Mujeres Mexicanas del Diseño Gráfico: Showcasing the Current Women Creative Directors of Graphic Design in Mexico City.
This research was conducted in 2019 in fulfillment of a master's thesis
for the Communication Design MFA program at Texas State University.
for the Communication Design MFA program at Texas State University.
Designing Perspectives, a research-based thesis project documents the exploratory social research study and the environmental graphic design of an interactive traveling exhibition, and an ongoing collaborative manifesto, titled ¡Porque soy Mexicana!.
This project intends to highlight cultural identity awareness by encouraging knowledge of contemporary Mexican women in graphic design in Mexico City. To achieve this project’s purpose designer researcher Barajas, followed the AIGA Women Lead Initiative model, around three goals: to celebrate the achievements of women in design; to cultivate awareness of gender-related issues; to build knowledge, leadership skills, and connections facilitating relationships within and beyond the design industry. Furthermore, this project intends to demonstrate how the communication design discipline can positively impact society by provoking a change in human consciousness. (Twemlow, 2006).
Alice Twemlow, Ph.D, is the co-chair of the School of Visual Arts Master in Arts in Design Research, Writing & Criticism in New York, and co-head of the Master in Arts in Design Curating & Writing at Design Academy Eindhoven. In her book What is Graphic Design For?, Twemlow states that “designers who want their work to inform, delight, [change human consciousness] and connect, will need to know much more about the people they are talking to, their beliefs, and backgrounds” (Twemlow, 2006 p. 80).
An interactive traveling exhibition called Designing Perspectives was created to spark and continue the conversation about the interconnectedness of gender equity and diversity in the design industry in Mexico City. The intention is that future generations of up-and-coming designers will be able to identify these Mexican women creative directors and view them as inspiration for their design practices.
An ongoing collaborative manifesto called ¡Porque soy Mexicana! was designed to celebrate the mutual influence and support of each Mexican woman designer that participated in the exploratory research study. The manifesto also served to describe the purpose of the thesis research, Mujeres Mexicanas del Diseño Gráfico: Showcasing the Current Women Creative Directors of Graphic Design in Mexico City.
This project-based thesis, Mujeres Mexicanas del Diseño Gráfico: Showcasing the Current Women Creative Directors of Graphic Design in Mexico City, is committed to empowering women in design and advancing the discourse on the interconnectedness of gender equity and diversity in design. It aims to recognize contemporary Mexican women designers and, by doing so, confront the male-dominated design field by bringing awareness to, and instigating productive conversations around, the interconnectedness of gender equity and diversity.
The following schematics present the suggested storyline, the wall layouts, the proposed materials, and the specifications for each individual graphic component of the traveling exhibition.
