These are the political issues freelance designers most care about
Plus: America’s biggest digital artist is doing a physical art show about Big Tech
Hello, in this week’s issue we’ll look at…
These are the political issues freelance designers most care about
Parler just launched its own NFT platform and they’re trying make Trump avatars happen
The Smithsonian 3-D printed life-size statues for Women’s History Month
America’s biggest digital artist is doing a physical art show about Big Tech
These are the political issues freelance designers most care about
Politics plays a big role in graphic design, with two in five freelance designers who say they’ve turned down work in the past year because of a client’s stance on a social issue.
That’s according to the Design Without Borders 2022 survey of more than 10,000 freelance designers from 144 countries by the Australia-based freelance platform 99designs. The top issues for freelance designers are healthcare and public health, climate change, racial justice, income equality, child welfare, immigration, food security, and LGBTQ+ equality, according to Fast Company, which first reported the survey.
Here are some highlights from the survey, which was conducted last fall:
97% of respondents believe creatives have the power to make a real social impact
85% believe it’s important to work for clients who share their values
42% have shared or created a piece of content related to a social justice issue
40% have turned down work because of a client’s stance on social issues
Nearly 1/3 work with social justice organizations, and of those who do, 66% of their work is done pro-bono
“A teacher of mine used to say that all design is political, which is true,” one respondent from Chile said. “We are the bridge between a message and the public. We can make the world change and improve.”
Parler just launched its own NFT platform and they’re trying make Trump avatars happen
Parler, the alternative social network for Republicans that partnered with former first lady Melania Trump for her NFT sales, announced it’s launching its own NFT platform last week called DeepRedSky.
The site opened with an inaugural Official CryptoTRUMP Club sale of 250 cartoon portrait NFTs of former President Donald Trump. Think Bored Ape Yacht Club but Trumps, all variations on an avatar with different combinations of hats, jackets, ties, and accessories.
Inventory so far has outpaced interest. About 58% of the collection remains unsold, and this initial batch of avatars are slated to be the first of a 10,000-piece collection.
According to the site, DeepRedSky will expand to become a platform for sellers that it verifies and curates, and following Twitter, which began allowing users to link NFTs to their profiles to use as avatars in January, Parler said it will soon allow users to integrate accounts on the two platforms.
In other Republican NFT news, the former FLOTUS released a series of three watercolor portraits for Women’s History Month titled “Strong,” “Confident,” and “Inspirational.” They’re by French artist Marc-Antoine Coulon, who painted several past Trump NFTs. About 99% of the 3,000 NFTs minted for this collection remain unsold.
The Smithsonian 3-D printed life-size statues for Women’s History Month
Rather than a typical Women’s History Month exhibition looking back, the Smithsonian launched a Women’s Futures Month looking ahead with 120 orange 3-D printed statues of living women who work in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
#IfThenSheCan is a multi-museum exhibition, with statues placed at the National Museum of Natural History, the National Air and Space Museum, the Arts + Industries Building, and the Smithsonian Castle and Gardens. The statues include an aquarium CEO, astrophysicists, and a video game designer, and the Smithsonian said it’s the largest collection of statues of women ever assembled.
First Doug and second gentleman Doug Emhoff visited the exhibition Tuesday for International Women’s Day and wrote on Instagram, “What an incredibly powerful reminder of how women are changing our world.”
The exhibition runs through March 27, but if you can’t make it to D.C. and don’t mind stepping into the metaverse, there’s a virtual version online.
America’s biggest digital artist is doing a physical art show about Big Tech
Digital artist Beeple opened his debut gallery show Uncertain Future last week at Tribeca’s Jack Hanley gallery with 13 works about the role of Big Tech in our lives today and tomorrow. It’s not pretty.
Beeple, whose NFT artwork “EVERYDAYS” was the third bestselling work of art by an American artist in 2021, said the science-fiction themes of the show “are presented in a tongue-in-cheek way but also meant to shine a light on real trends that are occurring today.”
In “METAVERSE” (above), figures in VR headsets writhe like extras in the “Bad Romance” music video, while “ZUCK” and “YOU GOT MAIL” (below) show Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos as fallen, oversized heads. Each physical piece is accompanied by an NFT.
Beeple told Artnet News he’ll donate a portion of the proceeds causes impacted by Big Tech, like privacy and teen suicide. He also said the focus on traditional art for the show is intentional “to help people get past all the other things and look at the images themselves.”
“Does it really matter if I paint these things or if they were made on a computer?” he asked. “I’m much more interested in what you are trying to express with this versus what tools you used to get to that place.”