What Is Post-Branding? How to Counter Fundamentalist Marketplace Semiotics

Brands aren’t just intruding on culture, they are our culture: they are the sponsored mechanisms for constructing and manipulating meaning and human identity. But should we cede such a fundamental human need to the market? If not, why not, and is there an alternative? A compact pocketbook composed of four main sections, What Is Post Branding? is a work of “practical theory.” The first section, “DIS-BRANDED,” consists of 20 short page-long chapters exposing the ideological underbelly and real-world impact of branding. The second, “Mixed Messages,” is a provocative visual essay illuminating the texts’ main themes. The third section, “Manual,” presents a framework for a critical alternative to corporate branding, humorously appropriating vintage instructional diagrams as a brand manual satire. This section also includes examples of contemporary projects that have implemented post-branding principles. The book concludes with “Context,” which features a conversation with cultural theorist Brian Holmes and a discussion with design historian Steven Heller.