Life Through Language -
2018 Study Abroad
For my graduate program , Interactive Media, I had the opportunity to travel abroad during their winter term to complete a project for the public good. Seven of my colleagues and I had the oppurtunity to travel to the city of Leeuwarden, Netherlands to work with the Afûk organization during the European Capital of Culture taking place from April to October 2018. The European Capital of Culture is a “city designated by the European Union for one calendar year to organize a series of cultural events highlighting European cultures and fostering a sense of unity and common history.”
This designation allowed Afûk, a non-profit organization focused on promoting and preserving the Frisian minority language, an opportunity to become a staple in the region during this annual recognition. My graduate team worked with Afûk to provide educational collateral to be displayed throughout a newly constructed pavilion in Leeuwarden as part of their European Capital of Culture intiative. The pavilion would be an immersive space for patrons to learn about Frisian, Dutch, and other European minority languages.
As contribution, our team was tasked with creating a mini-documentary, a promotional poster, and a brochure. My role was to spearhead the graphic design and social media, and co-create the team’s website to document our experience and increase exposure for the project.
Quilt hanging from Leeuwarden’s landmark, De Oldehove
Afûk Pavilion
Sign Language Table Topper
As part of Afûk’s language initiative, I was tasked to to create a meaningful, graphic design piece to bring awareness to a minority group in Leeuwarden. I initiated the creation of a table brochure after a discussion with Afûk about how they planned to have deaf volunteers working as servers in their pavilions cafe. This brochure would allow the patrons coming to the pavilion to thoughtfully interact with the deaf volunteers instead of simply pointing to items on the menu.
The hand motions are that of Dutch Sign Language, and the words are translated in Dutch, Frisian, and English. The vibrant colors were pulled from the Afûk brand color scheme, and the quilt design was a homage to the women of the Leeuwarden community who came together to create a traditional, tower-sized quilt to honor their recognition as the European Capital of Culture in 2018.
Software and Skills Used: Adobe Illustrator, Graphic Design, and Branding.
Life Through Language Website
Along with the title of the graphic designer, I was also the social media manager for the team. Our social media brought awareness to the European Capital of Culture 2018, Afûk’s initiatives, and documentation of our team’s project. This allowed for the non-profits initiative to reach relevant audiences and connect with the Leeuwarden community.
Aside from Twitter and Instagram, my teammate and I, Kelsey Lane, documented the experience on a WordPress website to spread further awareness of the non-profit’s initiative. This allowed us to document our project for our Master’s program as well as to be an educational resource for our initiative and the Frisian region. Although the website is no longer active under the graduate program, you can view snapshots below.
Software and Skills Used: Copywriting, Basic HTML & CSS, Wordpress, and Social Media Management.
To learn more about this project, view the video below directed and edited by Kelsey Lane and Rhett Lawson.