J. Dakota Brown is a designer and design historian. After studying graphic design as an undergraduate, he pursued an MA in visual studies, followed by a PhD in cultural and communication studies. He has been teaching courses on the history, theory, and practice of design at UIC since 2016.
In 2019, Dakota published two influential pamphlets: “The Power of Design as a Dream of Autonomy” (The Green Lantern Press) and “Typography, Automation, and the Division of Labor: A Brief History” (Other Forms Books). In 2024, both were republished in Portuguese translation as Automação e Autonomia: Dois Ensaios sobre Design (Clube do Livro do Design). His writing has also appeared in Amalgam, Jacobin, Post45, and the edited volume After the Bauhaus, Before the Internet: A History of Graphic Design Pedagogy (No Place Press, 2022).
Dakota maintains an active practice as a book designer and editorial typographer. His clients have included Lumpen, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and the Newberry Library.
