This thesis subject originated from my personal fascination of language, figure of speech and metaphors. I’m fascinated by how you can say one thing but mean another. The layering of information. When I analyzed my own work as a graphic designer I noticed that a lot of my projects include the use of these information layers. I often take layers apart, separate them, and try to show the different meanings of the same concept. During my research about metaphors i became more interested in the topic of visual protests. How for example censorship influenced the works. My interest in this topic resulted in the following research question: Can we see a similarity in the adaptations of symbols and visual imagery in Grassroots Movements?

Later on we look deeper into the theoretical analysis of metaphors. We take a look at Lakoff and Johnson who did an extensive research and explain how metaphors are part of our conceptual thinking, of our basic understanding of things. We also take a look at the understanding of metaphors,the necessity of context and knowledge to understand metaphors. This theoretical framework is used to analyze 5 different cases. The Polish school of posters, Pussy Riot, Je suis Charlie, The Umbrella movement and the Occupy Gezi movement. The cases I did consist of graphic design in Grassroots movements. Movements that aren’t organized by political forces. They rather arise spontaneous due to the need of change.

In total five cases were analyzed. One Grassroots movement, the Polish school of posters, is a case from after WWII and was analyzed to get a better understanding of how such a movement emerged in the past. Four recent cases, Pussy Riot, Je suis Charlie, The Umbrella movement and the Occupy Gezi movement were analyzed so I could compare these in work method and visual imagery. Also one autonomous work, The war on Terror by Andy Tompkins and Andrew Sheerin in 2003, to take a better look at the way how graphic designers can also be critical and protest by making autonomous work.

As a conclusion, a few findings were made. The four recent cases were all very dependent on the Internet. Because of the Internet the images could spread, become symbols much faster. The people chose their own symbol, it was a collective decision, just like the spirit of Grassroots movements.

I also found that the four cases, and also the autonomous one have a similarity. All these movements fought against certain topics, corruption, repression, freedom of speech. And they all adopted images that could also be seen as a symbol for these goals. Images that could in itself have a very negative connotation. But instead, these mo- vements adopted these images as their identity and got hope and strength out of these symbols. Their weakness became their strength. All these movements have in common that they seem to have a philosophy of: “what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger” . They adopt the identity of that which they are fighting against.