Plan D — Technoptimism / Technopessimism, Zagreb, 27/09–1/10

Soon I’ll be in Zagreb for a talk (on the 29th) during Plan D design festival, dedicated this year to the theme of Technoptimism / Technopessimism> Below you find the abstract of my talk. Hope to see you there.

The Designer without Qualities

In this talk Silvio Lorusso examines how technical and social transformations have affected the professional and cultural value of the graphic designer. Looking at the impact of automation, visual relativism and intellectualization, he focuses on the professional and cultural dilution of graphic design into online customization and meme-making. Lorusso addresses how the abstract do-good grandeur of design education often obscures a more concrete financial and existential insecurity. In opposition to this, his proposition is to conceive design schools as ‘temporary autonomous élites’ that celebrate the marginality of the designer without qualities and serve as a basis for an emotional counterculture.

Originally published at THE ENTREPRECARIAT.