Process Music: Songs, Stories and Studies of Graphic Culture

by Kenneth FitzGerald, Debbie Millman (Preface)

Essays on print-media culture from Paul Rand to Barney Bubbles by a leading American design thinker In Process Music , Virginia-based author Kenneth FitzGerald provides deep readings of print-media artifacts and activities, often through the lens of music. Employing a range of narrative voices, the works combine academic rigor with the accessibility of popular forms such as music journalism. FitzGerald’s new book compiles over 40 of his pieces from the last decade―many of which are now inaccessible or behind a paywall―with reprinted works first appearing in outlets such as Emigre , Eye , Print , Idea , Modes of Criticism , Design Observer , Speak Up and AIGA Journal of Graphic Design . Divided into four thematic sections and a coda, Process Music considers a variety of influential figures working in design and music, including Barney Bubbles, Paul Rand, William Addison Dwiggins and Jacqueline Casey. A prelude composed by AIGA Design medalist and Design Matters host Debbie Millman also features.

324 pages, Paperback

Published November 15, 2022

Reviews

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

We need more good-natured contrarians, so we should be grateful for Kenneth Fitzgerald’s continued and critical passion for graphic design. He’s learned and wise, expanding the discourse beyond the professional and the parochial, and into art and even economic theory. Alas, he also falls prey to many a graphic designer’s Achilles heel: the urge to be overly clever (often simply for clever’s sake, to boot) over everything else. Too often, this tips his commentary into snark rather than sincere inquiry.

The book design’s nod to XTC’s Hipgnosis-designed Go2 LP sleeve is telling. The sleeve is certainly clever (if not one of the first meta / postmodern examples in popular sleeve art history). But it is also (still!) an incisive, even cynical commentary on the inner mechanics of selling an album, of which the cover design is a part. In its sly way, it spoke truth to power. (Which is probably why XTC bandleader and often enfant terrible, Andy Partridge, loved it so much. And probably why Hipgnosis found it to be no more than a joke.) Fitzgerald’s homage here is purely cosmetic—more a preening display of his cultural bona fides than anything else. I guess we design types can’t help ourselves...

Also, why is the text so small? (Especially set with a sans serif typeface?) Don’t you want people to read this? I’m always struck by how graphic designers sacrifice accessibility for superficial aesthetic choices. Or if it was a page count issue, maybe more judiciously edit the selection of work here? Just asking...