THE PROJECT

In the winter of this year, our BFA class was lucky enough to collaborate with Michael Ellsworth in a workshop. Myself, Rachel Simons, and Zach Becker, came together to work on what would become a two-quarter long project. My main areas of contribution were in concept development, copywriting, and asset creation. We collaborated in all aspects of the project and participated equally in presentation and implimentation. 

THE PROBLEM

People in minority groups experience casual discrimination on a daily basis. Microaggression is a word that implies triviality, but studies have shown that repeated and seemingly small derogatory comments based on marginalized group membership combine to have an enormous effect on mental health, stress levels, self-esteem, and academic performance. Overwhelmingly, students and young adults report instances of casual racism, sexism and heterosexism, transphobia, homophobia, ableism, and classism every day that seem too insignificant to report. The impact of casual discrimination is anything but small. 

How do we talk about microaggressions in a way that increases awareness, provides an outlet for students to express their frustrations and experiences, and serves as a reminder or a lesson to those who may be perpetrators?

INTERACTIVE DATA VISUALIZATION

Have you heard?

In our research, we developed a survey on microaggressions which we distributed to students. Here, shown on three of the windows in the Miller Hall Collaborative Space, we have displayed five of the most common responses. Underneath each quote is a space for students to add a sticker under any quote that they have heard directed at themselves or someone else.  This part of the exhibit acts as an interactive data visualization: a way to share experiences and visualize them, a way to create localized awareness, a way to engage people in a visceral and experiential way.

 

"You people."

"You're gay? But you're so masculine/feminine!"

"What are you?"

"Why are you always angry?"

"But you don't act______."

STICKY NOTE WALL

What else have you heard?

In order to display a full range of experiences and examples, the next section of the display invites participation. Students are provided with sticky notes and pencils and encouraged to add their experiences to the window.  

 

TAKEAWAYS

Though our goal wasn’t to completely direct the event towards those who might be doing the discriminating, the “Don’t be an asshole” pencils, binder clips, and stickers make a good souvenir or a gift for the person in your class who consistently makes misogynistic comments. We also printed handbills with information about the campaign, infographics, and relevant pop culture references.
 
 

PRINT COLLATERAL

We asked our classmates to participate in the visual creation of the campaign as well. We took their portraits, asked them to write down things that have been said to them, and included them in our exhibit with the goal of putting a face to the theory, emphasizing interpersonal interaction, and humanizing our campaign.

 

He asked the simple question, "What are you?"

I answered, "I'm half-Filipino."

He responded, "You look more Thai to me. Are you sure you're not Thai?"

THE RESPONSE

The installation brought several things that I didn’t expect. First, that all our collateral, our 250 unused pencils, printed stickers, sticky notes and stickers for participation, 24 table tents, and two glass jars were thrown away by janitorial staff the morning of the installation’s opening due to a miscommunication. Second, that as soon as we fished our project out of the dumpsters, people began to interact with it. The whole thing was up for a week, and by the end we had a respectable sticker count and a sprawling window of sticky notes with individual responses, experienced microaggressions, on them. The response was bigger than any of us had imagined it would be. 

& MORE

The installation went up during Design Days, a design-focused week at Western. We were able to gain visibility for the campaign that week and extend our campaign with the hashtag #casual_discrimination on social media. That week, Rachel and myself also joined our classmate Kitty to give a presentation on designing with empathy and the ways in which we have been exploring design for social change throughout the year.