Digging deeper into how design is changing the world.
VOLUME 1 | MARCH 2017
Universal Tattoo by Olga Khazan
Punk Yet Peaceful Positivity by Madeleine Morley
What Women are Worth by Cheryl Heller
Profile: Fred Martins Interview by Katie De Klee
Profile: Walt Disney Profile: Street Artist JR by Ana Bambic Costov
Album Art Blog Time: Cultural Appropriation by Candice Zamora
Presidential Campaign Design by Matt Hansen
History’s Most Powerful Protest Art by Belinda Lanks
Hope by Stephy Chung
Letter from the Editor Charmaine Martinez
A National Geographic photographer explains why many cultures view the body as a blank canvas
WHY TATOOING IS UNIVERSAL BY OLGA KHAZAN JULY 1, 2014
Tattooing, when you think about it, is like smiling: Nearly every culture does it, but not always for the same reason. In a given society, the motivation for covering oneself in paint, ink, or even scars speaks to what the civilization as a whole holds dear. Chris Rainier, a photographer for National Geographic and other publications, has traveled the world in search of cultures he describes as having “one foot in the Garden of Eden.” (He was also Ansel Adams’s last assistant). Speaking at the Aspen Ideas Festival, which is organized jointly by The Atlantic and the Aspen Institute, he explained how
“many cultures around the world believe that the body is a canvas waiting for a story to be told.” From New Zealand’s Maori people to Angeleno gangsters, most cultures incorporate some form of tattooing. But “where the skin is too dark to tattoo, there is scarification,” Rainier said. When he would visit African societies that practice scarification, and he would ask locals who they thought was the most beautiful woman or the most handsome man, they would inevitably point to the most scarred.
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Photographs by Chris Rainier Ancient Marks (2004)
Universal Tattoos | 7
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Often, body modifications go beyond vanity, reflecting a necessary part of the transition to adulthood. He photographed one group of Papua New Guineans who believe all of mankind originated from crocodiles, and therefore have their young initiates scar their skin to resemble the scales of a reptile. To varying degrees, the same is true even of tattooing. As Smithsonian wrote regarding Rainier’s work, “In New Guinea, a swirl of tattoos on a Tofi woman’s face indicates her family lineage. The dark scrawls on a Cambodian monk’s chest reflect his religious beliefs. A Los Angeles gang member’s sprawling tattoos describe his street affiliation, and may even reveal if he’s committed murder.”
“They say, This is who I am, and what I have done,” Rainier told the magazine. Which just goes to show, the ways in which we mark our skin may vary widely, but deep down we’re all the same.
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This young Berlin designer walks the line, steering clear of twee.
THE SECRET TO
Art director and graphic designer Marius Jopen’s work first came to me in the form of a quote from H. G. Wells, written in an off-kilter, cursive style with thick black Sharpie. It was hung on the door of my co-working studio, where he was set up for a brief stint. “More than machinery, we need humanity, more than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness,” it read.
BY MADELEINE MORLEY
This hand-written style is a signature of his, appearing across the board on identities and posters that he penned throughout his time working for Mirko Borsche and Stefan Sagmeister. It continues to be a staple, featuring throughout the continual scroll of the young designer’s website and on his work for cultural clients in Berlin and Amsterdam. Having worked for two of Germany’s most in-demand designers and having recently garnered attention as a finalist for the Dutch Design Awards’ young designer category, starting his own studio is the logical next step for the 2014 Rietveld Academy graduate.
ETHICAL DESIGN? NOVEMBER 18, 2016 Illustrations by Marius Japen
I’m not one for inspirational design quotes by any means, but this wasn’t what his Welles poster was; the scruffiness of Jopen’s style makes it seem punk, not twee. It has the same effect on client work. For a recent campaign and identity system for the Rotterdam museum Het Nieuwe Institute’s The Body exhibition, Jopen, in collaboration with Berlinbased designer Max Kuwertz, created a system in which clean grids collide with scrawled felt-tip pen. While studying in Amsterdam, Jopen began a project akin to the Daily Drop Cap or postera-day craze that has become an almost compulsory exercise for students. For almost two
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COLLECTION: POSTER DIARY
COLLECTION: THE BODY with Max Kuwertz
COLLECTION: THE BODY with Max Kuwertz
COLLECTION: THE LOVE FOUNDATION
Punk Yet Peaceful Positivity | 13
COLLECTION: POSTER DIARY
COLLECTION: POSTER DIARY
COLLECTION: POSTER DIARY
COLLECTION: THE LOVE FOUNDATION
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years he created a poster reflecting on the news headlines, printing out a grid he’d put together on InDesign and scrawling across it in felt-tip pen, collaging and illustrating to articulate complex issues with striking simplicity. Eventually he found the routine frustrating, feeling as if he was participating in a merry-go-round of negative news. Perhaps as an antidote to submerging himself in daily disasters, around the same time Jopen co-founded The Love Foundation. The open network of students and artists raises money by putting on music nights, using the profits to provide clean drinking water for people in the Busia region of Kenya. Instead of invoking guilt through distressing imagery, Jopen—in line with the sweeping positive news movement—believes design with an optimistic message creates a conducive atmosphere for social causes. In order to connect all members of the foundation together (which now has branches in Amsterdam, Berlin, Dresden, Perth, and Santa Cruz, California), he designed a “Love Logo” of two interlocking rings that have become the only recurring motif for the posters promoting events. This is what Jopen’s work does—it elevates— but its aesthetic is wild, quick, and cut-andpaste enough, so that there’s nothing too sentimental about it. It’s vital to consider the role of ethics for contemporary graphic designers, an area often over looked, and to highlight who is using their skills for ideological or political purposes. Jopen’s approach— as symbolized in that small act of tacking a Charlie Chaplin quote to a door—is one that communicates heart and heft.
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BUSTING FOR MO
Cheryl Heller on advantage…fro
I was asked to speak at the conferenc MONEY THAN MEN…It’s an endles Following, nevertheless, is one more po
I believe that money and power will not c the confidence to act. It will come through ditioned by stereotypes and how our expec setting those expectations. The TIME HAS C much has been said and written and too muc from analyzing the gender gap. The most hone have to fight is an individual battle having nothin
IT’S UNDENIABLY TR
men, and money is the sign of equality. Women earn cation. The gap is as large for college graduates as fo Both men and women employers pay their female sub male subordinates with similar positions. It’s a fascinatin they pay men. ONE-THIRD of all new businesses today among the self-employed, the gap in hourly earnings is sli women have their own companies, they pay themselves les
The facts about the wage gap are relatively uncontroversial, b why. The first inclination is to blame employers, but if employe why wouldn’t they drive down the wages of men? They have to demand and they pay, to men and women, as little as they can w marketplace, and THEY RESPOND TO WHOEVER APPLIES T
G NEGATIVE STEREOTYPES ORE MONEY AND POWER.
n why women “have a tremendous om not being the ruling class.“
BY CHERYL HELLER MARCH 10, 2015
ce in Chicago about the fact that WOMEN MAKE LESS ss emotional subject colored by centuries of opinions. oint of view.
come through legislation, although that may give women h an understanding of how our behavior has been conctation levels are set and the responsibility we share in COME for this issue of men versus women to end. Too ch money has been made by those to stand to profit est and useful belief we can hold is that the battle we ng to do with gender.
RUE
that women make less money than n less money than men at every level of eduor workers who have not finished high school. bordinates roughly $12,000 LESS than their ng statistic. Women pay women less than are started by women, and surprisingly, ightly larger. That means that even when ss than men pay themselves.
but there’s a lot of disagreement as to ers had the power to control wages, face the issues of supply and while remaining competitive in the THE MOST PRESSURE.
What Women Are Worth | 19
A second definition of discrimination is job segregation, the assumption that some jobs more than others or the menial tasks rather than managerial. It’s tiation and there are a million reasons as to why it exists. The assumption has existed forever. Within the original myths of almost every culture, the ence for dichotomous thinking, which, as Simone Dabougraur wrote in norm and WOMEN AS THE OTHER possessing traits opposing to m
Not surprisingly, the fact that MEN HAVE BEEN IN POWER has h sexual differences. First of all, women had not been considered imp the study that has been done has been directed towards discover inferiority. Men have simply been protecting their turf. We have b because of our smaller brain size and are unable to perform sev of less brain lateralization.
We’re believed to be more controlled by our hormones than medical advisor to the late Hubert Humphrey, warned again affairs because of their
“RAGING H
and U.N. Ambassador Jean Kirkpatrick reported that so appointment because of her female “temperament.” W makers and breeders of children through the evolutio believed to be MORE “SOCIAL” and more sugges excel over men at repetitive tasks, to be less analy more AUDITORIALLY ORIENTED rather than v What is true; however, is that we’re conditioned to our gender by our parents, our teachers, an
The overwhelming evidence that’s come to lig ation is best explained as a social construct that jobs affect behavior tremendously. Re plexity, or routinization of a job and the pe tive, and competence. In other words a EXPOSURE TO NEW SITUATIONS actually condition ourselves as we are
It’s been discovered that people do ate to their role in society; also, tha to have masculine feelings and w
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t women are suited to s called sex-role differenn that we’re not the same ere seems to be a prefer1945, “Casts men as the men.”
had an effect on the study of portant enough to study, and ring proof of women’s biological been considered less intelligent veral tasks simultaneously because
are men. Edgar Burman, who was nst women’s participation in public
HORMONES”
ome White House critics resisted her We’re believed to be generally fixed as homeon of hunter-gatherer societies. We’re also stible, to have LOWER SELF-ESTEEM, to ytical, less motivated towards achievement, and visually. NONE OF THESE THINGS IS TRUE. to behave in certain ways regarded as appropriate nd by society.
ght in the last decade indicates that gender differentition rooted in hierarchy, not in biology. It’s been proven ecent research found a direct link between the pace comerson’s commitment, intellectual flexibility, moral perspecperson’s interest and competence turns out to be linked to AND OPPORTUNITIES TO LEARN IN ADVANCE. We e being conditioned to fit this hierarchy.
“emotion work” on themselves to create feelings that appropriat through anticipatory socialization, men condition themselves women to have feminine feelings. Nora Ephron wrote about this
self-fulfilling prophecy: “I opening bottles, oddly inc me, inexplicably I found it s LESS INFORMED, LESS are themselves, so I generally and didn’t in the least mind be
But all stereotypes disintegrate w than women do certain things and JUST DOESN’T SPLIT NEATLY and women turn out to be much sm managers of small and large compan than the differences between old and with working class parents. The concep perceptions by FOCUSING ON DIFFE distinctions are based on very slim eviden
It was Coleridge’s idea that a truly great min gender. WE CREATE OUR OWN OPPOR that, and we must accept that we are just as r one it’s an individual battle. No organization an will help is for each of us to work individually to p everyone else. People who are successful have m be great that carries them through rough times and they want. They don’t focus on limitations. THEY TA These are qualities shared by both genders. We have lot from not being the ruling class.
I read once that children always know their parents bette because THOSE WITH POWER ARE STUDIED CARE We still have the element of surprise. If you’re not expected your advantage. t seems to me that the conflict is to be trea a conclusion of A Room of One’s Own, Virginia Wolf wrote, “I there is not an arm to cling to, but that we go alone and that o and not only to the world of men and women, then the
OPPORTUNITY W
I adapted willy-nilly. If I was assumed to be incompetent at reversing cars or competent I found myself becoming. If a case was thought too heavy for so myself. I discovered that even now MEN PREFER WOMEN TO BE ABLE, LESS TALKATIVE, and certainly less self-centered than they y oblige them. I didn’t particularly want to be good at reversing cars eing patronized by illiterate garage men.
when we look at individuals. The fact of the matter is that more men d behave in certain ways and vice versa, but in reality, the world Y DOWN THAT LINE. What differences there are between men maller than the differences between rich and poor or between nies or old and new companies. They may even be smaller young people, or those with professional parents and those pts of male and female cause the sorting and skewing of ERENCES RATHER THAN SIMILARITIES. Often these nce.
nd is androgynous, one that rises above the traps of TUNITIES. We must accept responsibility for doing responsible for not creating opportunities. For everynd no legislation will change enough people. What prove the stereotypes wrong to ourselves and to many qualities in common. They have a passion to d keeps them focused. They’re clear about what AKE RISKS AND THEY HAVE COURAGE. e a tremendous advantage. We have learned a
er than parents know their children. That’s EFULLY BY THOSE THEY CONTROL. d to be strong or brilliant, it can work to ated roughly, so you must choose. At If we face the fact, for it is a fact, that our relation is to the world of reality
WILL COME.” Illustrations by Asha Logan The Wage Gap (2017)
The afro comb and African consciousness
Nigerian artist Fred Martins shares his latest collection of politically charged art with Design Indaba. His previous series drew attention to the serious issue of climate change, which was aimed at triggering an emotional response in the viewer—which might then lead to better global stewardship. This new project celebrates African activists, who were jailed for trying to enforce the freedom and fairness for Africans. Using the symbol of the “afro comb,” Martins’ series includes portraits of Marcus Garvey, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, Patrice Lumumba and Fela Kuti.
INT KLE
TERVIEW BY KATIE DE EE FROM DESIGN INDABA TELL ME MORE ABOUT THE IMAGE OF THE COMB?
Lately, I started listening to some early 90’s West African highlife music, the nostalgic feeling from that retro world inspired me. Their passé style made me brood on our music and culture and later, on the African struggle for freedom, social justice and fairness. And on those that gave their all, breaking into pieces like a comb trying to liberate the scalp from lice. So I illustrated strong and symbolic images in honour of some celebrated African activists and past leaders that still inspire a lot of people. WHAT DO YOU THINK IS SO STRONG ABOUT THE COMB AS A SYMBOL?
Afro combs were worn in the 70’s by fluffy-afroed youths in America as a protest against repression and it goes beyond style and adornment, a comb has a strong historical play for Africans. Combs were connected to both cultural and religious beliefs, even though they were fashionable and also used for combating lice, ticks and fleas. The over
5500-year-old Afro-combs discovered in Kemet (Egypt) disproves the present theories that denies Egypt its blackness. It connects Africans to their ancestors. WHY THE BOLD ORANGE BACKGROUND?
The orange color is associated to prison. I realized that most of these legendary activists—from Marcus Garvey, Martin Luther King Jr, Nelson Mandela, Patrice Lumumba, Fela Kuti to Angela Davis—were at some point jailed for enforcing the African consciousness. YOUR CHARACTERS ARE NOT ONLY AFRICANS WHO LIVED ON THE CONTINENT, WAS IT IMPORTANT FOR YOU TO INCLUDED THE DIASPORA AFRICANS?
Africans for me are indivisible, not even by geography. They are treated as one people across the globe and it does not matter their birth place so they are not limited by global mapping. And for sharing the same goal and struggle they should be uniformly honored.
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The draw of war: Walt Disney and WWII
In December 1941, Time magazine was about to print its end of year issue, its front cover carrying a big picture of Dumbo—that loveable elephant with the gigantic ears who had helped The Walt Disney Studio achieve soaring box office figures that year. But on December 7, Japanese aircraft attacked Pearl Harbour, abruptly bringing America into World War Two, and ousting Walt’s latest creation from the front page. Yet, if the war led to a dip in Disney’s fortunes, it was only a temporary one. Within just six months, The Walt Disney Studio in Burbank, California, was declared a war plant. Its filmmaking capacity was given over to the Allied effort and its well-loved cartoon characters all enlisted to do their bit for their country—from Donald Duck and Pluto to Mickey Mouse, Snow White and beyond. Through a mix of groundbreaking military training films, features and propaganda shorts, as well as insignia, books, posters, and much more, Disney sought to boost troops’ morale on the frontline and promote government policies on the home front.
This article has been edited
DON’T BE A JOB HOPPER‌ Disney artists created a wealth of war-related material for many other federal, state, and local government departments and agencies besides Treasury. This illustration was designed for the War Manpower Commission in 1943, to try and convince employees to stay at the jobs they were trained to do and help ease the critical manpower shortage caused by men being drafted into the military. It appeared in several magazines and was issued as a poster.
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USS ESCAMBIA… The insignia for the USS Escambia (AO-80) fleet refueler was created by famed Disney artist Hank Porter, the man responsible for creating the lion’s share of combat designs at the studio during the war. Escambia, named after a river that flows through Georgia and Florida, fueled ships during the invasion of the Marshall Islands, aircraft carriers as they launched strikes against the Philippines, task forces vessels supporting the invasion of Okinawa, and aircraft flying raids against Japan. This mobile naval gas station was represented by a 50-gallon drum and Jose Carioca, a character made famous in Disney’s two South American films, Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros. Virgil Grier, who served aboard the Escambia said, “Ken Hackett reproduced the insignia on each side of the bridge, where it drew admiring chuckles from the crews of the ships we refueled.”
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SEASONS GREETINGS‌ Christmas was often a depressing time of the year for men serving overseas. To help raise morale, many units created their own custom holiday greeting cards. Units with Disney-designed insignia often incorporated their insignia into the design of their cards. This particular postcard was sent out by men serving aboard the navy fleet oiler USS Housatanic (AO-35). This tanker saw action in both the Atlantic and South Pacific, where she delivered fuel oil for warships and high-octane gasoline for aircraft.
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MR. GRASSHOPPER‌ The USS Bunker Hill (CV-17) was an Essexclass aircraft carrier that saw extensive action in the South Pacific. Supporting the invasion of Okinawa, Bunker Hill was severely damaged when two Japanese kamikaze pilots successfully crashed into her. The resulting explosions killed more than 340 crewmen.
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TRAINING TIME… This 26-page booklet was published by the Aeronca Aircraft Corporation in 1943. The booklet told the story of the Aeronca Grasshopper, a multi-purpose airplane. The Grasshopper was used for artillery spotting, scouting, and air ambulance duties. Disney artists drew all of the illustrations in the booklet, as well as the corporate logo on the front cover. The general public could receive a copy of the booklet by sending 10 cents in stamps to Aeronca’s publicity department. This whimsical training booklet was created for the US Army Air Force, Safety Education Division, Flight Control Command. The concept simple: make a manual that would hold the attention of an airman while teaching him the basic principles of cold weather flying in a fun manner. Through humorous sketches, the booklet details the perils Allied airmen could face while flying at high altitudes and in the very cold. The featured characters are spandules, the winter cousins of author Roald Dahl’s mythical gremlins, which wreaked havoc on aircraft.
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The artist on a crusade
He started on the houses of Paris by writing his name on rooftops. After realizing he could make use of photography to tell a wider story, he began pasting images he took on walls in numerous illegal sidewalk galleries. When Paris was caught by the riot fire in the mid 2000s, his social consciousness reached a new level of lucidity, and his activist crusade began. His moniker is JR and he is probably the most globally spread street artist. It’s obvious that JR’s art comes from activism, but the manner in which this TED prize winner conducts his affairs is entirely different. He does not focus only on several concrete issues as Keith Haring did, nor does he engage in advocating revolution in style of Carrie Reichardt. JR thinks wider, always bearing a universal picture in mind, even if he focuses on concrete, local issues in any of his continuous travels. Recognized by the art world as a prodigy, JR is today known as an activist for women’s rights, peace and equality, always having one common quality in all his projects—an idealistic belief in humanity.
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ROOFTOP BEGINNINGS… The beginnings of JR’s activism stem from his firm convictions that people are often served with wrong ideas about anything ‘other’, while he seeks his subjects in areas where there were no museums, or other cultural institutions. In the Portrait of a Generationproject, realized in Paris between 2004 and 2006, JR turned his focus towards the marginal groups of society. Initially, those were kids against whom the prejudice of Parisian bourgeoisie was overwhelming, so pasting posters with their faces across the posh arrondissements of the City of Light had an immense impact. So immense in fact, that the Paris City Hall allowed for JR’s photographs to be wrapped around its outer walls.The word prejudice played the crucial role here, as it did in the next adventure of JR, located in the dangerous West Bank area.
Women are Heroes Since 2008
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FACE 2 FACE‌ Hearing a lot about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the artist embarked on a journey wanting to experience the situation and, perhaps, help overcome it on some level. Fighting against prejudicial ‘other’, he pasted photographed portraits of Palestine and Israeli people on the West Bank barrier, one next to the other, on both sides of the wall. He called the project Face 2 Face, and as he was looked disapprovingly by some for putting pictures of Israelis or Palestinians in the enemy zone, rarely could those people tell apart which one was which. By confronting two opposites, putting them in the same place and leveling them, JR did the unthinkable in a way, which aided in the understanding of absurdity of their discord. His actions stood for tolerance and acceptance, for peace, suggesting an alternative of friendship instead of clash.
Face 2 Face Since 2009
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WOMEN ARE HEROES… The development of JR’s evolving artistic and socially engaged practice took him in the direction of advocating women’s rights as well. He started this initiative in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, and spread it across places with the highest rate of social distress. Women are Heroes project went from Brazil to Sierra Leone, Liberia, Kenya, India, and Cambodia highlighting women as the most vulnerable and the strongest survivors of any given problem they encounter in the unsettling conditions they live in.
Women are Heroes Since 2008
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ART OF THE PEOPLE… It’s hardly surprising that JR chose public art for his primary expression. The illicit nature of his works is there to emphasize the direct communication with the people, his partners in crime. The response and the reaction if what JR is trying to provoke, while the opinions of the stale elite are of little interest to him. He wants to move the masses, propagating equality and human values with every step of the way. Even his more sentimental projects, Unframed and Wrinkles of the City, posses a clear critical or empowering tone, fighting for everyman, or the too-frequently overlooked social groups. Still, his latest concept, the one that made him a global phenomenon, is what embodies JR’s activism the best.
Wrinkles in the City Since 2008
INS CH
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SIDE OUT CAN HANGE THE WORLD… Already a king of street art, JR decided to involve people in his ideas. When giving his inaugural TED talk in 2011, JR asked a crucial question—Can art change the world? He did not offer a yes or no answer at the time, stating that art definitely can change how people perceive the world, altering the viewing angle, while proclaiming his wish to use art to turn the world inside out. Then and there, the biggest participatory art project in the world was born—Inside Out Project. As the winner of a million dollar prize, JR started engaging people across the world to make a photographic statement, to stand for their beliefs, to make their mark, The response was (and still is) vast, as the photobooths aiding in photographing people and the exhibitions spread from the USA to China. Using photography as activism, JR achieved in reaching out to millions, who dared in making themselves to be, visible and thus, known and heard.
Accomplishments of JR’s artistic engagements have surpassed all expectations. The success and the acceptance they get from local communities testify to the purposefulness of his actions, as he succeeded in changing the dynamics of various, tightly knit, groups of people. Acting locally, they made an impact on the global scene, reintroducing the most universal human values into a over-stratified global society. People have become their own brand, while the artist insists on not having any logos, sponsors or credits on his art, giving it back to the people. Therefore, JR’s anonymity is logical and deliberate, as he is only the vessel of the community. His photographic activism takes him to where he is needed the most, where he endeavors to put an ordinary man on the global map, so that when he is looked at, he can always look back.
Inside Out Project Since 2011
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a timeline of the bold statements made on a square canvas
WE INSIST Max Roach
The cover of this impatiently-titled, classic jazz record references the sit-in movements of the civil rights movement which started in Greensboro, North Carolina in 1960. As with To Pimp a Butterfly, the confrontational nature of the image is accentuated by the fact that everyone in the frame is staring straight down the camera.
SPACE IS THE PLACE Sun Ra
Born Herman Poole Blount in the Jim Crow hot-spot Birmingham, Alabama in 1914, Ra maintained he was not of this planet and painstakingly crafted a mythical persona that fused sci-fi ideas and aesthetics with Egyptian mysticism. In his sole fictional film appearance—an adaptation of the album of the same name —Ra plays a seer whose mission is to get the disenfranchised black youth of the day to relocate to the Utopian haven of space. Its allegorical take on a blasted, post-civil rights urban America as no place for black people was hardly subtle. 54 | TONE
THIS IS MADNESS The Last Poet
The Last Poets was an amorphous, evershifting collective of poets and musicians who arose from the late 1960s black nationalist movement. The staunchly Africanist imagery, flame-coated backdrop and Black Power salutes tell the whole revolutionary story on the cover of their album This is Madness.
BAD BRAINS Bad Brains
The self-titled debut by DC Rasta-punks Bad Brains—once regarded as one of the fastest albums of all time—flies by in a flurry of aggravation and spittle-flecked spirit. Its cover courted controversy by depicting the chrome dome of the Washington Capitol building being struck by lightning and cracking apart. Perhaps the electricity was conducted by their furious hardcore.
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STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON NWA
The forthcoming biopic of LA gangsta rappers NWA, named after their debut LP, illustrates that their influence is far from waning. Straight Outta Compton has one of the all-time great covers—a shot taken from the point of view of a man (very possibly a cop, if the song Fuck Tha Police is anything to go by) about to be dispatched by a guntoting Eazy-E. The rest of the group glower with a memorable ferocity intended to strike fear into the hearts of white America.
LET’S GET FREE Dead Prez
Among the most politically-conscious rap outfits of the era (alongside the likes of Black Star and X-Clan), Dead Prez matched their thrillingly didactic wordplay with uncompromising imagery. The cover of Let’s Get Free represents an open call for armed revolution and aligns contemporary, capitalist, repressive America with colonial-era Africa in the form of an armed village preparing to strike. Unsurprisingly, the cover was censored in many outlets around the US.
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THINGS FALL APART The Roots
Taking its title from the classic 1958 novel by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe, the artwork for Things Fall Apart draws a terrifying line between the past and the present in its use of a stark, monochrome photograph from the civil rights movement era. It depicts the terrifying sight of riot police chasing two black teenagers—one boy, one girl—down the streets of Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant.
TO PIMP A BUTTERFLY Kendrick Lamar
On Wednesday morning, Compton rapper Kendrick Lamar posted the cover art for his forthcoming LP, To Pimp a Butterfly, on Instagram, prompting much excitement. To call its vivid imagery confrontational would be an understatement. Shot in striking monochrome with the quality of a vintage Polaroid, it features a large group of mostly shirtless black men and children—plus one baby, cradled by Lamar himself and, possibly, one woman—arranged in a victory tableau on the lawn in front of the White House.
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How design can help end cultural appropriation.
BY CANDICE ZAMORA SEPTEMBER 24, 2015
CANDICE ZAMORA A world of music, film, design and culture from the viewpoint of a student, mom, wife and Veteran.
If you thought our politically-correct society has eliminated issues of race and stereotypes from advertisements, brand logos, and the fields of web and graphic design, you thought wrong. A more complex and extremely controversial topic is creeping up in American culture: cultural appropriation.
Wikipedia defines Cultural appropriation as a sociological concept which views the adoption or use of elements of one culture by members of a different culture as a largely negative phenomenon. Generally, an assumption that the culture being borrowed from is also being oppressed by the culture doing the borrowing is prerequisite to the concept.
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The P olde desig Cauc is as Asia mak grap is cre deni actu appr in gr
Professional Association for Design (AIGA), which is the est and largest professional membership organization for gn, reports that 86% of graphic designers in the field are casian American. The remaining demographic breakdown s follows: 2% are Black, 4% are Hispanic/Latino, 6% are an/Pacific Islander, and 2% are “other.� This lack of diversity kes the entire career field less credible—after all, how can phic design be taken seriously if only a certain demographic eating everything? The real problem is designers are being ied the chance to advocate for certain viewpoints from the ual source of the information. This increases the chances of ropriation appearing in real life and stereotypes appearing raphic design work.
IS DIVERSITY REALLY THAT IMPORTANT IN DESIGN?
In a word, yes. Technol make diversity and incl essary than ever in tod design standpoint, dive within the field leads to we can’t advance witho from different viewpoin absorb brands, logos, a tations into our identitie be accurate and respec that our culture welcom participation from all et socioeconomic popula insights and experience enrich the lives of our w
Photograph by Pascal Le Segretain The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show (2016)
logy and globalism lusion more necday’s world. From a ersity and inclusion o more innovation— out different ideas nts. As Americans, we and visual represenes—so they need to ctful. It’s important mes expression and thnic, gender and ations because their es can inform and whole society.
In order to successfully lead improvement and change, design companies must openly embrace more diverse practitioners and retain them through inclusion. The industry as a whole has a responsibility to foster new talent and create communities of contributors who represent more realistic gender and ethnic ratios in order to give everyone an equal chance succeed. Additionally, designers can take measures to avoid placing stereotypes on other cultures. The chances of this happening decrease when diversity is welcomed; designers then get the chance to understand the history behind certain elements of another ethnicity’s culture. The more designers of different backgrounds know about each other the better they can create intelligent and sensitive expressions and avoid appropriation. America can’t afford to lose the amazing contributions that can be made by misrepresented segments of its population, and reaching out to these populations is the first step toward ending racist designs and cultural appropriation.
SO HOW CAN WE FIX IT?
Blog Time: Cultural appropriation| 63
Let’s face it, the 2016 presidential election was pandemonium—an allout fist fight between the left and the right. In the left corner, weighing in at 33,000 deleted emails, the undisputed wall street heavyweight, Hillary Rodham Clinton. On the right, weighing in at 6 bankruptcies and 34 thousand tweets, the reality tv show host and political newbie, Donald J. Trump. Instead of boxing trunks, the candidates sported expensive suits; and instead of hooks and jabs, they threw negative commercials and obvious subtweets. America watched as the two fighters sparred in the ring, ducking questions and dodging the real issues. After battling it out for the full 12 rounds, one fighter finally tapped out. Just like that, the historic 2016 election was over. Both politicians left the ring unscathed, but the fate of the U.S. was riddled with uncertainty. Behind all of the politicians were their spirited crew, their clamorous supporters, and of course, their sleep-deprived team of graphic designers. It’s time to take an inside look at the design language behind the campaigns—which ones packed a punch and which ones were on the ropes?
HILLARY CLINTON
BERNIE SANDERS
DONALD TRUMP
JEB BUSH
Obama’s ‘O’ w and elegance a elegance, her n
Sander’s logo is we appears happy on to the star over the ‘i’, b into his website and u shows it’s versatility. N
With a better interpretatio cept of taking the Americ the initials take the place o in this case and, if you wer vote for Trump, this is a fair
Different, and thoughtfully dista last name, but it feels amateuris
— Mi
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was handled with a certain amount of nuance and Hillary’s ‘H’ has none of that nuance or name is Hillary. We don’t know her as Ms. H. — Steven Heller, design critic and former art director at The New York Times
ell balanced, has good colors and almost op of its little wave. I’m not a huge fan of but the way they’ve integrated the logo used it across a range of merchandise Nice one. — Benjamin Starr, Visual News
on of the “TP” monogram, the concan flag to construct a logo where of the stars (while not new) is fitting re (or happen to be) someone to rly rallying logo. — Brand New
ancing from his somewhat toxic sh and simplistic—not simple.
BY MATT HANSEN MARCH 2017
ike Tyson, Senior Designer, New York
Presidential Campaign Design | 69
Homemade posters can pack a punch. But well-designed images can deliver powerful messages that resonate for decades, as these examples, chosen by prominent designers, make clear. From a gold-swallowing Hitler and babies killed in Vietnam to the “I AM A MAN” posters used by black sanitation workers in Memphis to protest poor working conditions, these images harken back to disturbing moments in history. But they’re also reminders of the progress that we’ve made, the challenges we still face, the dangers of sliding backward, and the vital importance of staying engaged in the good fight.
BY BELINDA LANKS NOVEMBER 23, 2016
For the full article “Top designers on the images that coalesced movements and compelled change. Get inspired.� visit Magenta.as
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VICTORY 1945 by Shigeo Fukuda (1975) Chosen by Jesse Reed, associate partner at Pentagram where he helped design Hillary Clinton’s campaign logo.
CLENCHED FISTS Chosen by graphic designer Deva Pardue
THIS IS NAZI BRUTALITY by Ben Shahn (1942) Chosen by Steven Heller, design critic and co-chair of SVA’s Design MFA program
iRaq: 10,000 VOLTS IN YOUR POCKET, GUILTY OR INNOCENT by Copper Greene (2004)
History’s Most Powerful Protest Art | 73
DEVIN ALLEN IN FRONT OF A PHOTO HE TOOK IN THE AFTERMATH OF FREDDIE GRAY’S DEATH. Chosen by Julian Alexander, founder of Slang Inc.
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PINS WON’T SAVE THE WORLD by Sagmeister and Walsh Chosen by Santiago Carrasquilla
AND BABIES Design by Art Workers’ Coalition and Photography by Ron L. Haeberle (1969) Chosen by artist and designer James Victore
ADOLF AND SUPERMAN: SWALLOWS GOLD AND SPITS TIN by John Heartfield (1932) Chosen by Amy Nicole Schwartz, design directer at Cards Against Humanity
UNTITLED (I AM MAN) by Glenn Ligon (1980) Chosen by Eddie Opara, partner at Pentagram
History’s Most Powerful Protest Art | 77
artist Shepard Fairey reveals new posters to protest Trump
Shepard Fairey—the artist behind the 2008 “Hope” poster depicting then presidential candidate Barack Obama—has produced a new set of images in time for President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration this Friday. The three posters feature Muslim, Latino, and African-American women. “We thought (they) were the three groups that had been maybe criticized by Trump and maybe were going to be most, if not necessarily vulnerable in a literal sense, most feeling that their needs would be neglected in a Trump administration,” Fairey told CNN. Fairey, along with artists Jessica Sabogal and Ernesto Yerena, teamed up with the non-profit Amplifier Foundation—a self-described “art machine for social change”—to produce works for the organization’s We the People campaign. It’s really about making sure that people remember that ‘we the people’ means everyone, it means all the people,” Fairey said. “I think the campaigns were very divisive, more from one side than the other. But (it’s) just reminding people to find their common humanity, and look beyond maybe one narrow definition of what it means to be American.” The campaign’s objective, as stated in its Kickstarter campaign, is to “flood” Washington with symbols of hope on January twentieth.
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“On January 20th, if this campaign succeeds, we’re going to take out full-page ads in the Washington Post with these images, so that people across the capitol and across the country will be able to carry them into the streets, hang them in windows, or paste them on walls,” organizers wrote. So far, more than $1.3 million has been pledged, exceeding the Amplifier Foundation’s $60,000 target. Fairey, who has previously depicted him in an image inspired by George Orwell’s “1984,” has long been vocal about Trump. “Trump is dangerous,” Fairey told CNN in the lead-up to the 2016 election. “He’s a demagogue who’s a bigot and is sexist. He really has no respect for a lot of different people, no experience in politics, and is pursuing the presidency out of his own ego rather than a desire to create the greatest good for the greatest number of people.” Fairey is not the only artist making a statement against Trump. Los Angeles-based artist Illma Gore recently revealed a mural painted with human blood to protest Trump, and actress Meryl Streep earned the President-elect’s scorn when she spoke out against him in a speech at the Golden Globes earlier this month.
BY STEPHY CHUNG JANUARY 19, 2017 Illustrations by Shepard Fairey
What is typography? Why does it matter How does it impa
The Me printed of print styled a conten makes good c differen
Typogra everyth read, th beautifu there is
This de lens of election means curated Polytec The ma brough
CHARMAINE MARTINEZ EDITOR, INSTRUCTOR AND TYPE ENTHUSIAST Illustration by Jason O’Malley
? r? act our lives?
erriam-Webster definition of “typography” is: “the work of producing d pages from written material” or “the style, arrangement, or appearance ted letters on a page.” How those letters, words, and sentences are and arranged affects how they are perceived. Good typography clarifies nt, establishes hierarchy, and presents information in a manner that it easier to read, and, therefore, to understand. Good typography is communication: it can start a dialog or advance an idea or make a nce in the world.
aphy is also intertwined with our daily lives—we encounter type in hing from the products we buy, the signage around us, the books we he news we consume, and the directions we follow. Typography can be ul, functional, persuasive, and inviting. It can also fail, especially when s a disconnect between how the type looks and what the text says.
ebut issue of TONE examines typography and design viewed through the activism and social justice. Topics range from the recent presidential n to ethics within the design industry to the power of the poster as a s of expression and protest. The content was conceptualized, collected, d, and created by students in Art 338: Typography II at California chnic State University in San Luis Obispo during winter quarter 2017. agazine reflects the diverse interests and talents of the students who ht this project to life.
Letter From the Editor | 83
DESIGN BY EMILY PAYNE The content of this Zine was the result of a collaboration of over 20 design students at California Polytechnic State University. Digital publication date is March, 2017.
TYPEFACES USED Swiss 721 BT Created at the Bitstream type foundry in 1982 as a Helvetica clone with condensed and a rounded versions, Swiss 721 is used for all body text.
Futura First design in 1927 by Paul Renner. This typeface was used for all subhead text.
FF DIN DIN stands for Deutsches Institut fĂźr Normung and was designed by Albert-Jan Pool in 1995. This typeface was used for all large headers and number treatment.