In 2023, the University of Florida held their final year of the Imagination Studio Design Competition. The prompt was to create a pitch deck and a layout for a mobile historical pop-up exhibit. Since it was a team competition, I teamed up with two other students from UCLA. After our first meeting, we discovered that we had a common cultural thread between us. Isabel and Caren are Chinese, and I had studied mainland Chinese culture for five years up to that point. We decided to use our expertise and play into our individual strengths to create Striking Gold, a live theater-type experience that allows guests to explore different areas of the Chinese immigrant community from the Gold Rush onward. To ensure the cultural representation and history depicted was accurate, Isabel and Caren drew on their own experience. This project gave me an opportunity to listen to their stories, their struggles, and their triumphs as Chinese diaspora. Through their stories and extensive cultural research, I was able to contribute my graphic design, photobashing, and sketching skills to help make this project come to life. Our team won first place in the competition and was recognized in a separate category for our guest experience.
My Role: Graphic/Slide Deck Design, Photobashing, and Main Experience Illustration (Black & White Sketches)
Tools Used: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Google Slides

