Trask Avenue

The revival of the national gun debate has re-energized failed graphic designers throughout cyberspace. Just when you thought the Presidential election had sapped all their energy these folks have rebounded from November’s muck to grace our monitors and tablets with their amazing PowerPointy/Photoshoppy dexterity! Being nimble of finger and savvy of Google these modern day Rembrandts-cum-Jeffersons have latched onto the issue of gun control to dazzle us with pithy digital posters designed to cut through the bullshit and drive an emotional stake through our silly misguided hearts. Scrapping together goodies from the web – photographs, clip art, quotations, statistics – these brave souls create masterpieces which swamp us with the incessant ferocity of a winter gale.

You’ve seen their work, haven’t you? Of course you have. If you are on the Interwebs at all – like you are right now – they are inescapable. The sensation these 21^st century Guernicas engender bears an eerie similarity to being nailed to a chair in the Kardashian household, unable to move. You need to turn your head, you need to close your eyes, but you cannot. The wreckage is simply too morbidly fascinating.

Each digital poster serves up their creator’s distinct political or social philosophy in nice bite-sized morsels. Fitting perfectly into our collective short attention span which can only digest info nuggets in small nibbles, they plate convenient talking points to spit at the world with the even more convenient benefit of not having to go any deeper than the scummy surface. Isn’t it funny how we love our brain food fed to us in such economical portions, like Jenny Craig for the intellect, yet insist our tummy food is served in helpings which would embarrass Henry VIII? We are nothing if not a funny lot, we humans.

Now you may think these digital gems are just simple .jpg files with charts, photos, stats, and some form of random fact, but you would be wrong. They are so much more. They are the light which will sway our shaky beliefs to the righteousness of their position. They are the truth; they are the final word. You see, this is what passes as debate today, what supplants research for those who simply do-not-have-the-time to seek out information beyond a graphic and some bullet points. And it is easy to see why. They are, after all, so aesthetically pleasing. They appeal to our need for simplicity, beauty and order. The words and/or figures blend in a kind of harmony with the photos and/or graphics to grease the skids of the neural pathways from the eye to the heart, bypassing the brain and its pesky need for substance. Really, what more can you ask?

Well, that makes sense…

What?? OMG! Get Detroit on the phone! Stat!

This is disturbing, but…

Fascism over freedom? I think not!

Wait. Are those states on the right Fascist? I’m so confused.

Tremendous point! Yes!

So so true! He didn’t use any guns and he’s an elite mass murderer. How persuasive! Yes! Yes!!!!!

Oh.