A Tribute to NZ Female Designer Sharon Alston
Sharon Alston was a political cartoonist, designer, artist, and illustrator involved in the women's movement and gay liberation in Aotearoa. A high proportion of the work produced by Alston and many other women, involved in these movements, is not recognised and correctly attributed.
Taking its name from the Broadsheet Magazine column ‘Kicking Against the Pricks’ to which she contributed, this project is a celebration of Sharon Alston’s valuable contribution to the women’s movement and Gay Liberation in Aotearoa. The publication also includes stories and fond memories from other women’s rights activists who knew and respected her.
Sharon Alston was a courageous fighter for women’s rights and lesbian visibility. By using a historiographical approach and archive collecting, as well as experimentation to construct a narrative, this project takes an experimental approach to the design in order to visually reflect the mahi she produced.
The outcome is a handprinted and handbound publication which includes a collected bibliography of Sharon Alston. The resource has the potential to become a documentation for anyone interested in learning about Sharon Alston and the work she produced during the women's movement and gay liberation in Aotearoa.
