J. Dakota Brown is a designer and educator working on the relationship between design and labor—to be read in two of his essays: “The Power of Design as a Dream of Autonomy” and “Typography, Automation and the Division of Labor: A Brief History.” His primary research interest is typography as contextualized by historical transformations in labor, technology, and aesthetic experience.
He has worked as a designer for the Newberry Library and Thirst. Independent publishing and curatorial projects include AREA Magazine, Chicago Magazine, Version>04 Festival, Select Media Festival, and Lumpen Magazine. His design of the HAHA site-sensitive art collective website reflects the organization’s extensive collaboration with the communities in which it is produced.
Dakota teaches across art history, design, and writing at several art and design universities and maintains an active practice centered around book and journal design.