In a child’s eyes, the change from a primary to secondary school uniform is a big deal, embodying the close coming of adulthood. As exciting as that might be, growing up comes with responsibilities and consequences that are important to know about. A tentative collaborative intervention with Professor, Malaysia’s leading school uniform manufacturer, sex education is provided in the form of clothing care labels, sewn on all secondary school uniforms in replacement of its brand labels to propagate a change in the censored approach to the paranoia of sex education in Malaysia.
In a child’s eyes, the change from a primary to secondary school uniform is a big deal, embodying the close coming of adulthood. As exciting as that might be, growing up comes with responsibilities and consequences that are important to know about. A tentative collaborative intervention with Professor, Malaysia’s leading school uniform manufacturer, sex education is provided in the form of clothing care labels, sewn on all secondary school uniforms in replacement of its brand labels to propagate a change in the censored approach to the paranoia of sex education in Malaysia.
In Malaysia, 14 in every 1,000 underaged girls fall pregnant every year, which adds up to an average of 18,000 girls per year. STI rates have doubled in the past decade with syphilis doubling from 2.99 infected per 100,000 people in 2011, to 6.5 in 2017 as according to reports by the Health Ministry. Underaged/premarital pregnancies, abortion, baby dumping incidents and contraction of STIs are horrifyingly common in Malaysia, and it cannot be denied that the appalling lack of sex education in the country is to be held accountable for.
Problems
So how can we make sex education almost impossible to miss out before it's too late?
By integrating sex education modules within school uniform labels, not only that they become compulsory, but the primary purpose of sex education is achieved at the most impeccable time possible — when the uniforms are taken off for the deed.
An overly vivid and striking colour scheme is used to juxtapose the content itself and the perception of it as taboo and a discreet topic for conversation, whilst giving it the attention it intends.
Taking reference from the aesthetics of classic care labels, glyphs found in Chinese/Japanese fonts are used to reference care instruction symbols and signs, bearing similar geometrical forms.
Similar to the care instruction symbols, illustrations are stroked and kept minimal yet made as clear and accurate possible in light of both production considerations and clarity of communication - beating around the bush would not make for a good way around sex education, and simply propagate the paranoia of it being a taboo topic for children to engage in.
