"Freedom of Hate Speech"
“Patriots and Charlatans” is a typographic narrative that is meant to make people uncomfortable. This project involved the reimagining of a manifesto to fit the current age. I used the Communist Manifesto as a guide to create a satirical “Alt-Right Manifesto,” because hate groups often identify "bad targets" as “communist” ones.
Each poster within the series had a different theme, inspired by current events, political events, and utilize different phrases. Some of these symbols and phrases have been appropriated by the far-right, while some were modified to fit the narrative that I was constructing
This poster series and typographic narrative comments on the rise of white racism and alt-right extremism in the United States. Because of the nature of the content, I struggled with how to develop my messaging so that it was clear that my project was not meant for racists to identify with, but instead called attention to dangerous mindsets.
"Where You Came From"
"All White Men"
"Hate Thy Neighbor"
The first four posters (above) focus on racism in America.
“Freedom of Hate Speech” is centered upon the dangerous normalization of hate in America, while also highlighting underground/covert phrases used by the far right to disguise their racism and hate. Said phrases and symbols are cut up/obscured,
“From Where You Came” and “All White Men” both comment on the deeply-ingrained racism in our country that still influences current politics and social movements. The phrase “speak American” references the uninformed view of people who find that speaking non-english languages in America is “unpatriotic” - while the other poster uses a modified line from The Declaration of Independence to highlight the discrepancies between the Founding Fathers’ American vision vs. the one that was truly realized.
"Supremacy"
"Truth Social"
"Among These Rights"
"Don't Thinkkk"
The last two posters in the series were inspired by current events more specifically: the January 6th Insurrection and the resurgence of conversations about Police Brutality after the murder of George Floyd.
"Question Violence"
"One Small Step"
ZINE
To accompany the poster series, I designed a zine that would act as a portable version of my full poster series. However, instead of only including the 10 posters and their messages, I designed several new posters that captured the essence of my “alt-right” manifesto.
ENVIRONMENTAL APPLICATIONS
SOCIAL MEDIA APPLICATIONS
My social media feed included a mix of visuals from both the poster series and the zine but acted mostly as a satirical encouragement for people to join the movement. These posts often referenced real rules and customs perpetuated by alt-right groups.
For example, the first asset on the right shows a series of colorless breakfast cereals, and implies that in order to join this movement, you must be able to name breakfast cereals with the exception of fruit loops. This references a real hazing ritual in which members of a certain hate group must do this before being initiated. The banishment of fruitloops, however, is to ensure that certain types of men are irrevocably excluded from joining.
IDEATION SKETCHES
The first iteration of the poster series had a much different tone, using more literal imagery and graphic styles. This was ultimately abandoned, in favor of a more sophisticated and symbolic graphic language.
