Joyful Resistance Website
Client
Year
Joyful Resistance is an autistic-led and values-based clinic founded by therapist Ayasha Mayr Handel, supporting neurodivergent adults, children, youth and families. Through her practice, Ayasha offers a range of supports including psychotherapy, somatics, groups, sensory and accommodations planning, and animal-assisted therapy.
Guiding these core activities is Ayasha’s ongoing commitment to creating community and healing infrastructure which is specifically “by us and for us”. Her work embodies a joyful approach to autistic being, learning, and healing—offering non-violent and culturally competent options for those seeking support.
The Need
We were approached by therapist and clinic founder Ayasha Mayr Handel to engage in a website design process for her practice, Joyful Resistance. Our goals were to:
- develop a look-and-feel for the website which complements the existing Joyful Resistance brand identity;
- ensure the website design is visually playful, spacious, gentle, and incorporates gentle movement through the use of animation; and
- design the website to work in harmony with the physical space, the Sensory Studio, which is represented through photography.
The Idea
Challenging the Container of the Shape
Joyful Resistance uses healing models developed by and for autistic and neurodivergent communities, attuned to the individual and their journey. The approach is collaborative, non-violent, and responsive—not rooted in tropes, stereotypes or pathologizing models of neurodivergence.
This approach focuses on the concept that care and services should be uniquely tailored to support (or hold) the goals and needs of each person.
Visually, this concept is represented through a series of unique curved shapes, revealed to the viewer through animation. The shapes are unmasked to fill organically-shaped containers, specifically designed to hold them. We actively challenge and resist the notion that individuals should be forced into shapes or frameworks which are not designed for them.
The Work
The final work is a unique and responsive website design, with a calming yet playful colour palette, animated SVG paths, and bold photography—all working in harmony with one another and with Ayasha’s unique and liberatory approach to care.
Explore the website at joyfulresistance.ca.
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