Unsung Heroes Poster Series

A poster series celebrating the enduring power of individuals

This series, which came out of the very earliest days of our Designer in Residence program, began as a means of introducing portraiture, a new visual variable, into the existing body of original posters and prints that adorned the walls of then-Facebook.

The candidates — both recognizable and lesser-known, were each selected to inspire the community through their unique societal contributions and to fulfill important diversity and representation objectives set as a core tenet of the series at the outset.

An installation of Heroes series posters in Seattle, Washington
An installation of Heroes series posters in Menlo Park, California
An installation of Heroes series posters in Menlo Park, California
An installation of Heroes series posters in New York, NY
A grid showing the entire series of 20 Heroes poster designs
Closeup detail of a poster being printed with ink masking part of the image
Closeup detail of blue ink on the screen
A person walking past a series of posters hanging on a yellow wall
Closeup detail of a screenprinted version of the Buffy St. Marie poster
Detail of the original screen print of Buffy St. Marie
Closeup detail of the Elie Wiesel screenprint
Detail of the original screen print of Elie Wiesel

The didactic poster accompanying the series sums up the importance of these chosen few. It reads, “The truest of heros demonstrate extraordinary courage, conviction, and generosity in their beliefs, words, and actions, with no expectation of reward. The people honored in this series, recognizable and overlooked alike, represent those qualities through the last historical and social impact of their profound accomplishments. Our collective global cultures and histories are better for their efforts.”

In 2019, while extending this substantial series, we took the opportunity to revisit it as a whole and methodically reworked the colorways, photography, and typography.

The series was created and curated in collaboration with Bijan Berahimi, Drew Bennett, and Sun Helen Isdahl Kalvenes.