Navigation Menu+

Spreading the Message: #neveragain

About a year ago, we turned on our TV’s to hear that yet another senseless mass shooting had occurred at a high school in Parkland, Florida. Watching the horrifying images of police cars and stretchers in front of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, we had two choices: we could turn off the television and try to forget it happened, or we could do something about it. As designers, our instinct is to try and make a visual impact on society and we knew 21xdesign needed to take action.

We started creating posters with the American flag as their core theme. Our rationale for this is because no other country around the world has gun violence and mass shootings on such a scale as this country. In most developed countries around the world parents do not worry about their kids being murdered at school – in America, tragically, it’s become a reality. We want to make this a crucial point in each poster we create.

We are very disheartened by the lack of education and missing commonsense around the subject of guns in America. So many mass shootings take place in America on a regular basis, with no clear or defining protective action happening in their aftermath.

Our posters serve as our voice and allow us to express our message to audiences around the world. This poster #neveragain is part of this series. It was created in the wake of the Parkland High school massacre where 17 kids were shot dead by a teen gunman. Our hope is that these posters will engage viewers and move dialogue forward to educate and improve present gun-control laws.

As a way of spreading this message, we have participated in award shows and international exhibits and the response we have received so far has been very supportive. We feel very honored that our industry has recognized this work that is so important to us.  

The following is a list of awards and exhibitions that #neveragain has received to date and where they can be seen:

·       Graphis Poster Annual 2019: Platinum award.

·       Graphis Design Annual 2019: Platinum award.

·       Graphis Blog

·       HOW International Design Awards 2019. As a Merit Award Winner, our work will be showcased in the book The Best of Design, set to be released in the summer of 2019.

·       Creative Quarterly: Certificate of Excellence

The #neveragain poster has been invited to participate in a number of international exhibits around the world:

Ecuador Poster Bienal: #neveragain was one of 400 entries picked from 10,000 posters that came from 80 countries around the world. Throughout the year 2019 this exhibition will travel around the world to countries such as Poland, China, Russia and more to be announced. A book will be published in 2019.

Posterfest Budapest: Out of the 272 winners, our #neveragain poster was one of only seven posters from the US.

7th International Socio-Political Poster Biennial in Oswiecim Poland: 73 posters chosen from a total of over 800 and of that number #neveragain was one of only 2 posters from the US that qualified. Throughout 2019 this exhibition will travel to a number of international countries.

We hope that as the #neveragain poster is seen in national and international exhibitions, publications and websites that its message can serve as a catalyst for further conversation around education and sensible, commonsense gun control. Our poster serves as a remembrance of the Parkland tragedy, and also as a reminder of the opportunity all of us have, to take further action.

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.