In early 2024, I unexpectedly became a protest sign influencer.
Journalists had revealed that the German neo-fascist party AfD planned to deport up to 20 million people for not being “German enough.” In protest, hundreds of thousands took to the streets. I was one of them, voicing my anger with a series of hand-painted protest signs. My signs resonated. Others copied my designs and style—white letters on black, contour cut out—and a tutorial I posted went viral.
I have always been political, but I kept politics out of my work as a lettering designer. When my protest signs went viral, I realized that I could inspire some of my mostly non-political followers to use their creative skills to defend democracy. Painting protest signs, going to demonstrations and sharing photos of both signs and protests has turned into graphic design activism.
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»Fascism doesn’t solve any of your problems«
Juli 2024
handpainted, acrylics on cardboard
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»We are the rainbow against the far right«
January 2025
handpainted, acrylics on cardboard
In the last few years, political parties and other groups often talked about maintaining a »firewall« against fascism. But that metaphorical firewall crumbled in January 2025, when the center-right party CDU passed a non-binding resolution with votes from the far-right AfD. I don’t want to bore you with the details of German politics, but that was an absolute no-go since WWII. So since metaphorical firewalls didn’t seem to work, I thought maybe a rainbow would work better.
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»We are the rainbow against the far right« at a demonstration in Hamburg, January 2025
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»Together for a Germany without fascists«
April 2025
handpainted, acrylics on cardboard
In April 2025, a far-right group called »Gemeinsam für Deutschland« (Together for Germany) organized protests »for Germany« all over the country. We pushed back.
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»Together for a Germany without fascists« at a protest in Hamburg, April 2025
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»Request to investigate an AfD ban now«
Mai 2025
handpainted, acrylics on cardboard
If the AfD is a far-right extremist party, then it’s in conflict with the German constitution—and should be banned. The institution responsible for making that judgment is the Federal Constitutional Court. But only the German parliament can request the court to open an investigation. That’s what this sign calls for: a formal request from parliament to examine whether the AfD should be banned.
- Designer
- Chris Campe
