Put Your Mask On
A visual rhetoric project confronting personal protection masks and identity politics—providing social commentary and fashionable artifacts.
The COVID-19 pandemic amplified social and political separations in the United States. The use of personal protective equipment (PPE) became a signal of individual perspective, and, likewise, political alignment. A choice of fashion, but also an expression of what one sees as “fashionable.” In response, two face masks were designed to function as identity, fashion, and communication.
The first design, entitled Perspective, exposes our individual vulnerability. The typographic message is a personal mantra: [an] honest perspective is built [from our shared experiences]. This message highlights the absurdity in linking political identity with personal protection. Reminding us that these articles define the individual and influence the collective. Freedom of choice grants personal expression, so long as it does not negate another’s ability to do the same.
The typographic form embodies the complexity and messiness of the human experience. Typographic figures represent individual characters. These characters occupy space, place, shape, scale, and orientation. Character attributes define the relationship between adjacent figures—touching, overlapping, melding, and impacting. Individual characters do not exist alone. They depend on relative characters to define individual identity. Yet, each character needs others to develop collective meaning. Each character represents the singular and the collective with every expression.
The second design, entitled Sabotage, exposes our collective vulnerability. In simplest terms, if one chooses not to wear a mask, they put others at risk. In this context, sabotage is not about obstructing the collective for individual advantage. Instead, it represents obstructing those that refuse their shared obligation. Think of it as sabotaging immediate, short-sighted ideology.
The typographic form is gestural and immediate—representing human behavior. When things are going well, people tend to think about their present happiness. Rarely do they think about how their actions impact others. When things are not going well, people must analyze their actions. To change their situation, they must understand the affect of their actions on others.
