Designing History

A book about graphic design we usually don’t notice — yet it shapes our lives. Money, passports, certificates, property documents: these are not merely “designed” objects, they construct reality by confirming identity, granting permissions and preserving memory and rights.

This updated and expanded edition of Immutable: Designing History (2022) includes a substantial essay section that rethinks design history — not through iconic masterpieces, but through bureaucratic forms that remain largely invisible. The authors invite us to see design not as the work of individual creators, but as a tool of bureaucratic power — while also opening space to reflect on colonialism, capitalism and the designer’s role within these systems.