Who are We When We’re
Together?
How can design create conversations and stimulate the growth of a community?
Creating community is one of the biggest factors we have when it comes to creating social change, understanding yourself, the people around you, your environment, and the systems you interact with are all forms of understanding design. Using these tools we can create communities through design by promoting voices and causes we believe in. For me this looks like creating work that brings people together. I would love to hear your story and what work you find impactful.
I’m a Designer who creates human connections.
Using my skills in graphic design, photography, and event coordination I create opportunities for people to grow closer together and understand each other on deeper levels. I believe that everything designed we interact with in our daily lives has an impact on ourselves and our communities, so we might as well use them to lift up said communities.
How Do I Do It?
My work ranges from illustrations to full fledged campaigns and everything in between. Promoting voices that are typically unheard is what drives my continuing work in volunteer sectors of the design world. I am creating a world where a good purpose outshines a loud message, although I create work that does both.
Human Centered
Creating work that has human experiences in the center of each decision. Asking questions like “how might someone interpret this is they’re visually impaired?” and “who pioneered this type of imagery?” are common questions I ask myself when creating my work.
Bold Imagery
Imagery that calls back to cultural events and starts conversations between different viewers is at the heart of many of my projects. Referencing impactful events or designs that shaped my life and personality allow me to make work that feels more personal for everyone. As someone who wished that they could blend in and then embraced the ability to stand out, I believe that I can use this skill for good.
Influences
Community
The importance of community and it’s power has been something that has been a clear influence on my entire life. This has manifested in many of my personal projects being collaborations with or in service of my surrounding community. As a person of color community was never negotiable in my life, however there were times where it was absent from it. These periods of time are dangerous and scary for people who look like me, so using my design skills to create and maintain these places where people like me have historically been safe is a responsibility I am honored to have.
Identity
Finding things that I identify with over the years has been a rewarding experience, being able to grow into things that feel second nature is a gift that I don’t take lightly. I wish to share this experience with others, highlight the people who seem to get overlooked by others, document the things and people who never seem to be in the limelight. I find there there is so much joy and connection to be made when we identify with each other, and other people’s experiences. Learning from new people is how I say curious about future experiences.
I believe there is a connection between Identity and Empathy