This image represents spirit through the smaller details of the image where the artists life is displayed, not only as an embellishment to the focal image which is communicating what the artist feels is the death of his work but also as a timeline for the artists life. The image and overall message wouldn’t have been communicated as well if the style of the 1960’s and 1970’s wasn’t as psychedelic and visually vocal. Artists often wish to affect the ‘now’ within counter culture,“They stress so much happened to them by chance. There were no contracts, no career plans. But the era’s pioneering and radical graphic design influenced everyone who came afterwards – punk was only a few years away with its DIY graphics.“(Hoggard,L 2016).

Within this image, the contrast between the type and the visual art is vivid and noticeable for both symbolic and design reasons. The bullet facing the barrel of the gun suggests the damage done from war is more significant than who claims victory, a very relevant part of counter culturism is how it came to be “The counter cultural movement started on the background of Vietnam War. It was a post-war generation as a result of baby boom. The young people were frustrated due to racism, gender issues, consumerism, and the conservative nature of the society in general.“(Anon 2016). This is supported by the almost illegible white ‘victory’ on the yellow background. The frustration and exhaustion that this image displays is relevant to my world views regarding political topics, however I wouldn’t be as eloquent as this image.

As with counter culture work, this piece shows how distorted some world views become because of the repercussions of war and politics that affect how protest is voiced through art. Marginalia 1 is a collection of text, which was common in counter culture “There were feminine writers such as Gloria Steinem and Slyvia Plath who fought for the equality of women. In the long run, it led to the rise of political activism on the part of women. One such example was the formation of National organization for Women (NOW). “(Anon 2016), Marginalia 1 was influential to the Brazilian counter culture movement (Tropicalism), what I enjoy about this cover for counter culture text is how the visual can voice a message just as clearly.

References:

Anonymous.(2016) The Counterculture Movement and its Effects. Available from: https://brainmass.com/history/cold-war/the-counter-culture-movement-and-its-effects-285642 [Accessed 5 December 2017]

Hoggard,L. (2016) The revolutionary artists of the 60’s colourful counterculture. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/sep/04/revolutionary-artists-60s-counterculture-v-and-a-you-say-you-want-a-revolution [Accessed 5 December 2017]

Images:

Novin,G. (2016) A History of Graphic Design: Chapter 33. Available from: http://guity-novin.blogspot.co.uk/2010/06/chapter-33-pop-art.html [Accessed 2 December 2017]

Anonymous. (2017) Art and Design. Available from: https://www.manystuff.org/?p=20047#.WiUgmUpl_IU [Accessed 2 December 2017]