By winning the 2008 Winterhouse Award for Design Writing, David Barringer firmly established himself as the freshest and most interesting writer on the subject. His articles, which have appeared in publications from Print to Emigre, are notable for his strong personal point of view, literary style, and even humor, not always attributes associated with writing about design. In this collection of essays, Barringer’s first, he wonders why drug names have so many X’s in them, ponders the rise of gory DVD covers, and ruminates on his father’s business card collection, pythons, and the human skull – proving again and again that design is everywhere you look for it, (but may not have seen) without the powerful magnifying lens of this talented and exciting observer and writer.

“. . . no one has ever written about graphic design in quite this way. . . .”

– From Rick Poynor’s I.D. Magazine review of  “American Mutt Barks in the Yard” (Emigre; 68)