Koppisch, Patricia

As a reaction to the demand for women’s suffrage and equal rights in the late-1800s, American antifeminism emerged. In the article by Janet Saltzman Chafetz and Anthony Gary Dworkin, “In the Face of Threat: Organized Antifeminism in Comparative Perspective,” the authors concluded that the growth of a countermovement is contingent upon the success and size of the movement it opposes.1 This conclusion is applied to the actions, counter-actions and subsequent growth of both antifeminism and feminism. However, as feminism succeeds with small advancements in equality, antifeminism escalates its oppositional strength by creating accusations against women, using labels based on gender stereotypes and initiatives that incite divisive discourse in the pursuit of equal rights for all human beings.
Graphic design is a catalyst for both antifeminism and feminism visual language. To find inspiration for my exhibition, I examined one-hundred years of design used by both movements. Based by my research, the exhibition, “5th Wave: The Fault of Women,” navigates through the growth and history of antifeminism and visually examines antifeminist labels and initiatives and the culmination of these techniques used during the fifth wave of antifeminism. The exhibition, “5th Wave: The Fault of Women,” exposes and challenges the efforts of the fifth wave of antifeminism in an effort to evoke an understanding of the importance of feminism’s fight for equality and the betterment of all human beings. Using research and design to expose antifeminism’s growing labels and initiative, feminism can combat the techniques used to punish those who challenge patriarchy and heteronormativity.

This proposal discusses how design thinking allows the designer to arrive at solutions that more strongly connect with the audience because the audience is made an integral part of the process.
<br>Design thinking encompasses personal design problem solving, decision making and critical thinking. Design thinking utilizes methodologies to discover and fulfill the final requirements and goals of a project; whether designing logo or a furniture program for a highly utilized space, it is necessary to start with design thinking. Design thinking permits the designer to become empathic with the audience for whom they are designing in order to pinpoint the problem; this includes observation and, most importantly, conversations in order to evaluate and understand the design needs. Further methodology includes researching the possible solutions to the problem as well as testing solutions with the audience in order to make successful decisions. In addition to the pragmatic results of design thinking, the continuous use of its research methodology improves important critical thinking skills central to the individual designer and the collaborations in which he or she participates.
<br>We are aware that designers can come up with good, even great solutions without the audience; however, the inclusion of the audience as a stakeholder in the outcome is a key component of design thinking. Design thinking assists the designer in creating solutions that strongly connect with the audience because they are made an integral part of the process. This poster presentation will discuss design thinking methodologies that include the audience as stakeholders.