Visual Communication & Design Systems
Utopia of Rules:
On Technology, Stupidity, and the Secret Joys of Bureaucracy
Anthropologist David Graeber, author of the international bestseller Debt: The First 5,000 Years and co-author of The Dawn of Everything, examines in his idiosyncratic and witty style how bureaucracy, rules, regulations and chaotic paperwork have overtaken our lives.
Examining the historical, anthropological and philosophical roots of bureaucracy, Graeber invites us to wonder where all these rules came from. Do they really make our lives easier? Or is the filling-of-endless-forms just another mechanism for oppression?
I first encountered Graeber’s work in around 2008 or 2009 and since then I have been a huge admirer of his thought and a devoted reader of his books. Therefore, I felt a tremendous pleasure while designing this particular book, which is touching a sensitive nerve for all of us living in these highly bureaucratised societies.
The concept for the simple and straightforward illustration of the book’s cover derives from a basic principle found on almost every page: the promised utopia has indeed been a disguised prison after all. Our marvellous era of digitization and automation not only does not free us of the burdens of bureaucracy, but instead strengthens its hold over our everyday life.
Book cover & Layout
Publisher: Stasei Ekpiptontes
Photos: Alexandra Masmanidi
Published: 2024
Pages: 280