Letters in Distress (LiD)
LiD project is my way, as a designer-typographer and artist to cope, record, and respond to the next four years of the Trump 2.0 administration.
Process: In monthly sections, starting Jan. 20th 2025, journal & record the main government actions causing significant distress to people in the U.S. and around the globe. Transform each monthly recording into a visual piece with letterforms as a main structural element; release on social media, in print, and beyond.
Goal: Create a visual-graphic narrative of a pivotal period in world history from the perspective of a Russian-born immigrant from Brazil, and a U.S. citizen living in this country for over ten years.
Objectives: promote reflection, bolster resistance efforts, raise civic awareness, support affected communities, and connect to fellow artists and like-minded groups.
Jan 20th–Feb 19th, 2025.
"Flood the Zone" refers to Steve Bannon's strategy to overwhelm opposition, which Donald Trump used in his first weeks in office with the issuance of numerous executive orders (EOs) and shocking statements that created disorienting effects.
I started this piece by researching the visual identities of both Biden's and Trump's 2.0 campaigns and administrations. I used a combination of the two official typefaces (described bellow) to respectively represent the new and the former administrations. Trumps Instrumental font is on top with the F and edited to convey the idea of "overreach". Decimal was the primary typeface during Biden's 2020 campaign (became a secondary to Mercury during his administration) chosen here as an expression of the democrats being out of the WH. The "O"s with inverted "E"s represent the massive amount of executive orders issued in by Trump 2.0. The Es are flipped upside down to illustrate the subversion of the executive branch. From behind the counter of the "d" we see an guarded orange T that I hope speaks for itself.
Type in use: Instrumental (Flood, is the official WH font for the second Trump adm.) by Rodrigo Fuenzalida and Jordan Egstad; Decimal (the zone, from Biden adm.) by Jonathan Hoefler and Sara Soskolne; Tempera used in this text, from Typotheque by Nikola Djurek.
Keep calm and know your rights:
☛ Do not open the door if an immigration agent is knocking on the door.
☛ Do not answer any questions from an immigration agent if they try to talk to you. You have the right to remain silent.
☛ Do not sign anything without first speaking to a lawyer. You have the right to speak with a lawyer.
☛ If you are outside of your home, ask the agent if you are free to leave, and if they say yes, leave calmly.
Source: Immigrant Legal Resource Center https://www.ilrc.org/
Give this to the agent:
I do not wish to speak with you, answer your questions, or sign or hand you any documents based on my 5th Amendment rights under the United States Constitution.
I do not give you permission to enter my home based on my 4th Amendment rights under the United States Constitution unless you have a warrant to enter, signed by a judge or magistrate with my name on it that you slide under the door.
I do not give you permission to search any of my belongings based on my 4th Amendment rights.
I choose to exercise my constitutional rights.
Source: Immigrant Legal Resource Center https://www.ilrc.org/