The designer as co-author of the book: the logic of

the field of publications with authorial design

First name Last namea*, First name Last nameb
a
Affiliation name
b
Affiliation name
*Corresponding author e-mail:
doi: 10.21606/drs.2020.XXX

Abstract: In 2018, the Brazilian publishing market was hit by a crisis that affected the
main bookstore chains which forced the closure of several stores. Contrary to this
scenario of crisis and recession, independent publishers showed economic growth.
Along with it, there is a greater interest in independent publications, as well as a
proliferation of fairs, collectives and events that bring together and strengthen this
market. However, this topic is still little debated academically, and one of the
purposes of this article is to discuss it. By rescuing traditional book production
techniques and processes, independent publications seek to build a future for this
field based on the past. We believe that, as these publications enable the
development of an authorial work, the designer also assumes the role of co-author of
the book.

Keywords: editorial field; authorial design; independent publishers; history of the Brazilian
design

1. Introduction
This article seeks to understand the designer as co-author of a book based on an analysis of
independent publications, as well as to identify the constitution and the logic of this field.
We believe that the designer authorship is related to graphic designs that present a visual
narrative in addition to a support for the written text. If design debates are dominated by a
political and social agenda, stating that the designer is co-author of a book also reflects a
political stance.
It is noteworthy that we do not agree with the author's figure as authority nor with the
romantic idea of the author as a creative genius. By attributing authorship to the designer,
we do not seek to reinforce conservative and subjective ideas based on the gift, innate
creativity and individual talent that end up hiding the relations and way of production of the

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0

International License.
AUTHOR’S NAMES

commodity, praising only its result. By defending the authorship of the designer, we protect
and ensure the rights of this worker.
We use the concepts of field and habitus, developed by Pierre Bourdieu, to understand the
position designers and editors occupy within this field and to link aesthetic and ideological
decision making according to that position. Such concepts also helped us to understand how
the habit of signing works of art, which was inherited by authorial design and considered as
a stylistic signature, was established.
Among the many professionals involved in all stages of book production, one can say that
the publisher is primarily responsible for the production and circulation of symbolic goods
between writers and readers. However, as well noted by Batista (2008), the role of the
publisher only gained this authority as a legitimate expert in the world of books around the
1830s, when the literary field began to gain autonomy. Therefore, the editor's role was
defined “and he achieved relative autonomy as an expert that had a power distinct from
those of the University, the Clergy, the State, but who was equally interested in a subject
that attracted audiences” (p. 21).
Because they have an economic rationality different than major publishers without worrying
about a more immediate financial return, small and independent publishers privilege the
cultural importance of their catalogue and the prestige conferred by literary production.
Thus, these publishers are interested in the process of producing the book and end up
investing more in the graphic aspects.

2. The editorial field

To understand the logic and rules of operation of independent publishers, we use the
concept of field. The field is a social microcosm endowed with some autonomy, with specific
laws and rules. It is a place of dispute among the agents that integrate it in order to maintain
or reach a certain position obtained through the dispute and accumulation of valued capital
according to the characteristics of each field. The amount and form of capital that the field
agents have will determine the hierarchical positions they occupy.
We understand that a set of agents more or less organized by craft is distributed and
arranged at each step of the book production process, one of them being the designer.
Interactions between agents in a field are determined
[...] by the structure of the editorial field as a whole: it is this structure, in particular, that
determines the size and structure of the unit responsible for decision making (it goes from a
single person who decides, at least apparently, from small publishers, to the true
differentiated power field of major publishers); it defines the relative weight, in the relations
between the different agents, the different evaluation criteria that inclines them towards the
literature side or the “commercial” side or, according to Flaubert's position, to privilege art or
money (BOURDIEU, 1999, p. 4).
The market of symbolic goods in which the artistic and literary field is inserted presents a
specific operating logic in which symbolic value and market value appear to be relatively

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 The designer as co-author of the book

independent, making the producers of these fields act between two poles, that is,
subordination to market demand or absolute independence from its demands: “These fields
are the site of antagonistic coexistence of two modes of production and circulation obeying
inverse logics” (BOURDIEU, 1996a, p. 142).
On the one hand, 'pure' art and its apparent disinterestedness and denegation of the
economy (of the ‘commercial’ and of the economic profit whose production, which obeys no
demand other than its own, 'is oriented to the accumulation of symbolic capital, a kind of
‘economic capital’ denied but recognized and hence legitimate – a veritable credit, and
capable of assuring, under certain conditions and in the long term,' economic 'profits'”
(IDEM). On the other hand, there are the cultural industries that treat cultural goods as
another trade seeking for economic profit.
The production of a more commercial enterprise (large publishers and publishing
conglomerates) is adjusted to a pre-existing market demand to minimize risks. Its production
cycles are short and endowed with commercial investment and disclosure, seeking for rapid
circulation and immediate profit. On the other hand, less commercial enterprises (small and
independent publishers) have a longer production cycle, assuming an inherent risk to
cultural investments and art trade.
In an article entitled “Une révolution conservatrice dans l'édition”, Bourdieu (1999) analyzes
the editorial field and shows the tension that exists from the opposition between what is
commercial and what is literary and the dilemma between art and money. When he shows
the environment of French publishers, he uses the notion of the editorial field as a relatively
autonomous social space. According to the author, each publisher occupies a place in the
editorial field that depends on his position in the distribution of economic, symbolic,
technical sources, etc. and the power it gives to the editorial field:
One must take as its object the editorial field as a relatively autonomous space – that is,
capable of retranslating, according to its own logics, notably all the external, economic and
political forces – in which editorial strategies find their principle. To analyze the determinants
of these strategies, it would be important to consider, in the analyzed cases, publishers that
have enough autonomy to have their own editorial policy (BOURDIEU, 1999, p. 6).
Symbolic goods, in the face of the dichotomy between spiritual and material, are located
spontaneously at the spiritual pole. This occurs through the economic refusal by agents
involved in the market of symbolic goods (BOURDIEU, 1999b, p. 157). This conception
applies to the editorial field that is inserted in the market of symbolic goods, especially
regarding publications with authorial design.
However, the author points out that the idea that art is not associated with an economic
market, that is, that an artist's economic failure is associated with a kind of success, is a
historical invention. Despite this apparent denial from the artistic field regarding the
economic aspect, there is in it a series of scarce goods valued and assured through this
denial or apparent indifference to the economic aspect.

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AUTHOR’S NAMES

If we think of the editorial field as a social space formed by agents, the editor has no
exclusive power. He is a mediator who ensures the publication and circulation of the book.
The editor is responsible for selecting the manuscript according to its editorial policy,
following the specific logics of the field, and may interfere in the text, ensuring the
publication and circulation of the book.
Each publisher occupies, at a given moment, a position in the publishing field that depends
on the amount of scarce resources – economic, symbolic and technical capital, among others
– and the power these resources give to the field. The position and strategies of manuscript
publication in each publisher are determined by their place in the editorial field (BOURDIEU,
1999, p. 3).
Most of the changes observed in the editorial policy of different publishers may be related
to the changes of position they occupy within their own field. Thus, publishers occupying a
dominant position tend to favor asset management (economic, symbolic, and technical
capital) over the pursuit of innovation, in the same way that they invest symbolic capital
held at the service of more commercial authors who will contribute for the accumulation of
this capital.
Thompson (2013), starting from the concept of field, analyzed the logic of the field of the
commercial publications in English using examples from the United States and the United
Kingdom. The author realizes that the growth of retail chains, the rise of literary agents, and
the consolidation of publishers run by large corporations have set the scene for business
publications in English since the 1960s (p. 318). These three developments enabled the
emergence of a field endowed with a specific logic of operation. Using the model described
by Thompson, we present below the logic of the field of Brazilian publications with authorial
design.

2.1 The logic of the field of Brazilian publications with authorial design
Starting from the polarization of the field in which, on one hand, we find the large editorial
conglomerates and, on the other, the small publishers and the independent publishers, that
is, a segmented market, we build the logic of the field of the Brazilian publications with
authorial design.
Barcellos (2010) points out that the positive aspect of small and medium publishers is
related to the freedom of choice of topics and authors and the viability of developing
differentiated products. According to the author, the main difference in publishing a work
through a small publisher is, among others, the care with the graphic production and
finishing of the book.
Thus, a characteristic point of this field is the concern with the book's graphic design.
Because small publishers have a different economic logic than large publishers, they end up
taking greater risks with medium to long-term rates of return. Thus, publishers are
interested in the production of the book and end up investing more in graphic production:

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 The designer as co-author of the book

“For many publishers, the rate of return, besides being unknown, is secondary, so the
satisfaction with the cultural importance of the catalogue and the resulting prestige are
more important” (EARP, 2005, p. 15).
A small publisher can often do things that a large publisher cannot, because the economic
rationality of a small publisher is different from the economic rationality of a large publisher,
which has huge fixed costs and must calculate the rate of return for each action. Many of the
best things that happen in the publishing industry are done by small publishers that have the
following characteristic: they are run by publishers who like books. Just that. Because they
have a very small cost structure, they can handle things that are only cost-effective in the
medium to long term. They make books because they like to make books (BENJAMIN, 2002,
p. 121-122).
Another feature of authorial design publication are editions whose text is already in the
public domain. By lowering the book's production costs regarding the payment of the
writer's copyright, publishers can invest more in the book's graphic designs. The designer
and editor Elaine Ramos, from the publisher Ubu, talks about the difficulty of paying
copyright to designers and points out that this practice would become more viable in public
domain texts.
Even the illustrators fight for copyright ownership, which I find absolutely fair. And that has
changed more recently. Formerly, in the fully illustrated children's books that have one text
phrase for each page, the author of the text held copyright and the illustrator did not.
Nowadays, most illustrators do not do their job anymore if they do not own copyright and
this is absolutely fair. So, I think that as a concept, design should be copyrightable. A
percentage of what is sold should be divided among the other people who worked in the
book. But the problem is that it is difficult to raise this flag because the market is not
economically healthy. I'm also across the counter at Ubu and I know exactly how non-viable
this is. Now, if the book is in the public domain, like Bartleby, for example, the designer can
hold copyright because it is in the public domain, but if there is the 10% of copyright of the
author, then forget about it (RAMOS, 2018).
Souza (2015) also highlights that the progressive presence of design in everyday life has
increased public interest in and awareness of the topic. As a result, there was a greater
demand for publication “about” design and “with” design, sparking greater interest in books
on art, photography, architecture, graphic design and other categories that “favor luxurious,
sophisticated or innovative editions in their visual language or physical aspect – an editorial
genre that Haslam merely called 'visual culture books'” (p. 36). The author also points out
that, because they are editions aimed at an audience interested in the visual aspect of the
book, “[...] refinement and inventiveness are also particularly relevant to add value” (p. 52).
Finally, it should be noted that books featuring an authorial graphic design have a low print
run and may be a limited edition or even printed on demand. The limited editions end up
promoting the scarcity and originality of the work, reinforcing the artistic feature of titles

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with authorial design. On the other hand, print-on-demand titles can be understood based
on Harvey's (2002) studies on the regime of flexible accumulation1.
As in the regime of flexible accumulation production is demand-driven, it is common for
publishers to adopt the pre-sale model of the book. One of the publishers that embrace and
advocate this sales system is Ubu, which states that by selling the book in advance, about
two months before its release, it can raise funds to pay for some of its printing expenses: “As
the sales cycle of book selling is too long, the publisher takes a long time to get back the
investment made on each book. With early sale, we recover costs faster and can re-invest in
new titles” (RAMOS, 2018).
According to the publisher's own website, when readers buy a book before it is even sent to
the printer, they contribute to the sustainability of the publisher. Sales on the website and
especially direct pre-sales help in two key ways: “1) they improve our margin – what is left
between the direct cost and the sale price – because part of what would go to bookstores is
in the publisher; 2) they anticipate the return of the investment, reducing the time lag
between when we pay and when we receive for the sale of the book.”
Because of these characteristics, small and independent publishers end up rescuing more
crafty processes and traditional book production techniques – such as letterpress printing,
linotyping, screen printing, manual binding, and so on – in search for quality, differentiation
and graphic experimentation.

3. The designer as co-author of the book

When the graphic design is a support for the written text without a direct relation to its
content, in these cases we understand that the designer authorship is credited, as usual, for
the work done. Therefore, in other cases, the book's own graphic design also brings a visual
narrative that will interfere with the reading of the written text. In the cases in which graphic
design is an expression of the designer or visually expresses the written text, which we are
calling here 'books with authorial design', we believe that the designer is the owner of that
object and should, therefore, have his rights preserved and assured. In these cases, design
plays a fundamental role in the appreciation and commercial exploitation of the
merchandise.
We can relate the issue of authorship to the idea of a graphic project designed individually
for each text, with a direct relationship between form and content. The discussion about
authorship in graphic design is not new in the area. Several authors have already addressed
this issue, defending or criticizing the designer's position as an author. However, thinking
about authorship in the Brazilian editorial design – especially regarding printed books – is a

1
While the production process in the Fordist model is based on mass production of homogeneous goods, uniformity and
standardization of products and on the creation of large stocks, flexible production occurs in small batches of a variety of
products. In this case, production is demand-driven and there is no stock of goods. Harvey says that "such flexible
production systems have permitted an acceleration in the pace of product innovation together with the exploration of
highly specialized and small-scale market niches" (HARVEY, 1992, p.156).

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 The designer as co-author of the book

topic that is still little discussed and generates some divergences among the graphic
designers themselves. By developing a unique graphic design autonomously and creatively,
individually considered and which integrates all parts of the book – unlike the model
adopted by many publishers, which often use standardized and homogenized templates for
the book's core, designing only the cover – there is a personal engagement of the designer
with his work.
The creation of the graphic design involves not only the technical aspects related to the
readability of the text, the paper, the number of pages and the format, but, above all, the
visual concepts that become responsible for the identity of each book. In this sense, design
plays a key role in providing new information to the written text: “The language of design
involves reflection, good taste and the analysis of formats and media: all this leads to the
adoption of an appropriate and consistent graphic design that transforms each book in a
singular object” (ARAÚJO, 2008, p. 277).
Thus, we relate the work of designers-authors to the work of artisans defined by Sennett
(2012), that is, those who dedicate themselves to the work, who perform it meticulously and
with engagement. Cardoso (2012) highlights two fundamental characteristics for the
professional practice of the designer: the “inventiveness of language”, that is, the ability to
use different languages in a creative and innovative way, and the “excellence of
achievement and finishing” related to craftsmanship and to the care and pleasure of doing a
good job (p. 247).
We perceived the importance of a cultural background for the development of copyrighted
graphic designs. From the following statements, taken from the second episode of the
Brazilian Graphic Design program, whose topic was editorial design, aired on Arte 1 channel
in February 2016, designers Elaine Ramos, Chico Homem de Melo and Victor Burton stated
the importance of this knowledge for the development and execution of their projects:
Ideas that innovate rely on things that are outside their own area. [...] The desire has to do
with informing, living, having references, seeing things, attending the cultural world, and
traveling. I think desire in any creative profession is absolutely fundamental. (ELAINE RAMOS)
For me, it is very important that the designer is attuned to things other than design. [...] What
I consider important is this multiple interest because it helps you understand the
temperature of the culture you are immersed in. I go deep into this to try to appropriate this
kind of sensitivity to the project I am developing. (CHICO HOMEM DE MELO)
If you practically focus only on Design, you will repeat things you have seen, you will use
shapes you have seen, you will use typography that you have seen, everything that is
important is kept aside because you are going to talk only about this. You will not talk about
yourself; you will talk about what is outside, you will talk about the world. So, you must know
the world. [...] Perspective, curiosity, knowledge, and today it is so easy to know something.
Seemingly easy, because, at least everything is available, it's up to you. [...] Knowledge is
absolutely the most important thing. (VICTOR BURTON)
Through these statements, we can see how the professional practice of design is completely
allied with the current mode of production of cognitive capitalism, in which the working time

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is not only related to the working hours, but especially to the designer's lifetime, in which he
has the possibility of expanding his cultural background.
The differential and the quality of the editorial work are linked to a knowledge that
designers have beyond design, that is, to his knowledge of the world that will develop his
cultural repertoire. Therefore, we understand that the work of the designer depends on the
culture acquired by him and will thus be a differential in his work, especially for the
designer-author.
Thus, we realize that within the field of Brazilian publication with authorial design, the
designer is the owner of this artefact and must have his rights assured and preserved. By
constituting a field, books with authorial design have their own logic of operation. According
to Bourdieu, disputes occur between the agents inside the fields in order to reach certain
positions and for the dispute for control and legitimation of the produced goods. Defending
the authorship of the designer in these publications is therefore a search for strengthening
this field of knowledge.
By thinking of design beyond the hegemony of modern universalist thinking established in
accordance with the capitalist production model, the independent publishers practice
autonomous design that moves away from commercial and profitable purposes and seeks
more collaborative and participatory approaches (ESCOBAR, 2016). According to the author,
autonomy refers to the “creation of conditions that allow the exchange of norms [social and
cultural] from within the ability to exchange traditions” (2016, p. 197).
In this sense, design has the power to transform existing conditions of production, imposed
by a capitalist neoliberal logic, by being creatively reappropriated by communities to support
their struggles and strengthen their autonomy (IDEM). The concept of micro-utopia
developed by English design theorist John Wood refers to new utopian practices that are
generally small-scale, more ephemeral and pluralized, which justifies the use of the term
“micro-utopia” (WOOD, 2008, p. 3).
The concept was originally proposed by Nicolas Bourriaud
to describe art projects that create temporary and small-scale user-friendly moments and
experiments in interpersonal relations. Bourriaud was interested in utopia as a “device” to
move away from the abstract and locate the concrete, political component of the micro-
dimension of social life, the structures and flows of power that conform to our everyday lives.
The concept of micro-utopia builds an approach to making art called "relational aesthetics"
which Bourriaud defines as "a set of artistic practices which take their theoretical and
practical point of departure from the whole of human relations and their social context". This
approach positions the artist as a 'facilitator' or 'catalyst and aims to offer criteria to analyse
the often opaque and open-ended works associated with participatory art2.
While utopia may seem unattainable and even undesirable, a more independent network of
micro-utopias – either brief or local – may be more useful and feasible. According to Wood,
it is essential to think of alternatives for the future, even if they seem unattainable or
2
Retrieved October 14, 2019 from https://participedia.net/method/4862.

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 The designer as co-author of the book

impossible, because it is by sharing these micro-utopias that the necessary synergy can arise
so that they can become possible utopias.

4. References
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décadas de 1930 e 1940. Doctoral Thesis. Programa de Pós-graduação em Letras. Pontifícia
Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul.
Barcellos, M. (2010). As pequenas e médias editoras diante do processo de concentração:
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__________. (1996b). Razões Práticas: sobre a teoria da ação. Sao Paulo: Papirus.
__________. (1999). Une révolution conservatrice dans l’édition. In: Actes de la Recherche en
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Ramos, E. (2018). Interview given to the author. São Paulo, 3 de maio de 2018.
Sennett, R. (2012). O artífice. Rio de Janeiro: Record.
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de escritórios internacionais de arquitetura e urbanismo. Doctoral Thesis, PUC-Rio, Departamento
de Artes & Design.
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Unesp.
Wood, J. 2016. Design for Micro-Utopias. Making the unthinkable possible. Routledge.