We were approached by the Ms. Foundation for Women to create a timeline of the last 40 years of Women’s rights on the occasion of their 40th anniversary.

The timeline highlights Ms. Milestones from 1972–2013 and also showcases events in the ever-changing political climate in the US. The timeline has both depth and breadth, with the aim to cover a wide range of ground to tell the overall story of changing women’s rights, and also to focus on the specific moments that had great impact. Since the Ms. Foundation’s mission focuses on the collectivity of women working together for change, we thought their story would not be served well by using singular, iconic images to highlight only the ‘best-of’ events or people. Instead, we thought every event should be represented with a visual; this way there was no added hierarchy of importance in the design. No singular moment or woman defines who the Ms. Foundation is or represents; it is instead a diverse collective whose achievements build from one small step to the next.

Our design represents that multitude and diverse collective of women, rendered in a variety of graphic means. The timeline is a textured collage of imagery, using professional and amateur photography, iconic artwork, and graphic illustrations. The design mixes the highbrow— Sandra Day O’Connor getting sworn in as US Supreme Court Judge— with the more everyday—a collage of credit card, student loan, and car, to illustrate what a women couldn’t get in their own names in 1972. We customized many of the illustrations to further the narratives, and for maximum impact. The bright, highly saturated color palette suits the dynamism of the Ms. Foundation. The timeline also folds out into a poster that collects all the images, and was framed in the Ms. Foundation’s offices.