INTRODUCTION
For this project I have created a typographic poster related to South African culture, including my experience and what it means to me to be South African. My concept is about Western and Eurocentric stereotypes and perceptions about South Africa. From my personal experience I have been told that I ‘don’t look South African’ or I ‘don’t sound South African’, as if there is one mould we are all supposed to fit into. While our culture means that we share characteristics in common, we are all individuals with our own thoughts and feelings. Some of these stereotypes may be seen as funny or are laughed at but they can cause harm by encouraging this idea that all people or groups of people are the same. These stereotypes put people into categories and can result in othering as well as creating hurtful stigmas.
Through my design I wanted to show that South African’s are more than other countries perceptions. I did this by playing on the word ‘perception’ visually. I wanted to create layering of type in a way that people would have to look closer to discover the full message of the design. It becomes a design where the more you look at it the more you notice elements that you may not have seen at a first glance. This also encourages the viewer to look deeper than these stereotypes to see the real person underneath.
FINAL DESIGN
THANK YOU!
