Economies of Design

It′s the economy, stupid! Money makes the world go around. All of that comes by design. Government policies, company strategies, products, services and systems, all are the outcomes of design. Even money is designed. Finally there is a book that explains how design and the economy are interwoven. Chapeau Guy Julier for sharing these fascinating insights with us. -- Cees de Bont
This important book takes what could have been a dry subject and turns it into a compelling and accessible narrative. By laying bare the entanglement of design with economics, Julier allows us to reconsider how designers might best engage their practices with the wider forces and effects of neoliberalism, or else help develop alternative models. -- Jeremy Till
In this provocative and accessible book, Guy Julier asks and answers a number of questions: Is there such a thing as a neoliberal object? Why are design and neoliberalism so good together? Through a discussion that takes in design as work, as process, as object and as activism, Julier spotlights the changing culture of design since the 1980s and its intimate and sometimes surprising relationships with neoliberalization. A compelling analysis. -- David Bell
"The writing is fluid; popping with quirky references, clever intuitions, snapshots and personal asides that pepper the storyline and hammer home the message that design and economics are inseparably intertwined. Rapid turns of thought, clever, surprising angles and insightful pauses underpin the solid writing and deliver a winning formula" -- John Knight * The Design Journal *
What I liked while reading the book is that design is considered to be very broad. Julier finds its practices so wide that he refuses to adhere to one specific definition. This allows the author to describe a wide range of design activities and processes—fashion design, film, retail, food services, among others—and it does not describe the UK only. Instead, the book takes us to places like Turkey, China, and India. Julier analyses both the public and the private sector and formal and informal economies.

The book exudes thoroughness, and yet it comes with a personal touch. The author describes an autobiographical event when he and his friends took the bus on a Sunday to the nearest big city (Exeter) to visit some of the global brand outlets. -- Cees de Bont, * The Journal of Design, Economics, and Innovation *
"Essential reading for scholars within the design and the creative industries who are interested in the interrelationships of economics and design, contributing significantly to knowledge and triggering further debate in this area. It is a valuable theoretical resource for scholars in visual communication where academic texts are sparse" -- Carol Meachem * Visual Communication Journal Vol. 18 *

"This important book takes what could have been a dry subject and turns it into a compelling and accessible narrative. By laying bare the entanglement of design with economics, Julier allows us to reconsider how designers might best engage their practices with the wider forces and effects of neoliberalism, or else help develop alternative models."

-- Jeremy Till * designculture.info *

In this provocative and accessible book, Guy Julier asks and answers a number of questions: Is there such a thing as a neoliberal object? Why are design and neoliberalism so good together? Through a discussion that takes in design as work, as process, as object and as activism, Julier spotlights the changing culture of design since the 1980s and its intimate and sometimes surprising relationships with neoliberalization. A compelling analysis.

  -- David Bell * designculture.info *