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Webinar with CAPS LOCK Author Ruben Pater

31 January, online from Liverpool

  • Webinar with CAPS LOCK author Ruben Pater - live from Liverpool
  • Pater will discuss his new book, reflecting on the roles of designers under capitalism

What: Webinar with Ruben Pater
Where: Online
When: 31 January 2022 at 14.00 GMT / 15.00 CET
Hosted by: Liverpool School of Art and Design
Language: English
Admission: Free - Register here 

Join us online at Liverpool School of Art & Design to listen to designer, writer and educator Ruben Pater discuss his new book, CAPS LOCK: How capitalism took hold of graphic design, and how to escape from it..


Capitalism could not exist without the coins, notes, documents, graphics, interfaces, branding and advertisements; artefacts that have been (partly) created by graphic designers. Even anti-consumerist strategies such as social design and speculative design are being appropriated within capitalist societies to serve economic growth. It seems that design is locked in a system of exploitation and profit, a cycle that fosters inequality and the depletion of natural resources.

In this talk, Pater will highlight how graphic design and capitalism are inextricably linked, reflecting on the varied roles designers have adopted in this process, from salesperson to philanthropist, and featuring examples of radical design collectives, that work towards alternatives between design, community and reciprocity.

Ruben Pater
Ruben Pater is a designer at a moment in time, when more design is about the last thing the world needs. In search for ethical alternatives he designs, writes, and teaches. He lives and works in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.