Why trust them? (poster)

Powerful. How does it strike you with these words?

"The same agencies" (etc.)

replaced by the words,

When government agencies were (etc.)


This emphasizes your play on the word "responsible."

I agree, strong image, weak wording. The above suggestion fixes that right up.

"When government agencies were responsible for about 200 millions murder during the 20th century alone?"

I don't know about you, but it doesn't doesn't make any sense to me.

Yeah....but I'd drop the question mark and leave it punctuation free. Like it's making a statement that invokes thought, not asking a rhetorical question. Make sense?

Gudel, Oleg's referring to disarming of the citizens and "democide" by players such as Hitler and the Nazi party, the communist government along with Stalin, possibly Fidel Castro and Pol Pot ... need I go on?

To add: Actually I understand the question and it does provoke considerable thought in order for the message to be received the proper way.

Oleg,

Doesn't that turn a question into a sentence fragment?

Click to expand...

It turns two sentences into one sentence. I forgot to suggest dropping the question mark if you make that change.

With the Q mark, it gives a sense of asking, "do some people really say this?"

Without the Q mark, it reads as, "I'm appalled that some people really say this."

Excellent. Tighter than mine. I vote for your new one.

Better. Though I have mixed bag feelings about equating gun control in America with that of Nazi Germany and the USSR. But that's me.

The only difference between gun control in the US and the others is what the politicians say their motivations are. The act, potential for disaster and helplessness of the now "subjects" are the same. Heck, even Hitler called his gun control a great way to combat crime.

So, we get disarmed now by well meaning (huge benefit of a doubt) politicians...and two generations later some real scumbags take over and our grandchildren are in the same predicament as the other examples. Even if there is 100 years in between the "well meaning" ones and the next nazi/commies (I'm sure they'll be inventive enough to get a new name) the end result will be the same.

pic worth a thousand posts

Thank you again, Mr. Volk. Apparently we the people need to be reminded often.

Mr.Strambo: absolutely correct. People take too much for granted.

I think the guy on the left needs a more dramatic pose...
It looks like he's in the "gah work again this morning...gotta stand here and hold a gun" mood.
*shrug*

I am missing the significance of the background image. Can someone explain what it means and how it adds to the message?


Another wording suggestion:

The "responsible" government agencies that wanted a monopoly on the possession of guns...



...were the very same agencies that are "responsible" for over 200 million murders in the 20th century alone.

DON"T LET IT HAPPEN AGAIN!!!

(I think the guy on the left needs a more dramatic pose...)

More visual impact? Perhaps the arm should be outstretched bringing the weapon to bear on the target?

Excellent as always!
If it's referring to full auto modern guns you could even change "want a monopoly" to "have a monopoly", but that would screw up the flow of the rest of it.

A long step down from your usual excellent work, Oleg. Not to mention a bit of a crock. Yes, strict regulation and confiscation almost always precede genocide and totalitarianism. But the latter do not even come close to preceding the former. And no, paranoid ramblings on our side notwithstanding, not everyone who favors such measures is the next Pol Pot. You can also have utter official evil in places where weapons are legally available. Think Afghanistan or the Belgian Congo.

A few thoughts. The target silhouette doesn't appear real. It looks as if a standing doll silhouette was rotated about 30 degrees and pasted in. The target should have slumped shoulders, hanging head, and other easily visible symbols of hopelessness.

It isn't clear (except to those who already know) that you intend to convey that governments and not guns were responsible for 200 million murders.

I do like the "another day at work *yawn*" pose of the shooter. Very effective, in my opinion.

This poster has a lot of potential, but needs some work. You have set a very high bar for yourself, and you still manage to regularly exceed expectations - even if this poster doesn't make the cut of "Oleg's Best" we all wait for the next one that inevitably will.

personally I think the picture is great. I like I and think it is as good as anything Oleg has done

There needs to be more space between 20th cent line and killers line.

you have 3 statements being made, but with spacing, it looks like you have just two.

Slide up the 20th cent line just a hair, slided down killers line just a hair, reduce font size a tad on final statement

I agree with spacing the first two lines apart if that format is to be used. My mind kept reading after the first line without a pause and my brain I misread "200 million murdered killers...?". Perhaps also stating it as "the killers" makes it a more direct and concise statement than "killers" by itself, which isn't quite as strong. Who? -the- killers. (or any synonym of the word killers)

Also, if you keep the third line, I think "these" instead of "the" makes more sense for plurality in terms of multiple governments, not just one.

Background facial shot doesn't look quite fearful enough for the message conveyed...to me it seems more ambiguous than clear cut (even with the red transparency). If you posted that face by itself and asked people what emotion was being shown, I think you would get a smathering of varied answers rather than a unanimous "fear". However, the placement is just right. The face (and eyes especially) are centered between the action involving the two silhouettes so it's impossible to avoid one or the other.

I like the imagery being combined--using a closeup facial for emotional content, washed transparencies for mood, and faceless overlay silhouettes for contrast, but the text and contents of the text don't seem to synergize well (personal opinion of course). The skull with a bullet hole is a subtle touch.