AIGA Poster Campaign Speaks to America’s Culture of Death

Interrupted by Gilberto Ruiz-Ortega, Los Angeles
(Credit: AIGA)

It is nearly impossible to talk about death in America without raising the issue of gun violence. In the decade between 2005 and 2015, over 300,000 Americans died as a result of a gunshot wound inflicted either accidentally, intentionally by another, or by their own hand. In 2015, firearm deaths of children under the age of 18 occurred at a rate of two every day. An astonishing number of these children — 75 percent — were under the age of 12 when they died.

In 2013, AIGA (formerly known as the American Institute of Graphic Design) sponsored an “End Gun Violence” poster campaign. Member designers from across the United States were asked to submit posters “supporting the simple premise that gun violence is detrimental to the life of our communities.” The collection is a visually stunning and emotionally gripping statement about the impact of gun violence in America and the desperate need for change.

Many of the posters address the impact of gun violence on children. “Interrupted,” by Gilberto Ruiz-Ortega speaks to the death of a 6-year-old boy who died after a 4-year-old playmate accidentally shot him in the head with a .22 caliber rifle as their parents stood nearby.

The Innocent by Lindsay M. Clark, New York
(Credit: AIGA)

“The Innocent” by Lindsay Clark, shows the frightened face of an infant and a pacifier juxtaposed with the image of a broken gun. Of the poster, Clark says, “Some don’t have a voice…let’s give them one.”

Of “Ashes, Ashes, We All Fall Down,” artist David Copestakes says, “The thought of mixing guns in an environment where children play is about as foreign of an idea one can fathom. Yet, we find ourselves dealing with the issues of gun violence in our schools and considering solutions such as bringing armed guards into the classroom. This poster attempts to show the irony in this concept by making a revolver cylinder the top of a merry-go-round.”

Ashes, Ashes, We All Fall Down by David Copestakes, Philadelphia
(Credit: AIGA)

And in “What War?” Ozan Karakoc cites the harrowing statistic that there are 313 million people and 270 million guns in the United States today and asks, “What war are we preparing for?”

It has been two years since AIGA launched its campaign to end gun violence, and, sadly, nothing has changed. During the first four months of 2016, over 3,000 Americans died as a result of gun violence. Nearly 1,000 of them were children.

Perhaps it’s time that we all looked carefully at this collection again.