Alex Holden’s Reimagined ‘Choking Victim’ Poster Goes Down Easy

Since its last redesign more than a decade ago, the government-issued “Choking Victim” poster has adorned the walls of New York City restaurants with scenes of a faceless duo safely performing the Heimlich maneuver in a Constructivist swirl of step-by-step instructions on “how to dislodge food from a choking person.” Brooklyn artist Alex Holden took it upon himself to freshen up the ubiquitous poster, softening the didactic graphics and primary colors with a comic strip-style take in a soothing blue and white palette. His reimagined “Choking Victim” poster contains all the same life-saving information but sets the choking scene at a beachside resort, where members of the upscale crowd (one collapsed, one standing and wearing a fedora) escape death among the palm trees and festive party lanterns. Holden’s poster has already been adopted by a few more aesthetically astute restaurateurs, who find his version much easier to swallow. Here’s a look at the full poster:

(Photo: Alex Holden)

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