Co Lab

A field once dominated by assembly line and one-stop agencies, design (and graphic design especially) has harnessed modern tech to produce a new working model of small, interdisciplinary, voice-heavy collaboratives. CO LAB offers a set of contextual essays on facets of collaboration, accompanied by original drawings from the punkish designer/ author/faculty collaborative ras+e, and concludes with a highly diverse group of case study interviews. Channeling Kurt Vonnegut, Jello Biafra, and Ellen Lupton, ras+e build a detailed case for the advantages of interdisciplinary design in a team context as a reflection of contemporary views of authorship, accessibility of tools, and a plethora of hungry, young makers with startup role models.The rhythmic and relatable writing of the authors, coupled with the extreme diversity of their questions-and-answers, aims to inspire both the students ras+e know so well, and designosaurs looking for a new way of working.* Ras+e dissect why small, interdisciplinary design collaboratives are shifting the way the industry is constructed.* Very thoughtful, full of ideas and yet lavishly illustrated* With a foreword by Ellen Lupton and Jennifer Cole PhillipsElizabeth Herrmann and Ryan Shelley are researchers, designers, writers and teachers. They lecture at Northeastern University in Boston and other universities across the US. They collaborate under the name ras+e.