Zhou Wins International Poster Design Competition

Jing Zhou, MFA, professor of graphic and interactive design in the Department of Art and Design, is a winner of CooterMag's first international open call for poster design, in the category of social poster. CooterMag is an independent cultural and artistic magazine, operated under the editorial and publishing umbrella of Daarvak Publishing House in Germany.

The competition invited artists from around the world to submit original poster works in three categoris-social posters, cultural posters, and commercial posters. The jury panel consisted of 14 professional designers from Germany, Italy, Mexico, Poland, Turkey, the U.S. and more. The contest's open theme focused on original visual ideas and personal creative viewpoints reflecting different approaches to poster design, from social messages to cultural themes. The selected works will be published on the CooterMag website.

The winning design, "Stop Killing Women," is part of Zhou's Backward Waves social and environmental poster series. It campaigns for greater awareness of violence against women, calling attention to the alarming number of women and girls intentionally killed worldwide, as reported by UN Women, and urging collective action to end gender-based violence.

The poster Stop Killing Women was selected by the CooterMag International Poster Design Competition 2026.

Suspended by a red string, the female gender symbol is severed in two, with the cross falling away as a stark symbol of death and violence against women. The purple background reflects the color's historical association with the women's movement and the pursuit of gender equality.