To Be a
Designer Is to Be,
Intentional
Precise
Attentive
Thoughtful
Patient
Project
By us, for us
Course
GR605 Digital Studio
Instructor
Phil Hamlett
Category
UI Design
Semester
Fall 2021
Deliverables
Website
Mobile App
Objective
Design an online design journal [or gallery]—a website by, for, and about designers. It will combine editorial content, in the form of blog publishing and a social networking layer, into a cohesive user experience. You will first need to identify a group of marginalized and/or under-represented practitioners that would be uplifted in the design community if this were a real website. The final project will include a style sheet with 10 different website pages; these pages will also be shown in the mobile app.
Concept
I chose to make my design gallery for mid-level African American artists, including graphic designers, photographers, UX designers, and illustrators. This website was inspired by the Tupac Shakur poem “The Rose That Grew from Concrete.” Like concrete flowers, African American designers have grown and flourished in a world that doesn’t water them, doesn’t have good soil, and doesn’t get sunlight, yet here we are. This website was created to remedy that by giving African American designers control and by providing them with a forum to show their work, as well as connect with clients that wish to diversify their design groups. I played with keeping the project bright but allowing the work of the artists to be the main event of the website and featuring the flower petals as accents and tributes to the designers.
