This was the first poster designed after the Silence=Death Collective joined with ACT UP. "The image for [this poster] was always a fait accompli: there was no controversy over whether to depict Reagan. We chose an image of him that would translate into a one-color graphic, flattening him into iconography that could be easily recognizable from a distance and on television B roll, the images used to illustrate voiceover news reports" (After Silence p. 72).
