TDCRalph Schraivogel
NUMBERS DESIGN BY
AWARD
2010
TDC Prize
Ralph Schraivogel

EVIL-LIVE Evil prevails when good men fail to act

Ralph Schraivogel|EVIL-LIVE Evil prevails when good men fail to act

EVIL-LIVE Evil prevails when good men fail to act (Poster)

The poster was commissioned by Sacha Wigdorovits.

He wanted me to create a poster illustrating the dictum: “Evil prevails when good men fail to act,” first promulgated by the Irish philosopher and politician Edmund Burke.

That, of course, prompts the question, what form our stand, our commitment, should take. What does “to act” actually mean?

And, even more crucially, where does the evil which we must oppose come from and how is it expressed? The custom made letters “L”, “I”, “V” and “E”, have a quintessentially positive message which stand in stark contrast to the concept evoked when they are viewed from another angle and read in reverse order. It is those four letters which lead the eye on to the key message “Evil prevails when good men fail to act”.

The poster is silkscreen printed by Serirgaphie Uldry: 2-colors, black and lacquer, 90.5 x 128 cm

Ralph Schraivogel

Ralph Schraivogel

Born in Luzern, Switzerland, 1960.

Trained as a graphic designer at the Zurich School of Design from 1977 to 1982.

In 1982 he opened his own graphic design studio in Zurich.

His main occupation is poster design for cultural institutions.

From 1992 to 2001 he has been teaching at the HGKZ,

“Hochschule für Gestaltung und Kunst Zürich”

In 2001/2002 he was Guest professor at the HdK,

“Hochschule der Künste Berlin”

Since 2003 he teaches at the HSLU

“Hochschule Luzern” and at the SfG “Schule für Gestaltung Basel” since 2010.