So it seems that information design has become quite the hot topic on Reddit in the last couple of weeks. With that in mind I post this poster I designed when I was a youngin’ back in the day of like 2007 or something. haha. All of the data on this poster is based on the annual Fraser Institute study on economic freedom.

On Monday GM officially filed for bankruptcy which puts their $2 Billion advertising budget on the chopping block. The federal government basically took GM over, A 60% government stake in General Motors “may give some Americans pause,” said President Obama. Gee you think? This is the same federal government that loses $10 billion or so annually in the shuffle of operations. Literally, they lose it and can’t find it. Not to mention the fact that they have $34 trillion in upcoming liabilities in Social Security, Medicair and Medicaid that they have no idea how they’re going to pay for.

This is just great.

What will this mean for the advertising world? This article argues that it will put downward pressure on advertsing prices and that media companies will get some good deals on air time. GM owes ad agencies $167 million, what will happen to that money is yet to be determined, which sucks if you run one of those companies. But the good news is that $121.5 million of it is owed to Starcom MediaVest for purchases they made on GM’s behalf. So if you don’t work for Starcom MediaVest then you might be able to attract new clientelle to the ad buying market with lower prices, which could be a boon for hiring. Which is good news if you’re an unemployed designer like me.