Mani-festo
2025Format: Adult sticker book — 16-page publication + sticker sheet
Role: Concept, 3D illustration, layout
Printing: Aalto Printlab
Description:
Mani-festo is an adult sticker book consisting of a 16-page illustration publication and an attached sticker sheet. Seven full-spread, 3D-modelled illustrations range from holding up a protest sign to eating a burger to driving a luxury car. The reader becomes the artist by completing each scene with stickers.
Concept:
While nail art is often dismissed as frivolous or purely decorative, it reflects deep intersections of gender, class, race, and identity. The biases towards feminine, wearable, and craft-based arts as less serious has to do with the same elitist and sexist assumptions that devalue women’s creative expression. It is also worth the spotlight that true feminist freedom includes the right to present oneself in conventionally feminine ways without compromising one’s values or authority. Finally, there is the class and racial dimensions of nail art, highlighting how working-class and Black women are often judged harshly for “tacky” or cheap-looking styles that are celebrated when adopted by white celebrities. These thoughts are something I brought with me into Mani-festo and the illustrations in it.
Role: Concept, 3D illustration, layout
Printing: Aalto Printlab
Description:
Mani-festo is an adult sticker book consisting of a 16-page illustration publication and an attached sticker sheet. Seven full-spread, 3D-modelled illustrations range from holding up a protest sign to eating a burger to driving a luxury car. The reader becomes the artist by completing each scene with stickers.
Concept:
While nail art is often dismissed as frivolous or purely decorative, it reflects deep intersections of gender, class, race, and identity. The biases towards feminine, wearable, and craft-based arts as less serious has to do with the same elitist and sexist assumptions that devalue women’s creative expression. It is also worth the spotlight that true feminist freedom includes the right to present oneself in conventionally feminine ways without compromising one’s values or authority. Finally, there is the class and racial dimensions of nail art, highlighting how working-class and Black women are often judged harshly for “tacky” or cheap-looking styles that are celebrated when adopted by white celebrities. These thoughts are something I brought with me into Mani-festo and the illustrations in it.