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design hijab communication tool

Taksheif

Undergraduate Thesis Project (8 months)
2017

Derived from the Arabic word كشف (verb; disclose detect, reveal, uncover, discover), 'Taksheif' was designed to enable safe communication about sexual assault in Syrian refugee camps.

 

By choosing to reveal or conceal parts of the fabric's pattern, the headscarf becomes a signaling tool within a community.

 

Keeping the modern wearer in mind, Taksheif's features and materials focus on comfort, ease of use, and urban safety. 

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  • Design Opportunity
    Based on market analysis and mapping out a timeline of assault, I found that majority of products only address the time between when a threat becomes apparent and the (potential) attack. Current solutions also had their own reasons that made them less effective/popular. There was an opportunity to create a non-violent product that initiated a system to address multiple stages of the assault timeline, through the local community.
  • Look Book
  • Process Highlights
    Background and Problem Space: -Research -Interviews Understanding Context: -Interviews -Mapping -Documentaries -UN reports Ideation and Concept Generation: -Sketches -Prototypes -Probes -Analogous Objects Product Creation: -Material Investigation -Screen Printing -Flat Pattern -User testing Link to process book here (hyperlinked)
  • Key Takeaways
    1. Concept lives beyond the product: In designing for such a nuanced space, the concept requires as much (if not more) design than the product itself. In this particular case, the concept can be adapted into the local ecosystem (through local tailors, weavers, sewing shops, etc) even if the product is not available. 2. The user is also the designer: Ongoing re-design; users (communities) may create alternative or new meanings to the signalling modes, based on their personal needs and the needs of others in their community. 3. Social sustainability: By designing a product or concept that is capable of changing to meet current and future needs (through the user's ongoing re-design), the product becomes a living system that sustains itself.
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