Jarrett Fuller

I’ve written for a variety of publications about design, culture, and criticism, including Fast Company, Eye Magazine, The Architect's Newspaper, Design and Culture, Design Observer, Journal of Design History, Eye on Design, and for the last fifteen years, my own blog.

From July 2020 to November 2022, I was a contributing editor for AIGA Eye on Design.

Graphic Designers After Graphic Design: Designer as Publishing / Researcher / Change Maker / Performer / Artist (Princeton Architectural Press, 2026)

A fascinating exploration of contemporary designers who are redefining what it means to be a graphic designer, offering a vibrant celebration and an inspirational reimagining of the medium for students, professionals, and educators in the field. Coming September 2026 from Princeton Architectural Press.

Preorder the book here.

Edited Books

What It Means To Be a Designer Today (Princeton Architectural Press, 2024)

With Liz Stinson, I co-edited this collection of essays from the first ten years of AIGA's Eye on Design. Organized around the framework of moments, questions, and reflections, this book includes both previously published and original writing about the state of graphic design.

Buy the book here.

Where Must Design Go Next? (Oro Editions, 2023)

A collection of roundtable conversations with the faculty of the Institute of Design (ID) at Illinois Tech about the future of design pedagogy, practice, and theory. This book is published jointly by Oro Editions and ID and results from my work as the 2022-23 Latham Fellow at ID.

Buy the book here.

1, 10, 100 Years of Form, Typography, and Interaction at Parsons (Oro Editions, 2021)

In 2021, I worked with the Communication Design department at Parsons to edit this 400 page publication documenting the history of the program, organized around three distinct timescales: the last century, the last decade, and the last year. The book was released in February 2022 by Oro Editions

Buy the book here.

Culture is Not Always Popular (MIT Press, 2018)

I was the managing editor and designer for Culture is Not Always Popular, an anthology of writing from the first fifteen years of Design Observer.

Buy the book here.

Contributed Chapters

Ninety-Nine Graphic Design Workshops (2026)

"Design Writing"

Guiding Principles for Inclusive Design Values: Reimagining Design Practice and Education (2026)

"Publishing Creates Publics"

The Education of a Design Writer (2025)

"Tourist/Purist"

What It Means to Be A Designer Today: Reflections, Questions, and Ideas from AIGA's Eye on Design (2024)

"All Media is Design Media"

How To Be A Design Student by Mitch Goldstein (2023)

Foreword

Criticism/Reviews

Recent exhibitions and publications put forth a vision for a design-based pedagogy

The Architect's Newspaper

Why Bruno Munari Taught Designers to Embrace Flexibility

Untapped Journal

In A Century of Tomorrows, Glenn Adamson chronicles the history of predicting the future

The Architect's Newspaper

The Extraordinary Link Between Aerobics and Architecture

Untapped Journal

One brain, four eyes (Skolos+Wedell book review)

Graphic Events (Book review)

After the Bauhaus, Before the Internet: A History of Graphic Design Pedagogy (Book review)

Journal of Design History

The Auto-Ethnographic Turn in Design (Book review)

Design and Culture

Netflix keeps design ‘Abstract’

jarrettfuller.blog

A *New* Program for Graphic Design

jarrettfuller.blog

Words and Works (On Henry Cobb)

Design Observer

Tourist/Purist (On Virgil Abloh: Figures of Speech)

jarrettfuller.blog

Human Archipelago by Fazal Sheik and Teju Cole

jarrettfuller.blog

The surprising empathy of My Next Guest Needs No Introduction

jarrettfuller.blog

Journalism

The design industry is broken. These design coaches want to fix it

Is the rise of strategy the death of design?

The History of Graphic Design at NC State Collge of Design

Andrew Satake Blauvelt Elevated Graphic Design Far Beyond Notions of “Problem Solving”

How Cranbrook’s Design Program Redefined How We Make and Talk About Graphic Design

Dot Dot Dot Is the Most Influential Design Magazine You’ve Never Heard Of

Graphic Designers Have Always Loved Minimalism. But At What Cost?

Isometric Studio is Rethinking What it Means to Design for Social Good

As Social Media Reshapes Branding, Retail Stores Become More Like Sponsored Content

Design Criticism Is Everywhere—Why Are We Still Looking For It?

Matt Willey and Dan Crowe Launch INQUE, an Independent Lit Mag in it for the Long-game

Opinion

I Thought I Knew What Design Was

5 great design books to add to your back-to-school reading list

AI isn't design's biggest problem

The Lesson I Learned at Summer Camp

Untapped Journal

The best design books of 2024

Using Simple Tools as a Radical Act of Independence

Untapped Journal

The best design books of 2023

5 essential design books to read this fall

6 essential design books to read this summer

How To Be A Design Student (Foreword)

Princeton Architectural Press

The Best Design Books of 2022

Is There a Difference Between a Cult and a Brand?

The Best Design Books of 2021

Design Observer

When Did Design Stop Being “Multidisciplinary?”

Every Act of Design is an Act of Future-making

Against Design?

Design Observer

AppleTV+ and HBO vs. Netflix

jarrettfuller.blog

Conan, Late Night Talk Shows, and Multi-platform comedy

jarrettfuller.blog

Celebrity designers, context collapse, and rethinking how we teach design history

jarrettfuller.blog

How do we get the most out of design criticism?

The Myth of Neutrality

jarrettfuller.com

Interviews

David Reinfurt on why it’s time to rethink how we teach design

The world is on fire. Can design help save it?

Manuel Lima thinks it's time to redesign design

Open Manifesto—the Quiet but Persistent Australian Design Journal—Was Ahead of Its Time

“Books Aren’t Going Anywhere”: A Roundtable Discussion on Publishing and Branding in the Age of Bookstagram

Designing the Invisible: MACK’s Morgan Crowcroft-Brown on the Understated Art of the Photo Book

Belgian Graphic Design Is a “Crossroads of Influences”: Sara De Bondt

Teaching Design is Teaching a Moving Target: An Interview with Lucille Tenazas

A Conversation with Michael Bierut and Jessica Helfand

Experimental Jetset

Scratching the Surface