in the 21st century, commerce and culture are ever more closely entwined. This collection of essays by design critic Rick Poynor takes a searching look at visual culture to discover the reality beneath the ultra-seductive surfaces. Poynor explores the thinking behind the emerging resistance to commercial rhetoric among designers, and offers critical insights into the changing dialogue between advertising and design. Other essays address the topics of visual journalism; brands as religion; the new solipsism; graphic memes; the pleasures of imperfect design; and the poverty of "cool". The worldwide dominance of huge corporations is invariably expressed by visual means. This book challenges this mono-culture critically. It offers inspirational evidence of alternative ways of engaging with design, and it will appeal to any reader with a questioning interest in design, advertising, cultural studies, media studies, and the visual arts. In Obey the Giant, acclaimed design writer Rick Poynor exposes the ambivalent reality beneath the seductive surface of contemporary visual culture. Ranging across design, advertising, photography, publishing and art, these incisive, entertaining essays challenge received wisdom, dismiss sacred cows and pose challenging questions about key issues and trends – from graphic memes and the poverty of ‘cool’ to culture jamming, designer sex and death, and the pleasure of imperfection. An inspiring call to action, Obey the Giant shows how designers and image-makers both collude with, and resist, corporate control of the image world. ‘An articulate and poignant set of essays . . . Poynor is a sensitive, often brilliant writer on visual design in graphics, advertising and commercial visual culture.’ Art Monthly ‘So timely in its critique of global-market-driven design that it gives the sense of an alarm clock ringing anew after a self-indulgent culture pounded the snooze button.’ Eye ‘These articles are clearly the result of careful research, analysis, and contemplation, but a passionate current of outrage flows through them . . . A number of individual pieces analyse key design issues better than any I have read before.’ Print ‘A lucid analysis of the current situation . . . Poynor claims the right to a design criticism comparable to that of literature or film.’ Domus ‘A terrific book. Essential. After you’ve read it, you really can’t look at the world in the same way, which is also one definition of art.’ Douglas Coupland Rick Poynor’s books include Design Without Boundaries, No More Rules: Graphic Design and Postmodernism and Designing Pornotopia. He is a research fellow at the Royal College of Art, London, and lectures internationally on design and visual culture. Used Book in Good Condition