Eye on Design is an editorial platform from AIGA that has, for the last decade, covered the ins and outs of the design industry. AIGA's Eye on Design presents a substantial and provocative collection of essays and interviews that amounts to a wide-reaching examination of the design profession and its impacts on society and culture.
From documenting bold new work from global designers to chronicling the field's most critical issues, AIGA's reported stories, op-eds, interviews, and conversations help designers make sense of the world and place their profession within a broader context. Weaving together original and previously published content from some of the most important writers in today’s design conversation, this book for designers encapsulates wide-reaching topics that strive to answer an essential question: What does it mean to be a designer today?
The book is organised into three parts: Reflections, Questions and Ideas which cover the most pressing issues and provocations that designers face in our current world, including:
- The evolution of personal branding
- Teaching design history
- The cult of minimalism
- The perils of hero worship
- Designers’ role in conspicuous consumption
- The meaning of visual sustainability
- And more
Contributors include the book's editors, Liz Stinson and Jarrett Fuller, and such outstanding design writers as Rick Poynor, Anne Quito, Briar Levit, Cliff Kuang and many more.
Accessible, engaging, and conversational, What It Means to Be a Designer Today is an enduring resource and vibrant gift book that speaks to design students and educators, working designers of all levels, and anyone interested in graphic design.
Princeton Architectural Press, 240pp, 15cm x 23cm, illustrated paperback, 2024
