Output: Visual system + Toolkit + Icon set + Exhibit.
Tools/Skills: Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Qualitative research.
Tools/Skills: Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Qualitative research.
For my MFA thesis, I examined how feminist organizations in Colombia have designed informative materials to defend reproductive autonomy. The output includes a set of symbols that catalogues the findings, a toolkit to support the creation of informative materials, and a set of human icons that challenge binary and normative representations of bodies and gender.
Exhibit
The project was exhibited in the MFA Show 2025 of Northeastern University's Information Design and Data Visualization program. Visitors created their own human icons combining stickers of heads, torsos, and legs. The goal was to think about bodies in more flexible ways.
Research
Eight people affiliated with Colombian reproductive autonomy organizations were interviewed to understand their procedures, decisions, and collaborations when designing informative materials.
Mapping of Feminist Activism in Colombia
Mapping of Reproductive Autonomy Informative Materials
Theoretical Framework Concept Map
Symbols
Based on the interviews, a set of symbols was designed to identify the aspects that should be considered when designing informative materials for reproductive autonomy. These graphics apply the design practices shared by participants.
Natural symbols like flowers have helped activists connect conversations to the Colombian territory and explain complex topics with care. The system is based on these types of figures.
Icons can be overlayed to convey new, more complex meanings.
Human Icons
A set of human icons was also designed to exemplify an application of the research findings. The design of the icons followed the practices shared by the people who were interviewed.
These graphics are meant to challenge binary and normative representations of bodies and gender by playing with colors, body widths, and non-human characters.
Toolkits
The key topics of the visual system were translated into materials to support collaborative design processes between designers, other experts, and the communities they work with.
Book
The process and research contributions of this project were documented in a book.
Credits
Thesis advisor: Sofía Bosch Gómez, PhD
Thesis reader: Catherine D'Ignazio PhD
Thesis chair: Sheila Pontis PhD
Thesis advisor: Sofía Bosch Gómez, PhD
Thesis reader: Catherine D'Ignazio PhD
Thesis chair: Sheila Pontis PhD
Special thanks to La Mesa por la Vida y la Salud de las Mujeres, Causa Justa, Aquelarre, and Jacarandas.
