Milton Glaser’s Design of Dissent at Graphic Matters, Breda

As part of the VisitBrabant annual nighttime celebration #BrabantNacht, I visited the Graphic Matters design festival in Breda, Netherlands. The festival features topical works by international designers, with an emphasis on political and social works in public spaces.

Graphic design is an important part of our lives—it’s often hidden underneath text and images the untrained eye doesn’t recognize as designed. Without even noticing it, design shapes our lives and our thoughts while our brains and our eyes make snap judgements based upon these visual representations. And as the world changes and our society becomes more and more fractured, so have our designs. It’s important for designers as well as non-designers alike to be more aware. And more responsible.

The Graphic Matters design festival in Breda takes this understanding of design and presents it to an audience in an easily discernible way. In the program brochure, the Graphic Matters founder…