Masks for the Gram
It’s 2020, there’s a pandemic, people won’t wear their damn masks. This project started from a simple play on words, “do it for the gram” where in place of Instagram, people are taking action for Grandma, recognizing and promoting that the actions we take are greater than ourselves.
Noisemaking Hand Sanitizer
Hand sanitizer is an easy, accessible way to fight viruses and bacteria (including Covid-19). So we pitched an idea to a healthcare client to give people an extra reward for using hand sanitizers by rigging them to make Super Mario power-up noises. The client didn’t shut the idea down cold before we even did a proof-of-concept…but I knew we were onto something. So, for the good of humanity, I decided to just make it myself. I learned to program Arduino and solder, and when the thing was done, I stuck it on the side of the YMCA in downtown Seattle and observed the results.
Kamika’s Letters
Kamika thought she had to burn the letters from prison so she could move on. Instead, she turned them into community uplifting art. With poetry, screenwriting and spoken word, Kamika pushes past her family’s prison trauma, making something out of a lifetime of writing letters to prison.
This project took two years to complete from the original play to the opening screening. The film was accepted into the 2020 SF Black Film Festival, distributed by NowThis and screened at the 2020 Justice Panel, the first presidential debate hosted at a federal penitentiary.
The film shines a light on intergenerational incarceration in the Black communty, while sharing a message of hope for those people who grow up in the same system that Kamika was born into.
Swipes for Good
In early March, COVID-19 hit New York and everything changed. Bars and restaurants were closing their doors, gig workers were out of a job, and people all over the city were trying to figure out ways to help.
If I Were A Man
Gender inequality sucks big time. We know it because we live it. And even though we’ve been making great strides in the workplace, gender inequality still continues to rear its ugly head. The first step to overcome this is to talk about it, and that’s not easy.
Black Creativity Matters
A big reason why the ad industry has a diversity problem is because the most popular way into the industry for young creatives –– portfolio school –– is also the biggest barrier of entry for many young Black creatives. So Denver Ad School decided to rally ad agencies all over the country to show that we believe Black creativity matters by starting a scholarship fund to ensure that all Black creatives who want to attend a portfolio school can come to DAD for free. In the 3 months since the initiative began we’ve received over 40 enrollment applications from young Black creatives all over the country and have partnered with many agencies including Crispin Porter Bogusky, Venebles Bell & Partners, David & Goliath, TDA Boulder, and more. Thanks to these agencies and all of our new partners that are joining every day, we’re going to infuse more Black voices and talent into an industry that desperately needs them.
Women Who Create
Women Who Create is a mentorship program for women of color in the creative industry and an event platform.
I grew up in a single parent household with no brothers or sisters. My mom and biological father dropped out of school early in high school. My mom was working as a waitress at Pizza Hut. And I wanted to be an artist.
When You’re Stuck Inside A Box
When the pandemic started I got to thinking about how kids are processing this whole situation. I worked with PreK-5th graders before graduating college and their positivity and honesty always inspired me. To be honest I was worried about them, but I was also pretty scared myself. This book helped me strip down the pandemic into language a kid would understand, in an effort to be honest but also positive about the whole thing (something I’m not always good at). While technically a children’s book, When You’re Stuck Inside a Box is for everyone.
Treat Your Block
During the COVID outbreak, New Yorkers knew restaurants, the lifeblood of NYC, were struggling to survive. Not many realized many public school students were also struggling. New York City has one of the highest rates of food insecure students and often times, those very students are homeless, transient or live with family who are essential workers and more likely to be exposed to COVID.
The Forgotten Ones
What if a Christmas tradition from the ones that get the most, can help the homeless get a little more? That’s right, we got the homeless to write their own letters to Santa.
