Bans Off Our Bodies

The Bans Off Our Bodies project was a personal project I created due to the recent event of Roe v. Wade being overturned in the United States at the time. I wanted to use my art in a way that raised awareness on women’s reproductive rights while also raising money that would help others who will suffer from this overturn. I was compelled to create a piece where you could feel the anger and demand through the art. I decided to execute that by creating a shape of a uterus with the usage of weapons such as metal barbwire and a spike ball and chain. It also helps to iterate the meaning of the “Bans Off Our Bodies” phrase by using the weapons as a form of protection from the hands of the government.

Date Created: June 24, 2022

Tracked Time: 10 hours 36 minutes

View Illustration Process Below

Sketch

In order to illustrate my idea, I found reference images for the metal barbwire and spike ball and chain so I could accurately draw the two. To create my digital art, I use the Procreate application on iPadOs and I started out my sketch on there. Afterward, I went over my sketch and refined it so my lines would look clean. Next, I struggled for some time trying to find what color palette I should use for this art piece. With some time of playing around with the color wheel, I chose red, grey, black, and an eggshell color for my design.

Typography

Now that I had the Illustration finished, I knew I wanted to add typography to my design. I imported my illustration into Adobe Photoshop in order to accomplish that. I utilized the Adobe Fonts website to browse different fonts that I thought would best fit the aesthetic of my piece. I tested various typefaces before deciding on Bradley DJR. I wanted two different groups to text to stand out against each other but also be cohesive and I did this by making one group fully lowercase and the other fully uppercase. I also chose one group to have black text while the other utilized the eggshell color with a black shadow. This way, the text can be easily read and not scrambled due to the way they’re positioned.

Final Product

Lastly, I added small details that made a big difference to my design. I took my design from Adobe Photoshop and imported it back into Procreate. From there I decided to add a border and a texture overlay with paper creases so my design would have a poster-like feel to it. Then, I used another overlay that would add a grainy texture. To raise money to help those affected from the overturn, I uploaded my design onto RedBubble and donated the money to the National Network of Abortion Funds. People were able to buy stickers, totebags, and pins with the design on it and successfully raise awareness on women’s reproductive rights.

Bans Off Our Bodies final illustration with two spike ball and chains, colors, and shadows. Typography is now added to the illustration that says 'Bans Off Our Bodies' and 'Abortion is a human right' along with textures and final details.