Women Graphic Designers: Rebalancing the Canon

I am one of the 40+ contributors to “Women Graphic Designers: Rebalancing the Canon”, a substantial collection of illustrated essays about 20th century graphic designers working in some 30 different countries, brought together, edited and designed by Elizabeth Resnick, Professor Emerita of Graphic Design at Massachusetts College of Art and Design.

I wrote about the tactics Dorrit Dekk (1917-2014) employed to make a name for herself in post-war British design. Intrigued by her unusual pen name, I discovered the story of the birth of the name and how well it served Dorrit throughout her long career producing visual communication for some of the biggest clients of her time in Europe and the UK. Dorrit led a dramatic life encompassing tragedy, triumph, glamour and very hard graft, and I’m very grateful to have the chance to write about it.  

The full list of essays is on the publisher’s website: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/women-graphic-designers-9781350349254/  

 An insightful blog post of Elizabeth in conversation with Steven Heller about the book can be found at: https://www.printmag.com/daily-heller/the-daily-heller-designing-women/