Marco Oggian's latest series of poster designs celebrates the little monsters in our lives

But rather than see them as something to be afraid of, Marco wants to pay tribute to them and recognise monsters as diverse beings, representing "everything wonderful in this world". He urges us to consider the Latin for monsters, which is Monstrum and means "prodigy" or "wonder".

"As children, we feel a deep attraction for monsters because they represent the unknown," Marco tells Creative Boom. "They are what increase our courage and imagination, in contrast to the overly comforting and planned reality we live. Often the monster is represented as a lonely, sad and forgotten being like Quasimodo, Minotauro, or Frankenstein, capable of becoming tender by embodying our fear of social rejection.

"In each culture, there are different representations of these different beings, often with radically opposite meanings. Like the dragon, for example, which is considered positive in Chinese culture and negative and evil in the Christian world. Or the facial and body decoration of some ethnic groups (Borneo, Papua New Guinea, Bushmen) that Westerners interpret as monsters when for those populations, they are the best representation of beauty and tradition."

Just recently, Marco has been creating posters in response to COVID-19, the first being 'The Coronavirus is the New Black'. "That might seem controversial," Marco says. "But you can read it in two different ways. As criticism against the overwhelming communication provided by the media. Or as the new plague."

His latest poster design, which is shared on Instagram, is called 'COVID-19, The Revenge" and is due to a "lack of positive content on TV and the major streaming platform services," says Marco. "Right now there are a lot of people living alone, especially older ones, watching television all day long. I think would be better having more positive vibes and news instead of tons of catastrophic updates."