Paws for a Cause: Activist Design Trend

Activist Design Trend, One of Major Design Trends in 2024

Activist design has long been the visual voice of societal transformation, a creative echo of humanity’s deepest yearnings for progress and peace. Its lineage can be traced back through the annals of history, where every hue and line in a piece of artwork served as a silent yet potent herald of revolution.

Think of the psychedelic colors that danced upon the fabric of the sixties, not merely as patterns of fashion, but as symbols of a generation’s plea for peace and love. Or consider the stark black and white posters of more recent environmental campaigns, where simplicity in design belies a complex message urging for immediate action against the looming specter of climate change. These designs have been the banners under which change-makers have rallied, transcending the mere aesthetic to become iconic beacons of their era’s most pressing causes.

Meow in The Activist Design Trend

What happens when the love for felines meets the heart of activism? You get a trend that’s as powerful as a lion’s roar yet as endearing as a kitten’s purr. Welcome to the world of activist design, where every stroke of the brush and each pixel on the screen is a shout for change – a place where cat lovers are not just petting their companions but also paving the way for their protection through creativity.

For the purposes of my activism in the field of cat protection, as a cat lover, I created several designs in the style of the activist design trend. I then applied one of the designs to products in my shop on Redbubble.

Here are some product examples:

After that it occurred to me that there is probably a trend called “cativism”.

Cativism?

So, I searched the Internet in search of the word “cativism“ – which would be a combination of cat and activism. I didn’t find anything except the game of the same name. The creators of the game explain how “Cativism is a semi-cooperative card game about creating change from the bottom up, whether it’s change in national politics, company policies, or family culture. Look through the playful eyes of cats together to uncover issues and to kick-start creative problem solving.“

Okay, not exactly what I was looking for, but ok. Maybe I’ll try to play one day.

Cativist: Dressed to Impress? I Think Not

Then, under “cativist“, which I thought was a derivative of “cativism”, I only found “fashion” for cats. There’s a fine line in the world of cat rescue – one that “cat activists” don’t cross: dressing an animals as humans. It’s about respect, dignity, and the understanding that the best way to dress an animal is with love and care, not costumes and couture. So I’ll skip it.

Expanding creativity

Anyway, I had a lot of fun creating new activist designs and of course got a lot of new and different design ideas. I hope that I will realize them and I hope that I will at least help a little on the “cativism” field.