Protest Posters 2 is Coming to a Close. See Exciting Entries from Portugal, Mexico, USA, and Japan!

The Graphis Protest Posters 2 has been a reflection of the times we are living in and the issues that people care about. Here are a few highlighted entries from the competition so far.

Portuguese designer João Machado presents two posters in his signature minimalistic style on the subject of Biodiversity, the first depicting a school of fish and the second a colorful bird spreading its wings. Featured in the Graphis Journal 362, Machado has won awards for his designs internationally and in Graphis awards since 2007. His environmental and wildlife posters have made a couple appearances in this competition.

Paco Macías Velasco from Mexico questions the use of Thermal recognition technology in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic with an image of the Mona Lisa put under thermal scanning. Masked faces and even the virus itself surround the smiling face to suggest the disease’s spread. By using the Mona Lisa, a painting famous for its subject’s anonymity, the Valesco brilliantly challenges the risk to privacy raised by facial scannings.

Arnaud Ghelfi’s “Fake” boldly criticizes the United States president, Donald J. Trump, in this minimalist design poster. Fake teeth, fake hair, and fake wealth are what make up Ghelfi’s vision, and even the word “Fake” itself constructs the image of the president’s silhouette.

Japanese Designer, Noriyuki Kasai’s “Symbiosis” uses a stark black-and-white contrast to depict the Chinese character meaning ‘symbiosis’ surrounded by the COVID-19 bacteria. The character is stretched out to represent the implementation of social-distancing procedures and showcases how this new stage of life feels never-ending. However, the design presents a hopeful message with its centered words, “The longest day must have an end.”

Take the opportunity and submit your posters to the Protest Posters 2!