I'm drawn to the topic of Child Marriage because of its profound impact on millions of children worldwide. It's a distressing practice that robs children of their childhood, education, and potential. By highlighting the detrimental impact of Child Marriage, I hope to raise awareness and contribute to efforts aimed at eradicating this harmful practice. Every child deserves the right to a safe and nurturing childhood, and addressing Child Marriage is crucial in ensuring this fundamental right for all.
The color theme:
Black and White
Black represents the darkness of child marriage.
White symbolizes the purity of children.
The Front Cover:
The image of a ring tied to a string is a metaphor like a chain, likening marriage to children as bondage and suffocation.
Pages 3 and 4 have an image of a string connecting the two pages, which is the red thread, also known as the Red string of fate. According to Asians, the red thread is used to tie the fate of two people who will become husband and wife, in the sense of happiness. But, the red thread here is only black and white, without red, just like a marriage without love.
The Back Cover:
2 rings with raindrops like tears around them show that child marriage is an unhappy marriage.
Poster:
The image of a green strawberry being picked by the hands of an adult man, surrounded by other red strawberries is a metaphor for child marriage.
Why strawberry?
In Vietnamese, strawberry and bride have the same pronunciation. Strawberry means trái DÂU and bride means cô DÂU.
Dâu /zow/
The color scheme used in the poster shows darkness and sadness, expressing helplessness and sadness about the lives of children in child marriage.
The sky in the painting is rainy and dark, a metaphor for tears like the sky is crying, and the world is dark with no innocent light, as people often use the metaphor “in the eyes of a child, the world is always filled with light.”
Bonus: This is one of my sketches when making a poster for this topic. Its meaning is that a little girl is separated from children's things (toys, playgrounds, health, etc,.) by a "prison" called a wedding ring. This visual metaphor underscores the poignant divide between the carefree realm of youth and the societal expectations or burdens imposed prematurely.
In the gif below, the teddy bear represents a kid's "childhood." When they are innocent and have fun, their "childhood" will be happy. When children are imprisoned by the wedding ring and separated from the things their age should enjoy, their "childhood" will become sad and a little angry.
The combination of a sketch and gif beckons reflection upon the stark contrast between liberated, jubilant childhood and the weight of societal constraints.
