In spite of the myriad negative effect associated with the use and abuse of narcotics, from funding organised crime to irreversible damage to the body, there’s no denying that the visual stimulation a taker can experience has been widely celebrated in popular culture and music. And now a New Zealand graphic designer has tried to conjure up that spectacle in minimalist fashion with her project The is your Brain on Drugs.  

Meaghan Li, a public policy and political science student at Duke University, created the campaign that pays homage to two public-service announcements (PSAs) with similar names by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America. In 1987, the body ran a famous advert across the US using an egg frying in a pan as a metaphor for drug use. The still remains one of the best known and iconic images of the anti-drug movement.

The iconic fried-egg image used in the 1980s [YouTube]

Meaghan Li does not advocate drug use and instead aims to critique society’s attitudes to narcotics. She has created a number of posters which attempt to illustrate in an objective manner, particularly to non-users, what it’s like to experience a high on different narcotics.

Check out her work below: