World Graphic Design is the first-ever survey of contemporary design and designers outside the United Kingdom , mainland Europe, North America and Australasia . Divided into four sections, each corresponding to a major geographical zone-Africa, the Far East, Latin America and the Middle East-it offers a Groundbreaking survey of work being carried out today within the most popular genres of graphic design: posters, book and album covers, packaging and promotion.

The aim of this book is to celebrate design that is an expression of its time, place and people-the very antithesis of much twentieth-century European and North American design, which has sought to be universal, abstract and timeless. For each region, a general introduction sets the indigenous graphic design within its own unique cultural and political context. The entries that follow allow the individual designers to speak for themselves, to describe their most profound influences and to give a local perspective on the role and direction of graphic design. These informed critical profiles are each accompanied by a range of the designer's most striking work.

As graphic design in the developed world becomes increasingly focused on the same small pantheon of designers and the same canonical approaches, World Graphic Design seeks to expose it to the energy, vitality and diversity of a vast body of work that has-existed alongside alongside it. This stunning and thought-provoking collection brings together designers who have sought to combine traditional forms of cultural expression with modern media, to use design for effective political social comment, and above all, to expand the potential of graphic design within their own countries.

GEOFFREY CABAN is Professor of Design Studies at the University of Technology , Sydney . He is the author of a number of books and journal papers on design history and design education. His recent research has focused on the international and local factors that influence the development and approaches of graphic designers.