Hannah Buchanan illustrates the roller coaster ride to gender equality
Creatives play an important role in elevating International Women's Day (IWD) through helping amplify awareness raising. Via their creative contributions, audiences worldwide are engaged through collective action to help forge gender equality.
Each year the IWD Lettering Challenge, in association with the global Typism community, calls for creative designs that support an annual IWD focus and showcase the impressive talent of creators.
Here, we shine a spotlight on one such creative, Hannah Buchanan, and showcase her IWD 2025 Acceleration Action design.
Hannah is part of #Typism100, a directory that helps lettering artists attract new clients through showcasing their skills to a wider audience.
Based in the UK, Hannah creates illustrations and lettering, that bring meaningful stories and impactful ideas to life.
Working primarily in digital but with the flexibility and knowledge to throw herself into traditional projects, Hannah is passionate about engaging with others through her work.
Hannah earned a BA (Hons) in Visual Communication: Illustration from Loughborough University.
Alongside her Typism design, Hannah supported IWD 2025 by creating a collection of promotional materials for Wyre Forest Books, an independent bookshop in Worcestershire, UK.
Hannah’s posters featured striking images of influential women that were placed outside the shop, while bookmarks were handed out to customers with an array of books about amazing women throughout history.
Sharing her design concept
Discussing the concept behind her IWD design, Hannah says: "The struggle for gender equality can often feel a lot like that breathless moment at the top of a roller coaster when time seems to stop. You cycle through a mix of anxiety, resolve and excitement. It can be very scary before the ride begins, but once the brakes come off, and you feel that first swoop in your stomach, you know that each twist and turn will get better."
"I wanted my piece to really emphasise, movement and a sense of scale. So one half of my lettering is sans-serif and structured, mirroring the scaffolding in the illustration. The other half features large swashes and curves to show momentum. My style often blends illustration and lettering together, which I did in this piece to give a sense of playfulness and character."
From mind maps to final details
The process behind Hannah’s artwork always begins with a mind map, interrogating the most important words in the brief and what they mean. Then, Hannah will start drawing little thumbnails in Procreate, narrowing down and picking out the most successful concept.
"Then I'll draw out how I want my final composition to look, refining again and again until I have a sketch I'm happy with. The next step is blocking out all the elements and choosing a colour palette. Colouring and shading come next, which I find is often the most difficult part of the process," continues Hannah.
“Then my favourite part is to add details that really finalise everything. For this piece, that was the character line art and the more intricate shading on the lettering,” adds Hannah.
Continuing momentum from what was previously built
For Hannah, Accelerate Action means building on previous momentum and continuing even if it's difficult.
"Every time anyone pushes women's equality forward in some way, it is important to build on their actions. As a society, we need to keep the ball rolling and, wherever possible, speed that movement up," says Hannah.
When asked what International Women’s Day means to her, Hannah says: "International Women's Day reminds us to always listen to and learn about the myriad of different experiences women around the world are having. This is a crucial part of intersectional feminism, which aims for the equality of ALL genders and, in turn, betters human society."
Learn more about Hannah Buchanan's work.
Share your creative talent with the world
Post your creation on your social media feeds using the hashtags #IWD2025 #AccelerateAction #IWDtypism for a chance to be featured.
Together, let's Accelerate Action for gender equality.