Diana Redhouse.
This image is for me the most powerful use of Graphic design in history. Its simplicity shouts its message louder than any other I have seen. The design was created in 1963 by Artist Diana Redhouse, to be used on the very first Amnesty International Christmas Card. So here we are breaking up for our Christmas holiday, exactly fifty years later and the design remains unchanged. Instantly recognizable and profoundly potent.
The image strikes a real fear in me but of the powerful message that I have come to associate with it of persecution and oppression and the removal of freedom and basic human rights.
The word AMNESTY, in its simple block capitals without the barbed wire candle still forces home that same message. In that one word, we read. Freedom for the oppress throughout the world. Justice for those who dared to speak up against a dictatorial state. Humanity for all.
Sadly, the artist, Diana Redhouse, died in 2007 aged 84 - and was a lifelong member of Amnesty.
The image strikes a real fear in me but of the powerful message that I have come to associate with it of persecution and oppression and the removal of freedom and basic human rights.
The word AMNESTY, in its simple block capitals without the barbed wire candle still forces home that same message. In that one word, we read. Freedom for the oppress throughout the world. Justice for those who dared to speak up against a dictatorial state. Humanity for all.
Sadly, the artist, Diana Redhouse, died in 2007 aged 84 - and was a lifelong member of Amnesty.