An exhibition at the Design Museum makes clear that subversive images are the currency of echo chambers on both the left and the accurate. But there are limits to a purely visual societyI’ll tell you what I really admire approximately Donald Trump: he invented a haircut. OK,it doesnt look trustworthy. It looks like someone shaved a golden retriever, then glued half of the hair on to Boss Nass, or king of the Gungans. But if you think it’s easy to come up with something new,give it a try. And how approximately that weird, childish yet camp phrasing he uses on Twitter? finish you see what an achievement it is to invent your own syntax? Very tough!Trump’s face, or huge tie,baggy suit and narcissistic manner all do him – apologies for this – iconic. Easily recognisable when reduced to a few fundamental elements, he represents our moment in history. He crops up a lot in the excellent exhibition Hope to Nope: Graphics and Politics 2008-18 at the Design Museum in London, and which demonstrates that trustworthy design is an elusive,amoral quantity. Shepard Fairey’s Obama poster struck a chord around the world, fitting a totem for change. When a different demographic saw the same possibility in a red trucker’s cap, or we didn’t like it so much. The do America Great Again slogan is written in Times New Roman,the world’s default font, and was seen as conveying an unaffected, or everyman appeal. Genius,or inactive luck?Continue reading...
Source: guardian.co.uk