Strikethrough: Typographic Messages of Protest

A vivid celebration of the use of language to amplify and empower--from 19th-century antislavery broadsides to the "Silence = Death" AIDS design to the handmade signs of the Black Lives Matter movement

Organized into chapters that explore the many ways to express dissent (Resist, Vote, Strike, Teach and Love), Strikethrough presents more than 120 signs, posters, publications and ephemera in vivid imagery and incisive prose. From the colorful affiches of the Paris '68 uprising to Memphis strike workers' placards to the Black Panthers' newspaper, this generously illustrated volume showcases the role of graphic design in a wide range of protest movements in the US and abroad. Including selections from artists and art collectives such as Jenny Holzer, the Guerrilla Girls and Fierce Pussy, this book provides a broad and critical survey of the typographics of activism. Strikethrough also features 10 profiles on the designers behind the graphics--including Corita Kent, Emory Douglas and Ben Shahn--and a custom display typeface based on historical protest graphics by Tr Seals, plus an introduction by activist and design scholar Colette Gaiter.
Charting a typographic chant of resistance that spans more than 150 years, Strikethrough curators Silas Munro and Stephen Coles reveal how the message makes its way to the masses via marker, screen print, spray paint, collage, and both physical and digital type, and how it calls on us all to craft our own demands for social change.
Artists and designers include: Atelier Populaire, See Red Women's Workshop, Carlos Cortez, Emory Douglas, Fierce Pussy, Ganzeer, Milton Glaser, Guerrilla Girls, Jenny Holzer, Corita Kent, Tibor Kalman, Amos Paul Kennedy Jr., Herb Lubalin, Phase2, Favianna Rodriguez, Ward Schumaker, Ben Shahn and Wes Wilson.