This project began as an assignment to reframe traditional graphic design history. I chose to focus the history of American feminist posters. Along with cataloguing the posters, I also researched the historical and cultural moments that contextualize these works. The final poster includes 14 design entries and 6 contextual entries.
The posters themselves heavily influenced the design choices made for this project. The typefaces used on the poster, FS Kim and Boston, were designed by women. Boston, the sans serif typeface, was additionally chosen because of its resemblance to the bold sans serif typefaces commonly used on protest posters. The color palette was chosen to compliment the warm colors of the posters catalogued.
The second part of this assignment was to create a video to accompnay the poster, as if we were promoting a larger exhibition centered around our research. I chose to focus on the motif of protest chants alongside the phrase “Woman Freedom Now” which was coined by Faith Ringgold and became the overall title of the project.