Left targets AAPI individuals and their mental health. Right targets the community around an AAPI individual.
There are so many topics within the #StopAsianHate movement that could've been addressed, but I chose to create two posters targeting the mental health of Asian American Pacific Islanders. I focused on how we underestimate the mental health struggles that result from racism that my community faces. AAPI tend to disregard their mental health, both due to cultural and accessibility reasons.
I wanted to bring awareness to this topic to encourage more AAPI to look after their mental health and the community to step up to help an underrepresented demographic. The audience for the left poster is Asian Americans, and it encourages them to see help if they need it. The right poster's audience is their community, prompting them to take action and help their peers.
Process
"MICROAGGRESSIONS" was hand lettered, as I couldn't find a typeface that accurately represented the helplessness, anger, and anxiety I had around this theme. Although I experimented with a lot of materials and methods, including finger painting and charcoal, the final version used on the poster was created with acrylic on multimedia paper.
Digital Ideation
The Iceberg poster went through variations as I tried to minimize how much the type competed with the image. Although I liked the idea of the "micros" adding up to make the whole iceberg, I eventually decided to fill the whole iceberg with the word microaggressions to convey my idea more succinctly.
The first ideation with an iceberg.
Refining the copy and iceberg shape
Adding color and hand lettering
Although the Micro poster went through a few composition and copy changes, its overall concept stayed the same as I liked using irony to illustrate my message.
Experimenting with irony using a huge MICRO
Refining the copy and composition
Adding color and hand lettering
Color and Type
These posters use red, white, and blue in a rule of thirds color block. Red, white, and blue symbolize the American flag and also help to evoke emotion. Blue helps to contextualize the iceberg poster and bring calm to a poster promoting mental health, and red helps to convey the strong feelings that AAPI individuals have about the microaggressions they've faced.
The copy went through many variations as I worked to make my message concise but impactful. I used Helvetica to help keep my message clear and to balance out the messy emotional hand lettering.
