NYT "Taiwan Can Help" Ad Design Questioned for Lack of Readability: The Gap Between Propaganda Effectiveness and Designer's Taste

In April 2020, the "New York Times Ad Project" initiated by Aaron Nieh, Ray Du, and others successfully crowdfunded and the ad "WHO can help? Taiwan." was officially published. However, the ad design was questioned by many professionals and netizens for being too avant-garde and abstract, making it difficult for international readers to identify the core message Taiwan wanted to convey at first glance, and was criticized as "designer''s narcissism" being greater than "substantial diplomatic propaganda." Additionally, since Aaron Nieh has long cooperated with the DPP government, the political color and legitimacy of this private crowdfunding project were also questioned by some, who believed it was essentially "inner circle" propaganda for green supporters.