totally unionize.

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

i couldn’t decide. i was in-between a three and a four star rating. i ended up on three. i think it is too short to cover the topic properly. i would have liked more, digging deeper. (since the book shows a small excerpt of the original diploma i am curious to see the whole thing).

but: the book raises the right questions on design education (what should be teached in design schools) and design profession in general (what is design or who should we call designers). it is important to ask how to deal with a neoliberal work environment, how the profession can evolve in a world, where everybody has access to design tools. and, it is a good start to find ways to change the system of precarious working conditions inside the creative field. so, yes, maybe unions are something to look at. but, do we still have the power? (the union was formed by printers, they produced, not some white collar-worker or self-employed critical thinker). and btw, are designers that important to the market on which they depend to some extend? are we closely connected enough? or are we just to many with a broad but unspecific skillset? (everything a little and nothing right).

the author offers no solution in the end. it seems that we don’t have answers, yet. i don’t know how to solve this, but it makes me happy that there are other people to think about these demanding issues. this means, at least, we are not alone.

[alisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5, really really loved these zines, really engaging, smart in a conversational/rambly way, wonderfully designed (of course) in the visual sense. really appreciated the self reflective outro piece as well.
i especially loved the last zine about unions; although the first three brought important and interesting setup, framing, and discussion, the last zine brought the most new info for sure and i am already thinking abt and seeing unions everywhere

[Christopher Lucas · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first thing to notice is that the radically playful typesetting makes this zinebook a stunning object to own. Its presentation is vibrant, self-aware, and unserious.

The substance is a little flimsy in chapters, dressed in stuffy academic language that feigns at being more profound. The content of these discussions and excerpts feels like being back in university: asking many roundabout questions and conjecturing vague, abstract strategies while cohering into few meaningful takeaways. University students are really good at these kinds of hollow explorations; I had forgotten.

Nevertheless, the outro does a solid job analyzing the project’s own weaknesses and endeared me further to the spirit of the work. After all, if we’re going to organize, I may as well stand alongside such vigorous efforts.

[Pchu · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some interesting points raised by this book that can go beyond "design" to apply to most creative labor/freelance work. I especially liked the young academic energy of this book; reading it was like being in college again.

[Spencer Stephens · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a tremendous gateway into larger conversations surrounding 'critical design.' The tone is conversational if not a bit rambly, but, again, is made very approachable by the introduction and reflection sandwiching this collection. It introduces the topics in a way that catches you up to speed and, most importantly, it asks the right questions.

For it's brevity, the structure on each chapter building upon the last is meaningful and satisfying. I found the last chapter on the unique circumstances surrounding a possible graphic design union and how important it is to strive for to be remarkably insightful and will be my new go-to recommendation as a must read for fellow designers.

Matos' collection doesn't offer tangible solutions to the issues addressed, but it also never claimed to. We haven't figured this stuff out yet, but here is a great collection of well written and well organized thoughts from other people who are thinking about it all—that's something.

GRAPHIC DESIGNERS MUST UNIONIZE.

[Mudito · Rating 5 out of 5]

Conjunto de fanzines que fue creando el autor junto a su tesis doctoral. Una estética muy chula, cada color es una temática distinta, una maquetación experimental post irónica, acompañando con memes etc.

El contenido a su vez es muy interesante, sin profundizar muchísimo abarca distintos temas en torno al diseño gráfico: la competencia feroz e ímpetu por destacar, precariedad del mundo laboral, la burbuja academicista, pone en cuestión el llamado “critical design”, compara el sector diseño/creativo con otros gremios más “sindicalizables”…. A través de conversaciones con un grupo de estudio de su universidad y lecturas de distintos autores.

[Annika Zitto · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started reading this after returning to my apartment on the day of my college graduation cause I’m a masochist or something, lmfao. But I thought it was interesting. I liked the conversation excerpts from the DAE students. I like the memes. Recency bias, but I also appreciated the authors note at the end about guilt and the anti-intellectualism of intellectuals. Felt very relatable.
Overall, a good think piece as I think about what is next for me post-grad!

[pea · Rating 5 out of 5]

it’s always a treat to read about your lived experience…. it felt like reading thoughts from my head. i love the approach taken to this book & appreciate what it advocates for… we need to talk about the realities of working as a designer more! Required reading for all designers in the 21st century especially if you work for the design industry professionally (me) or if you are uninspired about work (also me) or if you studied graphic design in your undergrad (again, also me)

[Oliver · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first glance, the book seems targeted towards alumni’s of the social sciences and arts but you quickly realize that many of the topics discussed overlap with other disciplines. Worth reading, especially for those that can (or want to) directly impact academic institutions.

[Inês · Rating 5 out of 5]

👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻

[Andrea Cobos · Rating 4 out of 5]

The deconstruction of privileges

[Pedro Olim · Rating 5 out of 5]

read this in a 2h30 train trip while sipping a mango loco and sitting next to a crazy woman, enjoyable experience.

although i’m not a designer (or am i) and had never thought about the book’s central question it was pretty easy to follow and ultimately agree with the author’s thesis, whoever wrote is definitely really smart and hot.

signed copy btw 👨🏻‍❤️‍💋‍👨🏻