"Hopeless" PM poster spreads nationally

It’s the word graphic designer Michael Agzarian uses to describe Tony Abbott’s government.

Starting with a poster above his Gurwood Street shop in Wagga, the image has made it to billboards in both Sydney and Melbourne.

Using the hashtag #Abbottsolutelyhopeless close to 700 different images have been collected with Australians posting their reactions to the image.

Mr Agzarian has chosen 70 of these and has created a unique print which will be in Wagga until April 12 and is available for sale.

The 70 unique images range from simple graffiti from covering Mr Abbott in a burqa, removing the suffix less, having their photos taken with it and tracking its spread.

“It’s constant interaction with the public,” he said.

“It’s like manna from heaven.”

Money from the sale of the image will be used to buy more posters.

Mr Agzarian said posters have also been spreading nationally.

“I’ve been inundated with support and donations, from $2 to $1000, every cent has gone into the campaign,” he said.

“In the first two weeks there was a massive amount of interest, with 140,000 hits on the website, it made news in nine different countries.”

Mr Agzarian said he wasn’t trying to be aggressive with the image or trying to over-throw the government, but simply to start a conversation.

“I wanted it to be a conduit between people and politicians,” he said.

“The goal was to put it out there and see what the response was.”

Mr Agzarian doesn’t shy away from where he got his inspiration - the Barack Obama “Hope” poster by Shepard Fairey.

Completing his own drawing he said the only complaints centred on the colour of the tie.

“If there was anything people would complain about, it was that Abbott wouldn’t wear a red tie,” he said.

That minor detail has since been corrected with both versions available from the website www.abbottsolutelynot.com.