Design as political education
Via Sullivan, designer Jake Lewis is using his talents to make incredibly important political points in a visual medium.
A central concern I think many political experts have is communicating messages in a way that resonates publically. Basic, quantitative truths are so easily sidetracked in the modern political landscape. Heal care reform :: Death panels! Torture :: Enhanced interrogation! The examples are endless. It’s maddening, to me at least, to read poll after poll in which the public at large has little knowledge of public affairs; worse, public opinion often seems to make little coherent sense. The ease at which vast swaths of the population were convinced that the health care reform bill was designed to murder senior citizens seems to be proof enough.
That’s old news. Lewis’s work struck home to me the possibilities of using design to drive home political points in a way that can’t so easily be subverted or distracted in the next news cycle. Lewis demonstrates that it’s possible to present facts in a way that appeals emotionally, since facts that appeal only intellectually are unlikely to resonate.
Certainly, this style can be used by either end of the political spectrum. But liberals, in particular, seem to be adrift when trying to combat the more emotionally charged appeals of their opponents. (This is the old Bush vs. Gore debate dynamic: “He’s just citing statistics!”) To make an impact politically, it’s not enough for a certain fact to be true. It also has to be communicated effectively.
-John
Related posts:
- Death panels and democracy
- No one reforms my kid’s education
- The recession will not lead to better political science
- On truth and lying in a political sense
- Is political science relevant?
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