Art as Activism: Poster Series
One of my many hats I wear is that of a college professor. This year will actually mark 10 years teaching at Kendall College of Art and Design! I have taught everything from basic drawing and figure drawing to digital media and graphic design. The past few years, I have had the opportunity to re-invent Graphic Design for the Illustrator, a course all Illustration Majors are required to take. For many, this is their only class focused solely on graphic design… And let me tell you, fitting a comprehensive design education into one semester is no easy task!
Normally, I end the semester with a month long collaborative project where the students create a Zine. (If you don’t know what that is, click HERE.) However, with COVID-19 and classes being forced to meet virtually this past Spring semester, that assignment wasn’t going to work out. The students couldn’t meet up, the college was closed, printing wasn’t available, and generally the morale of the students was on a downswing.
So, I decided to make some proverbial lemonade.
Inspired by the state of the world, I invited students to express their views, opinions, or experiences through a poster design project titled, “Art as Activism.” I gave them the option of using any current event or issue as subject matter and ended up with designs about the pandemic, mental illness, the environment, diversity, equality, and more.
This project could be adapted for just about any age group or used as a creative challenge for any designer, illustrator, artist. Poster design has a long history of reaching the masses and truly shows just one of the ways design can be impactful, powerful, and universal.
The complete assignment, plus some exemplary student work, are shown below.
“Throughout much of the 20th century, political protests and calls for action reached the public on posters and broadsides. Long before digital technology made worldwide communication possible, graphic artists used the powerful tools of modernist art to inform communities, stir up audiences and call attention to injustice. American graphic artists, often drawing on European models developed in the 1920s to fight fascism or promote revolution, used brilliant colors and violent imagery to produce ephemeral artifacts aimed to inspire and energize the angry or disaffected. Posted on walls and bulletin boards, or slapped up on store windows and church doors, these bright, quickly produced images embodied the anger of the masses, ultimately serving as the wallpaper of public discontent.”
The Assignment
Drawing inspiration from contemporary artist Shepard Fairey and the history of poster art in general, students were given the assignment to create a series of three posters in order to communicate a message of their own. The design had to include both illustration and text and be inspired by current events.
With a wide range of socio-political topics to choose from, the students were encouraged to select something that they felt both passionate and knowledgeable about. Additionally, this was an opportunity to exercise their unique position as an artist to create something meaningful for the world.
PROJECT KEY POINTS
Visually compelling designs addressing any current event/issue
3 separate posters that are unified compositionally
Use of visual hierarchy
Integration of illustration and graphic design
STUDENT WORK
As always, we’d love to hear your feedback!
What inspires you to create? How do social issues impact your art/design? Is there an artist who you feel brings awareness to the public through their work? Comment below!