Design serves many purposes. The most meaningful purpose of them all would most likely be the intention to address important issues. This use of design often pushes buttons and gets a reaction not only from the audience it was intended for, but also those whom they choose to discuss it with, which eventually results in major exposure. If that were to happen then I would say it's a job well done.

 

Satire and guerrilla advertisements are good examples of when design drags our problems to the top of our list of priorities. In the world we live in today, people often only react to problems when they are thrown in their faces. My favourite reactions are those you get from others when you blatantly expose their flaws, leaving them with no other option than to deal with it.

The most common form of enlightening designs are satiric illustrations. Illustration speaks way louder than words; it is effective and straight to the point. It also is more likely to be stumbled upon by the everyday  internet  surfer, those who enjoy magazines, and also those who read newspapers. That is why it has become the more common design method for bringing our problems to the forefront.

 

A good example of this type of illustrations is the work of John Holcroft. He is a well known British illustrator, who has worked for BBC as well as Reader's Digest. Every time Holcroft publishes a new drawing, they go viral. His satiric illustrations shed light on social issues and modern behaviour. The issues he focuses on include our dependence on technology, society’s greed and the devaluation of workers, just to name a few.