AbortoLegal CR Branding

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Context

Last election year, Costa Rica saw the rise of a right-wing evangelical movement that was threatening the core of women’s rights. Among threats to dissolve the National Women’s Institute (INAMU) and over-throw therapeutic abortion laws, Aborto Legal Costa Rica was born: a social movement seeking to protect and advance women’s reproductive rights. It needed a logo, an image, a brand… Several feminist movements had already risen and chosen icons and colors, which could be Costa Rica’s?

The idea: Merging the local with the global

We had the idea to take one of Costa Rica’s most beloved national symbols, the Guaria Morada (Purple Guaria Orchid), and merge it with the iconic rising fist the feminist movements have used for decades through the western world.

The Guaria Morada was ideal for three reasons:

1. It allowed us to claim an already beloved symbol just like the LGBT+ movement did with the rainbow.

2. It’s vibrant purple is the color feminism has historically used worldwide.

3. The Guaria, like most orchids, looks and awful lot like a vulva. Most fitting for a pro-choice women’s movement.

Collaborative Design

With the idea clear and approved by the movement’s Assembly, the design process began. It was a collaborative effort where activists worked with volunteering designers to achieve a logo and all sorts of applications: stencils, handkerchiefs, facebook frames to name a few.

Purple Rain

Now, every time there is a march, vigile or protest, the streets are flooded with Guaria purple handkerchieves. Even though the movement produces oficial versions that are sold at the very low price to finance the movement, many women have taken it upon themselves or get together with friends to create their own versions. It has slowly become an icon of Costa Rica’s women’s right’s movements.

#ArtivistFridays

Many women and artists have created their own versions of the icon and these are often shared in ALCR’s instagram (@AbortoLegalCostaRica) for #ViernesArtivistas