Even at the edge of uncertainty, we prepare—together. This illustration reflects the quiet power of feminist readiness, intention, and trust in the collective.

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, as global systems strained under crisis, FRIDA made a bold, feminist move: they shifted into Core Operations Mode. This was not a retreat—it was an intentional pause, a grounding in collective care. FRIDA reorganized their workflows, recalibrated expectations, and centered the wellbeing of their team, partners, and grantee communities.


To mark this moment and communicate it with clarity and heart, we were invited to create an illustration that served as both symbol and message. A piece of visual storytelling that could hold the nuance of stillness, readiness, and transformation.

We designed an illustration of a feminist repair crew—a diverse group of women and queer people working together to ready a boat at shore, just before it sets off into stormy seas. Above them, a pride-striped flag catches the wind. Behind them, the sky rumbles. Around them, the energy of preparation: mending, lifting, painting, steadying.

The visual holds the message: this is not a moment of abandoning ship, but of fortifying it.

Symbolism

• The boat: FRIDA itself—a vessel for feminist movement-building, mutual care, and funding justice.
  
• The crew: FRIDA’s team and ecosystem—hands-on, interdependent, diverse in approach and experience.
  
• The stormy sea: The overlapping crises of pandemic, economic disruption, and social upheaval.
  
• The pride-progress flag: A nod to FRIDA’s values of queerness, fluidity, and intersectional solidarity.

Design Goals

• Convey a sense of collective action without urgency-fueled panic.
  
• Avoid common tropes of burnout or emergency; instead, center resilience and intention.
  
• Make the illustration universally relatable to grantee partners and movement allies across geographies.
  
• Create a piece that can live beyond the announcement—used in workshops, reflections, and archives.

Visual Style

• Color palette: Earthy browns and stormy greys balanced by warm clothing tones and vibrant flag hues.
  
• Linework: Hand-drawn strokes for warmth and intimacy.
  
• Perspective: Wide enough to see the environment, close enough to feel each figure’s role.
  
• Composition: Diagonal movement suggests effort and dynamism, rooted in grounded solidarity.

The illustration was shared alongside the public announcement of Core Operations Mode via:

• The FRIDA website and blog: Read the announcement
  
• The detailed PDF explainer shared with partners: CORE OPERATIONS MODE
  
• Digital storytelling campaigns that framed this as a practice of care, not collapse

• The image helped position FRIDA’s pivot not as a retreat, but a strategic act of feminist leadership.
  
• Partner organizations shared the illustration as a model of how to visually communicate internal transformation.
  
• FRIDA team members cited the image as something they “returned to” during the mode to remind themselves of the collective power in pause.

This illustration wasn’t just about one organization’s response—it became part of a broader movement to rethink how feminist systems care for themselves in times of strain. With this work, we created a visual metaphor that invited softness, strategy, and solidarity—all aboard a ship getting ready, together.