Create Your First Project
Start adding your projects to your portfolio. Click on "Manage Projects" to get started
Final Major Project - Kift Zine
Zines
Editorial design, Written work
Date
February - May 2024
The Problem:
A personal response to my own and others lived experiences of living with neurodiversity, specifically Developmental Coordination Disorder, or Dyspraxia.
The Challenge:
My aim was to create a vibrant, illuminating and honest reflection on experiences unique to growing up with a neurodivergence, and the lack of resources or representation for dyspraxic individuals which rent child or detriment focussed.
Exploring themes such as internal processing, sensory systems giftedness, inattention and gender, the zines provide insight on the experience in a digestible, immersive and celebratory way.
Honest, relatable and neutral representations on neurodiverse experiences are few and far between, especially for lesser known, yet equally prevalent conditions such as DCD.
In recent years, personal stories and narratives of neurodiversity in the mainstream media have recently increased, embracing sincere and truthful representations of neurodiverse experiences At the moment however, dyspraxia is seldom or never portrayed accurately in these accounts.
In response, “Kift” was developed; a zine series based on my own dyspraxia, and other neurodiverse people’s experiences. Kift is a local term used where I am from - Pembrokeshire, West Wales - to describe something rubbish, broken or useless. A word I was called a lot growing up, when really my kiftness was my dyspraxia symptoms. These zines are designed to challenge this perspective, and reclaim this word in a more positive light. It is aiming to fill this vacuum by providing a vibrant, honest, and realistic portrayal of dyspraxia. Individuals who identify as neurodivergent ought to be recognised for unique skills and traits they have acquired as a result of their diverse information processing. We can only embrace these differences when we have a better understanding of the experiences of all neurodiversities.
The Solution
My Affirmative design solution highlighted how existing suggestions to solve the issue around plastic microfibre pollution mainly involved capturing these fibres, either in sewage processing or at the source in household laundry. In contrast to this, I wanted to explore the possibility of engaging with the materiality of the clothing itself. My research highlighted the enormous levels of synthetic textiles used in current garment production, compared to our historic use of natural fibres like cotton, linen and wool.
Researching this line of enquiry further, I discovered just how neglected the Welsh woollen industry is. This connection between materials, environment and culture lead to the development of a proposed initiative between the British Wool Board and the Welsh Government, with funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, will incentivise the production of renewable wool, as well as connecting them with welsh woollen mills to reinvigorate and incentivise the production and market of woollen garments.
As this affirmative solution to the issue of microplastics involved the promotion of the woollen industry in Wales, communicating the heritage feeling through the visual language was key. This included taking motifs from Welsh textile designs, maintaining a clean, monochromatic colour pallet to emphasis the connection to the Welsh landscapes and implementing a cross-stitch display type, relating the visual language back to craft and materials.
To effectively contextualise the concept for the affirmative design solution, I developed a logo and visual identity concept.
Taking inspiration and shape motifs from Welsh textile and heritage crafts, the logo takes the form of a sheep and farmer, indicating the benefit for both human and non human communities. The logotype uses a sophisticated, vintage feeling serif type to communicate the return to more traditional methods of textile production and its benefit for people and the planet.