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Becca Whiteing

Becca Whiteing is a London-based designer. She uses her practice as a tool to distribute and uncover untold narratives in expansive editorial formats. Whiteing studied at Kingston School of Art where she received her BA in Graphic Design.

The designer’s attraction to the world of print and publishing led her to Berlin for an internship at Rimini, a female-led studio that produces work for clients in the cultural sector. Her interest in the work of designer, educator and researcher Mindy Seu shaped her creative output and visual interests in “feminist discourse, gathering, and planetary thinking”. Her Practice involves focusing on the importance of the Earth as a planet and nature and explores this in her work by using sustainably sourced materials, soy-based risograph inks, recycled paper and local printing in her projects. The feminist discourse is a way of analysing how language and power are used to create and maintain gendered social orders.

One of her projects explored the role of women's presence in typography. She created branding for an exhibition to spread and advertise the exhibition that showcased fifteen female type designers.

Design Through Publishing

Whiteing's practice involves research, communication and collaboration. Her work focuses on printed matter, spatial design and archival research, initiated through a passion for revealing untold narratives. Working collaboratively is the core of Whiteing's practice that allows her work to develop in different directions depending on the types of people and creatives she works with. She explores ‘the tactility and tangibility of physical items that might otherwise be lost’ and ‘gathering ephemera.’ An example of this is when she created a visual storytelling of a family through type, old photographs and letters. These are the methods that she has found to use her voice as a publisher to distribute and retell stories.

Selected Projects

Terrapolis

‘A researched-led collection of chap books; concerning ecofeminism which is underpinned by Ursula Guin's essay. The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction. These books look to new methods of feminist storytelling.’ This research led project was originally all stored in a digital space, and the process of trans-mediation materialised this content in the form of the book.

The F* Word – Feminist Graphic Design and Guerrilla Girls

‘Visual identity for the exhibition The F* Word, for the Guerrilla Girls and other feminist graphic design practices. The branding works with the symbol of the gorilla mask to look direct and self-confident, whilst also spreading the topic more broadly. The work was shown at MK&G in Hamburg for a 5-month period.’ There was also a type specimen of 15 female type designers used in the exhibition as well.  The exhibition draws attention to the stark underrepresentation of female designers in the Graphics and Poster Collection of the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg. Of all the works in the collection, only 1.5% were created by women.

Circa

Here Whiteing publishes her dissertation through the development of an event space and reading group. It is an exploration into the role and marginalised existence of women’s presence within the typographic design canon. Happening #00 took place at Penrhyn Archive centre and acted as the pre-run to Happening #01 that took place at Peckham’s Feminist Library in May 2024. This event activates her dissertation through a reading, installation and exploration into the politics of citation and archives.