Blackstart examines everyday life to reveal its complexity, fragility, and dependence on electricity. The book is divided into two parts: “Lights On” (Utopia) and “Lights Off” (Dystopia). The first explores the excitement and promises of progress electricity brought to everyday life, while the second looks at how technology has evolved into a network of systems we can no longer live without, exploring famous blackouts to emphasise their fragility, before imagining a world without electricity altogether. The title refers to the process of restarting the power grid from scratch, tying into the final idea of rebuilding from nothing.

The design follows this shift from optimism to dependence, with “Lights On” printed on yellow paper and “Lights Off” on black. The exposed grid throughout the book serves for both functionality and storytelling, representative of the power grid itself, guiding the typography in the background in the same way technology has come to guide everyday life. The columns of text on the cover represents the countless systems that depend on electricity, making the scale of this dependence immediately visible. Together, these elements reflect the central idea: electricity once promised freedom, but has become something we can no longer live without.