When the Chief Justice of India compared the unemployed, lazy, chronically online youth who rant against the system to cockroaches (a comment which he retracted later), Boston University graduate student Abhijeet Dipke, with help of anonymous friends and ChatGPT, made a satire political outfit named Cockroach Janta Party.

Within a week it became world’s fastest growing online political movement, gathering hundred thousand signups in website and 20 million followers in Instagram, surpassing India’s ruling Bhartiya Janata Party and main opposition party Indian National Congress combined. Its AI-generated videos and meme content caught the fancy of GenZ of India. Government crackdown in form of blocking its X handle for “threat to national security” also helped in its popularity.

Thesis project for a MFA in Design at School of Visual Arts, about the first two weeks of the Gezi Park protests in İstanbul, Turkey, that began in May 2013. Encompassing the personal experiences of the author with audiovisual archives, it also serves as an object of remembrance. With an emphasis on storytelling, the book aims to expand the limits of print by offering a personal experience.

As Hungary’s TISZA Party rises to national prominence ahead of the 2026 election on April 12, a considered typographic choice has become central to its visual identity. TISZA (short for Tisztelet és Szabadság, “Respect and Freedom”) positions itself as a clear alternative to long-dominant Fidesz rule, promoting anti-corruption, economic renewal, and strengthened ties with the EU and NATO – all themes that call for messaging that feels legible, modern, and trustworthy.

TISZA’s visual team selected Luma Sans as the core typeface for campaign communication, applying its geometric precision and humanized shapes across podium signage, social templates, posters, and long-form text. The choice reflects three core needs: Clarity and Readability, Modern Authority, and Multilingual Support.

In TISZA’s typographic system, medium weights anchor headlines and calls to action, lending confidence to key messages. Lighter weights support policy summaries and longer prose without losing rhythm or readability. The result is a disciplined yet flexible visual voice that performs equally well in high-pressure public environments and digital spaces.

By rooting its identity in a modern, human-centred sans-serif, TISZA reinforces its political narrative: an alternative grounded in clarity, openness, and pragmatism.

I Am Somebody is the title of a spoken word album by Reverend Jesse Jackson that was released on Respect, a sublabel of Stax Records. It contains a recital of the poem “I Am – Somebody”. The cover typography by David Krieger of The Graffiteria features Folio in its mager and fett weights.

[More info on Discogs]

Jackson became active in civil rights protests already as a student. In 1960, he was one of the Greenville Eight, a group of African American students that successfully protested the segregated library system in Greenville, South Carolina. Since 1966, he was involved in the Operation Breadbasket movement, a department of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).

The album came out in 1971, three years after Martin Luther King Jr. – the SCLC’s first president and a close friend and mentor of Jackson – was assassinated. The same year, the “Country Preacher” broke off from SCLC and formed Operation PUSH (People United to Save Humanity). In 1996, it merged with the National Rainbow Coalition, another organization founded by Jackson to pursue social justice, civil rights, and political activism, into Rainbow/PUSH. He served as the organization’s head until July 16, 2023.

Jesse Jackson died February 17, 2026, at the age of 84. The New York Times commemorates him as “charismatic champion of civil rights”. RIP.

The quotes on the back cover are set in Helvetica.

The gatefold shows photographs of Jackson together with several of his companions and fellow campaigners, including Martin Luther King Jr., his widow Coretta Scott King, as well as Richard G. Hatcher and Carl Stokes, the first elected African-American mayors of Gary, Indiana, and Cleveland, Ohio, respectively. The liner notes by Rev. G.E. Redic are set in Helvetica, and the credits at the top right in News Gothic.

Para from Rellence was used for the visual identity of Vor dem Knall, a documentary about the 2017 G20 summit in Hamburg. The typeface gives the project a sharp and contemporary tone that fits the film’s focus on political tension and civic atmosphere.

From The Brand Identity:

The film premiered on April 3rd 2018. Designer Maurice Másson [a.k.a. Maurice Schilling] created the visual identity for the film, which includes posters, title sequences and closing credits.

Since its inception, photography has captured defining historical moments, serving as either a tool or a document of protest. Flashpoint! explores the diverse roles and varying aesthetics that photography in print undertakes in its support of protest and resistance.

Ruder Plakat and a custom version of Luca Pellegrini’s Electa were used throughout the book. Ruder Plakat, based on Emil Ruder’s poster type which was developed with students at Allgemeine Gewerbeschule Basel (AGS), served as the perfect display font for a project about civil resistance. Electa, in turn, was used for all body text as well as meta data, captions and references. Being the result of Luca’s obsessive study of an Olivetti typewriter, its historic charm with strict sophistication performed in pretty much every setting we put it in.

The book was edited by Russet Lederman and Olga Yatskevich and published by 10×10 Photobooks:

Flashpoint!, an anthology focusing on protest photography in print, presents a global selection of photobooks, zines, posters, pamphlets, independent journals and alternative newspapers that address protest and resistance from the 1950s to the present.

Designed by studiokwi, the joint identity system for Frauen helfen Frauen e.V. (“Women Helping Women Association”) and their projects Autonomes Frauenhaus Lübeck (“Autonomous Women’s Shelter Lübeck”) and Lübecker Stadtmütter (“Lübeck City Mothers”) is a thoughtful study of colour and accessibility.

The association aims to protect, advise, and support all individuals affected by patriarchal, domestic, or intimate partner violence (trans women, cis women, non-binary, or intersex individuals). Through professional help and counseling, victims of violence can discover their potential, protect themselves immediately from (acute) violence, and, in the medium term, learn about educational opportunities and explore employment prospects.

Studiokwi describes the project as follows (translated):

The goal was to develop three logos that function for the respective purposes of the three areas of the association while also harmonizing as a unified whole. The design system includes a comprehensive color palette as well as graphics, icons, and fonts.

The identity is set in Bastardo Grotesk and Bastardo Rounded

This new artwork, again utilising false colours and solarising post imaging effects, employs inanityUKMusic’s ‘house’ fonts, Bauhaus 93 and Trajan. For the main track title, I used Proxima Nova, one of the official typefaces of Los Angeles City.

The lower use of the font is in a variety of sizes, mainly due to my poor visual skills. I tried a fix and it seems to not have worked.

The music is a response to the incredible scenes on TV news currently coming from Los Angeles.

The art is garish but contains a selected series of frames of TV footage of a skateboarder walking from exploding tear gas canisters before turning to deliver his rebuke.

The music is a funk/blues-rock vibe – I hope anyone in Los Angeles might appreciate the small gesture of solidarity it is intended to convey. You can listen to it at Old Magnolia Studios.

This image shows a revision of the artwork for “Angeles City Blues“. I preferred the more simpler yet more vivid graphic work. The entire piece of music remains the same, but I added as a bonus the working early mixes with their own art. The layout has be tidied up regarding the placement of track title and info. The fonts remains the same: Trajan Pro, Bauhaus 93, Proxima Nova.

From the back cover:

Riot Medicine is a full-length textbook that covers everything you need to become a medic. The 486 pages include organizing, medicine, equipment, and tactics. It is written for those with no medical training and no experience at protests, but medical practitioners and seasoned protesters will still find it useful.

The book was printed and published by Paper Jam, an anarchist printing collective in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Cover design by moteus.

A powerful message through design: the “Pagesia o Mort!” (“Peasantry or Death”) poster is a striking visual statement that draws attention to the peasant struggle and their fight for land. Designed by Gerard Joan under the concept of Elisenda Rosàs for Lo Fato, this iconic piece holds immense political significance.

The typeface chosen for the design – GS Triomf by GS-Type – amplifies the message with power, resilience, and authenticity. The font’s solid, grounded forms reflect the strength of the cause and the Catalan context from which it emerged.

Triomf was selected for this project because of its ability to convey serious, weighty messages. The typeface’s strong, elegant lines, combined with its sharp and clean structure, create a striking visual experience that enhances the urgency and clarity of the message.

Since its appearance, the poster has been featured in numerous demonstrations and has become a symbol of the peasant struggle against political decisions made far from the rural communities they affect.

Parents Must Unite + Fight (or Hackney Flashers: Agitprop, Work, and Socialist Feminism in England) accompanies Camille Richert’s ongoing research on the Hackney Flashers collective, a group of nine activist women who engaged in agitprop from 1974 to 1980 in the working class neighbourhood of Hackney, East London. A book as a tool, part placard, part board, in reference to the activist, artistic and educational practices of the Hackney Flashers. A book to hold and wave, a support for action and learning.

Published by Tombolo Presses, the book was designed by Coline Sunier and Charles Mazé and typeset in Mazé’s Axo (Abyme, 2024).

Descent into the Marsh is a visual document of protest that highlights the universal human quest for freedom and dignity. The book functions as an open archive, regularly updated with new media articles and reflections on ongoing struggles, providing a lasting record of unfinished events that remain unblocked and uncensored online.

This book serves as an archive of a pivotal moment in Belarusian history, documenting the 2020-2021 protests while drawing parallels with the 2019-2020 Hong Kong movement.

Published in late 2024, just before Belarus’s 2025 elections, it highlights ongoing repression, with thousands of political prisoners and around a million people forced to flee. The author connects the protests in Belarus and Hong Kong as examples of modern resistance shaped by digital control and China's geopolitical influence.

The book also examines the exchange of repressive practices between the regimes in China and Belarus, focusing on the role of surveillance technologies. The combination of modern surveillance with traditional methods of intimidation points to the evolving challenges facing protest movements.

The project was written by Lesia Pcholka, edited by Black Seeds in Hong Kong, and curated by Katarzyna Zielinska of zusa gGmbH. The design was created by Karolina Pietrzyk and Tobias Wenig, with typefaces KTF Concrete and KTF Prima used throughout.

Visual identity assets designed for the Instituto Guaicuy –

a non-profit entity that emerged from the fight to preserve the Rio das Velhas basin and its activities are dedicated to defending the environment. […] Its actions are guided by popular activism in the search for ways of life that promote socially fair and environmentally sustainable coexistence between people, water and territory.

The campaign graphics were used for an event by the Comissões de Pessoas Atingidas das regiões 4 e 5 (“Committees of affected people from regions 4 and 5” in Southeast Brazil. This meeting took place in December 2024 in Curvelo, Minas Gerais, and was dedicated to the fight for full and effective reparation for people affected by the 2019 Vale dam collapse in Brumadinho, Minas Gerais.

Montserrat Alternates was chosen to write the project titles. Its charismatic design in letters like E, M, and A, along with the mix of uppercase and lowercase characters, added personality to the pieces while aligning with Guaicuy’s branding.

See also the previous post about a series of related maps and infographics.

The motto on the tote bag is adapted from a quote by the artist and researcher Isabela Frade. It reads “Em água de peixe grande, é necessário ser cardume”, which translates to something like “When in waters with big fish, it is necessary to form a school”.

The cardume (school of fish) is comprised of various native fish species which are depicted with the Portuguese and Latin names.

“Access to information, access to participation, access to reparations”

Today’s Chinese government wields formidable tools—state-controlled media, pervasive surveillance, and censorship—to maintain its control. This book ventures into this paradoxical world where, amid escalating control, a brave group of Chinese artists employs photography, film, graphic design, and modern art to reveal truths, often at great personal risk. They stand as voices against the suppressive grip of censorship.

Seek Truth was made as a student project at ArtCenter College of Design. See more images on the project website.

Seek Truth spans across 72 pages of premium coated paper, organized into three distinct sections. The first section, “A History of Oppression”, chronicles the historical instances of Chinese citizens enduring various forms of oppression enforced by their government. In the second section, “Voices of Resistance”, the spotlight shines on contemporary Chinese artists who courageously defy the CCP, risking their lives to advocate for free speech and express dissenting viewpoints. Concluding the book, “A Silent Unity” delves into the ingenious strategies employed by protestors and ordinary citizens to amplify their voices within a perilous landscape where any form of dissent poses significant risks.

The poster unveiling the launch of Seek Truth, displayed prominently in Chinatown, showcases a provocative depiction: a defaced portrait of Chairman Mao, with the title revealed through a prominent tear. Overlaid onto this image is a gallery displaying all the featured art pieces from the book, serving as a tribute to the courage and sacrifices of Chinese artists. The tearing and paint alterations were executed by hand, photographed from above. The Chinatown landscape is realized through MidJourney AI.

No More War is a retrospective of photographer Giles Duley’s work in EMERGENCY’s hospitals in Afghanistan and Iraq. From design studio +fortuna:

It is the personal account of a photographer who for decades documented and experienced the impact of war firsthand, to the point of being seriously injured by an explosive device. Kabul 2012, Mosul 2017 and Kabul 2021 recount Duley's journey through photographs and words from his diary, words written shortly before the Taliban took the city in 2021.

The exhibition project takes the visitor through an immersive journey, built from images, texts, audio, artwork and artistic contaminations, thanks to the contributions of Sibomana, Christina Balit, Emma Francis and Massive Attack. It presents itself as a means of information and reflection, becoming an important tool for understanding this universal story.
The design challenge was to find a way to let each story, each face, find its space, make its voice heard to ask in unison: no more war.

We Are Warriors is an Indigenous social enterprise dedicated to celebrating Blak excellence and empowering Indigenous youth. On 26 January 2024, one of the most polarising days of the year, We Are Warriors took over Powerhouse Ultimo for Blak Powerhouse: We Are Warriors, taking back a day of sorrow and turning it into a day of power and positivity. Branding featuring Brik (Mike Hill) with supporting text set in Inter.

Se Ti Piace Milano Bruciala is a project born out of the need to show Milan as a place in which there is a real need to revive a city that is completely shrouded by a system that works badly, from the need for more security on the streets, to the total lack of consideration for the people who barely live in the city due to the various price increases. Milano Brucia has a figurative sense not literal as many think, like the phoenix burning to be reborn from its own ashes. It is the love for Milan's extracity that will make Milan burn and be reborn.

Das Fest gegen Rechts. Für eine bessere Demokratie (“Anti-right wing party. For a better democracy”) took place on May 18, 2024, in Stuttgart. The rally, filled with poetry, music, and speeches, was headlined by Max Herre, Max Uthoff, Walter Sittler, Tanja Thomas (University of Tübingen), Klaus Dörre (University of Jena), and Serkan Eren. The event was moderated by Maike Schollenberger and Joe Bauer. The following groups were also involved: Theater Rampe and Stuttgart gegen Rechts (“Stuttgart against right wing”).

The rally was initiated by Netzwerk gegen Rechts and the graphic design was delivered by Bureau Progressiv, set in HAL Repost (published by HAL Typefaces).

In 1978, Gay Freedom Day was the name of the march and celebration now known San Francisco Pride. The event that year, attended by an estimated 250,000 to 375,000 people, marked the debut of the original rainbow flags.

As Pride is a Protest explains, the 1978 Gay Freedom Day was also a major political event:

It featured a central rally against California Proposition 6, a.k.a. The Briggs Initiative, which aimed to bar gay teachers from the classroom. […]

1978 Gay Freedom Day also featured a newly elected Harvey Milk, California’s first openly gay government official, who rode down Market Street in a convertible wearing a pink triangle arm band and a shirt that read, “I’ll Never Go Back!”

It featured a boycott on Coors Brewing, which “put prospective employees through a polygraph test to determine, among other things, if they were homosexual. […]”

That year, the identity design for Gay Freedom Day prominently featured Aldo Novarese’s Stop typeface along with a rising sun motif. The design featured prominently across the celebration: on buttons, T-shirts, flyers, printed programs, and a hand-made parade banner for the Gay Freedom Day Committee. I haven’t been able to track down any credits for the design so please comment below with any leads you may have.

Pride events are taking place around the world this month for Pride Month, including SF Pride and NYC Pride this weekend.

Front cover of the softcover edition

After Black Lives Matter: Policing and Anti-Capitalist Struggle is a book by Cedric G. Johnson that weighs the successes and limitations of the Black Lives Matter movement and the socio-economic issues that continue to perpetuate a crisis of inequality.

The book is published by Verso Books in hardcover and paperback editions. The covers were designed by Chantal Jahchan with the front set in a single large size of tightly-set, all-caps HEX Franklin (using the HEX Franklin Tyght variable font for tight letterspacing), justified with inline images of protests. On the back covers and dustjacket flaps, smaller settings of HEX Franklin are paired with Heldane for paragraph text.

Softcover edition

Spines of the hardcover and softcover editions

Inner dust jacket flaps of the hardcover edition

Back cover and spine of the hardcover edition

Back cover and spine of the softcover edition

Front covers of the hardcover and softcover editions