Meet Jordy Mawhood, winner of the 2021 New Fashion Media award, which was supported by TikTok. Jordy’s final major project began life as an app designed to keep sex workers safe from violence but has since grown to be a safety measure that anyone can use while dating. She’s also created a podcast and a zine to expand on her ideas through different mediums, impressing the TikTok judges. Read on below!
How do you feel about winning an award at GFW21?
Honestly, I'm still not sure it has sunk in. It all feels like a wild dream that I'll wake up from soon, but it's just been incredible to have such amazing feedback and support for the project. It has given some real credibility to the project and I am now having professionals actively approaching me asking to get involved which I could have never imagined happening without GFW having highlighted and praised my work.
What is the most valuable thing you have learnt at university?
Aside from the obvious skills such as software and comms that are taught within my course, some of the most important life lessons I have gained during my studies have been about the importance of working with other creatives, both on my own projects as well as collaborating in other people's in order to build experience, how to manage a project efficiently and also some really great skills within how to then turn a project into a functioning business.
What was the starting point of inspiration for your final project?
This is kind of a wild one, but I was talking to a friend and fellow AUB Fashion Comms student about how there should be an app where sex workers are able to log their location, when they are going, and who they will be with, as well as being able to make in-app payments so that they are not carrying cash. I quickly realized this was likely to be problematic, and also that both the App Store and Google Play store would refuse to support it due to the nature of the product. This being said, I felt there was something in the idea that could be applied to other areas in order to take the world a safer place. That got me thinking of all the times I had messaged friends, or vice versa, before going on a date, just in case anything should happen. From there Pard was born.
What form does your FMP take?
My FMP takes the form of a podcast, Tinderella Tales, a zine, POD NOTES Zine, and the app, Pard. The podcast came about because I knew that I would need to do a substantial amount of research talking to industry professionals in order to build the app user interface, I figured I may as well document these conversations in the form of a podcast and zine so that others can learn from them as well. The aim of having multiple products was to make the project accessible to learners across all four learning styles of visual, auditory, read/write and kinaesthetic.
What materials have you used and how did you source them?
in order to create interesting visuals for POD NOTES Zine, I chose to work on creating text as image in physical form, then scanning these in to manipulate them in Photoshop before adding them into the zine. These practices included using lino cutting, collaging, drawing with scissors, and using the photocopier to over copy in order to emulate the punk zine and poster aesthetic I was aiming for. The reasoning behind this is that punk zines were unashamed in conveying their point, something I wanted for my project.
How has it evolved from your initial ideas and what have you learnt along the way?
As I had mentioned earlier, the initial idea came from an app that would allow safety for sex workers. From there the project had to evolve as both the App Store and the Google Play store both refuse to support apps relating to adult content. While trying to figure out how I could apply the same concept to another area, I came upon the idea of the problems within dating apps and the lack of safety procedures when meeting a stranger from the internet.
What are the messages and themes behind your project that you want people to take away? Do explore any topics like diversity, sustainability or politics in your work?
Time and time again during this project I have had people tell me it's a feminist project, and I disagree. While recent statistics show that 97% of women in my age group have experienced at least one incident of sexual assault, I don't think this diminishes the issues faced by any other gender. The issue is that people of all genders, ages, sexual orientations, ethnicities, abilities, and races are experiencing violence, particularly sexual violence, when doing something that should be a totally natural and safe activity, dating. This is the issue we are facing and that I am targetting in the project.
What’s an aspect of the fashion industry that you’re passionate about fixing or having a positive impact on?
I think it's clear from the project that I am passionate about fixing issues relating to dating and sexual violence, but within the fashion industry specifically, I started my degree because I felt that the industry was broken. We buy clothes to wear once or twice, knowing that they are at almost disposable prices. We value clothing less and less every year and I wanted to get us, as a society, back to the point that we appreciate the hard work and craftsmanship that goes into making a good quality garment, that we can love and treasure for years.
Now that you have finished your degree, what's your plan?
Now that I have finished my degree, I am continuing the project, speaking to people within the industry to further the app, and looking for financing for this. I plan to build the app through to it being a product that is available for all on the App Store and Google Play store, while also continuing to speak to campaigners, activists, artists, and more on Tinderella Tales to further my knowledge and understanding of the problems and how we can solve them.