Print Magazine February 2012

Print's February 2012 Issue is "The Power Issue." In it we use the social psychologists John French and Bertram Raven's 1959 study "the bases of social power" to explain five of our feature stories.

REWARD: Power whose basis is the ability to reward—as a politician might, for instance. See Fritz Swanson’s story "Ink on Plastic" on small-town campaigning in the Obama age.

COERCIVE: Power acquired by withholding favor. See Alexandra Lange’s essay “Anatomy of Uncriticism” on why negativity is missing from design discourse

LEGITIMATE: Formal power, often bearing outward signs of authority. For how to overthrow it, see “Rock Versus Paper” by William Bostwick

REFERENT: Power gained through shared identification. See Margaret Eby’s story "Riot in the Stacks" on the visual legacy of the Riot Grrrls

EXPERT: Power derived from skills. See Rick Poynor’s "Observer" column on how designers’ expertise predisposes them for a particular kind of influence

PLUS! So much more inluding damn good advice from George Lois, mapping a fake transit system, totally fat typefaces, and an exhibition of American political design.

View the complete Table of Contents for the July 2011 issue or purchase the digital edition of this issue here.