Gorilla is a visual column that comments on current affairs through words and images. In our capacity as designers, we find it important to become involved in social debate. That brings with it a certain responsibility and opportunity we eagerly take to be able to share reports on social topics with the rest of the world.

Gorilla are simple and striking illustrations which are published in various magazines; so far, we have done hundreds of them. There are so many, that sometimes we export it to bigger environments such as exhibitions and workshops.

Gorilla is published every week in De Groene Amsterdammer. For more than three years, it had been published daily in the cover of the national Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant.

Gorilla is joint project of the Designpolitie, Lesley Moore and Herman van Bostelen.

Since its launch in October 2006, the Gorilla project, a front-page, single column graphic comment panel in the Dutch national newspaper De Volkskrant had begun to look almost heroic.

The project is not about branding, selling or winning awards, though it does all those things. But the Gorilla column is genuinely original and unquestionably design, a constant element in the mail dialogue between the newspaper and its readers.

The pas decade has seen much discussion about designers taking charge of content. The daily demands of De Volkskrant have made these little panels a big project: design that reaches beyond design. The Gorilla designers do our culture, and design, a great service.

John L. Waters, editor of Eye Magazine