The Passion

Contradick is a typeface design project that resulted from research into the use of language, and in particular swearing as an element of patriarchal discourse that perpetuates power disparities between cis-men & female identifying individuals. I developed my own swear word in direct response to the disproportionate representation of women in the language of swearing and the appalling display of gender bias shown by Scott Morrison in his 2019 International Women’s Day speech. And so was born ‘contradick’; someone who outwardly appears to support gender equality but in reality is inherently patriarchal. It’s a word to be used by female identifying folk fighting for a voice against hypocrisy and patriarchy in the years to come.

When creating the typeface, I wanted to use symbols of traditional masculinity and femininity to portray the patriarchal disparity in power; choosing to use inverted masculine triangles for the ascenders, descenders and stems of the vowels, which are the key element of word construction and dress shaped, feminine triangles for the consonants. The overall pointed shapes created by the type are a reference back to the anger than inspired the swearword whilst the angularity of the shapes reflects the sharpness of the consonant sounds making this display typeface suitable for making an emotional impact and voicing the objections of the group it was designed to empower.