AIGA has always been a loose confederation of disparate members who haven’t always seen eye-to-eye – kind of like the citizens of the United States itself. And just like our great nation, AIGA has decided it’s high time we do something about gun violence.
In this case, Executive Director Richard Grefé and member John Clark are encouraging other members to create “End Gun Violence” posters as part of a “nonpartisan” campaign. As they explain in their open letter:
“The purpose here is to take action, rather than remain passive observers. We call upon our fellow members to participate in a nonpartisan effort focused on this critical social issue. As a profession, we have a responsibility to address the things that matter. We have the ability to do real and lasting good.”
Comparing it to AIGA’s 2012 “get out the vote” campaign, “the primary vehicle will be an open, online collection of members’ designs bearing the AIGA campaign identity, where visitors can download a PDF version to print and post, or an image to share on social media.”
While the idea of addressing society’s ills with design is an interesting one, the belief that this won’t quickly deteriorate into yet another urban vs. rural squabble seems idealistic at best. We all know the problem…we just can’t agree on a solution.
To give you some idea of what AIGA is up against, here are some U.S. acts of gun violence that took place after this PaperSpecs story was posted on 2/19/13. (Only incidents with fatalities are listed):
Day 4: 27 dead
- Chicago – 1 dead (2/22/13)
- Oklahoma – 1 dead (2/21/13)
- Shreveport, La. – 1 dead (2/21/13)
- Miami – 2 dead (2/21/13)
- Las Vegas Strip – 3 dead (2/21/13)
- Dayton, Ohio – 1 dead (2/20/13)
- Palm Beach, Fla. – 2 dead (2/20/13)
- Garland, TX – 1 dead (2/20/13)
- Brooklyn – 1 dead (2/20/13)
- Orange County – 4 dead (2/19/13)
- Opla-Locka, Fla. – 1 dead (2/19/13)
- Denver – 1 dead (2/19/13)
- Maryland – 2 dead, sep. incidents (2/19/13)
- Tampa – 1 dead (2/19/13)
- Dallas – 1 dead (2/19/13)
- Fayetteville, NC – 1 dead (2/19/13)
- Two dead in Orlando (2/19/13)
- 18-year-old killed in Syracuse (2/19/13)
