alike creative. is an independent graphic design consultancy, managed and operated by Australian artist and designer Stephen Tierney.
Say hello today. I'd like to meet you and learn more about your organisation.
alike creative.
Stephen Tierney
Art Director / Manager
email: hello@alikecreative.com
The International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) makes up around 740 unions and represents more than 4.5 million transport workers from 150 countries. They aim to promote respect for trade unions and fight for human rights worldwide. As well as provide general assistance to transport workers in difficulty. alike creative. began collaborating with ITF in 2016 supporting the UK team on their international campaigns and research materials. This work includes the design of reports, industry guidelines and toolkits. As well as event materials, infographics, flyers, social media campaigns and branding.
alike creative. began working with UN Women in 2015, designing communications materials for various campaigns toward Gender Equality and to End Violence Against Women. Our on-going relationship has included the design of a huge range of materials such as reports, internal briefs, event material and information flyers. As well the creation of animations and video testimonials, infographics and illustrations for social media. As well as full website . In the example below, we collaborated with several artists and one curator from Nepal. As well as staff from the UN Women Regional Offices in Nepal and Bangkok to create an interactive website and virtual exhibition titled 'We for Us'. The entire website was created using Webflow online software. The graphic portraits and collages were created by Steve Tierney using images and artworks supplied by the artists. You can view the website here.
Girls Not Brides is a global partnership of more than 1000 civil society organisations from over 95 countries around the world, committed to ending child marriage and enabling girls to fulfil their potential. alike creative. collaborated with the team in the UK to produce a set of new and exciting training resources built on playful design, bold illustrations and accessible educational material for use by youth-led organisations, and those working directly with young people, all forging the way to end child marriage. (Illustrations by Ariadna Vásquez)
The Global Resilience Fund is a collaborative feminist fund working with and for girls and young feminists responding to crises. Moving resources at speed and scale through collaborative and innovative models of shared power. alike creative. began collaborating with the fund from its initiation in 2020. We were asked to create a series of collage artworks using photos taken by young feminist activists globally, which have been used across the brand. We also designed and built their website, allowing the fund to provide emergency response funding to girl-led and centred organisations across every region of the world. Within the first year of launching they had supported 120 groups from 67 countries. We continue to support the fund with design of research reports, social media and web based materials and artwork.
alike creative. supported the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation between 2016 and 2021. We were initially engaged by the gender equality team to develop a conceptual infographic model on empowerment of women and girls. This model was presented in a White Paper: Conceptual model of women and girls' empowerment. The examples below are taken from the White Paper. The graphic conceptual model on empowerment of women and girls (bottom) was developed in close partnership with the Foundation and KIT Royal Tropical Institute. The model aims to provide conceptual clarity and a common language on what empowerment of women and girls means for the foundation.
Our on-going relationship with UN Women has allowed us to work on some amazing projects and collaborate with inspiring animators and illustrators as shown in the examples below. The first animation was produced in collaboration with UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific and launched to coincide with International Women's Day on 8 March 2021. alike creative. worked with an animator to bring the collages of Steve Tierney to life, creating a unique and vibrant video that works to tell the stories of seven women leaders in the judiciary, communities and women's rights movements across the region toward accessing justice and legal rights during the global pandemic. The second video was created for UN Women Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia to mark the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence campaign. The theme of the campaign was “Orange the World: Generation Equality Stands against Rape!” It highlights the need to end the “rape culture” that is entrenched in our society, whether in situations of conflict, peace, in our homes or on the streets. alike creative. worked with illustrator and animator María Ponce to create this beautiful video. The third video was created for UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific to highlight the lack of gender-differentiated policies within the prison system in the Philippines. This combined with the gender gap in the justice chain, deprives women in conflict with the law of meaningful access to justice. alike creative worked directly with UN Women staff and illustrator and animator Márcia Lete to create this bold and stylish video.
Purposeful is a feminist hub for girls' activism, rooted in Africa and working all around the world. alikecreative. has collaborated with the team based in Sierra Leone and the UK for more than 5 years. We regularly work with their international teams to produce powerful reports, research briefs, campaign and event materials. As well as artwork for web and social media graphics that allow girls and their allies to have access to resources, networks and platform they need to power their activism and remake the world.
In September 2019 alike creative. was invited to New York to collaborate with the NoVo Foundation and a small group of young feminist activists on the design of an event for the 2nd Girls' Funds Convening, held in the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens. It was seen as an important opportunity for members of International Girls' Funds to seed new and deepen existing relationships for collaboration in 2020 and beyond. As part of the activation Steve Tierney was asked to create 20 collage artworks that were printed on giant 2x3m banners and hung within the Atrium of the Botanic Gardens. Each of the images featured the inspiring, complex and unfiltered words of girls' stories of resistance against patriarchal violence, racism and other forms of oppression within their own lives. The artworks were presented again in 2022 by Purposeful for the 10th Africa Conference on Sexual Health and Rights in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
alike creative. has collaborated with Plan International many times in the design and layout of all types of communications materials. Including the creation of training modules, research reports, flyers, infographics and animations, which help to explain the work they do with communities, families, schools and governments in order to advance children's rights and equality for girls and young women. The Girls' Plan infographic (below) was created to showcase Plan International and their partners' aim to support young women and girls to overcome the barriers they face and to ensure they are able to unlock their power, are free from violence and discrimination and enjoy their full and equal rights. (Illustrations by Ariadna Vásquez)
Porticus is a philanthropic family foundation working to create a sustainable future, with an aim to make fundamental change in systems that affect human lives globally. alikecreative. recently teamed up with feminist creative group, Closer Than You Think to design a research report, which is a collection of studies looking into the evidence of the effectiveness of meaningful participation when creating impactful programmes that contribute to social change as well as transforming philanthropic practices. We designed and illustrated the report, and created social media graphics for its launch.
We love working with complicated, technical material. With over 20 years experience in information design and data visualisation, we take pride in offering a diverse service that can simplify complicated reports for easier digestion. As well as being able to create vibrant and edgy designs that can bring specialised material to life for much broader audiences. alike creative. has been collaborating with UNESCO since 2014. For the research report below we were asked to create the cover artwork and design the inside pages and infographics. Highlighting what the education sector can do to promote girls’ and women’s interest in and engagement with STEM education and ultimately STEM careers.
As well as managing alike creative. I create artwork and exhibit as a mixed media artist, specialising in the medium of collage and assemblage. Since 2003 I've shown my own artwork in solo and group exhibitions internationally and within Australia. As a valued member of the Sydney Collage Society I also participate in workshops, group exhibitions and regularly create commissioned artwork for clients. You can see my work here stevetierneycollage.com In 2018 I collaborated with a photographer named Tanja Bruckner to create my own source material for a very personal creative project titled Reflected. My aim was to confront belief systems and mindsets around gender, beauty and the body by interchanging the traditional with the unexpected. I used photography and collage to disrupt notions of representation in popular culture by replacing the typical female model with my own body. I presented the final artwork in a large scale installation in Oaxaca, Mexico in November of 2018. The Reflected project can be seen in the first three images below.
