#OccupyGuestBlog.

Written by Sam Yong

Tuesday, 13 December 2011 23:08

Hey all, my name is Sam!

I'm a freelance designer by day, and by night I am a starving artist. I really didn't know what to write about for my guest blog but as fate would have it, I stumbled into the #OCCUPY AUCKLAND movement last week. It sure was an interesting sight to be around. But what I found interesting wasn't the cause(s) of the protest, but the colourful menagerie of picket signs strewn across the boundaries of the protest's barriers. So here we have it: "The Signs of #Occupy".

Now I'm all for fighting and protesting for a good cause, but judging from all the signs it didn't seem like anyone knew what the protest was actually about. Not even the protesters. It was more of a 'if you have an issue with the world, come down, camp here and tell people about it'. The whole cause seemed a little unclear to me. I think protesters could really do with some help from a good copywriter sometimes. But I'll let the signs themselves do the talking...

This one's a real doozey. Who owns the other 99% of the dub-step? In any case, 1% of dub-step is 1% too much. I think this sign would be better suited to being held up at next year's Big Day Out. Honourable mention for the sign down the bottom. Points made for coming up with a new smart sounding word and creating a whole new system of government all at once.

(Side note: I bet tent sales went up a whole heap this year)

Hmmm. Bonus points for the nice lettering. Large bold lettering always makes a good case & point. However I'm not really sure what that case is. Last time I checked, John Key wasn't a large section of pavement in New York. Although I guess I could see how this mistake could be made. I suppose he was a banker in the 80's but I'm still unsure what this sign is trying to tell us. Again, protestors need copywriters.

I'm quite impressed at the resourcefulness of using a computer to make this one. Good use of technology. It seems like they ran out of time at the copy centre though.

Cool, I will remember that the next time I'm asked to volunteer myself for animal transmutation.

I really liked this one. It must be from the same artist as the previous image. The aesthetic really brought the statement to life. Soggy cardboard and crayons are great for making an impact. The thought process behind this is amazing. No 'Robot' manufactured typefaces or fancy laser printing here. 100% human made. It's a little hazy which robot we should say 'no' to though. For example; I would hang out with Jonny 5 from Short Circuit, Optimus Prime, or Wall-E. I would definitely say no to the T-1000, Megatron and Keanu Reeves.

Nice. A lesson in farm management. Note to self: Don't hire foxes to guard things they enjoy eating. It would be like hiring Jared to guard the pantry at a local Subway. I do like the use of stencils on a fabric medium. Having a relevant picture is great too.

This brings back memories of a New Year's many years ago when I had just turned 18. I saw some girls high on legal party pills holding each other in tears saying 'follow your heart' to each other. The green cloud is a pretty good representative of the bad trip they had. I wonder if the owner of this sign was also on legal party pills when creating this. Wait, what is this sign protesting about?

I would've settled for a nice casserole but each to their own. #OccupyCannibalism.

The person who made this is onto a winner. Using a current & popular internet meme to identify with the audience is a pretty good marketing strategy.

Occupy 1% of the Black Eyed Peas Lyrics.

So you see, there's a large variety of signs concerning some (very) different causes. Everything from livestock, poultry care, to the segregation of the robot kind. It's a very peaceful protest, it almost has a NZ summer feel to it. Like a Rhythm & Vines festival or something. I might come down here for New Year's if I don't get a better offer.

If you're down in Aotea Square check it out for yourself!

Click HERE to check out Sam's website.