Jayson Musson

How honest are we usually? Are we always one hundred percent honest with our family, friends or even ourselves? How often we tell the truth- the crystal clear truth? I’m pretty sure we all have heard the saying “truth hurts”, but I’m certain that artist Jayson Musson hasn’t. This Philadelphia based artist is the responsible for the “Too Black for B.E.T’ poster series.

“Too Black for B.E.T” is some sort of modern poetry that includes very peculiar scope of topics such as politics, Harry Potter, terrorism, sex, drugs, Star Wars and racism among others. Our generic idea of poetry has to do usually with romance written in a very lyrical way. However Jayson Musson manages to create very interesting verses using very straightforward language and of course by glorifying nothing more than honesty and his point of view.

We all have vicious thoughts from time to time and mean feelings. Most of us don’t like to embrace them since we have been taught that these are “bad” things. And indeed most of the time they are. Still, every once in a while we need to be honest with ourselves, though the truth is hurtful. Jayson Musson gives us a “reality check” and even offends us a little with his “Too Black for B.E.T” posters. Beware that within these particular pieces of work you won’t find inspiration, beauty or elegance. However I can assure you that you will be shocked by nothing more honesty.

Iconografia Precolombina, Diseño Chileno

Is it possible to use our cultural identity as a platform for graphic creativity? Margarita Cid Lizondo, the author of the book “Iconografia Precolombina, Diseño Chileno”, seem to have found inspiration in her ancestors.

“Iconografia Precolombina, Diseño Chileno” is a book that took years of arduous investigation and work to be completed. The book shows the incorporation of valuable graphic material allowing the expansion of Chilean national imaginary. The readers can find themselves immerse in Chile’s graphic identity that encompasses different types of indigenous cultures within this country. The book showcases an amazing repertoire of vector graphic art varying from ceramic art to textile patterns to ancient wooden carvings.

The research of the author in “Iconografia Precolombina, Diseño Chileno” is certainly something to admire. With this book she has not only rescued Chilean cultural heritage for new generations, but also proved that to know where we come from is crucial to know where we are heading.

Who would have thought that design could be so “deep”?

I must say that when I first entered the design world I honestly had no concrete idea about what the word “design” encompassed. At the beginning I decided to enter into the “design scenario” searching to satisfy my creative needs. Then, during my last year of college I found myself confused. It wasn’t possible that graphic design was only about corporate image, branding, perfectly designed magazine spreads and Photoshop. I found myself in endless conversations about choosing the perfect typography, creating the perfect trademark and deciding for the absolutely perfect pantone. I was in crisis. I had always had an idealist soul and all those conversations about logos where really starting to make me sick. It was at this point when I discovered the social aspect of design. Design does have a deep side. There are some many gifted idealist individuals trying to improve and even change our world through design by designing processes.

Our world has reached a crucial shifting point. With all the problems we have been having lately like the economic crisis, climate change, environmental disasters and political conflicts among others, it is quite obvious that something is terribly wrong with the society we have built for ourselves. Along with these problems, our world has also reached a whole new era of design, creating a whole new role for designers, giving us endless opportunities to improve our society. Now designers have to be more concerned about creating design processes rather than a “design product”. This new role does not substitute the traditional one, but rather works side by side with it, creating and opening new field of activities. It gives us the opportunity to create networks with individual people, enterprises, non-profit organizations, local and global institutions that together generate tangible steps to sustainability. The idea of what a designer is in our day and age must change. We have to learn to view designers as social actors and as strategic planners that will create platforms enabling solutions.

There are pretty big egos in the “design world”. Every designer wants to be the best. Every designer wants to be coolest and the most innovative one. I think that it’s important to accept the fact that nowadays according to contemporary sociology, “everybody designs”. We have to recognize that the era of “design monopoly” is over when only “highly talented” individuals were able to create new things. Having said this, lets think about the role that design could play in our daily-life. It is crucial for designers to start thinking more about already existing scenarios that could be improved, emphasising the most interesting aspects and interpreting situations that arises from different cases. In other words, lets start thinking on how could a specific system could be improved using design-thinking as the key ingredient for its development.
Improvement starts in a local scale problem. We have to think that creativity is a diffuse attitude and it can certainly be used as a social resource. It is astonishing to see that the real driving forces of change are the “ordinary people” when given the right opportunities.

Take as an example the “Biblioburro” in Colombia. The Biblioburro is literally a “travelling library” powered by two donkeys named, Alfa and Beto and created by Luis Soriano. Soriano created a “travelling library” to distribute books to the most confined areas in Colombia that had been affected by guerrilla conflicts. His project started with only 70 books, but now has expanded to 4,800 volumes thanks to donations. Now, children have found hope and joy in literature that first had been restricted to them. As another example, take Fernando Llort in El Salvador. He is an artist than during the verge of the Salvadorian civil war, taught and inspired the small town of La Palma how to make a living through art by making workshops with local people. These examples show us that even the most “ordinary” things can transform people’s life into extraordinary ones.

Pretty cool, huh? So now my wounds are healed. We all have the power to improve and even change our reality. No great talent is needed; we all can do it. The only thing needed is the willingness and courage to actually want to do something.

Fernando Llort

This was a special exhibition museum program that celebrated the life and work, of one the most important folk artists of El Salvador; Fernando Llort. The program was created for the opening of the exhibition in which displays a small biography and description of his work. It was presented on a small hemp bag. Hemp was also used for the program's folding.

Dropout Magazine

Dropout was a 95 pages alternative magazine that displayed an unorthodox way of observing fashion and design overall. It had a very experimental graphic style that helped to convey
its message of “rebellion” against normality. It also displayed many social articles like, fashion inspired by the injustices against the human rights, amongst others.

Of course I have to show the people that inspire me. The art of telling stories have been known to our society since the beginning of time. That is how most cultures have learned to preserve their customs from generation to generation. The group of graphic artists "Beehive Collective" have taken this "story-telling" ability and along with the help of some amazing visual aid, have managed to tell social stories about the injustices that occur in Latin America.

Like the bees, this group of artists work together collectively, to create detailed illustrations with the purpose to improve the general knowledge of Latin America's exploitation. The Beehive Collective artists, have created mesmerizing symbolism and meticulous illustrations to tell the stories of aggression and resistant from the point of view of an insect. Every single illustration within the poster represents the repression lived in Latin America since the time of colonialism to modern history.

The work of the Beehive Collective group is a perfect example of astounding and powerful social communication and above all, it is indeed, a perfect example of talented individuals using their gifts to fight against the unfairness of our world.

"You don't need a War to Observe Violence"

This poster was created for actionaid. The photo was chosen from a series of images, I shot in one of the poorest areas in San Salvador…my hometown. You don’t need a war to observe violence.