My fellow Americans — my fellow humans! Our planet is in deep, deep trouble. And it needs you to do your patriotic duty fighting climate change.
Green Patriot Posters is a project dedicated to getting out that message — by inspiring the modern equivalent of the iconic “Rosie the Riveter” poster from World War II.
They’ve got a great new book out edited by Dmitri Siegel and Edward Morris, featuring the coolest and most rousing images that have come out of the project so far — some by established artists like Shepard Fairey and DJ Spooky, some by emerging artists and students.
Take a look at 10 very inspiring examples and read what some of the artists were thinking when they created them.
And remember: Ask not what your planet can do for you. Ask what you can do for your planet!
Ryan Dumas — “Eat Local”
“I tried to take a lighter approach and focus on a specific action. Eating locally grown produce is not only good for the environment; it also helps build communities … and is quite tasty!” –R.D.
Will Etling — “Sustain”
“Young farmers need to be politically organized and active. Growing up in rural California, I always had tremendous respect for the few remaining working farmers in our community. In this poster I tried to convey the power of farming and the respect I feel for it.” –W.E.
Design first appeared in GOOD magazine, 2010.
Diego Gutiérrez — “Keep Buying Shit”
“To a graphic designer, there is no better reason to design than for a good cause. At the same time, popular media and kitsch design have exhausted a cause like global warming. I didn’t want to design for upper-middle-class mothers who hang out at Whole Foods. My vision was to crank out as many varieties of strong images, harsh statements, and loud colors as I could.” –D.G.
Kristina Kostadinova — “Friend in Trouble”
“This poster is an alarm. The Earth needs attention. Be a green patriot and don’t stop at provocation — find the solutions. It is time to push ourselves out of the comfort zone and say something louder.” –K.K.
Lauren Perlow — “S.0.S.”
“We looked for posters that communicated even at thumbnail size. This design from Lauren Perlow fit the bill. It’s immediately graspable. The idea of witnessing a drowning is horrible. Who wouldn’t try to help — even when the drowning thing is as abstract as the ‘Future’?” –Dmitri Siegel and Edward Morris
Xander Pollack — “Shit Be Meltin'”
“Al Gore is right: Shit be meltin’. Would his melting face be more convincing than factual charts and graphs? How much proof do we need before we make a change?” –Dmitri Siegel and Edward Morris
Jason Hardy — “Let’s Ride”
“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!” –J.H.
Designed for PowertothePoster.org, 2008; modified for Green Patriot Posters, 2010.
Sara Stryjewski — “Being Green”
“Hybrid cars are getting cheaper, and being less reliant on fossil fuels is imperative. If more people bought green cars, we could be rollin’ in it.” –S.S.
Frédéric Tacer — “Global Warming”
“I like to compare this picture to the story of the snake biting its own tail. That red fella is an obvious symbol of humanity. It is too late to look for the people to blame. We’re all in this together.” –F.T.
Paul Elliman — “Detroit as Refrain”
“The line of text is by Alfred, Lord Tennyson (an old friend of mine!), and the images are a sequence from a film (commissioned and subsequently suppressed by Chrysler Corp. in 1957) by the great Len Lye. For the anticapitalists among us, Detroit represents much more than just the beginning of the end for a sinister form of economic production; it represents the start of a new age in which the Detroit National Park becomes the first city under the aegis of the National Park Service (U.S. Department of the Interior), circa 2025.” –P.E.
