Sexual harassment awareness campaign

Case Study

Illustration

Cover and spot illustrations for a sexual harassment awareness brochure. Commissioned by Diakonie Himmelsthür e.V.

Sexual Harassment Awareness Brochure Cover

Overview

Sexual harassment is a common and challenging issue that affects our community. Unfortunately, it exists at many levels and structures in our society, and in most cases, the authorities are unaware of what is happening behind closed doors.

Social institutions are no exception to this problem. To address the issue and raise awareness, the Diakonie Himmelsthür e.V. created a campaign to advise, support, and deliver clear information on what to do and how to manage sexual assault and behaviour within their institutions.

Starting with an informative brochure, we created a clear and resourceful communication asset that will hopefully make workers and the general public more aware, ready to act, and prevent this ongoing issue.

Concept, sketches and development

Sexual misconduct can take many forms, including inappropriate conversation and unwanted sexual advances. With this in mind, the brochure was designed to present examples of sexual harassment, followed by the consequences of these acts, and finished with supporting information and helpful scenarios.

To begin the project, I started by sketching the cover and each section. The first illustrations present dramatic scenarios that reinforce the seriousness of the theme. These are followed by lighter and more encouraging illustrations that showcase supporting actions.

The illustrations were created in a simple and clean style, with bold colours and shapes. As a result, we could create strong visuals to express the issue’s important emotional character. This would also make complex themes more easily translated and accessible to a larger audience.

Sketch featuring woman under attack reaching out to wheelchair

Final illustration of a woman under attack reaching out to wheelchair

Sketch of a woman crying in a destroyed room

Final illustration of a woman crying in a destroyed room

Sketch of social worker talking with an abuse victim

Final illustration of social worker talking with an abuse victim

Easy Language adaptation

My second contribution was to assist in the translation of the brochure into “Leichte Sprache” – Easy Language. This German format focuses on translating written content into simple and easy text that readers with reading disabilities can fully read and understand. My assignment was to create small spot illustrations to aid translations of more complex concepts.

Illustration of a social worker talking with a man

Illustration of a hooded person asking for secrecy

Illustration of a team of social workers helping an abuse victim

Illustration of a sexual harassment prevention workshop

Conclusion

Because of the topic’s sensitivity and complexity, this project was both a learning experience and a challenge. Creating social awareness and developing a product that supports and helps others was extremely rewarding, and it was something I had always wanted to do: create strong communicational material to enable change.

With the help and direction from Wiebke Aschemann (bueroaschemann), we delivered a strong and meaningful project, that hopefully will bring change and security to this institution.