Graphic design is a visual means of expressing ones view or opinion. It is used globally in many different aspects such as advertising, media and artistic freedom. It has taken a global turn as it is a method that is used almost everyday and appears in everyday life such as store merchandising and branding. A main area where graphic design is most overused is in politics where propaganda is used as a subject at its finest. There are many ways it is used to either pursue or detach itself from a political agenda. Many take more on an illustrative role when it comes to expressing how they feel about a certain topic, however it is very common for existing pieces to be used and manipulated to influencing the public to believe in the politicians …show more content…
campaign. An example of this would be when the advertising company Saatchi & Saatchi created the following poster below for the conservatives party back in 1979 for Magaret Thatchers campaign. Saatchi & Saatchi with Labour isn’t Working 1979 (source: campaignlive) The same poster was then used and manipulated by Mitt Romney to attack President Barack Obama's handling of the economy. As the poster was so iconic it became instantly recognisable and a bit of a shock to see how fierce and aggressive a politician could really be with the backing of the media at its side. For a long time now it is very common to see media platforms support certain political campaigns. Different broadcasting channels tend to focus on one party that is chosen by the political party itself. You will most likely see the Conservatives being backed up by the BBC although there have been occasions where the BBC will invite a range of leaders from different political parties to sit down and discuss their oppositions and views. Mitt Romney with Obama Isn’t Working 2011 (source: mittromney.com) Since the posters creation in 1979 it became very infamous as it was the first time people really saw how manipulative politicians could really be. The time when this poster was released, it was not really a common thing to approach the media and use their help to influence a great deal of people. Thatcher, at the time, made sure she did everything she could to get in to peoples living room and connect with a number of individuals where as her opposing party leader, Michael Foot, for the labour party was much more accustomed to have face to face conversations and meetings, he did not go anywhere near the media game which was one of the reasons labour ultimately lost the election. In the 21st century, freedom of speech took a drastic turn.
Instead of just mere protesting, people would try and take up more of a physical approach to the message they were trying to convey. At the beginning of the era, graffiti was a rebellious phase when it came to the younger generation backed by the punk-pop scene. It was more of a socialising hobby rather than a means to express a view or opinion, but then there were certain individuals who used it as an artistic outlet. Banksy is the most notorious for expressing his political opinion with out actually saying a political party in specific. According to James Basset ,“Banksy is an avowedly anonymous graffiti artist who has managed to translate underground credibility into massive popular appeal.” (James Brassett 2009). He is the type of artist that shames but never names. There have been many occasion when artists that have tried to mimic what Banksy does but they are never quite as successful as he is at accomplishing it. In Banksy’s very own words he states that “Just doing a tag is about retribution. If you don't own a train company then you go and paint on one instead.” (Banksy …show more content…
2003) There is at level of mystery with Banksy as no one knows his face, where he is or even knows his real name. All they know is that he is an individual with an opinion and the way he expresses his view happens to be illegal, and because there has never been an occasion where he is even nearly caught, it makes him all that more fortunate. The simplicity of his work is what grabs peoples attention the most. He is never direct or specific with his work, he creates a piece with an idea in mind, he never draws the conclusion with the piece, he wants people to wonder and to think about what his work is really trying to portray and how it will most likely affect everyday life. He wants people to make up their own mind and to think for themselves without the help of anyone, without watching the television or listening to the radio and hearing what someone else wants them to think but by triggering that emotion inside them, making them stop and not listen for a change. The topics in which you see Banksy dwell in “include global poverty, the securitisation of modern life, Guantanamo bay, the war on terror as well as ongoing considerations of the nature of protest and resistance per se.” (James Bassett 2009), politics also happens to be a huge issue for Banksy, it is defiantly a subject in which he uses as a target when creating pieces of artwork. There is a big difference in what Banksy does and what the political party does in the way they rely their own information. If you think about it, the political parties send out meaningless statements. One of the biggest examples we in the United Kingdom saw this, was during the elections, where students were promised by the Conservative party that tuition fees would not be increased. At the end of the election season, the Conservitive party won and the people of the UK saw that the tuition fees had risen by £6000. (Sean Coughlan 2010) Because of this, a lot of trust was lost and students were angry at the fact that such a big promise was broken and that the fees subsequently ended up being tripled. After such a backlash the politicians took to the media and tried to settle it by making excuses and apologising. Even “Opposition leader Ed Miliband accused the coalition of breaking promises over tuition fees - but Prime Minister David Cameron said that such challenges from Labour showed that "opportunism has overtaken principle”” (Sean Coughlan 2010). After a variety of protests that the students took among themselves to carry out resulted in a lot of violence, the media used that as their excuse and weapon to justify the tuition fees being increased. The British newspapers and the BBC focused more on the violent protests rather than explaining why the students were angry in the first place. The media intertwines itself between two political views where as Banksy focuses on more of the public view, because of this there will always be a clash of opinions. Below is the perfect piece by Banksy that fits in to this particular scenario in regard to the students violent protests. Banksy with Flowerchucker (2003) Banksy has a negative view of the media and the media in turn has a negative view about him, right now it has become very obvious that the media is starting to be dominated by the political parties.
It has become so corrupted now where a lot of its energy and focus is going more towards the political agenda. Should Banksy have a negative view when all he is doing is saying what he believes to be wrong and in a saying what he thinks? At one point, society started to see that instead of just watching the news, people were starting to rely on social media for the source of what is actually going on in the world. It felt more real and personal to interact with a social website on a device instead of having the information said to them by a news anchor. This was starting to become very apparent so slowly we started to see the political side of things integrate itself in to common social media outlets such as youtube and twitter ,so you can see how Facebook and Twitter are gearing towards more advertising for
politicians. It was mentioned earlier on in the essay that one of Banksy’s chosen subject fields to act on behalf of is the securitisation of modern life, you can really see how this is very obvious in todays day and age. When the news is to be watched, as a viewer you would hope for it to be very unbiased and sit in this contortion of black and white, yet you see it sit in this grey area and you can see how biased the news really is. Banksy should not be this negative image because of the anti-political acts he is taking upon himself todo, especially during the season of voting because if the political parties are allowed to have their own channels and websites where are the public views heard? There are only so many shows where the public are allowed to ask the politicians questions and even that is strongly monitored and the questions are prepared and checked beforehand so the only way people can do is through protests and graffiti but those acts are very monitored. You get arrested once you do an ounce of graffiti, and protests have to be really planned, controlled and approved. You can’t have just a random protest anymore, it is difficult to even play your guitar on the street without asking for permission first. Everything is getting more and more monitored, especially when you have political figures being very current and present on social media. We live in a world where it is impossible to slander anyone. Stating an opinion could lead you to getting arrested or fined, it really shows how freedom of speech is very limited and the only way it is possible to show people how you feel is though illegal means which is what Banksy is doing. All the positive views and admiration Banksy receives from the public he in turn has a very negative view with anyone that has a social standing or official positions.
When World War II broke out in 1939, many countries began using propaganda to strengthen support for the war. Countries battling in the war used propaganda to unite citizens and keep them focused on contributing to the war effort. During the World War II period, Great Britain and their allies; which included the United States and China, were one of the groups in the war that used various techniques and platforms in order to spread propaganda across their countries. One such platform that played a major role in the spread of propaganda was Britain and their allies’ use of posters to increase morale among people.
During World War II propaganda was ubiquitous. It consisted of a wide range of carriers including leaflets, radio, television, and most importantly posters. Posters were used based on their appeal: they were colorful, creative, concise, and mentally stimulating. Posters often portrayed the artist's views on the war. They demonstrated the artist concern for the war, their hopes for the war, and reflected the way enemies were envisioned. Posters also show a nations political status: they reflect a nations allies and enemies, how the nation saw itself, and its greatest hopes and fears of the war.
The identity of a graffiti artist is hardly ever known unless they want to tag their art with their name or a nickname. Graffiti writers as a subculture are trying to express their political views through civil disobedience by painting pictures that speak out against the government. This subculture developed because they were tired of being oppressed by the government. Graffiti is one of the most enduring acts of protest. It is an important tool for the resistance movement as a way to publicize their protest. It is a visible and powerful form of protest that is going to promote change in the social justice by allowing oppressed groups of people express their viewpoints without being penalized by the
In the current time, it seems like one cannot go a day without using at least one social media website. This might be especially true among groups of teenagers and young adults. Social media became a vital part of daily life that feeds people with several types of information constantly. Political news is a type of information that can reach the people through the means of social media. Since presidents are constantly seeking new strategies to increase their communication with the public in order to spread their political message, they utilize the different social media websites. Hence, social media became a platform to spread political message. It is not surprising that now the majority of political officials and candidates have social media accounts more than ever before, such as a Twitter account.
This article will discuss the influence of visual art on politics from two parts of visual arts , which are political photography and poster propaganda, through the unique social and historical stage of Nazi Germany. Additionally, it emphasizes the ideology, Nazis in Nazi Germany inflamed the political sentiment of the masses and took the visual art as their important instrument of political propaganda, while Nazi party used visual art on anti-society and war which is worth warning and criticizing for later generation. Despite an emphasis on the ideology, this article will conclude with significant application for the long-term impact of Nazi
The rise of vandalistic art produced by Banksy and others, has altered the way in which the public views graffiti culture. Where spray paint once represented gangs and violence, it now suggests an exciting and cutting edge artform that could potentially be a lucrative investment. In fact, Banksy’s work is so sought after that people are willing to take bricks out of buildings in order to steal it. In 2013, one of Banksy’s most famous pieces of artwork was stolen from the side of a store in the UK. It was later discovered at a US auction (Banksy Artwork Taken). “Street art has entered the art world’s mainstream, with Banksy pieces regularly selling for more than $1 million” (Salib
The Graffiti community is, although they will not admit, a bunch of aesthetic filled souls. Everyone gathers recognition in this community. “Graffiti isn't something a normal person does, I have been through a lot of situations just cus I do what I do,” my subject explains. These artist ARE outcasts, for a good. They express culture and it is something they get a feel for. It is brilliant, even with the trouble.
Banksy is a pseudonym for an anonymous graffiti artist, painter, political activist and one of Time Magazines most influential people in the world. Little is known about Banksys actual background but according to Tristan Manco in his book Home Sweet Home, Banksy was born in Bristol England in the early 1970’s. Known for his contempt toward the government, for labeling graffiti as vandalism, he displays his art on public surfaces, such as billboards and walls, and has even built physical prop pieces. Banksys distinctive stencil style usually embodies humorous images often paired with slogans that carry themes of anti-war, anti-capitalism and anti-establishment. Uncommon to most artists Banksy does not sell photographs or reproductions of his work, but art auctioneers have been known to sell his street art on location for large sums of money. In 2005 Banksy infiltrated many New York museums, such as the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, and the American Museum of Natural History and hung his work among notable art pieces. Banksys distinctive satire graffiti style mixed with his anonymous rebellious antics give him an invaluable buzz that is rare among current graffiti artists today.
In San Francisco, California, the Mission District has many murals which attract public attention. People travel to see art everywhere, so it is not different when traveling to view graffiti. Additionally, it often communicates political messages on current events. The graffiti artist Banksy often applies political statements into his artwork. Most art is made to communicate messages, similar to graffiti. Based on the public attention and messages, graffiti is art.
Although other artists know who he is, Banksy doesn’t have a public face that he shows at galleries and in his documentaries. In Will Ellsworth-Jones article “The Story Behind Banksy: on his way to becoming an international icon, the subversive and secretive street artist turned the art world upside-down” he talks about one of Banksy’s earlier galleries. Ellsworth-Jones says “The show was a high-profile demonstration of the phenomenon that has come to be known as the ‘Banksy effect’—the artist’s astounding success in bringing urban, outsider art into the cultural, and increasingly profitable, mainstream” (2). Banksy’s “effect” is altering urban culture and bringing it to art galleries to be displayed and sold. In the grand scheme of things, he is commodifying graffiti and urban culture, making it more consumable and then proceeding selling and profit off of it. In A&E’s biography page for Banksy they state that Banksy’s work is unique due to the fact that it “often engages political themes, satirically critiquing war, capitalism, hypocrisy and greed.” The uniqueness of his work is a common reason different news outlets give for Banksy’s success. Contrary to popular belief, Banksy’s content isn’t groundbreaking. Artists of all mediums, including graffiti, before and during his time have touched upon all of the same themes as
Graffiti is a form of art that people use to express themselves and to convey various messages to people in a particular community. In the movie "Graffiti Verite':. One of the graffiti artist explained that his purpose in doing graffiti is that it allows him to "express his anger' on the wall. Another kid by the name of "Jipsie" said that graffiti is a "form of growth". There were several different explanations that artists shared as well as several different reasons why they like graffiti. The common theme among the graffiti artist and taggers was that graffiti is simply a form of self-expression (Bryan). At the end of the film one tagger made a comment and said, "graffiti is not vandalism, but it is a beautiful crime". This comment did not make sense to me. Committing a crime, a hideous act, is not a beautiful thing to do by any means. Graffiti does not mean people can go around and draw and spray paint on other peoples property. Regardless of what types of graffiti are being expressed by the tagger, this type of self expression is considered vandalism when people decide to draw, destroy, or violate any persons property without consent. As a result of taggers committing the crime of vandalism, property owners, concerned citizens, and law enforcement officers spend too much time, money, and energy trying to put an end to the unlawful act of vandalism.
Activism comes in all shapes and sizes, and when someone does it in an unusual way it cannot go unnoticed. Banksy’s “The Flower Thrower” is a perfect example of this due to the fact that it’s vandalism with a deeper meaning. The man known as Banksy is a graffiti artist and a political activist, and the most intriguing thing about him is that he chooses to remain anonymous. There are many theories about his identity, one even claiming that he is a fictional character. Despite proof of his identity, several countries are on the look out for him. Many have even issued warrants for his arrest because his public works are considered vandalism. His paintings are known for making people question their everyday lives and really
In the article “Revolution in a Can” by Blake Gopnik, he states, “The most elaborate images from Egypt, Libya, and Haiti today look very much like the 1980s paint jobs on New York subway cars and warehouse facades, and yet their point is not to function as art but to work as carriers of content and opinion” (114). In other words, graffiti is used to show how people truly feel inside. This is important because in addition to being considered art, it also serves the function of expressing oneself if that freedom does not exist. As a matter of fact pieces like this can be found all over the world. They are located on the Palestinian West Bank, on a wall on Benghazi in Libya, and in Tahrir Square in Egypt. A piece of graffiti art that epitomizes this is Begging for Change by graffiti artist Meek. The work engaged the public since it was done right near a train station. It features a homeless man holding a sign that reads, “Keep your coins, I want change”. The piece radiates a very powerful message stating how money can’t solve
Graffiti started in the 1920s when gangs would tag train cars and walls to mark territory mainly in New York City. Graffiti took a different turn in the 1970s when young adults decided to use street art as an outlet to express their political and social outrage. This movement had soon gained the attention of the “adult” world. Graffiti was known as “creation through destruction” and to this day is still considered illegal in most parts of the world. In modern street art the mediums used have evolved past spray paint and now artists are using different methods with spray paint to progress their works past crude tags.
I was interested particularly in doing graphics design and the visual communication that I was inspired by combining images phrases and ideas to illustrate to the target and audience so that they would impact and react on those kind of illustrated for e.g. the billboards, poster, the product packaging and lots of more advertisement there. There are lots of elements on different types of media that I have already mentioned but there are also examples like Logos which really encourage people and make those people to think about logos. There are also lots of books designs and magazines advertisements thinking from these graphics design use of socially, morally ethical thinking mainly it happens when people do mostly think about positively and negatively so it would affect people’s mind and they would think more in detailed meaning which is called graphical visual communication, to demonstrate the recycle logo which would be advertise the recycling of ‘trees hunger and suffer do recycle paper’.