Project:
Designing a visually engaging and practical digital guide for ending workplace sexual harassment and violence
Client:
Futures Without Violence provides groundbreaking programs, policies, and campaigns that empower individuals and organizations working to end violence against women and children around the world.
Project Expertise:
Creative Direction
Publication Design
UX and Visual Design
Stories and strategies from the front lines
The guide was developed in a combined effort with survivors, advocates, and advocacy organizations. The target audience for the guide are workers who want to drive change and create workplaces that promote respect, dignity, and safety. Given the current environment of some survivors finally being acknowledged in the public sphere, the guide is a timely addition to the contributions of the #MeToo movement in the workplace.
Designing for the “Everyday Activist”
By design, I wanted to make the guide less of a white paper in look-and-feel and more practical and accessible. Much like its inspiration, the Indivisible Guide, the “Everyday Activist Guide” was designed initially as a digital pdf. Visual influences came from across the spectrum of activist imagery prevalent in today’s political landscape. Bold color blocking, grassroots-evocative display fonts, and typography as iconography were my visual takeaways.
Readability and rhythm
The main objective of the guide was to make an immediate visual impact to engage readers. The creative brief allowed for a creating a unique brand style for the guide, and while the resulting design used the FUTURES palette, other branding elements such as font and image use remained open. I was able to push the idea of bolder typography as image and use them for section markers together with handwritten arrows for texture.
Everyday workers making extraordinary change
It was important to the project that it not only be a toolkit for anyone looking to make change, but that it amplified the voices of survivors. The guide features 6 case studies of women in low-wage working environments, from campesinas (women farmworkers) to restaurant workers to hotel workers. As members of vulnerable communities and some survivors themselves, the case studies outline how they fought for and achieved safer working conditions and groundbreaking legislation.
Web version on a rush schedule
The responsive website was a late addition to the project and under a rush timeline. The client wanted to have the designed pdf downloadable, but they were unclear exactly where and how this would happen; they only knew that there had to be an “online version” to make the press release deadline. I made a recommendation on what was achievable in the short turnaround window and translated the print version into an easily navigable website and mobile version built on their existing Wordpress platform.
The takeaways
When a project suddenly takes on a rush schedule, you have to be able to adapt to the needs of the client while simultaneously managing their expectations. Discerning what a client wants vs. what they need vs. what the end user needs are complex issues. Good communication skills are essential.
Key deliverables for this project were:
• Creative Direction
• Prototyping and managing web development
• Leading the team’s internal creative and review process
• Managing subcontracts
