It stops now! Design for social good rules in Piquant's anti-violence campaign

Design can inform, educate and promote social change” notes Piquant Media of its “It Stops Now” campaign, which aims to end sexual violence and harassment in third level institutions.

Piquant Media worked with Ireland's National Women’s Council of Ireland (NWCI), the country's leading women’s membership organization seeking equality for women, on the branding, video, web design and development of “It Stops Now”, an international campaign which aims to raise awareness of the prevalence of gender-based harassment and violence in third-level education and to engage both staff and students in combatting all forms of harassment and violence against women students throughout Europe.

NWCI lead the campaign with project partners in Cyprus, Lithuania, Scotland and Germany. Each project partner worked with higher education institutions, statutory agencies and NGOs.

Piquant Media worked with the team at NWCI to create a brand identity and project content that would resonate with students and staff at third level institutions around Europe.

“This brand had to have the ability to capture people’s attention and provoke a response. The goal of the project is to generate awareness but also connect with the third-level community to show them that they have the power to make the change” notes Piquant. 

“As graphic designers, we should be aware of the responsibility we have in our community as we don’t only design nice and attractive shapes, we are social communicators, no matter what type of client we’re working for” writes Victoria Brunetta, the studio's graphic designer of the task to design for good.

“How we develop and visualize a communication strategy will eventually impact on people’s perception. For better or worse, graphic designers have become key actors in the consumption chain development.”

“I hold the opinion that our mission when visualizing a social movement is also to bring in to question the perceptions most people have around issues such as feminism, homelessness, immigration, poverty, racism, education, environment… In other words, how can we challenge dominating stereotypes that harm the dignity of the most vulnerable and communicate a clear, powerful message that encourages people to take action? Or, eventually, how can that message give the audience a different perspective on community development and social change? In my eyes, ultimately, the challenge when trying to visualize a social movement or any human rights-related issue, is how can I, as a graphic designer, help people to live in a more equal society?”

“How we develop and visualize a communication strategy will eventually impact on people’s perception. For better or worse, graphic designers have become key actors in the consumption chain development.”

Check out the It Stops Now project here.