All graffiti have their politics but some more explicitly call for public policy change. Here are a few interesting pieces I’ve run into in the last week. An effective mix of surprise and cheek.

A portrait of Troy Davis wheatpasted to the sides of a fence in London for Amnesty International UK, protesting his then pending execution in Georgia. More »

Residents, environmentalists and officials want to tear down an obsolete dam near Ojai. After years of protest, a band of artists used creative tactics to call attention to the issue. The image appeared on the front page of the local paper the same day environmentalists, county officials, and the Army Corps of Engineers met to discuss the dam. More »

A nice bit of information design. (Via)

Occupy Wall Street is gaining momentum and supporters. But what are they calling for? Read all about it in the forthcoming edition of The Occupy Wall Street Journal:

“We want to be the people’s media. Our first project is The Occupy Wall Street Journal, a four-page broadsheet newspaper with an ambitious print run of 50,000. It’s aimed at the general public. The idea is to explain what the protest is about and profile different people who have joined and why they joined. We will explain the issues involved and how the general assembly process operates at Liberty Plaza. It will also offer resources and ways to join. The emphasis will be on quality content, design, photography and artwork that uses incisive humor to make it a lively read.

Future projects include longer editions of the newspaper, bold stickers, edgy posters, colorful palm cards and inspiring flyers.

This project is a volunteer effort: every penny you donate will go directly to printing and distribution.”

Help fund printing and distribution (and get a copy for yourself) on Kickstarter until October 9, 2011.

Update 10/6/11: You can see the first edition here.

Nudged by Noah and Josh and inspired by everyone down at the park, I turned out a few poster ideas for press. Click through to download higher resolution versions. Reproduce and revolt!

Update 12/2/11: More Occupy posters of mine here, here and here.

This summer Artists Nicole Schulman and Tanya Albrigtsen-Frable worked with 15 young women, ages 14-18 in the in the Groundswell Community Mural Project Voices Her’d program to design a series of 8 posters for the organization Day One to educate young people about intimate partner violence in teen relationships, and how to get help if you are in an abusive relationship. You can see the posters online here and they will be available in print from Day One.

Nicole notes: “I am particularly proud of this project, the young women really took the lead, bottom lining all the designs, and completing them using traditional drawing, as well as Photoshop and Illustrator (which most had to learn).”

A blog set up by the teens shows the final designs, as well as their feedback, reflections and photos of the process.

Hacking on a workshop plan and thoroughly appreciating Power - A Practical Guide for Facilitating Social Change:

“Power can be the ability to act visibly in ways that affect others, but it is also the power to act behind closed doors through more hidden and invisible means. Power can be about what is on the agenda, but also what is kept off; about who speaks, but also who does not; about whose voices count, as well as whose voices go unheard. As such, power is about what we see easily and experience directly, as well as what we do not see. For this reason, we need deliberate and creative ways to understand it and to make how power affects our everyday lives more legible and visible to ourselves and to others.”

And from Making Change Happen: Power (PDF):

“In reality, power is dynamic, relational and multidimensional, changing according to context, circumstance and interest. Its expressions and forms can range from domination and resistance to collaboration and transformation. This is good news for social justice promoters whose strategies depend upon new opportunities and openings in the practice and structures of power.”

Information design can be a useful tool to visualize and understand sources of power — and as a result facilitate the mobilization of power.

Marxist geographer and critical urbanist, Harvey breaks it down hard:

“You cannot solve the problem of global poverty without going after the accumulation of global wealth. Until you leave your anti-poverty campaigns and join the anti-wealth campaign, nothing is going to happen.”