→ Challenging the Meaning of Masculinity
Don't Be a Man is a regional campaign developed for UN Women's HeForShe initiative, challenging traditional expectations of masculinity across Central Asia. Built around the provocative phrase "Don't Be a Man," the campaign questions the stereotypes associated with being a man and proposes a different understanding of strength, care, and responsibility.
As part of the Tidam creative team, I worked on the campaign's design and art direction, developing a visual language that connected its central message across films, languages, and communication platforms.
→ When Expectations Become Limitations
In Central Asia, traditional gender expectations often place men in positions of authority while assigning women responsibility for domestic work and caregiving. These assumptions contribute to unequal relationships and can normalize harmful behavior. The campaign addressed a difficult question: how can we challenge deeply rooted expectations of masculinity without alienating the audience we want to engage? The challenge was to create communication that could confront familiar stereotypes while remaining emotionally accessible and culturally relevant.
→Insight: Rethinking What Strength Looks Like
The campaign drew on familiar expectations of masculinity: men should be strong, independent, authoritative, and emotionally restrained. Rather than reinforcing these ideas, the creative strategy explored how everyday acts of care, empathy, and responsibility could offer alternative expressions of strength. The phrase "Don't Be a Man" became a deliberate provocation, inviting audiences to reconsider what they had been taught about masculinity.
→ Idea: Four Stories, One Conversation
The campaign translated its central message into four short films, each exploring masculinity through familiar family relationships and everyday situations. Rather than presenting abstract arguments about gender equality, the films used recognizable moments to encourage reflection on how expectations shape behavior.
→ Design Process: Building a Unified Campaign Language
I contributed to the development of the campaign's central idea, "Don't Be a Man," shaping a provocative message that challenges conventional expectations of masculinity and invites audiences to reconsider its meaning. My role also focused on translating this concept into a recognizable and adaptable visual system. Working across composition and campaign assets, I helped establish a consistent identity that supported emotionally driven storytelling while maintaining the campaign's provocative tone. The visual system used bold typography, a distinctive pink palette, and direct messaging to create immediate recognition and contrast with conventional representations of masculinity. I also worked on adapting the campaign across five languages, ensuring that the visual identity remained cohesive across different linguistic and cultural contexts. The system extended beyond the films into supporting campaign materials, connecting multiple forms of communication under one recognizable identity.
→ Outcome: A Conversation Beyond the Screen
The campaign brought together four short films and supporting communication materials, reaching audiences across Central Asia.
15M+ people reached
4 short films
5 countries
4 short films
5 countries
The films used familiar family situations to bring questions of masculinity and gender equality into everyday conversations. The campaign received recognition at the Epica Awards and Jolbors Festival, reflecting the impact of the collaborative creative work.
→ Reflection: Designing for Cultural Change
This project strengthened my understanding of design as a tool for shaping conversations around complex social issues. Working within a multidisciplinary team showed me how art direction and visual identity can support a larger narrative without overshadowing its emotional message. It also reinforced the importance of designing systems that remain recognizable across languages and cultural contexts while allowing individual stories to retain their specificity.
For me, the project demonstrated how visual communication can move beyond delivering a message to creating opportunities for reflection and dialogue.
Client: UN Women / HeForShe
Agency: Tidam
Role: Design & Art Direction, Campaign Visual System, Multilingual Adaptation
Agency: Tidam
Role: Design & Art Direction, Campaign Visual System, Multilingual Adaptation
I am incredibly grateful to the entire team for their contributions:
CEO, Tidam: Ainura Umaeva
Creative Director: Denis Eliseev
Experts: Maya Akisheva, Madi Mambetov, Natalya Sludskaya
Operations Director: Natalya Shorokhova
Account Manager: Tomiris Subbotina
Marketing Manager: Albina Agapova
UN Women Manager: Assem Satmukhambetova
Director: Radik Eshimov
Creative Copywriting: Assel Iskuzhayeva
Designer and Art Director: Assem Kiyalova
Creative Director: Denis Eliseev
Experts: Maya Akisheva, Madi Mambetov, Natalya Sludskaya
Operations Director: Natalya Shorokhova
Account Manager: Tomiris Subbotina
Marketing Manager: Albina Agapova
UN Women Manager: Assem Satmukhambetova
Director: Radik Eshimov
Creative Copywriting: Assel Iskuzhayeva
Designer and Art Director: Assem Kiyalova
Awards:
1. Epica Awards – Silver Award in the Public Interest – Gender Equity category for the "Don’t Be a Man" project. (Issued December 2024)
2. Jolbors Festival Awards – Recognition for "Don’t Be a Man" and "Do Not Forget Your Way Home". (Issued September 2024)
3. White Square Creative Festival – Silver Award in the Gender Equality category for the HeForShe project with UN Women. (Issued June 2024)
