Immutable: Designing History

More about the book

This work delves into the often-overlooked genre of documents and their connection to statecraft and colonialism, spanning a ~5,000-year timeline that links the evolution of money and writing—from Mesopotamian clay tablets to modern blockchain technology. It emphasizes immutability as a crucial design principle, examining various techniques of securitization against the inevitable changes documents undergo through time and politics. The project contrasts traditional design education, which typically focuses on logos and websites, with the more impactful designs of passports, currency, and property deeds. As an alternative historiography, it aligns with anthropologist Laura Nader’s advocacy for examining those in power and Paolo Freire’s concept of the "limit situation" as a catalyst for transformative action. The aim is to redirect graphic design towards a role that goes beyond mere managerial and colonial functions, encouraging the imagination, naming, and remembrance of ideas that challenge the constraints of what can be known and expressed. Chris Lee, a graphic designer and educator based in Buffalo and Brooklyn, NY, brings his expertise as an Assistant Professor at the Pratt Institute, where he investigates the intersections of graphic design, power, and documentation.