DESIGN PRACTICE BLOG: Women in Film // Research: Feminist publications

Riot Grrrl

Riot Grrrl is a feminist hardcore punk group that was founded in the early 1990's. I want to take a look at how they use visuals in their work.

Below is a segment of the Riot Grrrl manifesto:

BECAUSE us girls crave records and books and fanzines that speak to US that WE feel included in and can understand in our own ways.BECAUSE we wanna make it easier for girls to see/hear each other's work so that we can share strategies and criticize-applaud each other.BECAUSE we must take over the means of production in order to create our own moanings.BECAUSE viewing our work as being connected to our girlfriends-politics-real lives is essential if we are gonna figure out how we are doing impacts, reflects, perpetuates, or DISRUPTS the status quo.

Their beliefs are very much about creating an atmosphere of solidarity amongst women, and communicating their strong beliefs to the world while sharing them amongst themselves.

Some covers of their zines:

Zines are known as being a very cheap way of reproducing a publication so that as many copies are made as possible. This means that the use of colour is very little or not at all. Often for this reason the content is printed on coloured paper to make it somewhat attractive and eye catching.

Their work definitely looks interesting, and the images used are quite extreme and effective - they are trying to make a statement, after all.

Small illustrative touches such as stars and lovehearts seem to give an infantilised effect of the female gender that is seen as stereotypical quite often.

It raises the question of, if something stereotypically feminine is used within feminist content, is it non-feminist? I think that an overuse of it is problematic, as its making it seem like a certain type of imagery and colour choice is gender specific (which is the kind of thing feminism works against).

However, certain waves of feminism believe that the use of these features isn't something to be ashamed of, and there is nothing negative about, for example, the colour pink.

“I knew I wanted [the book] to be really focused on the content,” Darms told us. “I think there are a lot of things out there that focus on the aesthetics of riot grrrl and punk, and might just show covers of zines or something, but I wanted to show the texts as well… And also try not to make it just kind of one mono-culture, but to show the debates that were happening in the movement.” Indeed, the continuing interest in riot grrrl is a particular phenomenon, and one that goes beyond just the aesthetics, at least from where we’re sitting. “People are still really hungry for this material,” Darms explained. “People really focus on the music, but in my interactions, a lot of people, especially younger people, are nostalgic about that period of time, but also specifically that period of feminism. I’ve met a lot of people who wish that that sort of feminism could re-vivify – is that a word? — that they could be part of something with that passion. I hope that the book can be an inspiration for a kind of activism.”

The above paragraph is about the Riot Grrrl Collection publication, and how the actually written content about events and history are just as important as the visuals. With my work I want to be able to wake people up and inspire them to make a change in the world, just like Darms is saying. I think that is a good incentive to create something really effective and communicative.

Girls

https://www.behance.net/gallery/19165289/Girls-fanzine

This zine is very easy to read through and communicates simple messages, that are easy to digest when paired with illustrations.
However, some of the quotes/statistics are very long and are written in hand rendered type - something that makes it a little hard to read at that size or length. It probably puts a lot of people off reading it. and just looking at the pictures.
Saying that, most of the illustrations are quite clear in what they are trying to portray, so even just looking at them without text would be effective.
It is unclear whether the theme of pink is a comment on feminine cliches or not. An interesting colour to pick for the subject as it raises the question of... should the use of pink as a feminine colour be abandoned? Or embraced? People's opinions vary on this subject.

Femme Fatale

https://www.behance.net/gallery/23739557/FF

This publication is more subtle and conceptual, with it's motive a little unclear. It is exploring the idea of 'femme fatale', an objectifying stereotype of an attractive and seductive woman who brings danger to whoever she is involved with.

It seems that there isn't a clear statement being made here, which makes it a lot less effective and more of a pretty book that is well made.

Sminko

https://www.behance.net/gallery/24048211/Sminko-Newspaper

This feminist newspaper is very text heavy, which is not what I am going for. It has a feminine style to it, what with the logo and the illustration on the front, accompanied by the statement 'I'm not the kind of Princess that needs saving'. This is an effective sentence, referring to the culture of damsels in distress.

The F Word

https://www.behance.net/gallery/26207949/THE-F-WORD

This publication is bringing awareness to the subject of feminism and how it is misunderstood. It uses effective images to trigger people's emotions, however the whole publication isn't that exciting or vivid. The use of the same capital letter font throughout is hard to digest.

Ms. Taken