Introduction: Seeing Above and Beyond

Indonesia is lavished with vernacular wealth – which is reflected in visuals that exist within the daily lives of its people. From the packages purchased in supermarkets, colourful posters and leaflets wheat-pasted on electric poles, to the old shop signs scattered on every street corner. The opulence of these Indonesian-styled graphics is sometimes overlooked, forgotten, and even underestimated because of the assumptions of them being low-brow or kitschy.