Authorship
POSTERS
CATALOGUE
PHOTOGRAPHY
The Author as the Subject
Authorship is an exploration of self-expression through graphic design, developed under the guidance of Jiri Oplatek. The project investigates what it means to design not for a client, but from within one’s own identity.
Across two stages, I translated my Zimbabwean background into a structured visual system. Photography, typography, colour theory, slogans, abstract patterns and found imagery were not used as decoration, but as investigative tools. The aim was to examine identity as layered, constructed and culturally situated.
The foundation was a 150–180 page A3 catalogue built across six chapters. Each chapter used a distinct visual method to explore different facets of identity. The focus was depth, humour and personal insight over technical perfection.
Photography captured self-portraits through Zimbabwean traditional dress, gesture and movement. Cultural behaviour became visual language.
Slogans written in English and Shona reflected passions, contradictions and desires in a poetic register.
Typography reconstructed my name using African symbols inspired by the African Alphabet by Saki Mafundikwa. Letterforms carried lineage.
Shapes and Patterns fragmented a larger illustration into sections that connected like a puzzle. Identity assembled rather than assumed.
Colour Theory translated emotional associations into palette systems, linking feeling to form.
Found Images referenced movements such as Afrofuturism alongside influential African photographers and symbolic archives.
The catalogue became a layered self-portrait. Structured. Experimental. Intentional.
The poster series extended the exploration by combining three of the six techniques within each of three final compositions. These works distilled the broader catalogue into concentrated graphic statements, balancing humour, independence and conceptual depth.
Exhibited both digitally and in print, the posters translated introspection into public dialogue. The shift from book to wall sharpened the work, testing whether identity could remain complex even when visually condensed.
At its core, the project frames graphic design as a method of cultural observation and self-examination. It asks the designer to acknowledge authorship not only over layout and typography, but over narrative and representation.
Authorship became a study in designing from within one’s own history. Not referencing culture as aesthetic surface, but engaging it as structure.
Not self-expression for effect.
Self-definition with intention.
The project is a deep dive into authorship as responsibility: designing from within one’s culture, rather than referencing it from a distance.