We recently connected with Yuqin Ni and have shared our conversation below.
Yuqin, appreciate you joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
The most meaningful project for me is my thesis project GENFEM. It’s an exploration of what I can do for feminism as a graphic designer. Born in a conservative small town in China, being a feminist has been a self-taught process since I got into college. It’s a complex intersection of different factors which makes it complicated. And I have also seen a lot of debates and disagreements within women’s or the feminist community. I’ve made several attempts at design projects related to feminism in the past, but GENFEM stands out as the most profound and impactful one to date, offering the potential to effect meaningful change.
Yuqin, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
During my undergraduate studies, I pursued industrial design as my major, and it took some time for me to discover my true passion. I made the decision to further my education in the United States, and I recently completed my master’s degree in graphic design at the ArtCenter College of Design. My primary focus lies in branding and typography, but I have a deep fascination with the endless possibilities that design offers. I firmly believe that all design areas and techniques are interconnected, which is why I am enthusiastic about broadening my skillset and utilizing various techniques to bring my creative concepts to life. My design work is deeply rooted in cultural influences. To begin with, my multicultural background, coupled with my professional experiences in diverse settings like China, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Vietnam, spanning industries such as Advertising, Tech, Branding, and Entertainment, has provided me with a rich tapestry of perspectives through which I perceive the world. Additionally, my passion for literature and narratives infuses my work with a captivating storytelling element.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Returning to the initial question about my pursuit of creating a meaningful design project related to feminism, I’ve undertaken four such projects, including GENFEM.
The first one is I created a magazine called “ISM”. Each issue delved into the experiences of non-mainstream female groups, their struggles, and their positions within the feminist movement. The first issue that I actually designed is about fangirls because I am a fangirl myself. So this issue is called “FangirlISM”. This is actually a very meaningful project in my opinion because it focused on the unique circumstances of smaller groups, challenging traditional stereotypes and reevaluating their behaviors and motivations from a feminist perspective. However, it was an early work, the design was not perfect.
My second project, “!SHE,” was a beautifully executed editorial piece. It entailed designing a typographic identity and catalog for a hypothetical exhibition showcasing nine remarkable female performance artists and their most significant works. While it was a meticulous research and editing process that expanded my knowledge of history and theory, it lacked a distinct personal voice.
The third project was a poster series titled “Cyborg Feminism.” This venture delved into contemporary feminism movements, particularly reimagining the old cyberfeminism movement. It marked my initial foray into imagining a movement of my own, exploring key philosophies and visualizations. Despite extensive research, I couldn’t find a solution that truly satisfied me.
These projects collectively paved the way for my thesis project, GENFEM. GENFEM represents a new ideology and methodology that merges “GEN” (Generation and Generative) with “FEM” (feminism).
Here’s a detailed introduction to GENFEM.
GENFEM is a new ideology and methodology that combines “GEN” for Generation and Generative and “FEM” for feminism.
The first meaning of “GEN” is “Generation”, which reflects our goal to unite as a generation of feminists rather than divide ourselves into separate groups or schools of thought. GENFEM values the diverse experiences and perspectives within feminist movements and aims to build coalitions across differences. We also seek to learn from and collaborate with other social justice movements that focus on race, class, sexuality, and ability. GENFEM is a tool for every feminist activist to use, regardless of their political climate.
However, being inclusive does not mean being passive. Radicality is essential to GENFEM. Our ultimate mission is to dismantle the patriarchal system and redefine and appropriate social norms. We advocate for fundamental change that uproots the root causes of social problems rather than just superficial reforms. We must act radically to bring about significant change.
To achieve our mission, we must look to the second meaning of “GEN” in “GENFEM,” which is “generative.” This is where design plays a crucial role.
Being generative about feminism means that it’s not just about achieving equality and justice for women, but also about creating new ways of thinking, living, and relating that challenge patriarchal norms and values. It encourages creativity and innovation, which emphasize the importance of generating new ideas and approaches to address the challenges facing women and other marginalized groups. It involves a focus on experimentation, exploration, and risk-taking, and encourages the development of new tools, technologies, and cultural forms.
In many ways, the generative approach to feminism is similar to the art form of collage, which involves creating a new image or piece of art by assembling and layering different materials and objects together. It’s an anonymous, egalitarian process that combines ideas and lowers the bar for creating artwork. It has a long history of being applied in political contexts, particularly for protesting.
GENFEM is a new, collage-driven, generative method that collages together different technologies, dimensions, and channels to create customized and adaptable methods of advocacy.
We provide examples of using different ways to engage, from analog to digital, and mixing and matching different media, from physical to digital. This methodology allows encourages feminist activists to create endless possibilities for methods that can be applied to spreading messages, protesting, discussing, and raising awareness. Its generative trait allows it to be adaptive to different political contexts, from more liberal environments to areas with a lot of bans and limitations, and it also allows individuals to find a solution to their own unique case.
Moreover, this approach of creating not only fosters ideas and discussions but also prompts direct action, which can motivate feminists to take daring steps and bring about tangible transformations.
To effectively propagate the ideology of GENFEM, a visual language has been created as a key aspect of this project. The visual language aims to represent the generative nature of the ideology through the combination of various typefaces. The use of different typefaces, chosen for their distinct characteristics and attributes, serves as a metaphor for the diverse range of voices and perspectives that make up the feminist movement. In addition, the visual language employs the use of gradience as a fundamental element, highlighting the notion of a spectrum or variety.
In summary, GENFEM is a creative framework that unites women by enabling feminist activists to advocate for their rights through multifaceted practices in diverse situations.
It serves as a manual that unites generations under a common belief system and nurtures a new era. It is my hope that this project will empower women to actively engage in designing our collective future.
I am glad that I did this project. In the four five years, I did have some time feeling tired of talking about feminism again and I believe a lot of people also do. But there’s a feeling of responsibility that I had to choose it as my thesis project again and spend a year really thinking painfully about this problem and it did pay back.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
My design role model is Heejin Min, a Korean designer and art director. I want to become an art director who integrates my philosophy and female perspective into pop culture like her.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.yuqinni.com
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/qin-ni-5a20a8193/