DOWN-UP | Power to the Poster {dot} ORG

OCCUPY TOGETHER The posters provided on this page were graciously donated by graphic designers and are free for you to download, print, and hang up within your community, not only to promote local efforts, but the solidarity of all occupiers around the country.

A collaboration with TakePart.

A project with MoveOn.org

Bold Nebraska is leading the charge with the Stand with Randy campaign to Stop the TransCanada Pipeline. Learn more about the issue from Jane Fleming Kleeb as activists meet in DC to put a Stop to the Tar Sands.

Get your T-Shirt and Stand with Randy.

This was a project with MoveOn.org. It ultimately was not used. But it sure was fun to make.

Stand with Randy, Stop the Pipeline

Is the future of American energy a pipeline full of thick tar trudging its way from Canada to the Gulf cutting across the great plains in a tube constructed with corporate talking points and wishful thinking? Perhaps. But a group of stubborn Nebraska citizens think otherwise. They’re standing up to this dangerous oil pipeline that’s slotted to run over the largest underground aquifer in the world. And they’re not backing down.

You too can join the effort to the stop the pipeline. You too can Stand with Randy.

GREEN PATRIOT POSTERS (Project Green/NOMAD Films) is being made into a documentary short film. And you can help Kickstart it!

Of course 1 leak is too many when we’re talking Oil+Water, but this corporation’s own estimates of 11 leaks is simply laughable. Worst Case Spills for TransCanada Pipeline put that number far higher.

Move America Forward

Energy Pioneer Solutions is a startup from Hastings, Nebraska that’s focused on local solutions to national problems. They’re an energy company, only they don’t drill, or frack, or remove mountaintops. Instead, they’re seeking to reverse more than three decades of rising energy costs in the residential and commercial property sectors with a very practical idea; to make our homes and buildings energy efficient.

To tighten them up. To put the power back in the hands of the homeowner, allowing them to save money, have a more comfortable home and to do the patriotic thing. After all, the greenest energy we have is the energy we don’t use.

It’s not as visually stimulating as a field full of wind turbines, but its effectiveness and just how easy it is to do makes it absolutely essential for how America moves forward. We’ve got a lot of old homes in this country. Homes that are drafty, inefficient and not doing anything to help make us a more secure nation. This company is doing something to change that.

At times it sounds too good to be true. It seems too easy. But that’s just because the program is that good.

I’ve worked with Energy Pioneer Solutions for over a year. It’s been great to be able to help tell their story and inspire people to sign up to be an Energy Pioneer. Now, with the New BLK involved, we’re looking to make Hastings the most energy efficient town in America. Stay tuned.

A documentary film by Josh Fox about deception, corruption, profiteering and pollution. A must watch. Note: Many f-bombs were dropped in the watching of this film.

INSIDE JOB received this year’s Oscar for Best Documentary. It’s quite a powerful and infuriating film about our financial system and how it crashed and burned. And why no one on Wall Street went to jail. (Note: the only reason Madoff went to jail was because his illegalities hurt other rich people, period.)

Watch it, and if, for some reason, you still think the reason all the cards came crashing down was because some poor people bought houses they couldn’t afford, well then I think it’s time for a cage match.

TED2004 In James Howard Kunstler’s view, public spaces should be inspired centers of civic life and the physical manifestation of the common good. Instead, he argues, what we have in America is a nation of places not worth caring about. (An oldie but a goodie.)

Green Patriot Posters the book edited by Dmitri Siegel & Edward Morris

IMAGES FOR A NEW ACTIVISM

Green Patriot Posters the book was released at the end of 2010, a year tied for the warmest on record with 1998 and 2005. The book brings together the strongest contemporary graphic design currently promoting sustainability and the fight against climate change at a time when one of America’s political parties is looking to rewrite the Clean Air Act so that it can’t be used to fight that very same climate change.

The book showcases 50 posters selected from the project Website in detachable, ready to hang format. It’s edited by Edward Morris and Dmitri Siegel and includes text by Michael Bierut, Thomas L. Friedman, Steven Heller, Edward Morris, Dmitri Siegel and Morgan Clendaniel. In addition to the site and the book, Cleveland saw bus adverts by Michael Beirut, Dorchester was home to a public art campaign and San Francisco had bus shelter placement thanks to some successful crowdfunding.

Green Patriot Posters {dot} ORG

Bierut Bus in Cleveland

Bike Your City Bus Shelter by Jason Hardy in San Francisco

Green Patriot Posters Reinvigorate Environmental Message at Wired and the Destroy This Book excerpt can be found at Design Observer. Most People just don’t get climate change. Few grasp the need and more important, the opportunity to transform our society. So the people who do get it need to be louder, more insistent and more effective at getting the message across. Certainly a very true statement.

For our part, Jason and myself were both included in the book alongside some of the finest poster designers working today: Shepard Fairey, Joe Scorsone and Alice Drueding, Felix Sockwell and Jame Victore. Power to the Poster in general was well represented.

Inside spread

Jason Hardy | Let’s Ride

• A bicycle is a beautifully simple machine. Two wheels, a frame, and a crank — that’s all you need. So I wanted to make a simple poster celebrating one of those key components — the wheel. The call to action is simple: Let’s Ride. I chose a light green for the background to touch on the environmental benefits of cycling and also because, as we all know, green means go. Cutting carbon can be fun, too — get a crew and let’s ride!

Let's Ride by Jason Hardy

Justin Kemerling | (Re)Make America

• I think about the idea of America a lot. The history of things. How we got here and where we want to go. It’s been a long process in working towards becoming the land of opportunity with freedom and justice for all, and the whole bit. And we have such a long way to go. It’s brick by brick. It’s DIY. So pick up your talents and get to it. Until your hands hurt. This image of the “America in bricks” found it’s way into my design work, really speaking to the idea that many parts make a whole. Optimistic. Hopeful. Good reason to get your hands calloused.

(Re)Make America by Justin Kemerling

The book itself is a perfect combination of beautiful design and sustainable production. From the back cover:

• Every effort was made to produce this book in the most sustainable way possible. The trim size and page count were chosen to minimize waste; the book was printed using 100% wind power on paper made from 100% post-consumer waste fiber; and it was printed in the U.S.A. to reduce fuel consumption in shipping. Yes, this cost more. But suck it up. It’s worth it.

Published by Metropolis Books. 9.5 x 12.5 in. / 128 pgs / 50 tear-out posters and available for purchase at Artbook for $30.

WWII era posters: project inspiration.

This project, and many others like it, are so very important. Especially at a very contentious time, when taking on Climate Change just isn’t an issue many Americans are interested in addressing. It’s all Economy all of the time. And half of our elected officials don’t even think Climate Change is a) caused by our human use of fossil fuels, or worse yet b) happening at all. This project is directly inspired from World War II era posters that called for collective action, for the nation to come together to fight a common enemy. But if it was today’s America that had to fight that war, I’m not so sure we’d do very well, especially with the coming together part.

WWII era posters: more inspiration.

These messages coming from our leadership today; to be wise, careful, to use leftovers and to grow your own food would not stand. The cries of communism and socialism and conspiratorial leftist plots would abound. They pretty much do whenever any government initiative is undertaken. Remember the backlash to Michelle Obama’s wonderful organic garden; it just needs to get off our back and leave us to our God-given right to be fat, lazy and drive up health care costs faster than you can say high-fructose corn syrup.

But as communication design efforts on many fronts take on what really matters; raising money for doctors in Haiti, advocating an end to the death penalty, calling out the imperative of reversing the push into poverty by so many in this great recession, things do change. Money gets raised, public opinion becomes more compassionate, communities come together. These projects shine a light in a compelling way on the issues we need to be thinking about very seriously. It’s design as a way to shout how things need to be and what we want our future to look like. And, of course, they inspire the creation of a sustainable movement for a green tomorrow which is a very American, very patriotic thing to do.

You can call sustainability a movement. There are signs that things are getting better. We might even be approaching sustainability as “the way things must be because that’s the way it is,” with complete infiltration into every aspect of everything — energy, food, buildings, transportation, and on and on. It’s as if a grand realization is upon us. Deep down we know we can’t carry on like this. With such levels of pollution, inequality and injustice, we’ll all collectively have the “aha” moment, get a grip and use our vast quantities of creativity to remake America and our world community into a bright place for everyone to call home.

With hot years and heated debates about the action we need to take, we need more projects like Green Patriot Posters — more vision from creative individuals to inspire us along the way to that sustainable future. Otherwise, it could be the rising tides that sink all ships.

For now, you can buy this book, destroy this book and pick a side because the tone of the debate and the levels of action needed are only going to get more intense. And we do indeed need to get louder, more insistent and more effective at getting the message across.

– Justin Kemerling, Designer. justinkemerling.com

PRESS:

The Guardian UK, January 25, 2011
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/gallery/2011/jan/25/green-patriot-posters

Wired, November 15, 2010:
http://www.wired.com/underwire/2010/11/green-patriot/

PBS News Hour, Art Beat, January 6, 2011:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/art/blog/2011/01/green-patriots-get-straight-to-the-message-with-enviro-friendly-poster-art.html

Metropolis Mag, October 20, 2010:
http://www.metropolismag.com/story/20101020/patriot-acts

Design Observer, November 22, 2010:
http://observatory.designobserver.com/entry.html?entry=22558

GOOD, December 15, 2010
http://www.good.is/post/green-patriot-posters-the-best-submissions/

Le Monde, October 30, 2010
http://ecologie.blog.lemonde.fr/2010/10/30/aux-etats-unis-lecologie-mise-a-laffiche/
http://veille.agence-limite.fr/green-patriot-posters-quand-des-affiches-vint

Teach.gov

My favorite part of the State of the Union. The words of Barack Obama: “become a teacher, your country needs you.”

Visit Teach.gov to learn more.

January 17, 2011 on Democracy Now!

BBCX365, by Johnny Selman, is a poster project to bridge the knowledge gap between global current events and the American public.

• I will do this by creating a more visually interesting vehicle for the news, use a credible news source (BBC), and promote, market, and network. I will design a poster a day for 365 days in reaction to a headline on the BBC news website and update this website everyday with the poster and the accompanying news story. By creating posters based on the news stories I hope to compel my audience to look into the article and eventually stir a larger interest in world news with the American public.

• In 2008 the internet overtook all other outlets for international and national news aside from television. Forty percent of Americans got their news online in 2008, up from twenty-seven percent the previous year. It can be estimated that currently over 50% of Americans use the internet as their main source of news. Nearly six-in-ten Americans younger than 30 (fifty-nine percent) say they get most of their national and international news online (Pew). With the rise in popularity of mobile devices and the continued trajectory of Americans getting their news online; this project will predominantly be based online.

New Ts for BOLD Nebraska {dot} ORG

It was a big year for progress. Despite all the madness, 2010 looks pretty good for big steps forward. I’d say Hopey Changey is working out for this guy. If you’re on Facebook and want to chime in, we’re listening: What’s your BOLD Statement on BOLD Actions?

For more on progressive politics in this oh-so-conservative state of NE, do visit BOLD Nebraska {dot} ORG.

DonorsChoose.org is an online charity that makes it easy for anyone to help students in need. This Week alone: 12,731 donors, 728 projects completed, 97,488 students reached.

• Give as little as $1 and get the same level of choice, transparency, and feedback that is traditionally reserved for someone who gives millions. We call it citizen philanthropy.

America and the future. How much time do we have to get our shit together and actually deliver on what we call the American Dream? A great hour with Tom Friedman and Tom Ashbrook on America’s crumbling infrastructure, China’s rise, unemployment and jobs, taxes, the wars and the need for a serious yes-climate-change-is-coming-fast energy/environment policy. Bring on 2011.

A collaboration between GOOD and Deeplocal.

How Much Does the United States Subsidize Energy

$70.2 Billion Fossil Fuels
$16.8 Billion Corn Ethanol
$12.2 Billion Renewable Energy
$2.3 Billion Carbon Capture and Storage

SOURCE: The Environmental Law Institute.

A collaboration between GOOD and Deeplocal.