Dissenting design book needs to be on your shelf
By Ezra Winton, February 20, 2008 Comments (6)
Nearly two years after this incredible, indispensable, 230 page book was released in paperback I have finally got my muckraking hands on it. Milton Glaser and Mirko Ilic's The Design of Dissent is a phenomenal repository of political poster art (and more) that I've now realized is an essential addition to any shelf, coffee table, library, or revolutionary basement on the planet.
The book is visually stunning - a keen eye for layout, mixed with a healthy dose of breathing space and exceptional curatorial decision-making make for 200+ pages of explosive and provocative political art.
Divided into sections that range from "Ex-Yugoslavia" to "Food" to "U.S. Presidential Election" this offering from Rockport Publishers is one of the best books illustrating the collusion/confusion of politics and art that I have seen.
The images are part historical testament, part marginalized voice, and part pop culture intervention. Together they make up a book that is an essential for anyone interested in political art, dissent, democracy, and the spirit of creative visual production to pry open the closed spaces of culture and community.
The school of visual arts in NY has also created a site highlighting some 100 of the political posters curated by Glasher, you can view it here.
Amazing, and not terribly expensive, either. I'll definitely have to get my hands on this!
Yes, I forgot to mention that for an oversized, full colour, 200+ page book, it is a very decent price at $18. And worth every penny.
Just a small correction, its Milton GLASER, not Glasher. A design icon who most famously designed the I (heart) NY identity.
This book has a special place on my little bookshelf. It's a serious 'must have.' However:
@ Ezra, I wonder if we have different copies- mine was $30! (still worth it, though ;-)
Kevin: thanks for the correction, I was confusing Glaser with Canadian communications scholar Mike Gasher I guess.
And for those of you looking for this book still, it remains $18 at amazon.ca, but just over $30 at amazon.com. Either way, if you have the dough, it's worth it...
Hah! What a "political" art!
I was expecting a kind of progressive book but instead I found an album making its start with anti-socialist drawings and works.
Significant isn't it? Why socialism, especially after the fall of the USSR? it's been 15 years..
Cold war tactics..
Looking for an anti-capitalist content? This book is not the adress..
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