Is there room in the definition of graphic design for work that entertains as much as it communicates? That unpretentiously appropriates aspects of popular culture in order to achieve a cross-class populist appeal? That utilizes an ironic combination of word and image to take a rhetorical bite at the hand that feeds it? That states to its audience up-front, “I’m not here to tell you what to think, I’m here to make you think, or at the very least make you uncomfortable with some deeply-held assumptions?” That dares to shrug its shoulders at the notion that while some people get it, others won’t, and in fact, that that might be the point?

I certainly hope so.

This is a thesis about talking back to the dominant forces in politics, business, entertainment and fashion by sneak-attacking from behind. It’s a thesis about using trickery and subversion to catch an audience by surprise.

This is satire, and it’s dangerous.

The potential to be misunderstood is inherent to this way of working. When a work of satire fails, it is the satirist herself who becomes the target of ridicule, and she has unwittingly praised what she intended to condemn. But when satire succeeds, it is provocative. It can erode opinions, start arguments, offend opponents, delight the sympathetic and activate the apathetic. The reward for taking this risk is the potential to not just communicate an idea but to leave the viewer with a lasting impression and the ability to ask deeper questions.

1. Download a PDF of this abstract. (4.1 MB)
2. Print the first page to an 11x17" sheet of off-white, smooth, text-weight paper. Flip the printout, re-load into your printer, and print the second page. Crop along the marks provided and fold vertically down the center.
3. Read.