There are a great deal of issues today that demand public action, and an effective way to reach people is through graphic design. Posters, flags, and public service announcements are all ways to reach society and make change. In my project, I wanted to tackle LGBT equality and show that members of the community are just as human as everyone else. My initial ideas relied more on words to carry the message; however, my final products contain no text to encourage a more contemplative relationship between the viewer and the images. I wanted to show a world where love between members of the same gender as well as trans people living as they truly are is accepted and celebrated.
With my first image, I really wanted to capture the magic and intimacy of love, which is virtually universally relatable, and apply that in the context of a same-sex relationship. That way, perhaps people’s eyes can be opened about the true nature of the LGBT community: becoming honest with one’s true self, and living and loving authentically. My second image is more dark, but is supposed to illustrate a trans woman’s struggle of breaking out of her assigned sex. She’s shackled, but she’s breaking free and fighting to be who she truly is. The narrative is different than that of the other images, which are more carefree, because trans women are one of the most persecuted against groups in society. Another reason why I chose to make the image more somber was because of the fact that trans activism is in a whole different place than the rest of the LGBT community. Lastly, the third image depicts a world completely accepting of the gay and trans community. While the addition of the moon and an astronaut makes the piece seem more carefree, the image does show the discrepancy between the reality within itself versus that of the actual global stance on LGBT rights. A very small percentage of gay people actually have equal rights, while the majority of the world still criminalizes and discriminates against people based on sexuality and gender dysphoria. In a way, I wanted my last work to call people to action in order to make a society like that a reality. Through my digital pieces, I hope to illicit a supportive and understanding reaction out of the onlooker.
