User talk:Louisateichmann

Putin a Rainbow by Atelier Yuri Veerman

The Amsterdam based artist, designer and performer Yuri Veerman found a tangible way of dealing with a serious political issue in his work „Putin a Rainbow“. In 2013, the russian government passed a law against so called „gay propaganda“ which banned the symbol of the rainbow along with it. In the fight against this dicrimintating, outrageous law, he used the outreach of the internet to make the thread „putin a rainbow“ go viral. The idea was for people to photoshop rainbows into pictures of president Putin and upload them online for everyone to see and share. All of the contributions are featured on a website called putinarainbow.com, which also provides a link to a petition against the Anti-Gay law, which counted over 17.000 signatures. This project is an interesting example of the power an image can have. As a graphic design student, I find the use of common meaningful symbols to create something new a very good way of making a statement. This project made a dent into contemporary visual culture and even within the time this website has been up, people have been reusing and recycling other peoples creations and found different contexts to use the powerful combination in. It has been used in street protests against presidents putin homophobic agenda in the form of posters on a quest for change. I strongly believe designers have the power to redefine the meaning of symbols and images and for me, „Putin a Rainbow“ is a good example of how that is possible. By creating something so simple in its form, many people were able to relate and participate and eventually the unlikely pair of Putin and the rainbow was all over the internet. In my opinion, this is a good example of what a social designer can do and achieve, creating a simple, striking format that reaches people with humor, enables people to participate and leads to a possible real life impact. In my opinion, this project shows many characteristics of a successful social design project. Yuri Veerman had a specific goal in mind, raising signatures for a petition against the mentioned law, yet by choosing homophobia as a subject, he chose an issue which is relatable for people all over the world. The internet is a great media to spread a statement and include people disregarding the seperation of borders to fight for a more accepting world. Yuri Veerman is always looking for conflict and confrontation. The difficult thing about being involved with a political issue is not pushing one‘s own agenda onto others, but to observe, find one‘s own position as a designer and create a project which includes instead of offends and directs people. This is why I admire his work, as he creates work which is open for interpretation and discussion. His project „putin a rainbow“ combines open design with simplicity, contemporary means and a clear end goal. For a social cause to be heard, designers have to find a way to reach big audiences and in my opinion humor is a good tool for that. First, a designer has to catch the viewers attention, create a connection and only after that is established, a movement for change can happen.

http://payload147.cargocollective.com/1/10/326970/5240184/Putin_a_rainbow_screenshot_670.jpg

Louisa Teichmann 0890023