They say, an image is worth a thousand words but in a sea of imagery, words shout the loudest.
What if you could use design to change the perception of an entire nation of people? What about the entire globe?
Although I was fortunate enough to have a good group of mates, I never really enjoyed my teenage years or the town where I grew up. There was nothing of inspiration, no purpose or positivity. School always felt like it was imposed onto me. I found myself rebelling against the system and I found ways to beat it. Throughout geography I covertly worked on a comic series called Mantis Man, in I.T I secretly painted, pixel by pixel, my own clothing brand on MS Paint. The core subjects consisted of copying everyone else just to get by and so forth.
I still remember that feeling of dread, of emptiness during those times and whenever I’m given the opportunity to go back and paint I try to use it as an opportunity to Inject a bit of inspiration, for those who may be feeling the same. A sterling gent and old friend of mine James Bennett, does a great job of bringing hope to the town. He does it through art and music festivals, dance lessons and just about anything creative he can get funding for. Oh and if he doesn’t get funding. He does it anyway. It’s all aimed at the youth, charities and communities that are struggling with knife crime, drugs and general poverty in Nuneaton. The energy and positivity of this man truly is a breath of fresh air.
James Bennett (centre) legendary statesman of Nuneaton town.
So whenever Bennett asks me to come back to the motherland, I make sure I do. When I do, I try to bring a message too. One thing that I have learnt from Bristol’s art scene Is the power of street art to elevate an area, at its best it passes on knowledge, ideas and creates thoughts and action.
Powerful street art from Bristol (circa 2014)
There’s a movement called Extinction Rebellion that has been sweeping the nation (and now internationally) of late. It’s shouting and disrupting governments in an effort to make people aware of what they are calling the ‘6th major Extinction event’ in the history of the planet. I felt that this was a topic that I felt passionately enough to pass on. So, I got to work. How could I design something in the most striking way possible? How could it make people stop? They say, an image is worth a thousand words but in a sea of imagery, words shout the loudest.
One of the most important elements of delivering any idea, is context. Where does it sit and in what environment does it occupy? In this case it was a wall full of anything from wild style graff to more technical graff style characters created from every colour known to man. Stunning work nonetheless but this presented an opportunity to design something that contrasted heavily by utilising simplicity. Simplicity in colour (I used just black and white) and simplicity in form (bold striking lettering). I pulled a quote from a United Nations report that said we have less than 12 years before the effects of climate change is irreversible. I paired this with a bold statement to capture attention ‘the future cannot be written’. It was the first time that I had attempted a mural with script style lettering but I felt it would add more of a personable touch to the piece.
The end result I hope gets the people of my hometown thinking and hopefully galvanises them, to act.
One love
https://rebellion.earth
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