Aakifa Chida
Will You Notice? Will You Change?
How can communication design impact, encourage and influence social awareness around Islamophobia through printed and digital resources?
Discrimination towards Muslims is an ever-growing socio-political problem. This practice based research highlights this global issue, with the aim to increase awareness of Islamophobia through communication design.
Recent global patterns of political hate speech, mass media brainwashing and harmful stereotypes are used to incite irrational fear and general insensitivity towards Islamophobia. Design activism is employed in this study to address these behaviours and attitudes, to create change by catalysing a sense of empathy with victims and heightening responsibility and accountability within viewers.
The research covers the importance and relevance of design activism when set against manifestations of Islamophobia that are present in social, political and historical contexts. This project attempts to inform and educate viewers about Islamophobia, to create positive and lasting change. A combination of self-authored and compiled resources are produced across printed and digital mediums to address the issue, engendering solidarity and social empathy.
