Graphic Design Rants and Raves: Bon Mots on Persuasion, Entertainment, Education, Culture, and Practice

Design is everywhere. Graphic design enters into everything. This is the scope of designer Steven Heller's latest essay anthology that covers the spectrum of graphic design and related art and culture. Looking at design as practice, language, culture, and power, each of the forty-plus essays is a self-contained story. Heller pours out his ideas--criticisms and celebrations--on such topics as:

A history of our modern Hindu-Arabic numerals, and a look at the letter K
Brand design utilized by Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump early in the 2016 Presidential race
The tumultuous relationship between design and sex
The Charlie Hebdo massacre and the principles of free expression
Icons revisited, including Paul Rand (not to be confused with the politician Rand Paul), Ralph Ginzburg, Frank Zachary, George Lois, and Print magazine
Food packaging, the design of milk, and USPS stamps
The obsessive use of cuteness, and the sad and happy history of the ubiquitous happy face

From commercial advertising to government institutions to cultural revolution, from the objects that push design forward to those that seep into the everyday, Graphic Design Rants and Raves is an exploration of how visual design has arrived in the twenty-first century.

Allworth Press, an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing, publishes a broad range of books on the visual and performing arts, with emphasis on the business of art. Our titles cover subjects such as graphic design, theater, branding, fine art, photography, interior design, writing, acting, film, how to start careers, business and legal forms, business practices, and more. While we don't aspire to publish a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are deeply committed to quality books that help creative professionals succeed and thrive. We often publish in areas overlooked by other publishers and welcome the author whose expertise can help our audience of readers.

Steven Heller is cochair of the MFA Designer as Author program, and the Special Consultant to the President for New Programs, at New York’s School of Visual Arts of SVA. He writes the Visuals column for the New York Times Book Review, a weekly design column for the Atlantic online, and is a contributing editor to Print, ID, EYE, and Baseline magazines. He is the author, editor, and co-editor of more than 170 books on design and popular culture. He lives in New York City.