wants to get to know you

 

 

     
 

design+
film+sound+
insight+
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ethno+graphic+
design

design for people

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believes that observation, interaction and collaboration can lead to powerful, insightful communication.

insight: [ethno]graphic design + some joy, some pain + shoprva + visual scavenger hunt + a small light + the detroit project (fleshconcret) + goodgood +

 

Design is a powerful tool, but only when the designer is in tune with their audience does it's power resonate. The following projects were created using methodologies developed as part of my Master's thesis (below) at Viginia Commonwealth University, which I feel enrich any design project, large and small, local and global.

 

 

Click on the images to view enlargements of the project below.

 


 

ethnographic design

[ethno]graphic design, Book, Digital Color Print, perfect binding, 154 pages, 8.5 x 8.5, 2006-08

 

[ethno]graphic design, Book, Digital Color Print, perfect binding, 154 pages, 8.5 x 8.5, 2006-08

[ethno]graphic design is the title of my thesis, but it is also a way of thinking and creating. This approach to the design process stems from my background in Cultural Anthropology and Visual Studies, which I found greatly aid my understanding of Graphic Design. [ethno]graphic designemploys various methods to aid in the design process, primarily participant observation, dialogue and collaborative participation, techniques the designer will always have at their disposal.

To view images from the book and to download the pdf version, click here.

 

 

 

ethnographic design

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[ethno]graphic design, website, 2006-08


The [ethno]graphic design website grew out of my thesis project of the same name (see below). It was created as a resource for all people who want to explore visual languages, such as graphic design, and how we use it to communicate with one another.

Click here to visit the website.

Visual Scavenger Hunt

Visual Scavenger Hunt, Exhibition Poster, Large format b&w,
84” x 36”, 2007

 

Visual Scavenger Hunt, Online Photographic Database, 2006-Present

The goal of the Visual Scavenger Hunt is to document the different (and often quite similar) visual landscapes people around the world encounter daily. Often we do not notice how much our communities are shaped by various forms of visual communication. Posters, signs, advertisements, paintings, graffiti, billboards, flyers, license plates, trash—all become integrated into the environment around us.

The Visual Scavenger Hunt is an online photographic database. Click here to upload pictures of your visual landscape!

LINKS:
Visual Scavenger Hunt Website/Directions
VSH on Flickr
Join the Flickr Group!
VSH World Map


some joy, some pain
(excerpt), Super 8mm/Digital Video, 2008, 00:03:34


 

 

some joy, some pain,
Super 8mm and Digital
Video, 2008, 00:03:34

some joy, some pain was a collaborative effort undertaken with my neighbor and friend, Lady E, a 64 year old blues singer. Working together, we created a hybrid documentary/performance on the blues, experienced through Lady E's life in Richmond, Virginia.

This is an exerpt from the film.

The some joy, some pain DVD is available here.

 

 

 

 

SHOP RVA

Shop RVA: Shop Local, Book Cover, Digital Color, 100 pages, 7.5” x 7.5”, 2008

Shop RVA

Shop RVA: Shop Local, Spread, Digital Color, 100 pages, 7.5” x 7.5”, 2008

Student Designers: Jaclyn Bishop, David Cherry, Claire Crowley

 

 

Shop RVA: Shop Local, Book, Digital Color, 100 pages, 7.5” x 7.5”, 2008

This book was the result of a fruitful collaboration between shop-owners and students from the “Design, Anthropology and the Community” course I taught at Virginia Commonwealth University, in Spring 2008. Shop RVA aims to create bridges within the community and foster an awareness of the locally owned businesses in Richmond, Virginia and the benefits that shopping locally can bring to our neighborhoods.

For more on the project (and to view more images) click here.

 

 

 

a small light (trailer), Digital Video, 2004, 00:30:15

 

 

a small light, Digital
Video, 2004, 00:30:15

a small light is a ethnographic film
by anthropologist, Julia Yezbick. I
assisted her with the research, filming
and audio recording in Nepal during
the summer of 2004.

A Hindu sadhu narrates a small light,
in which a Catholic nun cares for a
group of elderly living out their remaining days at the auspicious site of Pashupathinath temple.

A look at old age, death and dying in
a Hindu temple in Kathmandu, Nepal, this documentary is a unique experi-
mental hybrid of observational cinema and metaphorical narrative.

To view the film please visit www.asmallight.org.

 

 

fleshconcret

fleshconcret
, Appendix, large format b&w, 7'x10', 2004-07

 



fleshconcret

fleshconcret (the Detroit Project), 5 Channel Audio
Installation, Mixed Media, 2004-07

 

 

fleshconcret (the Detroit Project), multi-channel sound installation, 2004-07

fleshconcret began as a means for a personal understanding of Detroit, a city I had long called my hometown; focusing on architecture, immigration, city planning and human response to the psycho-geography of a city.

The project took on the form of a mixed media installation which combined video, ethnographic audio (interviews/field recordings) with print media, which served as an appendix to the five channel installation. Each audio channel is the voice of a resident recounting their life and living situations, covering over 70 years of personal narratives in Detroit. The appendix (which unfolds to 7’x10’) maps the conversations, paralleling each with the city’s history. This installation is the result of a long (4 year) meditation on the city of Detroit.

For more on the project, and to listen to tracks from the sound installation, click here.