Unmapping the World

In our everyday practice of graphic design and art we come across problematics connected to the world unmapping topic quite often. The idea of erasing borders, breaking stereotypes and having equal rights in our society bothers us deeply.

What is that force that unites us, brings us together and makes us truly equal? Death.

The world becomes more cruel day by day. Humanity often does not think of consequences of its actions. If mankind does not come to its senses, the end is near.

To capture the tension, in the middle of XX century, scientists invented the Doomsday Clock, which is a symbolic face representing a countdown to the possible global catastrophe. The closer they set the clock to midnight, the closer the scientists believe the world is going to global disaster. The most recent officially announced setting – three minutes to midnight (11:57 pm) – was made on January 22, 2015 due to climate change, the modernization of nuclear weapons in the United States and Russia, and the problem of nuclear waste.

Because we have become so accustomed to the factor of death, mankind has developed a tough skin. But at the moment of facing our strongest phobias, we break out in a cold sweat.

Nevertheless, to fight one’s fear, we use a power of laughter. By laughing people desacralize the idea of death.

Our work is based on idea of these three last minutes before the end. What would you do? Who would you be with? What would you think about? We decided to get away from the dramatic perspective and inverse the situation into more humorous way: as what would uplift our spirit.

Working in a group of three people required us to divide the responsibilities. We built our own system, so everyone could have his own input. Three different graphic sections were selected: typography, images and illustrative material. Our process implemented circulatory mechanism: when one finished his part, he passed the work to the next one until all three posters included all sections.

Collaboration with: Anastassia Sharomova & Sofia Isupova