Within the Abstract series made for Netflix, Planton, a photographer opens the film with ‘what’s important is the story, the message, the feeling, the connection, how do you make this reach people? It’s a combination of graphic simplicity and the power of spirit and soul.’ The soul purpose of Graphic Design is to portray a message to an audience through typography and image. A well executed piece of graphic design has the power to change the fait of history as demonstrated with Emory Douglas’ work.
‘Emory Douglas was an integral part of the Black Panther Party, joining as minister of culture in 1967 and designing artwork that became potent symbols of the movement.'(The Guardian) The Black Panthers stood for human rights for everyone, they promoted gender equality and many women were members of the movement. Gender roles were often swapped with a woman in the poster shown holding a spear and a gun strapped to her shoulder and men would often cook free breakfast for children. Douglas certainly made an impact upon the western world at the time as well as in the present. receiving an AIGA Medal for his work ‘recognised for his fearless and powerful use of graphic design in the Black Panther Party’s struggle for civil rights and against racism, oppression and social injustice’ (K.Wolgamott). The black panther party were so influential and seen as a threat to the FBI, consequently the movement was destroyed.
Another organisation that use the power of graphic design in their favour to convey their messages are WWF
This poster convoys the effects of global warming on a few levels. The melting of land ice and the loss of biodiversity across alpine and tundra regions. This piece of graphic design is very clever in how it shows its message. The red background contrasts with the white melting ice/penguin resulting in what looks like dripping blood, symbolising the death of fauna due to the loss of habitat. The organisation also uses an animal that is not necessarily a keystone species but creates a connection with the audience. A cute and cuddly animal in danger will create that bad feeling towards the audience and in turn will create more of an impact.
The Adbusters Media Foundation is a Canadian non profit organisation founded in 1989 in Vancouver. Their manifesto follows ‘We are a global network of artists, writers, musicians, designers, poets, philosophers and punks trying to pull off a radical transformation of the current world order.’ (Adbusters) Taking the idea of the Mcdonalds ‘happy meal’ and asking the question ‘Are we happy yet?’ next to a massively oversized burger, they are addressing the idea of consumerism and asking us, are trans national corporations really making our lives any better in quite a powerful way.
Adbusters | Journal of the mental environment. (2017). About – Adbusters | Journal of the mental environment. [online] Available at: https://www.adbusters.org/about/ [Accessed 7 Dec. 2017].
Adbusters ‘Are we happy yet?’. (2013). [image] Available at: https://dshiellsedwards.wordpress.com/2013/10/20/adbuster/ [Accessed 7 Dec. 2017].
Anon, (2017). [image] Available at: http://mindblowingresources.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/30-mind-blowing-posters-against-climate.html [Accessed 7 Dec. 2017].
Douglas, E. (2015). Afro-American solidarity with the oppressed People of the world. [image] Available at: http://journalstar.com/entertainment/visual-art/black-panther-minister-of-culture-emory-douglas-on-graphic-art/article_5e37c607-88bc-553a-824e-a4cd8af1f8c9.html [Accessed 7 Dec. 2017].
Wolgamott, K. (2015). Black Panther Minister of Culture Emory Douglas on graphic art and social change. [online] JournalStar.com. Available at: http://journalstar.com/entertainment/visual-art/black-panther-minister-of-culture-emory-douglas-on-graphic-art/article_5e37c607-88bc-553a-824e-a4cd8af1f8c9.html [Accessed 7 Dec. 2017].