Symbolism and poster design

Symbolism and poster design

Student tasks

Task no. 1

Symbolism

Listen to the ABC Radio Focus program interview with curator Margot Riley, from 6:41 until 8:38.

Discuss the following:

  • What do you learn about symbolism for the gay rights movement prior to the rainbow flag?
  • Why is a butterfly a suitable symbol for ‘coming out’ in the 1970s?
  • Research the history of the pink triangle symbol — discuss the use of this symbol for the Gay Liberation movement in the 1970s.
  • What do you learn about the importance of posters to the movement?

View the badges gallery in Chapter 4 of Coming Out in the 70s and identify the symbols you can see in the badges.

Write a paragraph explaining why symbolism is important when creating a badge to be worn as a form of resistance.

Task no. 2

Design a poster

View the gallery of posters from Chapter 5 of Coming Out in the 70s.

Design a modern poster to promote an event for the 50th Anniversary of CAMP. Your design should demonstrate a strong understanding of the elements of visual literacy including symbolism, colour and layout. Text should be included as part of the design and consideration should be given to font and text size. Use the posters from the gallery as inspiration.