The art of dissent: when it comes to trying to sway public opinion, provocative images can be potent tools.

• Author: Zack, Ian
• Position: Cover story

A picture, it's often said, is worth a thousand words. Images can be powerful tools for selling a product, as the ad agencies along Madison Avenue well know. They can also help sell ideas, as politicians, protesters, and anybody who wants to express their opinion have long demonstrated. Whether criticizing government leaders, commenting on issues in the news, or raising awareness of issues that aren't in the spotlight, provocative images can be an effective way to get attention.

The images on these pages are reprinted from The Design of Dissent, by Milton Glaser and Mirko Ilic (Rockport Publishers, 2005), a collection of protest posters and other imagery from the past five years, as well as some older material. The subjects covered range from the Iraq war and modern technology, to the dangers of smoking and America's two-party political system.

In a foreword to the book, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner writes about what makes a powerful protest image: "It is shocking, it is clever--even funny in a grim sort of way--and its meaning is instantly intelligible."

As you look at the images here, keep in mind that those in power at any given moment are the most likely targets of protest and dissent. It's not surprising, then, that there are a lot of people poking fun at President Bush and his policies these days (see p. 17), just as President Clinton was a popular target during his years in the White House.

You may not agree with all the sentiments expressed in these images; in fact, some of them might make you angry. But that's part of the point: Whether you like them or not, they make an impression.

1 UNABLE In this 1995 poster, the artist uses a helpless turtle--with a U.N. peace keeper's helmet as his shell--to symbolize an equally helpless U.N. In the early 1990s, the U.N. failed to resolve the conflict in Bosnia, a part of the former Yugoslavia, where a civil war raged despite the efforts of U.N. peace keepers. [Yossi Lemel Israel, 1995]

2 PRINTED IN USA The artist is commenting on how fingerprints have become Like barcodes, making people as easy to monitor as items in the supermarket. U.S. Customs now fingerprints foreign visitors as they enter the country, part of the effort to increase security after the terrorist attacks of September 11. Note the 'words' in the barcode. [Emek, U.S., 2003]

3 COCA-COLONIZATION A comment on the pervasiveness and the impact of American corporate brands around the world, including in poor...