Speak Out.

In my endless wanderings around the Web, I happened upon "The Pencil Is Mightier Than The Sword," a (now-closed) international contest for graphic designers held by poster4tomorrow, a coalition of French and Italian art and design firms. The theme was "freedom of expression," from the call for entries:

When people talk, governments have to listen. Except that in some countries people aren’t allowed to talk. So we’ve got to talk for them. In the United States of America we’ve seen recently what the power of collective action can achieve. Now we must harness the same power to speak for those people who can’t call for change in their own countries.

In all, over 1800 entries were received by a multi-national panel, and the winning 100 posters are currently touring and exhibiting in galleries and museums worldwide. While all are striking and make their point quite clear, here are three of my favorites:

1. "Instinct" by Sadra Wejdani, Tehran, Iran
   
2. "Weapon Of Choice" by Gram Garner, Austin TX, United States
   
3. "If You Have Any Objections, Speak Out" by Junxiao Xu, Hangzhou, China  

It'd be quite a powerful statement to see all 100 in a gallery. The ten most-deserving selections will be housed as a permanent collection in Les Arts Décoratifs, a museum in Paris.

I love love love stuff like this. Great design for an even greater cause = win/win.