Civic education is an essential element of electoral preparations. In order to the broadest audience in a constituency with a significant number of illiterate voters, the JEMBS relies on the vision and talents of a cartoonist, a painter and an illustrator.

JEMBS cartoonist Jacques Zahles is a former graphic designer with UNESCO in Paris. He currently runs his own graphic design company out of Paris which specializes in visual communications, including cartoons and graphic designs for posters, magazines, ads, corporate image, logos, and other works related to designing an image.

UNESCO remained a loyal fan of his work, sending him on numerous missions in West Africa and Southeast Asia. Designing educational materials for illiterate audiences became his specialty. His research and experience in this area led to his creation of a dictionary of 1,500 of the most commonly used images in educational drawings.

In preparation for the 1998 national elections in Cambodia, UNESCO recruited Zahles to direct its large educational project. In this capacity, he designed all of the drawings for the government’s census campaign. “The project was very challenging because the population was very scared of anything coming from government,” Zahles said. “We had to find something that would gain their confidence and attention. I designed logotype, made animated movie of this logotype; the most famous female Cambodian singer recorded the theme song of the campaign.” The song became an instant hit and soon every Cambodian was familiar enough with the tune to sing along. Largely due to the success of the campaign, 98 percent of the population agreed to participate in census.

The Graphics Section works with the Message Development section of Public Outreach, as well as procedures writers and trainers to ascertain what the drawing will communicate. Zahles then drafts drawings that illustrate these political concepts. These images are tested through focus groups comprised of illiterate individuals who may not be familiar with the topic.

“Most of the time, it works,” said Zahles, of the drawings. But this is not always the case. In preparing materials for the presidential election civic education campaign, Zahles essayed to create a drawing that would tell a story answering many basic electoral questions. One drafted drawing depicted a man and a woman who know little about elections so they ask each other questions. “The man is scratching his head as a sign of confusion. Focus group participants thought the image was of someone who was deaf and mute and believed that the message was only meant for a deaf and mute audience. I had taken for granted that the connotation of this image would be applicable. I thought it would be widely understood. But that was not the case.”

Messages for a particular target audience can be especially tricky. “When you produce a poster for women, you should never provoke the men,” said Zahles. “Otherwise it will have the opposite effect.” An original draft of a poster encouraging women’s participation in the voting process depicts a large group of women; several are uncovered, one stands in the foreground raising her hand in a clenched fist. This, however, Zahles said, was a mistake. “I didn’t want to draw burkas in the beginning because I felt that if we present women in burkas it means we accept them. We had big talks about this with public outreach. They convinced me that if we want women to come and vote, we must also target the many women who wear the burkas.”

The feedback provided by focus groups is incorporated into new drafts and retested. A final draft is presented to the JEMB Commission for comments and approval. At this stage, the rough drawing is passed on to two notable Afghan contemporary artists for realization – painter Sediq Sediqi and illustrator Asef Alef.

Mr. Ghulam Sediq Sediqi is a well known in Afghan art circles. A self-trained painter, Sediqi has been painting for more than 38 years. He is a 1965 graduate of the Industrial Vocational school of Kabul. He fled his the civil war that engulfed Kabul and settled in Pakistan in 1993 where he continued to teach at Amani High School in Peshawar. He has created more than 7,000 Realist works in watercolor oil and char-color and has received awards from Ministry of Education and Ministry of Information and Culture.

As an art teacher at Amani High School, Sediqi recalls one student who stood out – Mr. Asef Alef. “Alef was in my fifth class at Amani,” Sediqi recalls. “He was very talented then and is even better now.”

Alef is an illustrator by trade. He first began to develop an interest in drawing at the age of seven and continued his artistic training through his secondary and tertiary education. Considerably well-known in Kabul for his calligraphy, wall paintings and frescoes in mosques including Shah –e –Doshamshira and Abdul Hadi-Davi Mosques, Alef has created more than 1,000 paintings and calligraphies in Classic and Realistic styles.

Together, the three artists combat the barriers presented by illiteracy with their weapons of choice – colored pencils and paintbrushes.