Embrace
Software used: Adobe Suite, Google Workspace
Team: Kai Sase Ebens, Rebecca Spin, Rosey Morearty
Embrace is a campaign aiming to educate and inform 12 to 18-year-olds about asexuality and aromanticism by providing resources for teachers and administrators. We created everything from visual branding and merchandise to budgets and lesson plans.
Background
Modern education about sex varies by school district. There is a distinct lack of education provided about individuals who may not want to engage in sexual or romantic relationships, i.e., asexuality and aromanticism.
Aromanticism is a romantic orientation in which someone feels little to no romantic attraction for others. It is often abbreviated to “aro”.
Asexuality is a sexual orientation in which someone feels little to no sexual attraction to others. It is often abbreviated to “ace”.
The asexual & aromantic spectrum, abbreviated to “aspec”, is an umbrella term that describes several variations of asexual/aromantic orientations.
Audience
Primary Audience
Teachers who are open to educating about asexuality/aromanticism
Ages 25 ~ 65 years old
Hold power to influence curriculum
May need self-education resources
Secondary Audience
Middle and high school students
Ages 12 ~ 18 years old
Uneducated / Informally educated
Objective
Embrace is going to provide teachers with lesson plans about asexuality and aromanticism. The lesson plans will be located on a website that can be utilized as a hub for members of the Embrace community. The site will also provide teachers with the opportunity to participate or teach in asexuality/aromanticism-centered workshops.
Beyond the website, Embrace will focus its marketing efforts in three areas: social media, physical advertisements, and merchandise.
Research
Our survey of California middle and high school teachers and administrators between the ages of 25-65 helped us understand the contexts in which our lessons would perform.
Our survey of California 12 to 18-year-olds helped us pinpoint where their knowledge about aspec identities was lacking.
From our target audience surveys, we learned…
We needed to distinguish basic concepts, such as romanticism and sexuality.
We confirmed our suspicions that there was little to no existing implementation of LGBTQIA+ education in existence.
While 71% of teachers and administrators thought LGBTQIA+ education belonged in school, many had doubts about successfully passing it through legislative processes.
We then sent out a third survey to aspec community members asking what they would want to see in a lesson plan. We learned of several common misconceptions through first-hand accounts.
Aspec education would solve many problems for aspec youth, including feeling “broken” or alone.
Aspec people don’t fit in one box. Some aspec people can enjoy sex, be in a relationship, and masturbate.
Asexuality is not a defect to be fixed, but an identity.
Aromantic people are not cold or unfeeling because of their identity.
Visual Identity
The Embrace color palette is composed of a series of cool colors intended to mimic tones of the asexual and aromantic flags. With an emphasis on purple and green shades, the palette is also contrasted by a deep navy blue, which can serve as a background. Embrace’s typography conveys a sense of approachability and connection with clean lines and simple, geometric shapes.
The Embrace logo is composed of a wordmark and icon combination, and the logo typeface is written in the font Lexend Deca. The “A” of “embrace” is replaced by a spade, a shape that is frequently used by the aro-ace community to represent themselves.
Deliverables
Physical Advertisements
Online Presence
See the website!
Lesson plans & Business System
Apparel
Takeaways
Embrace was an enriching project to work on in many ways.
Working with designers with expertise in different areas was beneficial for both our team and for our project’s outcome. Individually bringing unique ideas and perspectives to our project elevated our work.
Through Embrace, I learned the nuances of a community I likely would not have encountered otherwise. I believe that understanding marginalized communities and developing support systems with them is essential to being a well-rounded member of society. Embrace allowed me to do so with my strongest skills.
