Mah-Noor Anwar is a graphic designer capable of transforming a kitsch aesthetic into a contemporary, political, and personal language. Living and working in Manchester, Mah-Noor carries forward an aesthetic that exists between kitsch collage, naïve lettering, and references to South Asian visual culture, creating an imaginary that speaks directly to second- and third-generation communities raised in the West. Her project Chutney Chick was born precisely from this aspect of her work. But let’s dive deeper into Anwar’s approach to graphic design.
In her graphics, the exaggerated colors of Pakistani truck art coexist with the packaging of sweets crowding neighborhood shops and the kitsch of ’90s and 2000s Microsoft software. Comic Sans, MS Paint interfaces, improbable gradients: visual materials that for many are an ironic echo of the early internet, but which for Mah-Noor become an emotional archive, an affective code. As reported by It’s Nice That, it is the Manchester where she grew up that emerges through subtle details—signs, neon lights, poorly photographed menus, patterns taken from the Curry Mile; all elements that speak of community, conviviality, and that sense of comfort that only familiar, authentic places can offer.
The core of her work, however, goes beyond nostalgia. Mah-Noor builds design meant to be accessible, understandable, and welcoming—especially for disabled adults, neurodivergent people, and migrant communities. There is no distance between her and her audience: the collages include her image, her selfies, her drawings, as if each piece were an invitation to enter her world without formality. Saturation, low-res quality, the “overstuffed” aesthetic become tools of inclusion, not just stylistic choices.
A particularly emblematic example is the project I Love Ducks Autistically, an interactive publication centered on a special interest—ducks—transformed into a visual portal designed to encourage other autistic people to explore and value their own passions. It is a form of design that feels authentic precisely because it stems from personal attachment and becomes method, care, informal pedagogy.
With Chutney Chick and her more experimental projects, Mah-Noor Anwar is redefining what it means to create images “for one’s own community.” The result is an affectionate, noisy, visually joyful language that doesn’t seek perfection but presence.
