By Elizabeth Resnick

In this book, editor and graphic design educator Elizabeth Resnick explores the ways in which design can be a catalyst for social change.

Bringing together key texts of the last fifty years, The Social Design Reader traces the emergence of the notion of socially responsible design. This volume represents the authentic voices of the thinkers, writers and designers who are helping to build a 'canon' of informed literature which documents the development of the discipline.

Divided into three parts. Section 1: Making a Stand includes an introduction to the term 'social design' and features papers which explore its historical underpinnings. Section 2: Creating the Future documents the emergence of social design as a concept, as a nascent field of study, and subsequently as a rapidly developing professional discipline, and Section 3: A Sea Change is made up of papers acknowledging social design as a firmly established practice.

Section introductions provide context for the original source material, while summary boxes clearly articulate how each text fits with the larger milieu of social design theory, methods, and practice.

Cover design by Elizabeth Resnick

Published by Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2019

Softcover, 496 pages, b&w, 7.5 × 9.5 inches

ISBN: 978-1-35-002606-3