Social Protest
Jo Amar Gives a Platform /
Graduation Project
The project “Jo Amar gives a platform” is a branding project for a social protest, inspired by the character of the israeli virtuoso singer Jo Amar. Jo was a special and unusual figure in his time, who worked his way up in Israel during the 50s-60s and was one of the first performers in Israel. Jo made Aliyah from Morocco, like many other Jews in those days, who came from different countries to build the nation of Israel in 1948. As an artist Jo struggled to gain success and to be heard, since "Mizrahi" (middle-eastern) music wasn't accepted in the state radio of those times. He also raised his voice in protest songs he wrote such as "Employment Office". Today Jo is considered by many singers in the field as the pillar of "Mizrahi" singing. This fictional protest rally I created honors Jo's legacy on the 10th anniversary of his passing, symbolically providing a platform for contemporary artists marginalized today, echoing Jo's experience from the past. These artists represent different voices in Israeli society in all of its shades, who usually don’t reach our ears and experience cultural exclusion, for many reasons.
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One of the major things I felt during my research was the fact that Jo belongs to a generation and time of modesty, a time when singers focused simply on making music and art, on delivering
a message, without showing off. I combined the visualisation of protests posters and graphic design of cultural events of those times in Israel.
I took scenes from the life in the periphery, certain situations and complexities of our diversed society, and passed them all through the lens of oil pastels (called “panda”), that refers to the old land of Israel,
to simplicity and naivety and simple colors. While all
of those scenes are under one roof, I could give them the chance to enter the visual Hebrew canon, in addition to the fact that Jo "gives" them the musical-cultural platform in the event.
Along the way I remembered the handwriting of my grandfather, who was also the older brother of Jo, which was meticulous and special, and it reminded me the authenticity of those times. I chose to combine it with a new digital version I made for Venus font,
a letra-set font from the 1980s, and with a new version of Narkis font by Yanek Yontef. All of these fonts are old, and they are now being given a kind of revival.
Throughout the years the "Mizrahi" music in Israel has earned its place and respect, with a great effort, but there are many other artists who continue to struggle in order to break the glass ceiling. As Jo Amar fought discrimination in his own way - in silence and modesty, so is my protest - through music, according
to Jo's belief. Despite my passion for music and my famillial connection to uncle Jo, I enjoyed working on this project because it highlighted the main reason why I chose to learn design - using tools of aesthetics in order to help the soceity, listening to other people's opinions and reaching a golden path, together.
