Environmental Appreciation and Questions on Change: New Protest Poster Entries

Four new entries to our Protest Posters 2 Competition are featured this week, and each one carries a strong message for either environmental or social change.

Japanese artist Toyotsugu Itoh depicts a blue rain cloud in an elegant classic Japanese painting style above a lotus leaf, curled to look like the deep valleys of our Earth. Itoh’s poster for the Japan Graphic Designers Association, “Gift from the Earth,” (above, left) reminds us that clean rainwater is a blessing from the Earth that benefits us all — whether plants, humans, or animals — and it is our job as stewards of the planet to maintain it.

Derwyn Goodall’s protest poster “Question Everything” (above, right) features jumbled typography in order to create “dissonance and agitation.” The Canada-based designer aims to remind viewers that questioning the structures of government is a sign of a healthy society with his red, black, and white palette that contrasts with his abstract arrangement of letters.

Goodall’s second poster submitted to our competition is “All In” (above, left). The poster follows a similar theme to “Question Everything,” asking viewers to consider social change seriously and to act on change with empathy in their hearts. “All In” uses more abstract typography to draw attention to the emotional labor that is necessary to truly be an active advocate for societal change.

The last latest entry to the competition comes from Wu Qixin in China. “Wild Tales” (above, right) advertises the critically acclaimed South American film of the same name, which is a series of mini-films about violence and vengeance. It features a black-and-white graphic of the all-too-familiar phases of evolution, but with a twist. At the end of Qixin’s evolutionary line, a human points a drawn knife toward an ape, symbolizing the film’s theme of revenge.

Today is the final deadline for additional submissions to our Protest Posters 2 Competition. Submit your entry now!