2025: The Year Art Challenged, Provoked, and Inspired on The Verge
This year, The Verge’s art team didn’t just create visuals—they sparked conversations, challenged norms, and captured the complexities of our world. From the chaotic circus of DOGE culture to the haunting myths of the Vietnam War, from the privacy crisis facing trans individuals online to the shadowy surveillance networks targeting Iranian dissidents, our projects spanned the spectrum of human experience. But here’s where it gets controversial: In an era where trust in institutions is crumbling, we turned to Wikipedia—a platform some accuse of being ‘infected by the woke mind virus’—as a stabilizing force. Art Director Cath Virginia drew inspiration from its labyrinthine hyperlinks, likening them to the stream-of-consciousness explosions of DK kids’ books. Is Wikipedia a bastion of neutrality or a battleground for ideological warfare? We’ll let you decide.
A Kaleidoscope of Creativity
To celebrate the year’s standout projects, we crafted a literal kaleidoscope to showcase The Verge’s gift guides, blending mirrored reflections with vibrant product photography. Senior Photo Editor Amelia Holowaty Krales explains, ‘It was the most fun I’ve had in the studio all year.’ Meanwhile, illustrator Molly Crabapple captured the chaos of Luigi Mangione’s pretrial hearing, sketching fans and spectators in the crowded courthouse halls. But this is the part most people miss: Amid the frenzy, Crabapple’s downtime sketches became a testament to the power of observation in art.
War, Myths, and the Power of Narrative
For the 50th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, Creative Director Kristen Radtke designed a split-screen hub that mirrored the conflicting narratives of the Vietnam War. Illustrated by Tran Nguyen and engineered by Graham MacAree, the project asked: Can art reconcile the irreconcilable? Matt Huynh’s comic about a U.S. military psyop using ‘ghost tapes’ to terrify Viet Cong soldiers offered a gut-wrenching answer, blending historical obscurity with personal narrative. Huynh’s lush brushwork and emotive storytelling cemented it as one of The Verge’s finest comics.
Trans Futures: Hope in the Unknown
In a year that felt increasingly dystopian, Cath Virginia’s design for a package on trans issues avoided both hopelessness and blind optimism. ‘We don’t know what the future holds,’ she reflects, ‘but trans people are going to shape it for the better.’ Featuring Taehee Yoonseul’s looping animations and Sasha Cherepanov’s Transgender Grotesk font, the project was a visual manifesto of resilience. But here’s the question: Can art truly shape societal progress, or is it merely a reflection of it?
The Absurd and the Apocalyptic
Ariel Davis’s illustration of Elon Musk, Donald Trump, and JD Vance as a DOGE Cerberus captured the absurdity of Trump’s first 100 days, while Jovana Mugosa’s crime noir illustrations for a story on Iranian kidnappings plunged readers into a dark, predator-versus-prey world. Ian Woods’s collaged portraits for a piece on fatherhood and Final Fantasy blended real life and gaming in a way that felt both intimate and universal. But is art’s role to critique reality or escape it?
The Human Cost of Progress
Amelia Holowaty Krales’s photographs of women holding Silicon Valley accountable for toxic factory conditions served as a stark reminder of the human cost behind technological advancement. ‘Their stories are a warning for the future,’ she notes. Meanwhile, Tina Nguyen’s ‘infinite fringe’ artwork visualized the addictive, disorienting nature of racist conspiracy memes. Are we complicit in the spread of harmful narratives, or can art break the cycle?
The Year in Retrospect
From Benny Douet’s ‘nightmare blunt rotation’ depiction of JD Vance and Mark Zuckerberg to Kristen Radtke’s TikTok-inspired design for influencer stories, 2025 was a year where art didn’t just reflect the world—it challenged it. But here’s the ultimate question: As we move forward, will art continue to provoke change, or will it become another tool of the status quo? Let us know in the comments—we’re eager to hear your take.
