Tackling Graphic Design's Relationship to Race
In the new book The Design of Race, Peter Fine discusses how technology, graphic design, typography and photography have influenced the ideas of racing in America
Peter Fine has explored the relationship between race and graphic design for the past decade and has consolidated his research in his new book, which discusses the effects of visual culture on our understanding and assumptions about race.
The book focuses on three specific visual areas – typography, lithography, and photography – all of which Fine says helped "fix" racist stereotypes in the 19th century in the United States. "The way in which race is constituted in the minds of the United States is unique in its polarizing mythology when compared to other nations and regions, even those that have also been severely affected by colonization and the slave trade," writes Fine, an associate professor of graphic design at the University of Wyoming who has taught for 16 years. "The explicit black and white nature of this mythology has increased its visual nature, and the broad global influence of US culture has further increased its reach."
Fine stresses that if designers are to be ethical in their work, they must understand the full historical significance of various forms – something that is especially important when more accurately considering the type of language and imagery used to discuss races in online media is scrutinized.
The field has almost completely ignored race as an issue, while racist representation in a variety of visual and material forms has defined how representation occurs in US culture
While Black Lives Matter has sparked a wave of race-related talk, the field of graphic design has arguably felt oddly absent from the discussion. While many know that the creative industry as a whole is unrepresentative, less time has been devoted to considering the historical roles of graphic design and visual culture in maintaining racial stereotypes or excluding people of color.
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