Jonathan Barnbrook uses a variety of graphical elements to create an illustrative, yet sparking effect to reveal the corruption of large corporate companies. Barnbrook uses many different typefaces within his design that mocks the professionalism of the large companies. Designers are powerful as they are the creators of what the public see and can convince them to think a certain way and Barnbrooks designs have very child like features as the colours and typefaces he uses does not match and seems to be purposeless. Barnbrook says ‘They’re choosing to keep their head down and just do the work’ which proves his point that the corporates are focused on themselves and exaggerates this in his designs.
The Black Panther Party was an African American revolutionary group created in 1966. The purpose was to protect the resident in Africa American neighbourhoods from police brutality. They progressed into marxist ideologies and this can be seen in Emory Douglas’s art as he was part of the movement. Douglas states in an interview that “we caught them at a time when we knew the law, we did it within the law, and they didn’t know how to deal with it’, although this may be true it was not viewed this way as African Americans were seen as a minority and struggled to obtain the rights they deserved such as equality with whites. Douglas’s art is powerful and visually impacting as it pushes forward a political agenda.
William Klein is an American photographer who has a unconventional style of abstract. Klein’s images break from established modes, such as using medium – grain, contrast, blur, cock – eyed framing, eliminating or exaggerating grey tones, he believed in showing what was possible. Klein uses paint to create more graphical work, which adds structure and experiments. The thick paint strokes add rustic effect, similar to making marks on a contact sheet. The paint work adds another dimensions to the image as it is drawing the eye exactly where Klein wants us to look.
Bibliography:
Gosling, E. (2016). Ad-busting, Bowie and controversial typefaces: a look at Jonathan Barnbrook’s graphic design activism. https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/jonathan-barnbrook-adbusters-protest-anonymous-200416
Moroz, S. (2014). William Klein: ‘My pictures showed everything I resented about America’.theguardian.com/…/william-klein-my-pictures-showed-everything-i-resented-about-america
Rayner, A. (2008). Fight the Power. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2008/oct/25/emory-douglas-black-panthers
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Black-Panther-Party
(2007). The Revolutionary Art of Emory Douglas. http://art-for-a-change.com/blog/2007/10/revolutionary-art-of-emory-douglas.html