Design as a Conversation in Popular Culture Part 2: Street Art x TV

The Simpsons and Banksy are two well-known figures in today’s popular culture. The Simpsons is an animated television show that parodies the working-class American lifestyle. Banksy is a street artists known for his graffiti art that displays dark humor and his political activist’s views, particularly on British society. In this blog, I will examine another form of design as a conversation through a collaboration between Banksy and The Simpsons.

Posted above is a video of the famous introduction of The Simpsons, directed mainly by Banksy. As you probably have noticed, it is quite dark and not the usual satirical scene you see while watching The Simpsons introduction. This introduction, instead, is shown in the usual Banksy style, criticizing the fact that The Simpsons have been accused of outsourcing much of its animation and merchandising to a company in South Korea.

Here, it is obvious that Banksy’s message is about the mainstream program’s outsourcing to a lesser developed country. Here lies a conversation with his fans, The Simpsons’ audience, and America as a society. Aware of the fact that both he and The Simpsons have a large fanbase, I’m confident that he designed this introduction knowing that whatever message he sent out would have a large impact and would be seen by many. Thus, in Banksy style, he chose to design the intro as a criticism of the show, which is in fact, already a parody of the “American life.” We then have a criticism on top of a criticism, or a conversation within an existing conversation.

Like many artists, Banksy used his art to relay a message about American society on one of the most popular shows in the United States. This is a great example of how design can be used as a conversation, as Banksy tells the American people exactly what is wrong with their own society.