Eye Magazine

Much of the work of Optimologyº has already been published, either on optimology.org, as posts on the @optimology Instagram account or in the handful of saddle-stitched booklets shown in Noted #79 on the Eye blog (link below). The work has an immediacy that is often lost within explanation-heavy critical design.

One image, a ‘periodic table’ of a social sciences labelled ‘Why do I feel so ambivalent about things?’, charts the elemental building blocks of neoliberalism, starting with Globalisation (Gs) and moving onto the Kardashians (Kd), Instagram (I) and Mental Health Crisis (Mc). Another image, ‘I must try not to judge by appearances’, uses the visual languages of four consumer goods to skewer graphic design’s role in codifying value.

Each of the pieces is sort-of designed, sort-of vernacular. They can be a bit awkward sometimes, but in a way that makes Hartley’s points accessible and believable. They are spared the layers of personal stylistic choices that can so often obscure critically intended messages.

As most of the content already exists for free online, existing followers of Optimologyº may not gain a huge number of new insights from this book. Calls Will be Recorded for Training and Monitoring Purposes feels more like a printed record of social media accounts, in which the visual language of Optimologyº’s digital platforms is documented in a format with greater longevity. The publication seems to be preparing for social media to wane and eventually become obsolete. Facebook, Twitter and so on are all products of the ‘unfettered neoliberalism’ criticised by Hartley.

Preserving digital insights as hard copy has its challenges; there are points where the razor-like insights of the images sit uncomfortably within the traditional format of a book. The effects of neoliberalism upon publishing are not explicitly acknowledged But perhaps the marketisation of already-free content is actually the perfect critique in itself, a subtle sideways-glance, as accessible and believable as the content within.

Eye is the world’s most beautiful and collectable graphic design journal, published quarterly 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.