30th New York African Film Festival

For the 30th anniversary of the New York African Film Festival, I invited 30 filmmakers working within African diasporic cinema to imagine speculative containers for holding expressions of Black existence. I translated their visions into 3d digitized forms, which I used to shape the festival’s design language. This approach fostered a collective, cross-diasporic and intergenerational meditation on "holding," mirroring the diverse audience we sought to engage. The archive of objects challenged conditioned violences related to the concept of "the hold" (as described by theorist Christina Sharpe) and envisioned generative possibilities for holding and being beholden to each other.

Dark Matters Zine, 4th Edition

School for Poetic Computation’s Fall 2021 Season

School for Poetic Computation— A website design for an experimental school

For the School for Poetic Computation, I designed a website that embodies our school’s experimental ethos in art, code, hardware, and critical theory. The site offers two modes: cathode-ray, a black-and-white option inspired by early CRT displays, and liquid crystal (LCD), a full-color mode. The four-column grid pays homage to the large windows of our former space, which were frequently adorned with new graffiti, sketches, and decorations by each cohort. Similarly, the website is re-skinned each season to reflect the evolving themes of the school, preserving its intimate, participatory ethos. The header also rotates community definitions of “poetic computation,” emphasizing collective involvement in shaping this concept.

COCOON— A learning environment embodying transformation and growth

In response to a leadership transition at the School for Poetic Computation, I led the design of “COCOON,” a temporary learning space symbolizing transformation and growth. Drawing inspiration from the concept of a chrysalis, my design approach conveyed an environment where learners could embrace the process of becoming, even in a state of flux. The experimental program, which I co-organized, invited participants to immerse themselves in a space of collective resilience and adaptability, embracing continuous learning and reinvention.

28th New York African Film Festival

27th New York African Film Festival

New York African Film Festival— A website and identity supporting diverse programs and archival preservation

The New York African Film Festival sought to digitize its year-round programs and enhance access to African films and culture. I designed a website and identity that speaks to the medium of cinema as a tool for expression, experimentation, and diaspora reconnection. My design draws inspiration from the festival’s extensive archival DVD collection, which has been a key resource for the community since 1990, highlighting the festival's ongoing commitment to archiving, preserving, and expanding access to African media.

Dictionary of Dark Matters

In the summer of 2020, I designed and organized “The Dictionary of Dark Matters” as part of a class I taught with American Artist at The School for Poetic Computation. This project emerged from a study of surveillance, racial capitalism, and technology, undertaken by thirty students. The publication, a collective assemblage of poetry, prose, creative writing, personal histories, and illustrations, reflects our shared experiences and critical insights. I created a structured platform for us to both reflect on and confront the predatory systems we were examining, while nurturing our collective resilience.

Cloud 9 (Collective Love on Ur Desktop)

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, I designed the platform for CLOUD9 (Collective Love on Ur Desktop), a collaborative virtual environment for collective remembrance and global livestreaming. This initiative facilitated the sharing of mutual aid resources and solidarity, aiming to support our worldwide community. Prioritizing a “for us, by us” approach, CLOUD9 centered queer, trans, Black, Indigenous, and people of color (QTBIPOC), acknowledging the compounded risk from intersecting societal systems.

Revolution & Us— A pocket guide to direct action

During the summer of 2020, I designed a foldable pamphlet and poster in active solidarity with the movement for Black lives. This toolkit addresses anti-surveillance, digital self-defense, and care before, during, and after action, responding to ongoing state violence. Collaborating with organizers and educators, we created this emergency publication with support from small presses for decentralized distribution across New York, Oakland, and the wider Bay Area.

Dark Matters Zine, 3rd Edition

I designed a collective zine that explores personal narratives around surveillance, racial capitalism, and technology, emerging from a critical theory class called Dark Matters. The zine highlights the memorabilia of capitalist labor—such as paper copies, manila folders, paper clips, Dixon pencils, and white labels—evoking the remnants of the Xerox office regime. This design choice reflects how these technologies reinforce existing power structures and conditions in our world.

Black Girl Magik— A platform for community organizing

Hazelwood Memorial

For my undergraduate thesis at Carnegie Mellon University, I designed a space that uses spatial storytelling to narrate the journey of Hazelwood, a Pittsburgh neighborhood impacted by urban violence and poverty due to institutional divestiture and the decline of the steel industry. The space challenges larger systemic forces while empowering the community to embrace vulnerability, draw strength from compassion, and engage with the issues that matter most.

Lunar Gala: Strain

Lunar Gala: Vestige