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INFORMATIVE INTERACTIVE DESIGN

ANIMATION     ILLUSTRATION     WEB DESIGN    

THE PROBLEM

Due to the rise of anti-feminist media, miscommunication and misunderstandings, feminism has gotten an unfavorable reputation. This has slowed down the movement's progress towards an equal world.

THE BRIEF

The brief was to make an interactive digital platform that acknowledged the negativity surrounding the feminist movement while providing important theory that would help individuals develop better understanding of feminism. The main objective being to subvert the negativity, misunderstandings and misinformation surrounding the feminist movement.

THE SOLUTION

In order to challenge misunderstandings, fear and negativity surrounding feminism due to the current rise of antifeminist media, this digital and physical map acts as a guide to an individuals “feminist awakening”.

INTENDED AUDIENCE

The intended audience are individuals who lack understanding of the feminist movement.

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THE CONCEPT

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INTRODUCING FISM

A map that aims to challenge the misunderstandings, fear and negativity surrounding feminism. Fism comes in the form of a digital and physical map that acts as a guide to an individual’s “feminist awakening” – a sort of informed enlightenment around the feminist movement.

With theory from prominent feminists such as bell hooks, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Roxanne Gay, Emma Watson and others the Fism map acts as an information guide to feminism. It touches on the most important points such as the negative stereotypes, stigmas, lies, and trolls that surround the movement as well as explaining the definitions, history, patriarchy, intersectionality, and resources.

THE AIMS

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To challenge the negative discourses and perceptions around feminism.

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To foster an accurate understanding of feminism.

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To communicate the inclusivity of feminism.

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To make individuals who believe in gender equality feel comfortable and confident in identifying as feminists.

THE OBJECTIVES

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The objective of the Map was to create an online based educational platform that was: Welcoming, Informative and straight-forward, with a humorous air. The brand name itself, fism, is feminism reworked – without the female exclusivity the ‘fem’ holds. Fism communicates that Feminism is in fact for everybody. The design translates the ink and paper of feminist theory into a brand that is strictly black and white. The hand drawn font is messy which takes away the harshness people associate with feminist language, initiating a more inviting tone. The hand-drawn style comminates that feminism can be personal while still resonating with everyone.

EXPLAINER VIDEO

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THE PROCESS

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This is a summery of some the work that went into designing and bringing Fism to life. The process was messy and some-what confusing with a year of ideation, conceptualization, development and last-minute design changes. The lengthy process cannot be fully communicated on paper but here are some snippets of the research, insights and design evolution. Enjoy!

PROCESS VIDEO

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THE PRODUCT

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The physical map reveals nothing about feminism before it is opened – this is intriguing and creates a need to understand what it is. Often when things involve feminism people tend to glaze over and move on. When you unfold the map once, it reveals two blocks brimming with information. The first explains what Fism is, while attempting to hook your attention. The one below contains instructions on how to use the map.

When the map is fully unfolded, a trail of QR codes is revealed. You are required to use your phone to scan the QR codes. Once scanned, a notification will pops up and when pressed takes you to the Fism website.

PHYSICAL MAP ITERATIONS

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This is the first iteration of the map. It the initial concept skethc for a feminist map.

This is the second iteration of the map. The sea of negativity and Fism island took shape. the island is an F shape for feminism.

This is the first iteration of the back of the map. The number of folds were taken into account to design the information layout.

This is the A2 iteration of the map but due to the scarsity of A2 double-sided printers the size was scratched..

This is the A2 map back design, later re-configyred to fit the stretched map size.

FINAL PHYSICAL MAP

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MAP ELEMENTS

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The Start introduces you to the journey you will be embarking on with a quirky vessel of transport to start off with a not-so-serious tone.

The first stop is the sea dragon where the you will engage in a game of stereotype snap. You will have to match up two identical cards which illustrate feminist stereotypes in a satirical way. This shows the absurdity of these stereotypes.

The second stop is where you will engage with the life cycle of feminist stigmas, characterising this phenomenon and illustrating how they are brought to life. This allows the you to recognize the misunderstandings that some stigmas originate from.

The third stop is the land of lies where the flowers, seemingly innocent, spew fumes spreading lies about feminism. Showing you how lies can secretly spread into our subconscious.

You then cross a bridge where you are met by a troll and have a chance to listen to the tale of the trolls. Teaching the lesson of dealing with antifeminist internet trolls.

Next you end up on fism island where you are met by butterfly-like ear’s that hold various definitions for feminism. Giving you the opportunity to see the multiplicity of the movement and choose a definition that resonates with you the most.

Next you pass a boat which will take you through the waves of feminism, providing insights into the movements history. This is illustrated through protestors from different waves of feminism, advocating for a variety of things over the years and showing the movements progress.

Next you pass the patriarchy machine where this concept is broken down and unpacked through metaphors and animations.

Next you pass the labyrinth of intersectionality where this concept is broken down and unpacked through metaphors and animations.

Next is the cloud library of resources which provides you with multiple formats of feminist material so you can choose whatever suits best.

THE WEBSITE

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The digital map takes the form of a website where the user interacts with the different feminist touch-points in a virtual space while the paper map acts as a physical timestamp of the website. This map unfolds to reveal QR codes that take the user directly to the website touchpoints.

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CHECK IT OUT

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Here is the Fism website, enjoy using it! Click on the button below for the full screen website.

MERCHANDISE

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THE SOCKS

The Fism socks are covered in patterns of illustrations from different touchpoints on the website. They have the website QR code on the packaging encouraging individuals to take the first step.

THE STICKERS

The stickers are to be stuck anywhere and on anything, allowing curious minds to scan the QR code an interact with the map.

THESIS

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Abstract
In the context of contemporary or fourth wave feminism, the movement has received an unfavourable reputation due to the rise of anti-feminist media in the online space. This research identifies successful social media activism and rhetoric strategies used to visually communicate feminism in a positive light. This is to gain insights as to what the best visual communication strategies are that will be applied in the practical project Fism. A project that aims to foster an informed and positive understanding of feminism in a range of individuals. The method used to reach these insights includes focusing on three negative and one positive popular feminist discourses, identified through feminist literature and research, while simultaneously visually analysing posts from three popular feminist Instagram accounts @feminist, @feminist.lisa and @vulgadrawings to understand how they support or counter these discourses. This analysis reveals the visual strategies of relatability, humour, feminist signs and symbols, as well as the rhetoric strategies of reframing, enacting and juxtaposing incongruities to successfully communicate feminism in a positive light. To counter this negative understanding of feminism in fourth wave feminism, the content produced must counter negative discourses through these identified strategies.

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