Report: imperfect index: a graphic design reference book | Research Publication Grant recipients

Reports

2 May, 2025 -

Abbie Vickress and Laura Parke report on the publication of their edited volume imperfect index which was supported by the DHS Research Publication Grant.

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imperfect index: a graphic design reference book started as a symposium of short talks from graphic design practitioners working with diverse and intersectional approaches, followed by an open conversation and Q&A. The first iteration of this event ran in June 2023, and the second in October 2024 with over 100 participants in person, and a further 50 people online at each event.

The project was born from reflections on narrow teaching and learning experiences in graphic design history and education. Laura Parke (UWE) and I, Abbie Vickress (CSM), set out to envision new paradigms of knowing, doing and being in the context of graphic design history, by inviting speakers to join a conversation and share their thoughts on the discriminatory past and present of graphic design, whilst looking forward to diverse and inclusive futures.

In 2023 we were joined by designers Kelly Walters (Black, Brown + Latinx Design Educators, 2021 and The Black Experience in Design, 2022) Kaleena Sales (Extra Bold, 2021 and Centered, 2023), Nina Paim (Design Struggles, 2020, Futuress and Bikini Books), Zed Gregory (They Them Studio) and Arjun Harrison-Mann (Studio Hyte), each speaker shared their intersectional approaches to their design practices, introducing themes and ideas in which to expand the discipline beyond the dominant canon. Drawing on their experiences of Blackness, locality, and community (Walters and Sales), connections between migration, mental health, and publishing (Paim), designing with and for the queer community (Gregory) and a design practice situated between disability rights and carbon literacy (Harrison-Mann), we shared thoughts and dialogue with the local and international graphic design community.

The conversations during the event, and those that followed, were particularly impactful on all involved, so we launched an open-call to ‘index’ further examples of intersectional graphic design practice. The results of this open call were exemplary. We selected 20 applicants, along with the original transcripts of the 2023 speakers, with the intent to publish the first index edition of this design history project. The final book took the form of an anthology of intersectional graphic design practice, woven together by editors Laura Parke and myself (Abbie Vickress). The anthology, or index as we now call it, is both a reflection of design history of the past, and histories currently being written (and rewritten), within the field of graphic design.

The funding received from the Design History Society supported publishing costs, and ensured production and distribution fees were covered by the sales of the book, resulting in a bigger opportunity to reach the audiences in which this book will impact most. This was achieved with initiatives of sliding pay-scales and accessible publishing formats, as well as the intersectional feminist subject themes, contributor profiles and choice of publisher to broaden this audience beyond the conventional demographics of graphic design/design history publishing, reaching marginalised and under-represented groups, students, and unwaged or low-waged people.

The funds directly supported the publishing costs of the project through a specialist publisher; SOLD OUT focuses on what is left out from the curricula in academic and practical spaces within Graphic Design, questioning what is excluded and why, who is producing knowledge and who is distributing it. Focusing on publishing projects that attempt to connect these knowledge gaps and fill the material and structural inequalities within Graphic Design, it was clear this publisher was aligned with our project ethos and project goals.

The publication of an imperfect index has allowed us to organise further conversation-based events to continue to build upon what was learnt here, such as the 2024 edition in which the publication was launched. It has been strategic in facilitating further dialogue and collaboration across the global graphic design history community and furtherance of research in our field by providing both a resource and the beginnings of a community platform. We also endeavour to archive/preserve this piece of history both in print and digital across a variety of libraries and university settings, and continue to publish subsequent volumes funding permitting.