Feminist Art Making Histories
A digital archive championing feminist histories
IADT & Loughborough University
Team
Emma Nolan
Beth McLoughlin
My Role
Research & Strategy
Concept Development
UX Research
Wireframing
UI Design
Timeline
Jan–Feb 2022
Feminist Art Making Histories is a research project being undertaken by IADT and Loughborough University which seeks to uncover previously undocumented feminist histories. These stories are being collated into a digital archive. The brief called for a visual identity anduser interface for the archive, as well as the strategy and design of a promotional campaign to increase visibility for the project.
The Opportunity
Functionality and usability were key considerations when designing the archive. We wanted to create something which resonated with a broad range of different user groups, and was easy to navigate, while also being academically rigorous and reputable. The archive had to be flexible to adapt to various forms of content, as the main focus of the research is visual and verbal (audio recordings) histories.
The Solution
We developed a typographic visual solution using brackets to foreground the content of the archive. Brackets, a grammatical device usually used to add additional information, became a highlighting devise in our system, reclaiming space for feminist histories within the mainstream conversation. Flexibility was achieved through a variable logo, which facilitated the integration of type and image to be accessible for a wide range of reading types. Careful consideration was given to the UX journeys and UI system to ensure the archive had personality but was also reputable.