After researching activism, activist artists and attending protests I was inspired to create my own protest banners. I decided to focus them on climate change as it is current global crisis which a lot of people are protesting for. For each banner I tried to use a different types of media and tactics to strongly get the message across. The first banner ‘£9000 a year for a future we won’t even have!’, for this banner I used a piece of black mount board and white acrylic paint. I decided to use these colours as the issue referring to university and our future is serious subject and the colours portray this. I wanted the banner too look simple but the message to come across as strong. I used paint to make the words look bold and to add an artistic, rebellious aesthetic to the banner as it will be used by students.

The next banner I created ‘at least greta gives a fuck’ for this banner I wanted to make it more profound. I used a black marker pen onto a piece of cardboard and an image of Greta Thungberg. From research I noticed how artists often used a combination of imagery and text to make their work stand out and make a bold statement. The message the banner reads, the marker, language and image of Greta all express the emotion of anger which I feel makes more of an impact as it shocks people and is memorable.

I then created the banner ‘the planet is hotter than my boyfriend’ the idea behind the banner was to create one that was humours and add light on the situation. I use white mount board, marker pens for the text and paint for the drawing of the earth. The witty text complimented the image of the earth which I added fire too and body parts to make it appear as if the earth was seductively posing in relation to the statement.

The final banner I created was the most simple and basic, however sometimes this is the most effective. I used white mount board and sharpies and design the banner into an emergency sign. An emergency exit sign is often one people see everyday, therefore it will alert people and stands out in crowds. It also links to the climate change emergency and expresses panic.

For the next step of my project I am going to incorporate the banners into a shoot. I am going to scout models which I feel will look like the ideal person who would create these banners and relate to the message on them.