Play Rights
Design For The Public Good Spring 2022
Introduction
Graphic designers have the ability to use design to make a positive impact in the world. In Design For The Public Good, that’s exactly what was done. Students were tasked to create a fundraising event for a chosen nonprofit with the intent to raise funds and create awareness of a cause. This event was created for WOMEN’S WAY, a nonprofit dedicated to women’s rights. Play Rights is a meaningful product from this course that proved to be an enriching and enlightening design experience.
Research
Nonprofit Selection
WOMEN’S WAY’s mission…
“To inspire and mobilize the community to invest in organizations and leaders that will advance the rights of and opportunities for women and girls, and achieve gender equity for all.”
By looking to their mission statement, WOMEN’S WAY connects, empowers, and invests in women; advancing rights and opportunities for women.
Who They Help
WOMEN’S WAY helps women leaders, go-getters, businesswomen, and women in need. Put simply, they help women! They accomplish this by cultivating an engaging network of donors that invest in high-impact philanthropy for women, girls, and gender equity. They also support learning, connections, and opportunities for organizations and leaders to pursue strategic, responsive, and innovative work for women. Additionally, they invest in the organization to build strength as a resource for partners and donors. In these endeavors, they actively build and connect community involvement from donors, to volunteers, activists, and organizations.
Past Events
Due to COVID-19, WOMEN’S WAY’s past fundraising events have mostly been online. Some of those events include online forums, marketplaces, lunch and learns, and more. Before the pandemic, some of the events included ax throwing, a pitch competition, and interviews.
With the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, it was necessary for WOMEN’S WAY to get back to hosting in-person events. To address this problem, three event proposals were brainstormed: trivia night, a play series, and trash collecting. The play series was the clear winner of the three because it was the only event that simultaneously spoke to the struggles women face on daily basis and is a genuinely entertaining event that can appeal to a larger audience.
Investigative Findings
Based on research it was clear that WOMEN’S WAY needed an event that was in person, gave back to the community, and appealed to a larger audience range. WOMEN’S WAY needed a hand with involving the general community in their event. Most of their fundraising events target women as the audience. The past events sounded inclusive, but upon looking at photos and seeing the names of event finalists, winners, etc., the population was almost completely female. By aiming to include persons of all genders, WOMEN’S WAY may become more successful than it already is.
Choosing the Plays
The project began with formative research on WOMEN’S WAY and continued once the play series event was decided upon. Research continuation began by exploring which plays would be appropriate for the event. The plays had to be written by women and highlight the adversities women face daily. The final decided plays were Top Girls, The Vagina Monologues, and For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When The Rainbow Is Enuf.
User Personas
The user personas were formulated in order to address a range of people. The first user is someone who may be inclined to be a part of Play Rights based on the opportunity to be involved in a theatrical production. The second user is one who is already affiliated with WOMEN’S WAY and strives to see growth in the community. A third user is a person who is unaware of the struggles that women face solely based on gender but wants to learn more.
Visual Research
To formulate the aesthetic and general feel of the event, a moodboard was created to inform further decisions. The concept direction pushed the event to use bold forms and energetic colors to convey strength and energy. It was also apparent that photography needed to be incorporated in some way in order to focalize on women.
Naming
Before settling on a name for the event, a mind map and word list were utilized to gather words and phrases associated with women, fundraising, and theater. Coming up with a name was difficult, but the decision became clear upon peer collaboration. Play Rights was perfect because it takes the word “playwrights” and alters it to reflect activism with the word, “Rights.” Once settled on Play Rights, it was time to begin ideation of the logo by sketching.
View mind map, word list, and potential names here
Logo
Logo Sketches
First ideas for the Play Rights logo included both wordmark and combination approaches. The more illustrative logos were the first to be eliminated, as to avoid a juvenile feel that was coming across in the sketches. The more typographic sketches felt more sophisticated and spoke more to the bold aspect that was associated with the brand.
Logo Refinements
Moving forward, bold and chunky san serif forms were explored. The font used was Poppins for its squared corners, thick strokes, and various weights. Each rendition of the logo gained exaggerated thickness to find balance in the overall form and emulate the edgy aspect of the brand. Also to further these ideas, the counters of “play” were removed.
Logo Scripts
In order to add contrast and reflect that Play Rights was created to celebrate women, it was decided that the logo needed a secondary element. Multiple script fonts were hand-drawn over the existing form in order to explore the best font that would represent the brand.
Style Tile
It was time to further develop a concrete style to hone in on the personality of the Play Rights brand by creating a style tile. The brand was intended to feel edgy to call attention to the counter-culture feeling that is associated with change, bold to emphasize the severity of the issues at hand, modern as women’s rights is still a current issue, and electric to liven the brand and make it more exciting. The colors used were picked based on color association. Pink represents femininity and creativity which is appropriate for a play series based on women. The blue-ish/purple was chosen because blue represents purpose and purple represents justice, so both colors and their meaning relate to social change for the betterment of society. Green represents health and prosperity which relates to WOMEN’S WAY and all they do to support women, especially as they relate to investing and philanthropy. The opacity color treatments over black and white photos were used to keep the brand consistent through the use of color and were also a means to differentiate between plays. Overall, color played a large part in Play Rights as a means of distinction and organization.
Deliverables
Being a full-scale fundraising event, Play Rights required deliverables such as a website, mobile tickets, a playbill, pole banners, and a lawn blanket. Once the logo and general branding were finalized, the existing gave direction to the next deliverable which informed the following, and so on.
Digital Assets
Website
The website is cohesive with Play Rights and introduced new ideas to the brand such as oversized, bold, and sometimes offset/angled text, various font weights and sizes, colored backgrounds, rounded rectangles, heavy strokes, and rectangular text fields. The website operations are mostly straightforward with the brand doing the majority of the talking. The website was the biggest component in setting the design rules for the brand and gave breath to many of the remaining deliverables.
Mobile Ticket
The mobile ticket follows the brand rules in that it uses large, angled text, rounded rectangles, and uses color to imply the play the ticket is for. The color pink is associated with the play Top Girls, so any color evident in the ticket is so. As the ticket is opened, a loading screen with an image from the play is presented with a loading message that fades in and out. Once loading is complete, the ticket is automatically presented. Once loaded, the ticket is ready to be scanned upon entry of the event. After the ticket is scanned, another image from the play is presented with a confirmation message.
Stories
The Instagram stories are used to promote the event through educational and jarring statistical facts that illuminate the injustice that women face. Images and text color will correspond with a play’s appointed color for individual stories. The color theme and corresponding play will change each month depending on which production is running.
Profile and Post
The Instagram profile also uses statistical facts to highlight the struggles that women face. Based on the play being shown that month, the profile will showcase posts that correspond to the play’s dedicated color. The posts with just a colored image will contain a quote from the play and the meaning behind the quote in greater context as it relates to women’s issues.
Physical Deliverables
Playbill
The playbill will be handed to each patron upon entry at the event. The playbill corresponds to the play being presented that month. The design of the playbill was heavily inspired by the event website, utilizing bold text, rounded rectangles, and color blocking to discern between pages.
Pole Banners
The pole banners are wayfinding signage that will be present in Fairmount Park, which is where the event takes place. There are three variations of banners that invert the primary play color, black, and white. One side will feature the event logo, featured production, and the time and place of the event. The reverse side counters the informational side by showcasing the responsive Play Rights logo.
Quilted Lawn Blanket
The quilted lawn blanket is a takeaway item available for purchase at the event. The blanket can be used at the event, as it is a grass lawn. The quilted lawn blanket features square patches with influential women actors, playwrights, and directors with quotes beside each woman in their respective color.
Conclusion
Through research and ideation, Play Rights came into fruition and became a fully realized event. Designing Play Rights was challenging, making it all the more rewarding. Using design for good to benefit society is a blessing that designers are privileged to be a part of because contributing to society is essential for community development, sustenance, and advancement.
Credits
Designer: Mia Fabrizio
Instructor: Kelly Holohan, Tyler School of Art and Architecture, Temple University
Stock Photography by Unsplash and Adobe Stock
“Top Girls” Photography by WhatsOnStage
“The Vagina Monologues” Photography by Lawrence Arts Center
“For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When The Rainbow Is Enuf” Photography by The Public Theater
