The illustrated woman
Women’s History Month is over, but that’s no reason to stop paying attention to women’s history. (Everyone is also officially on notice that Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month is in May.)
Frustrated by the lack of illustrations of women—particularly women of color—available to use in her work, YML Product Designer Bhabna Haque decided to create a new one each day in March. “I used this month, and this space, to create beautiful creative work that highlights women I look up too,” she says. “I feel, even working in a creative space, we forget how much we enjoy beautiful art. Sharing these illustrations every day provided me with a creative pause, an opportunity to learn, and the chance to be reminded of the incredible women who continue to influence and inspire so many right now.”
The 31 women Haque illustrated include politicians, like Stacey Abrams and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (March 3 and 4) and Kamala Harris (March 11), actors like Mindy Kaling (March 1), Issa Rae (March 22) and Meghan Markle (March 18), writers like Toni Morrison (March 2) and Amanda Gorman (March 29) and activists like Malala Yousafzai (March 24) and Angela Davis (March 19). During the month, she documented the process on Instagram.
“Young, badass women are putting in the work now, and every day, to shape a new narrative,” she says. “In this work I wanted to put a focus on WOC and BIPOC as they won’t nearly get the recognition they deserve. I hope my celebratory collage conveys some small amount of gratitude and appreciation.”