Hope to Nope

‘Hope to Nope: Graphics and Politics 2008–18’ is an exhibition and book that shows how graphic design not only responds to political events, but can also challenge and even shape them. It is based on an original concept by GraphicDesign&, and co-curated by GraphicDesign&’s Lucienne Roberts and David Shaw, with Rebecca Wright and the Design Museum's Margaret Cubbage.

The book is a collaboration between GraphicDesign& and the Design Museum, London. From the Great Recession of 2008, the Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill and the terrorist attack on French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, to the Brexit referendum and the 2016 US presidential election that shocked the world, ‘Hope to Nope’ explores the role of graphic design in one of the most politically turbulent decades in recent history.

As traditional media rubs shoulders with the hashtag and the meme, the influence and impact of graphic design has never been greater or more international in its reach. North Korean propaganda, fake posts disseminated by Russian troll farms, a human billboard campaign against sexual harassment in China and anti-Zuma rallies from South Africa all demonstrate how graphic design gives voice to political hopes and fears around the world.

Alongside interviews with celebrated graphic designer Milton Glaser and street artist Shepard Fairey, the international designers and artists featured in this book include: Gorilla, Dread Scott, Edel Rodriguez, TEMPLO, ThoughtMatter, Michael Bierut, Sagmeister & Walsh, Marwan Shahin, Barnbrook and Metahaven.