Gran Fury: The Queer Protesters of Design

ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) needed to create visual branding to spread information about HIV/AIDS on a massive scale. Born out of the activist group, Gran Fury (1988-1995) was an artist collective of 10 members (Avram Finkelstein, Mark Simpson, Michael Nesline, Donald Moffett, Tom Kalin, John Lindell, Marlene McCarty, Loring McAlpin, Robert Vazquez-Pacheco, and Richard Elovich) and created multiple works to express the idea of universal healthcare and queer advertisement design. Using unusual tactics and guerilla means, they used commercial advertising spaces to display their work publicly and massively spread information and beliefs. The end goal was to create outrage about the treatment of queer people during the AIDS crisis and call for more funding for HIV/AIDS research and affordable treatment.