The past decade has seen political polarisation – accelerated by social media’s filter bubbles and echo chambers – deepen and mutate. An ominous era of a polycrisis has shattered any remaining societal consensus. Meanwhile, powerful anti-establishment voices have stepped into the void.

From Obama’s ‘Hope’ poster to Trump’s red MAGA hat, strong visual cues are capable of rousing Americans’ energy for civic engagement – for better or for worse. But just how impactful is design in shaping the minds of voters? And how is it being used in the 2018 midterm elections?

In a splintered media landscape – where we’re flitting from device to device, bombarded by 360 ads a day – Out of Home advertising remains a constant. After all, you can’t skip a billboard. But that doesn’t mean people like them, either. So what does the future hold for the billboard?

Members of the campaign group Justice 4 Grenfell have used the premise of Oscar-nominated filmThree Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, to create an OOH advertising experience that uses timely pop-culture references to keep the tragedy that claimed 71 lives at the forefront of people's minds.

Join now! Like us on Facebook! Assertive ads are everywhere, but how effective are they? Canvas8 spoke with Yael Zemack-Rugar, assistant professor of marketing at the University of Central Florida’s College of Business, about why these messages annoy a brand’s loyal customers the most.