Looking Closer 5: Critical Writings on Graphic Design

The final installment in this acclaimed series offers astute and controversial discussions on contemporary graphic design from 2001 to 2005.  This collection of essays takes stock of the quality and profundity of graphic design writing published in professional and general interest design magazines, as well as on blogs and Internet journals.

Prominent contributors include Milton Glaser, Maud Lavin, Ellen Lupton, Victor Margolin, Mr. Keedy, David Jury, Alice Twemlow, Steven Heller, Jessica Helfand, William Drenttel, Michael Bierut, Michael Dooley, Nick Curry, Emily King, and more.

Among the important themes discussed: design as popular culture, design as art, politics, aesthetics, social responsibility, typography, the future of design, and more. Students, graphic designers beginning their careers, and veterans seeking fresh perspective will savor this anthology gathered from some of today’s top graphic design writers and practitioners, as well as commentators from outside the profession. From the series that helped launch the design criticism movement and was the first to anthologize graphic design criticism from key sources, this volume promises to be the most provocative of all!

The final installment in this acclaimed series offers astute and controversial discussions on contemporary graphic design from 2001 to 2005.  This collection of essays takes stock of the quality and profundity of graphic design writing published in professional and general interest design magazines, as well as on blogs and Internet journals.

Prominent contributors include Milton Glaser, Maud Lavin, Ellen Lupton, Victor Margolin, Mr. Keedy, David Jury, Alice Twemlow, Steven Heller, Jessica Helfand, William Drenttel, Michael Bierut, Michael Dooley, Nick Curry, Emily King, and more.

Among the important themes discussed: design as popular culture, design as art, politics, aesthetics, social responsibility, typography, the future of design, and more. Students, graphic designers beginning their careers, and veterans seeking fresh perspective will savor this anthology gathered from some of today’s top graphic design writers and practitioners, as well as commentators from outside the profession. From the series that helped launch the design criticism movement and was the first to anthologize graphic design criticism from key sources, this volume promises to be the most provocative of all!

Michael Bierut, a partner in the New York office of the international design consultancy Pentagram, is the editor of the journal Re-Thinking Design. Co-editor of the earlier Looking Closer volumes, he lives in New York City.

William Drenttel is a partner in Jessica Helfand/William Drenttel, a multimedia and print media company. He served as co-editor of three of the Looking Closer titles. He lives in Falls Village, Connecticut.

Steven Heller is a leading authority on design education and the editor of the Education Of series. The art director of the New York Times Book Review, he is also the chair of the graduate design program at the School of Visual Arts and the writer or editor of more than 80 books on graphic design. He lives in New York City.