This episode we are delving into the world of populist design: think Live Laugh Love, think Notes to Strangers, think Keep Calm and Carry On, think clapping for the NHS whilst voting Tory. We cover our definition of populist design and how it relates to the political term “populism”, and how we can borrow terms from art theory such as kitsch to deepen our understanding of populist design. A contextual discussion shows us that populist design has emerged at a specific meeting point of social media, mass marketing and late capitalism. Nationalism is also an important aspect, as we can see in Shepard Fairey’s “We the People” designs and the sheer popularity of “Keep Calm and Carry On”, and how then often people of colour and especially women of colour are used as props to drive nationalist narratives that seem radical through populist design. Recent news about celebrities hopping on the “clap for NHS” bandwagon reveal how the framework of populist design can be used to understand trends in mass media, and not even astrological memes are safe from our scathing review of populist design (but also, we all have loved these designs, we have to admit). Don't forget, you can find visuals to accompany our episodes at soofandflo.wordpress.com
