PROJECT
Cosmopolitan Illustrations
The Brief
To create a series of private school vignettes to go along with a story about Black students documenting and calling out the racism they experienced on anonymous Instagram pages.
"How Students Are Using Social Media to Expose Racism" on a peach background.Screenshot of Cosmo article on a gray background.
The Design
In the first phase, I had to think back to high school. I called my mom to send pictures of my high school yearbook, and Googled the names of private schools I remembered from growing up. I looked up how uniforms were worn IRL, not just in teen shows and movies. I wanted to show a variety of body sizes, skin tones and hair types.
Three Black characters in purple school uniforms standing in front of lockers.Sketches laid out and tilted at a 45 degree angle.
One Black character sitting by herself on a bench, with the white characters on either side leaning off-screen.A Black character in a uniform holds a book against her chest.
Photos from a private school and papers held on a fridge with magnets.A Black character holds a phone with quotes on a Brown background over a desk.