Girls with Chess Redactionele Illustratie by Mengyao Guo

Girls with Chess Redactionele Illustratie by Mengyao Guo is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2024 A' Design Award in IJzer in Grafisch, Illustratie en Visuele Communicatie Ontwerp Competition Category.

IJzerGrafisch· 2024

Girls with Chess Redactionele Illustratie

by Mengyao Guo

Client: Mengyao Guo

A' Design Award in IJzer Winner in Grafisch Category

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Verified Award Winner

Verify Award Status for #154267

View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

Colors

The Design

About Girls with Chess Redactionele Illustratie

Meisjes met Schaken is een redactionele illustratie gemaakt voor artikelen en campagnes over gendergelijkheid. Het kunstwerk toont twee meisjes die een partij schaak spelen. Het ene meisje laat de koningsfiguur omvallen, terwijl het andere toekijkt. De omgevallen koning symboliseert de ontmanteling van patriarchale normen. Twee contrasterende kleuren, oranje en blauw, worden gebruikt om binaire identiteiten te verkennen en om verschillende situationele toestanden te suggereren. De illustratie is geproduceerd als een digitale afbeelding met hoge resolutie, zodat het werk online kan worden gedeeld en in flexibele formaten kan worden afgedrukt.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award in IJzer

Girls with Chess Redactionele Illustratie is winnaar van de A' Design Award in IJzer, een prestigieuze erkenning die wordt toegekend aan goede ontwerpen die voldoen aan de professionele en industriële eisen die worden verwacht van goed ontworpen creaties. Winnaars in IJzer tonen grote vaardigheid, hoge specialisatie, deskundig inzicht en het creatieve vermogen van hun makers. Girls with Chess Redactionele Illustratie wordt verwacht een hooggewaardeerde, bewonderde en gekoesterde creatie te zijn die praktisch en innovatief is. Dit ontwerp dat de A' Design Award in IJzer heeft gewonnen, integreert de beste praktijken uit de sector en heeft bekwame technische kenmerken die verbonden zijn met knowhow en talent. Girls with Chess Redactionele Illustratie wordt gerespecteerd om zijn grondigheid en is ontworpen om verbeteringen van de levenskwaliteit te bieden die helpen de wereld een betere plek te maken.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: This illustration is designed to highlight issues related to gender, ideally for an article or social movement campaign. It features two girls engrossed in a game of chess, one of them toppling the King piece, while the other watches. The artwork explores binary identities and the interplay of dual colors, orange and blue, to evoke various situational states.
Dimensions & Packaging: Digital works for any flexible changes.
Tags: Illustration, Gender, Equality, Communication, Visual Symbolism
Production Technology: The illustration was made using Adobe Photoshop, a leading graphic design software. Photoshop's diverse toolset facilitated nuanced color blending, detailed texture creation, and precise element placement. Its layer-based approach allowed for complex composition building. The high-resolution output ensured the illustration's quality was maintained across various digital and print applications.
Design Challenge: The main challenge was to create an illustration that effectively communicates complex themes of gender equality and societal norms. Balancing aesthetics and message clarity while ensuring the artwork was thought-provoking but not overly didactic required careful design decisions. Research into gender issues, color symbolism, and visual metaphors was crucial in addressing this challenge, ultimately leading to an evocative and meaningful illustration.
Research: The illustration was developed after researching gender issues and visual symbolism. The investigation encompassed an understanding of societal norms associated with gender, cultural implications of color, and the power of visual metaphors. This research informed the design, from the symbolic chess game to the gender-associated colors, resulting in a provocative artwork that fosters dialogue on gender equality and societal structures.
Inspiration: This illustration draws inspiration from the ongoing dialogue around gender issues and equality. It uses the metaphor of a chess game, traditionally seen as a strategic and intellectual pursuit, to underscore the abilities and potential of women in challenging societal norms and structures. The act of the girls toppling the King piece represents dismantling patriarchal norms.
Project Duration: The project started and finished in September 2020 in China.
Operation Flow: As a visual piece, this illustration invites viewer interaction through its symbolic elements: the chess scene and the color interplay prompt thoughts on gender roles and equality. As a digital artwork, it's easily shared and displayed across platforms, enhancing accessibility and facilitating discourse on the depicted social issues. The illustration thus catalyzes conversations about gender norms and societal structures.
Image Credits: Image #1: Illustrator Mengyao Guo, Girls with Chess, 2022.
Image #2: Illustrator Mengyao Guo, Girls with Chess, 2022.
Image #3: Illustrator Mengyao Guo, Girls with Chess, 2022.
Image #4: Illustrator Mengyao Guo, Girls with Chess, 2022.
Image #5: Illustrator Mengyao Guo, Girls with Chess, 2022.