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Art for Biden

November 16, 2020  •  2 min readVote for Joe

When Christopher Simmons called for artwork supporting the Biden-Harris campaign, what started as a single contribution evolved into an obsessive creative series. Through 3D typography and animated loops, I channeled my hopes for democracy into Instagram-ready animations designed to catch eyes and change minds.

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Working through My Own Confusion

November 15, 2020  •  1 min readPhoto of a staircase

As someone who's always enjoyed writing across various platforms, I've finally decided to create a single home for all my thoughts and musings. Here's why I'm consolidating my content and what you can expect to find here.

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Agitprop in Times of Uncertainty

June 20, 2020  •  2 min readGraphic of a T shaped like a swastika

In times of political and social upheaval, protest art emerges as a powerful voice of resistance. From Design Is Play's anti-Trump posters to Hong Kong's protest art and Shepard Fairey's "We the People" series, I explore how modern agitprop channels frustration into compelling visual statements against authoritarianism and injustice.

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Representation Is Powerful

June 13, 2020  •  2 min readWhere are the Black Designers

As a design student in the 1990s, I never questioned why all our celebrated design heroes were white men. Today, with Black designers making up only 3% of the industry, it's time to examine how we teach design history and create meaningful representation in our field.

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We Make the World We Want to Live In

June 6, 2020  •  3 min readScreenshot of Facebook's hate speech banner

In the wake of Twitter finally fact-checking Trump's tweets and growing protests over George Floyd's murder, tech companies are being forced to confront their role in enabling harmful content. As designers, we're not just passive observers in this system - we help shape the digital world that billions of people interact with every day.

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What Comic-Con Teaches Us about Design and Branding

July 26, 2019  •  8 min readPhoto of the Hall H stage at Comic-Con

As a designer, I've always been fascinated by how Comic-Con creates such passionate brand loyalty. By examining the core elements of storytelling - from worldbuilding to character development - we can apply these same principles to create more compelling brands and products. Here's what I learned from studying one of pop culture's biggest phenomena.

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Mainstream Media Just Don’t Understand

May 5, 2019  •  11 min readNew York Times vs Apple

As a tech industry observer, I've long been frustrated by mainstream media's misrepresentation of technology issues. The New York Times' recent coverage of Apple's App Store policies demonstrates this problem perfectly - from misunderstanding MDM technology to making flawed monopoly arguments, their reporting shows a fundamental lack of technical understanding while sending mixed messages about platform responsibility.

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Why Bulletproof Backpacks Are a Good Idea

November 9, 2017  •  5 min readA powerful black-and-white image depicts a young boy looking upwards with a solemn, contemplative expression. On the left, the barrel of an assault rifle held by a gloved hand is pointed, symbolizing the grim reality of gun violence and its impact on children. The dark background heightens the emotional tension, underscoring the unsettling juxtaposition of innocence and the threat of violence in modern society.

We’ve reached the point where schools are selling bulletproof backpack panels to protect kids from mass shootings. This is the NRA’s endgame: guns everywhere, from classrooms to churches to bars, with no meaningful gun control. Meanwhile, gun ownership is declining, but 69% of us live in fear of gun violence, thanks to a vocal minority holding our politics hostage. Bulletproof gear shouldn’t be a back-to-school essential, yet here we are.

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We’re Not There Yet

October 17, 2017  •  8 min readSilhouette of human evolution stages over a background of red blood splatters, symbolizing violence and primal instincts.

Yesterday, my Facebook filled with “Me too” posts—stark reminders of pervasive harassment. Later, I heard the harrowing story of a Rohingya survivor, exposing humanity’s capacity for cruelty. Despite millennia of evolution, our primal instincts—aggression, territorialism, tribalism—still pull us back. But progress depends on resisting them and building a future of empathy and cooperation. We must do better. Together.

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Losing Our Democracy

September 27, 2017  •  2 min readSenator John McCain standing in the center of the U.S. Senate floor, surrounded by colleagues, casting his decisive vote against the Obamacare repeal, while others observe and react.

We are losing something precious: the ability to compromise. With every election of an ideologue and every retirement of a statesman like John McCain, we edge closer to the collapse of a democratic system that depends on listening and collaboration. Democracy isn’t about winning every fight; it’s about finding common ground. When we lose sight of that, we lose ourselves.