Project Focus
Social awareness · Provocation · Victim blaming · Editorial activism · Zine culture


Research Intent

• Examine victim blaming in rape & sexual assault cases

• Understand everyday attitudes, not extreme viewpoints

• Investigate psychological, social, and media-driven factors behind blame

• Identify how educated, “well-meaning” individuals unconsciously participate in harmful narratives

• Explore zines as tools for disruption, accessibility, and provocation

​Key Research Insights

• Victim blaming is normalised and internalised, even among educated audiences

• People believe they are informed but often hold surface-level or flawed assumptions

• Media language and cultural conditioning reinforce blame

• Awareness content fails when it is preachy, academic, or passive

• Provocation and self-reflection are more effective than instruction

​Design Problem

• How can victim blaming be challenged without lecturing, while forcing the reader to confront their own beliefs?

Design Concept Approach

• Reverse psychology as narrative structure

• Begin by agreeing with common victim-blaming statements

• Gradually destabilise those beliefs

• End with accountability and reframing

• Shift responsibility from victim → perpetrator → society
   

Design Outcome

• A provocative, text-led zine

• Format: A5, 20 pages

• Medium: Printed zine

• Purpose: Awareness through discomfort and reflection

• Target audience: Everyday “common man” (12+)
   

Design Thinking

• Editorial design as a tool for planning

• Categorisation as visual navigation

• Annual release model to sustain interest and affordability

• Balances research, storytelling, and usability
   

Content Strategy 

• Common victim-blaming statements

• Psychological reasoning vs reality

• Real cases & survivor voices

• Media language critique

• Self-reflection prompts

• Gradual tonal shift:

• Passive → Questioning → Aggressive
   

Visual & Editorial Design

• Black-dominant palette (urgency, discomfort)

• Bold, textured typography (HVD Rowdy)

• Text-first approach over imagery

• Minimal colour accents for emphasis

• Grid refinement through reduction

• Symbols as narrative markers:

• ? doubt

• ! confrontation

• – unresolved responsibility
   

Interaction & Engagement

• Upside-down text

• Fold-out / extended pages

• Hidden messages & overlays

• Statement-based self-assessment

• Reader participation without gamification
   

Design Thinking

• Less information, more impact

• Distillation over data overload

• Design as moral confrontation, not decoration

• Zine as a safe but uncomfortable space

• Accessibility over academic tone
   

Final Intent

• To use provocation, typography, and narrative sequencing to expose how easily victim blaming is normalised

• forcing readers to recognise themselves in the problem, not distance themselves from it.
   

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