Case Study: Gender Equality and Empowerment Measurement Tool
Launched in November 2022, the Gender Equality and Empowerment Measurement (GEM) Tool takes a feminist approach to data collection and information gathering on the gender impacts of development projects around the world. Created by researchers and gender experts from the Middle East and Canada, the methodology centres the voices and experiences of women on the ground.
Anti-Heroine Media was brought on to translate the text-based tool into creative, engaging, and highly-visual interactive documents.
Inspired by global renditions of comic book styles, we used this medium to take end-users on a researching journey. This includes the incorporation of comic strips throughout to depict the various formats in which the GEM Tool can be used—whether in an in-person or digital context.
A comic strip from page 6 of the Facilitator’s Guide.
Building on Global Affairs Canada’s existing branding, we utilized bright and punchy colours to illustrate diverse characters and scenarios, representative of the folks who will be using the tool. The three main characters—Mariam, Yosra, and River—humanize and guide us through the different stages of data collection.
This image from page 1 of the Introduction illustrates Mariam, Yosra and River—the narrators of the three guides.
Accessibility and interactivity are never an afterthought in our design projects. The GEM Tool foregrounds these concepts through the use of clickable buttons, user-friendly and accessible navigation, bookmarks, reading order, tagging, readability best practices and alternative text.
In line with the visual style, we developed a short animation to promote the release of the GEM Tool globally. This involved crafting a succinct narrative to highlight the key messages and demonstrate its capabilities.
Storyboard for GEM Tool teaser.
View the finished teaser below.