Autumn 2023
Ecological literacy
Design, Ecology, Politics: Towards the Ecocene
By Joanna Boehnert, Bloomsbury Visual Arts; hardback, £80; paperback, £21.99
The result of a decade spent ‘formulating a stronger ecological theory for design’, Joanna Boehnert’s Design, Ecology, Politics: Towards the Ecocene is driven by a forceful central argument: without deeper engagement with the seriousness of the threat posed by environmental breakdown and a frank reckoning with design’s complicity within the neoliberal economic system at its root, designers simply have no hope of meeting the challenges presented. To respond, they must become ‘ecologically literate’, meaning they must understand the fundamental interdependence of human life with its natural environment, and produce design accordingly …

John-Patrick Hartnett, designer, writer, lecturer, London
Read the full version in Eye no. 105 vol. 27, 2023
Eye is the world’s most beautiful and collectable graphic design journal, published for professional designers, students and anyone interested in critical, informed writing about graphic design and visual culture. It is available from all good design bookshops and online at the Eye shop, where you can buy subscriptions and single issues.