There's a proposal by Newsroom Afrika to refresh the South African coat of arms to a version that will "give recognition to women", this part of the #ChangeForHer campaign. Sounds alright. Let's talk #design:

The illustrations of the two human figures were inspired by rock paintings, which are a very simple and flat style of art. Adding detail to one of the figures not only distorts the style, but also breaks the visual harmony.

Harmony is a design principle that holds all designed elements together so that they tell one story. These elements are meant to be governed by the same look & feel and rationale (this is where the magic of art direction comes in).

The proposed redesign needs to remain true to the style of what it was inspired by. If one of the figures is meant to be overtly feminine, then the entire anatomy of that figure needs to be revised in a way that is true to rock painting depictions of female bodies.

Now, how necessary is all of this? Look, the original human figures can be traced back to the Linton Stone. The figures were redrawn and simplified to represent non-gender specific figures, this was done by intentionally excluding depictions of genitalia.

I understand the sentiment behind wanting women to be seen and well-represented. Is this redesign exercise worth it? In my opinion, no. It doesn't seem well-researched and it falls flat on too many levels (rationale, idea and execution).

Newsroom Afrika has actually put in a lot of real work when it comes to championing the success of women in journalism - that, in my opinion, has more gravitas than compositing an afro, boobs and bums to the South African coat of arms.