A subject like design deserves to have as many people talking about it as possible. Why? Design is fundamentally connected to being human. Designed things serve as emotional mirrors or practical aids – and they influence ecological as well as social contexts.

This issue contains 35 contributions from the last three years of form magazine that critically address these topics in one way or another. Among them are essays, features, and photographic works that bring an important perspective to design. 

From decolonisation to feminist or queer topics, we’ve included a broad range of contemporary and progressive perspectives on design. Media theory is given as much space as artistic or activist positions. New fields such as bio- or gender design are on an equal footing with classic product or graphic design.

The form International Issue features, among others, the food designer Marije Vogelzang, the stylist Julie Pelipas, the Institute for Postnatural Studies, the biodesigner Natsai Audrey Chieza, gender design expert Uta Brandes, the Berlin-based studio Ertl und Zull, the director of the German Tank Museum and the Japanese social design studio Nosigner. 

Also: the forgotten designer Otto Zapf, colonial artefacts in La Réuion, industrial design in the German Democratic Republic, feminism and technologies, non-human design, ableism, forest fires, beauty standards, fans, the history of the baking pan, the bachelor pad, the handaxe and many more.

With contributions from Anna Dorothea Ker, Anton Rahlwes, Autostrada Studios (Max Pietro Hoffmann), Charlotte Rohde, Coco Nova Estèle Schätzke, Dirk Sorge, Eike Walkenhorst, Elena Bulet, Florian Siebeck, Jonas Aaron Lecointe, Marie Louise Juul Søndergaard, Markus Hieke, Mateja Huff, Max Faber, Maximilian Barthel, Nicole Benewaah Gehle, Nina Sieverding, Pascale de Senarclens, Poonam Choudhry, Ricardo Nunes, Rid Burman, Susanne Schaller, Ticha Matting, Valerie Präkelt, Yassine Ben Abdallah

April 2023, Verlag form, 354 pages, 17 × 23 cm, thread binding, softcover, English
ISBN 978-3-943962-70-3