Cultism

‘Cultism’ and ‘Through the eyes of Raff’ are a pair of publications that explore the research topic of cults in a number of ways. ‘Cultism’ explores the idea of what a cult is, and how it’s formed. It uses a devised pictographic narrative to explain how the cults are formed, using these to provide visual examples of how one may start a cult. ‘Through the eyes of Raff’ builds on this initial publication by providing an example of how these steps look in practice, through branding the designer as a new cult leader. This second publication draws on inspiration from a number of researched cult figures, including Captain Murphy, Braco, Ivo A. Benda and Heaven’s Gate. This inspiration is used both contextually and visually, linking the researched cults together to form a new narrative of the designer as cult leader. Visually the publication heavily reflects the lack of design knowledge that goes into a lot of cult propaganda material, and carries the same honest authenticity with it as a result. The design strategy of this ‘anti-graphic’ style adds an air of humour and absurdity to the otherwise dark topic, creating a more memorable publication. Both publications are produced in a simple monochrome, stapled A5 booklet to reflect the ease of reproduction and distribution.