Five weeks until Election Day. One debate down. VP’s on Thursday. Economy in Crisis. And plenty of things that still need to be talked about. It’s time to rally the citizenry, get out there, and raise some hell. 

We’ll be showcasing the posters on this site and some limited edition screen prints to visualize our hope that we will, as a united people, begin to Brighten America. -jk-

Power To The Poster: Citizen Exhibition
a group of graphic designers comment on the issues of our time

First Friday, October 3rd, 2008
7–10 pm
On display October 3–31
1416 O Street, Studio 11, Chocolate Cake Design
Lincoln, Nebraska 

The following is a work in progress, are words or phrases certain people will use as reasons for not doing things, are great cloaking devices, makes me chuckle.

The Liberal Media. Socialized Medicine. Big Government Is the Problem. The Free Market. The Patriot Act. Free Trade. They Want to Raise Your Taxes. They Are Taking Your Jobs. They Hate Our Freedom. Pro-Life. War On Terror. Trickle-Down Economics. Small Town Values. Family Values. Pull Yourself Up By Your Bootstraps. Liberal Latte Drinking Elites. It Would Hurt the Economy. The United States Does Not Torture. Out of My Cold Dead Hands. What’s In It for Me. An Imminent Threat. Ownership Society. They’re Just Lazy. Unlimited Growth. 9/11 Changed Everything. The American Dream. -jk-

by Jason Hardy

Graphic design is, in a large part, about the interplay of positive and negative space. The empty areas of a page are just as, if not more, important than those areas that are filled in. One can’t exist without the other, but for the most part, we don’t even see those areas that aren’t filled in. Going through our days, walking down the street, riding the bus, we don’t see that space around a beautifully set Helvetica Bold 5. We don’t see all the little hidden shapes that work together to make a sign say “Stop.”

But its what we don’t see that creates the world we do see. (more…)

by Justin Kemerling

One of the most powerful, single images of the last seven years has been that figure. Standing there isolated. Arms outstretched, wires attached to his fingers. That hooded figure. Beckoning for some sort of reason in the madness. A why. A how. And there is one explanation in that inhuman display that strikes the root problem of our democratic experiment.

The people are at the mall.

We the people say it’s terrible, horrific, but… we’re in the war on terror, we have to defend the nation. Part of that is ramping up the consumer engine of shop-shop-shop so there’s no time to second guess. We must continue our spending resolve so the terrorists don’t win. The hood might as well have polka dots on it, the new fall fashion. We probably would pay more attention. Really, if it’s not on sale and doesn’t fill up our tanks at less than $3 a gallon, then we don’t care. (more…)