Social Justice Posters - Melody Hsu

"I am more afraid of crazy people than the virus... I blame our president. The word that he's chosen is really damaging and hurting the Asian community. It's not necessary to call it the Chinese virus." - Jonathan Yeung, a father of two young children.

The world is plagued with xenophobia, we watch as the unknown inject fear, and as fear develops into hate. That is why I chose to respond directly to the surge in assaults and harassments faced by Asians since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. I curated 3 designs for the “I am not a virus, I am a human” slogan with the phrase “1 in 12 anti-Asian reported incidents are physical assaults. Time for facts not fear”.

"If they wear a mask, they are suspected of being infected - and if they don't wear a mask, they're suspected of being infected but negligent." - Russell Jeung, a professor of Asian American studies at San Francisco State University.

Around the world, racist remarks and attacks have not only involved Chinese and international citizen of Chinese origin but also Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Taiwanese, and Filipinos - an obvious case of racial profiling against Asians. Not just individuals across the world, but many Asian-owned businesses worldwide have also been subjected to hate crimes since the pandemic began. Despite the abundance of cases and evidence recorded by social media and other advocacy groups, there has not been a significant increase in the numbers of hate-crime reports related to COVID-19 to the police. This suggests that people are hesitant, and probably fearful to report their experiences. It is also highly likely that there are culturally contingent factors, and factors such as personal doubts, language barriers, and cultural differences in communication - specific emphasis on "saving face" and non-confrontational social-cultural norms. Hence why it was important for me to speak up, in ways I know how, for those who can’t within my community.

Design #1 

I am Not a Virus Poster, 13"x17"

Image Description: a 13"x17" horizontal poster with a white background covered in lines after lines of "I am a human" in a small black san serif font, all in caps. In the middle of the poster, the grey colored texts "I am not a virus" in caps appear through dropping the transparency of the small black background text. At the bottom of the poster, the phrase "1 in 12 anti-Asian reported incidents is physical assault." and "Time for facts not fear." appears both in all caps and a red serif font.

This poster features a bold san serif font for “I am not a virus”, which is what the eyes see first when scanning the poster from a distance. As one walks closer, the background will reveal itself, filled with “I am a human”, in a black san serif font, equal learning and kerning, and aligned spacing. The poster also utilizes repetition and high color contrast. The spacing takes inspiration from the poster “I AM A MAN” from the 1968 Memphis protests - creating forceful pauses as the eyes followed the statement from top to bottom. Upon closer inspection, one will be able to see that the “I am not a virus” actually appears not through its text form, but through a drop in transparency of the background texts “I am a human”. The phrase at the bottom appears in red and a serif font for visual distinction, this would be the last element one sees as they follow the visual guidance hierarchy of the poster. The color red is significant as it connotes a state of urgency and call to action. The size of this poster, 13"x17", allowing both the big letters and the small background texts to be observed clearly.

 

Design #2

I am Not a Virus Poster, 7"x7"

Image Description: a 7"x7" square poster with a yellow background. The first layer of font imitates a children's "trace and write" book. The first line says "Name:" and "Date:", and there are three repeating lines of "I am not a virus" underneath. The second layer of the font is of a child's handwriting in the color red, squiggly, and uneven. "I am a human" is written for the name section, and "I am not a virus" is traced over only on the first line. The bottom of the page on the right corner is the phrase "1 in 12 anti-Asian reported incidents is physical assault" and "Time for facts not fear." in two separate lines, slightly tilted upwards.

The design of this poster is perhaps the most emotional and special as it was inspired by this interview video from BBC News. The video records British Asian children speaking on how the Coronavirus has impacted their experiences in school. They expressed sadness and stress over their friends accusing them of being "the Coronavirus spreader". This poster is designed to be a 7"x7" square with a yellow background to represent a children’s homework book or a sticky note. It uses two different fonts to illustrate the narrative that children of Asian descent are now having to learn how to defend themselves in disturbing situations. The phrase at the bottom breaks alignment to further emphasize the idea that it was written by a child. This poster is powerful for many reasons, one being that it evokes sympathy by depicting innocent children becoming targets of societal discrimination and hatred. Directly calling out the way society has failed to protect and educate the younger generation, and now they fall as attackers or as victims of something they have absolutely no control over and can barely understand.

Design #3

I am Not a Virus Poster, 8.5"x11"

Image Description: A letter-sized vertical poster of black background and white all caps san serif text. All texts on the poster are aligned to the center. The first line says "1 in 12 anti-Asian reported incidents is physical assault" and the last says "Time for facts not fear." In between these two lines are white text boxes of "I am a human" written with each word on its own line, in a 3 by 4 grid. Except for the second text box on the second row, it says "I am not a virus" in red. 

This design takes on the stylistic features of an infographic. The typography used for this poster aligns to the center and has equal spacing. The poster itself takes on characteristics of high contrast and clear visual hierarchy. It contains, like an infographic: a clear goal, a narrative, numbers and data, and effective visualization of said data. The text “I am a human” in this case represents the 12 people subjected to anti-Asian assaults and harassments, and the one “I am not a virus” in bold red font represents the one that involved physical violence. This poster - unlike the previous two which were designed to make you want to stop, read, and think - utilizes simplicity in alignment and balance for quick delivery of information. This poster was created to be letter-size for easy distribution of multiple copies. Passersby may comprehend this poster in less than 10 seconds. 

Designer's Note:

I feel that it is worth mentioning the fact that while I was designing these posters, it felt more so like I was designing for Asian people rather than anyone else. 

Growing up Asian, we were constantly taught to hold our tongue and not confront. We were constantly asked to live for the convenience of others and never prepared to stand up for ourselves. Hence why historically Asian Americans are characterized as the polite, law-abiding “model minority”. Since coming to the States, I’ve witnessed many events where non-Asian POC communities get together to share stories and empower each other. I often think about how the Asian population is much less connected in that way. Asians and Asian Americans, though some living close to each other in places like Chinatown, are not as invested in community empowerment. 

 

When making these posters, what motivated me was more than the desire to stand up for my people, it was also the need to show support within the community - to let them know that there are people out there, like me, advocating for change. The goal was to inspire them to feel like they can do the same, hence why the cross over location around the outskirts of Chinatown was significant.

Interesting Read:

Lisa Wool-Rim Sjöblom, a Korean-Swedish artist uses comic illustrations to address the increased hostility Asians are facing during the COVID-19 pandemic.