ROLE: Graphic Designer & Researcher
CLIENT: BSc. Final Project/AUS
Reforming Archaic Conventions is an independently developed project created during my undergraduate studies in Visual Communication. The outcome was an animated poster designed to raise awareness about the ineffective and outdated domestic and marital abuse laws prevalent in India.
As a designer and researcher, I undertook in-depth research into the legal and social frameworks addressing domestic abuse and marital rape– issues that persist in India despite numerous government initiatives. From my research, I concluded that the legal gaps and ineffective enforcement contribute to the persistence of these issues despite various government initiatives. This project critically examined the shortcomings in existing laws by identifying their vague definitions. Rather than depicting scenes of abuse, the design quoted the laws themselves– preserving the typographic tone and structure found in the Indian Constitution, reinforcing the tension between the authoritative tone of the law and its failure to protect.
Visually, the poster combines typography and illustration to build a layered narrative. The illustrative section is animated frame by frame to emulate a hand-drawn, textured aesthetic that echoes the raw approach of the Constitution itself. The creatures serve as metaphors for the archaic, unchanged nature of the laws, intruding upon the otherwise structured visual field to symbolise the decay embedded in the current legal system.
Originally intended as an interactive poster that would activate upon approach, the project was adapted into a simple animation due to COVID-related constraints.
strategic call-outs.
of these laws.