The Inside Counts was my award-winning BFA senior project at the Stamps School of Art & Design at the University of Michigan, in which I explored my relationship with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (also known as PCOS.)
Through a variety of media, I found the best way to convey my experience dealing with the condition, as well as establishing a dialogue about women's health, gender representation and self-esteem.
The Graphic Design component of The Inside Counts was very important because I was able to use my skills to convey the message clearly and guide the viewers in the right direction.
I created an announcement poster to show a sneak-peek of one of the components of the installation. Not many people outside of the school knew what I was exactly doing for this thesis, so the poster gave them an idea to be prepared for the show.
The second component is a set of stickers that are part of the narrative of the project, in which a series of short paragraphs explain each one of the cystglobes (snow globes) that represent the symptoms of the Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. The outline of the stickers was not there at the time of installation, that was just a reference of the layout to place the text. The pink set of stickers were instructions and QR codes to view the project online.
The last few images show part of my thesis book that explained the narrative of the project for the thesis committee and Professors. I used a simple layout that favored images over text. I designed it with a large percentage of horizontal images and the colors are coordinated with the instruction stickers.
The use of graphic designed facilitated the relationship of the viewers with my installation because it made it easier for the public to understand the project. Since it was considered a an aggressive project, viewers had to take their time to become intimate with the pieces, so I thought that design would be the bridge between the installation and the public.
