Alone Together: campaign research

Campaign Research 

Women2Drive

Up until 2018, Saudi Arabia was the only country in the world where women were forbidden to drive motor vehicles. The women to Drive movement is a campaign by Saudi women, for the right to drive motor vehicles public roads. Many women drove in Riyadh in 1990 and were arrested and their passports confiscated. In 2007, Wajeha al-Huwaider and other women petitioned Kind Abdullah for women's right to drive, and a film of al-Huwaider driving on International Women's Day 2008 gained international media attention. In 2011, some women, including al-Huwaider and Manal al Sherif, organised a driving campaign, and around seventy cases of women driving were documented from 17 June to late June. On 26th September 2017, King Salman issued an order to allow women to drive in Saudi Arabia. The ban was officially lifted on 24th June 2018, while many of the women's rights activists remained under arrest, As of 23 August 2018, twelve remained in detention. 

The logo for the campaign uses the concept of traffic signs. The use of using an objective way of communication is to create awareness and recognition for the campaign. The idea of how we communicate way finding symbols everyday shows the idea of awareness. This includes the meaning of the issue of women not being able to drive, being unrecognised and unheard of. The designers uses the role of way finding and objectification semiology to spread awareness of an issue which is unheard of. This relates to Ferdinand de Sassure (1857-1913) theory about semiology; the role of a visual sign being the signifier and it's meaning which is signified. This theory relates to the design of the logo, where the logo uses the role of meaning to communicate a message. 

The use of the type being a San Serif creates a modern feel towards the logo to reflect the idea of the 'new future'. The use of the number two being used conveys the idea of equality by the '2' being an equal number. The use of the idea of a two relates to the idea of gender; female and male. The typeface is in a condensed format, this conveys the idea of how women are marginalised in the Middle-East. 

Sisters Uncut 

Sisters Uncut is a British feminist direct action group that is opposed to cuts to UK government services It was founded in November 2014. The group identify as intersectional feminists including all women: transgender, intersex women, non binary, gender and gender variant people. East End Sisters Uncut are a feminist group of women and non-binary people taking direct action to fight cuts to domestic violence services across East London. 

This symbol is the Venus symbol which means women.  The design has incorporated a no entry symbol which was incorporated in the design. This is to address the meaning for preventing domestic violence, and to show how domestic violence is wrong and should not be allowed. The use of the scissors comes from the purpose of the campaign for fighting cuts. 

The graphic design has played on the objective role and created a meaning by combining meanings together. This relates to Barthes (1915-1980) theory of mythology, how meaning can be unto interpretation, what may mean something today could mean something else tomorrow. Overall, the designer has played on the idea of meaning to create a new objective function. 

The role of colour plays an impact with the design. The colour purple and green acts as a brand identity. The symbolic meaning of the colours green and purple were used for the women's suffrage movement. 

Set Her Free Campaign

Set Her free is a campaign fighting against the detention of refugee women in the U.K. The reason for the campaign is due to more than 1500 women who have come to the UK to seek asylum are locked up in detention every year. It is also very traumatic for women who are detained, many have already survived rape and torture. 

The colour scheme of green, purple, and white relates to the meaning of these colours being used for the women's suffrage movement. The use of the graphic design layout of three columns works effectively with the type. The concept of 'set her free' is strong however, the typeface could be developed further. This could be through finding typefaces which relate to the context of the issue. To develop this design further more experimentation with type could be applied. 

Make Her Story 

 Fashion brand Missguided created a #MakeHerStory campaign for International women's day 2018, in collaboration with non-profit organisation GirlsOutLoud. The campaign features female influencers such as Jade Laurice, Portia Ferrari, Julia Ofelia, Olivia Natalie and Nina Jay. The collection features two tees with 'Make Her Story' and 'Woman' slogans, along with tees and hoodies. Girls out Loud is a charity which help inspire confidence and self-esteem within girls through coaching and mentoring. 

This will help develop my practice further by creating a campaign through the role in fashion. I could possibly create clothing which supports a campaign, to help spread awareness and recognition. The typeface is in san-serif, a generic font for campaigning. to develop my practice further the campaign could explore different typefaces to break the conventional design in campaigns. In my opinion, the role of the fashion works effectively. However, the use of type and colour could be developed further as these elements lack meaning and purpose compared to the other examples above.