Het nieuwe boek

El Lissitzky wrote in 1923: 'the new book demands the new writer'[1]. As the old boundaries and rules of craftsmanship fade and speed and technology as we know it gradually disappear, this means in theory that the design profession is open to anyone who can make 'something' in a verbal and visual dimension.

An exciting field of new designers is emerging whose discursive possibilities no longer consist of “problems” to be solved, but of “questions” they want to answer. Carefully, they connect content to a social, cultural and digital context, which is constantly expanding by adding political, technical, scientific or economic research fields and systems, unhampered by any boundaries. They open source their creations or share the research as a pamphlet for reflection and positioning, so that anyone can use it as well.

The first networked computer systems were designed for the military, scientists and academics, primarily to share information quickly and easily. Soon these systems grew into an area where human relationships could flourish through informal, emotional and playful gatherings, becoming a place for digital (creative) exchange. However, the “networked self[2]” has increasingly come to contradict itself: where it seeks to convey a sense of (social) connection, just the opposite often happens. In reality, we can also recognize frightening woes in these phenomena, a certain artificial stupidity[3] that manifests itself in invisible bot armies that can produce fake news - and thus even influence elections. This greatly affects what people think and do. We must therefore produce and use our technologies intelligently and responsibly. We need to think about what these artificial monsters can cause.

“I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita. Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince that he should do his duty and to impress him takes on his multi-armed form and says, 'Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.'” [4]

'This is a promising time to design a revolution for our profession, with endless possibilities connecting our disciplines, with which we can care for the world and humanity'.

The design community needs clear and smart examples by which we can use available resources and techniques in the most responsible way. We need to work together. We can play an active and guiding role for our future to connect culture and society and contribute to social resilience[5]. This is why it is so important that the three nominees in the Communications category call for connection through their work.

The Rodina designed a playful and sophisticated identity for the Sonic Acts Festival, and also made themselves part of it by depicting this identity through performances in festive costumes. In RNDR's OPENRNDR project, we discover an altruistic open source system that allows us to participate in a digital platform, which allows us to create multifaceted new designs and connections: a wonderful example of a designed “forum,” in order to exchange knowledge and skills within a carefully developed high-tech framework.

Career-long initiatives without clients also offer connection, as in the case of Richard Niessen and his ongoing work on building a poetically imaginative “house,” The Palace of Typographic Masonry, where a wealth of research about our own means of communication and the history of typography and graphic design can be discovered, displayed, and shared. This wealth offers a generous glimpse into our past on the basis of which we can position ourselves in the present, looking for a way to use the tools of the future.

The designer redesigns himself, ready for a journey toward untapped communal support for the expanding field of work. We are writing the new book.

Roosje Klap DDA judge and committee chair in the 'Communication' category

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[1] El Lissitzky in Electro-Library dreams, Merz No. 4, July 1923

[2] Papacharissi, Zizi, A Networked Self, New York: Routledge Press, 2010

[3] Steyerl, Hito and Crawford, Kate. Data Streams. The New Inquiry, 2017

[4] Giovannitti, Len. The Decision to Drop the Bomb. Coward-McCann, 1965

[5] George Brugmans & Marleen Stikker. No future without creativity. NRC, June 14, 2019