As the guest editor for a special issue of the visual communication design journal Visible Language, I centered the histories of designers, artifacts, practices, and global design communities that have been relegated to the periphery of disciplinary dialogues in western Europe and North America for far too long. During this process, I discovered that I love editing for one of the same reasons I love teaching: it’s a chance to learn something entirely new about the practice and history of design. Throughout the long editorial process, I remained an eager student of the authors I worked with. Through this editorial adventure, I’ve learned about the history of typography and design in places where the local languages are Arabic, Danish, Hebrew (pictured), and Māori. The remaining details can be explored in the issue, volume 53:1.
The photo in this post is a detail of Nick Sherman’s Creative Commons image shared under this license.
dori griffin : design research 