Extra Bold: A Feminist, Inclusive, Anti-racist, Nonbinary Field Guide for Graphic Designers

“This work empowers readers with theory, historical precedent, and practical information while encouraging everyone to ‘amplify other voices and disrupt patterns of inequity.’ Don’t pass on this singular resource.” —Library Journal Starred Review

Extra Bold is the inclusive, practical, and informative (design) career guide for everyone!

Part textbook, part comic book, zine, manifesto, survival guide, and self-help manual, Extra Bold is filled with stories and ideas that don't show up in other career books or design overviews. Both pragmatic and inquisitive, the book explores power structures in the workplace and how to navigate them.

• Interviews showcase people at different stages of their careers.
• Biographical sketches explore individuals marginalized by sexism, racism, and ableism.
• Practical guides cover everything from starting out to wage gaps, coming out at work, cover letters, mentoring, and more.

Written collaboratively by design luminary Ellen Lupton (Thinking with Type) and a diverse team of designers coming to the profession from a range of backgrounds: Farah Kafei, Jennifer Tobias, Josh A. Halstead, Kaleena Sales, Leslie Xia, and Valentina Vergara. Original, handcrafted illustrations by Jennifer Tobias throughout bring warmth, humor, and narrative depth to the book.

A NEW TAKE ON THE DESIGN CANON: Critical essays rethink design principles and practices through theories of feminism, anti-racism, inclusion, and nonbinary thinking.

ADDS NEW VOICES: The book is packed with interviews, essays, typefaces, and projects from dozens of contributors with a variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds, abilities, gender identities, and positions of economic and social privilege.

FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS & PROFESSIONALS: This is an eye-opening and empowering resource for navigating a creative career today. It is for anyone in a creative field, from graphic design and type design to marketing and advertising, as well as anyone who works with creative teams.

Ellen Lupton is curator of contemporary design at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York City and director of the Graphic Design MFA program at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore. An author of numerous books and articles on design, she is a public-minded critic, frequent lecturer, and AIGA Gold Medalist.

Jennifer Tobias is a scholar and illustrator. She holds a PhD in art history from the City University of New York, an MLS from Rutgers University, and a BFA from Cooper Union. She served as a librarian at the Museum of Modern Art and Parsons School of Design.