The poster I picked is called REMEMBER by Mike Alewitz and it shows Mumia Abu-Jamal behind bars with this kind of painted coloring that makes it look really dramatic and expressive. Mike Alewitz is known for making art that talks about political stuff and social issues so it makes sense that this poster is meant to raise awareness about Mumia Abu-Jamal and the prison system. I’m not exactly sure when it was made but it looks kind of recent like late 20th or early 21st century and it was shown on activist websites so the audience was probably people who cared about social justice and prisoners rights and maybe it didn’t reach a lot of people outside of activist circles. The way it looks with the bars and the face of Mumia really makes you feel the weight of the situation and the coloring makes it feel emotional and urgent which kind of goes along with what we read about visual research and design thinking because the design is really communicating a message and trying to make people react. I think you could compare it to other activist posters from the same time that talked about prisoners or civil rights or political issues. The poster is held at Central Connecticut State University and it's digital now so people can see it online which is important because it spreads the message farther. It's valuable because it’s not just art, it's like a tool for social change and it shows how contemporary artists can use design to make people pay attention to big issues like the prison system.
