As the graphic design field faces new cultural and ethical challenges, Design Harder offers a timely response. Written by Erik Carter, an influential voice whose work bridges commercial design and critical discourse, the book invites readers to imagine a more sustainable and equitable artistic practice while offering the tools to reform the industry for the better.

Join us for a talk and book launch celebrating Erik Carter’s Design Harder, published by Book Ideas. The evening will include a panel discussion on the present and future of graphic design. Through conversation and dialogue, Erik Carter, Aryn Beitz, and Christina Janus & Desmond Wong (AUTHENTIC) will reflect on the ideas in Design Harder and interrogate how design might respond to cultural and ethical challenges in our moment. Moderated by designer and thinker Erik Freer, the discussion aims to generate new pathways for what design could be.

Design Harder is the inaugural title by Book Ideas, the publishing imprint by New York-based design studio No Ideas. Books will be available for purchase onsite. You can also purchase from Book Ideas website (https://www.bookideas.website/).

Erik Carter

Erik Carter is a graphic designer, art director, and writer. He has designed book covers, illustrations, identities, and experimental work for clients including Verso Books, The New York Times, MIT Technology Review, The New Yorker, The Baffler and more. Carter’s first book, Design Harder, was published by Book Ideas in 2025. The volume includes essays like Do You Want Typography or Do You Want the Truth?, The End of Imagery, and A Graphic Design Utopia. Carter also teaches and writes via his newsletter, also titled Design Harder.

Aryn Beitz

Aryn Beitz is a designer and creative director engaged in projects and partnerships with organizations and clients in the arts and culture, fashion, publishing, and architecture sectors. She held the position of director of design and publishing at Carnegie Museum of Art from 2020 to 2024, where she was responsible for building and leading the museum’s creative studio and overseeing all design, editorial, photography, and print and digital publishing initiatives, including the museum’s new visual identity.

AUTHENTIC

AUTHENTIC (Christina Janus and Desmond Wong) is an image-making and typography practice operating at the intersection of graphics, design, language, ideology, culture, and authenticity.

Erik Freer (Moderator)

Erik Matthias Freer is a Creative Director, technologist, designer, writer, and artist, with over a decade of experience developing visual identities and brand systems across traditional, digital, and experiential touchpoints for leading brands and institutions. Erik’s independent consultancy, Freer Studio, provides creative direction spanning visual identity systems, naming, imagery, publications, motion, experiential, and digital design for individuals, institutions, and brands. Alongside client work, Erik teaches as part-time faculty at Parsons School of Design and holds an MFA from Yale School of Art.

Book Ideas is a print and digital publisher by the New York-based design studio No Ideas. Our mission is to create books that we want to see in the world; thoughtfully curated and beautifully designed.