FOLIO
A publication of my critical study essay into the siginifance of Leeds to the women’s liberation movement and how my creative practice is informed by this research. I contextualise my practice through linked studies between Leeds, the women’s liberation movement, punk culture and Agnes Varda’s feminist stance on storytelling, this work reflects on historical struggles while contributing to ongoing conversations around gender, representation, and creative resistance in contemporary culture.
As part of the 2023 RSA Student Design Awards, i submitted an app proposal for the caring culture brief. The Connectly app improves the lives of older adults and their carers by providing remote care and offering a simple solution to the pressure’s of the care industry. The app was a platform for carers and clients to connect providing emergency assistance, daily wellbeing trackers, messaging systems and useful planning techniques for stress-free days for carers. The app was designed for both young and old in mind, with the app for the client including larger icons and text. The colour palette for the app was also designed with accessibility in mind, using higher contrast colours and testing for ease of visibility.
Girls & Our Skin is an activity book aimed at 11-13 year olds for the purpose of being distributed as part of workshops around high schools. It came from a self-initiated project looking at skin shaming as a sexist issue. asking the question: How do young girls with skin conditions get treated differently based on their appearance to young boys?. Acne typically begins to happen during the ages of 11-13 due to puberty and this is also when children make the move from primary school to high school. I found through research that these years are the most vital to target in order to educate and increases confidence, right when these issues may start. The book is fully interactive and aims to educate young girls on how to deal with acne and what everyday sexism around appearance can look like. Through completing this booklet, young girls can gain confidence in their own skin and also directs them to further support if needed.
Sexism, Feminism & Friendship was a publication i created for my self initiated project in my final year. It was in response to my research on how female friendships help women survive in a sexist world. As part of this project i created 2 publications featuring all my research, printed transcripts of interviews with my friends, handwritten notes and risograph images i’d taken of the spaces i’d had conversations in. This was all held together in a document folder which formed together an emotive, personal archival collection of research.
For my first project, i used postcards as a way to represent existing feminist spaces around Leeds. Postcards were often used by feminist activists and women’s workshops in Leeds to communicate during the liberation movement. ‘Postcards from a feminist in Leeds’ promotes Leeds as a city for feminist activity and acts as a veichle to attract people to the city. Represnting different areas in the city, these postcards showcase the ever-growing feminist activity in Leeds.
Artemis is a natural skin healing brand i created and designed. The product idea was a collection of herbal teas designed for stress relief, skin soothing and healing. The target audience for this product is those using medication to treat acne and the product is designed with this in mind to reduce the side effects of commonly used medications. The brand promotes skin positivity, not aiming to sell a lie or solution but to promote wellness and calmness during the customer’s skin healing journey. The illustrations, packaging and copywriting and product photography were all created by me for my self-initiated project. Alongside this, i also created a video advertisement to promote the product.