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OCTOBER 21, 2025|BOOKS & REVIEWS


The Non-Obvious Book of the Week: CAPS LOCK by  Ruben Pater 


NOBW_Caps Lock 900x600

This isn't like any other book on your bookshelf. That's perhaps the greatest compliment I can offer this stealthy 552-page paperback exploration of the intersection between capitalism and graphic design. The organization of the stories and structure of the book is haphazard. The margins are uncomfortably tight. There's an entire section on the branding of bananas, followed by a later exploration of who should dare to call themselves a designer (and who shouldn't). The result is a book that's a bit like a tasting menu alongside a buffet, seemingly designed to simultaneously frustrate you and open your mind. Ultimately, the book did get me thinking differently not just about graphic design, but about the way capitalism influences just about everything we see. For those reasons, CAPS LOCK is my pick for the Non-Obvious Book of the Week. 

The Non-Obvious Book of the Week: NOBW Caps Lock

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About the Non-Obvious Book Selection of the Week:

Every week I share a new “non-obvious” book selection. Titles featured here may be new or classic books, but the date of publication doesn’t really matter. My goal is to elevate great reads that perhaps deserve a second look which you might have otherwise missed.

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This is a blog about non-obvious ideas. Originally launched on the Typepad platform in 2005 as the Influential Marketing blog, the stories at first focused mainly on digital marketing while Rohit worked at Ogilvy Advertising. In 2015 Rohit officially rebranded to the Non-Obvious Insights Blog and published his WSJ bestseller Non-Obvious. For the past twenty one years, this blog has coined new terms, introduced future marketing practices and inspired the next generation of non-obvious thinkers and marketers.

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