To record the current landscape of women in design and give visibility to the unsung diversity of Aotearoa design, Designers Speak (Up) made an open call early 2019 to all designers, artists and educators from the Directory of Women Designers to design a poster using the medium to explore and address any issue social, cultural, or political issue of their choice.




Present Tense: Wāhine Toi Aotearoa
Internal Dialogue

Poster Design
April 2019
Present Tense : Wāhine Toi Aotearoa presents the posters in various forms — from printed to projected to published online — over the course of a project and exhibition hīkoi launched April 30, 2019, in Kirikiriroa at RAMP Gallery.

Internal Dialogue
confronts the issue of mental health currently facing millennials: the constant pressures put on young adults who are experiencing such significant life changes, further challenged by financial strains, social pressures, cultural expectations, all while faced with the impending impacts of environmental change. Millennials are constantly being pressured to conform to societal norms of generations past. Young adults are faced with an internal dialogue of pressures, reinforced by societal expectations. We need to address the mental health issue in our younger generations by making it a priority, while removing the stigma attached to mental health in Aotearoa.