The 65th conference of the German Association for American Studies was entitled “American Counter/Publics”. We used complementary contrasts to visually represent the polarizing theme of public and counter-public in the USA. References to the U.S. flag combined with bright spot colours, hand-painted brushstrokes and a simple sans serif, form the framework for all the applications. The rough appearance refers to the look of handmade protest posters. Thus, the design forms a frame of reference for public and counter-public.