Four years worth of work demonstrated in a curated anthology of my favorite projects. Enjoy and feel free to contact me at nia.j.smalls@gmail.com or at +31 6 86 22 46 57.

1. Portfolioa.k.a:ProofthatIreallylovedartschool

2. History
Challenge
CARE International is a non-profit organization
that aims to save lines by ending poverty and
advocating for social justice. Their primary
beneficiaries are women, whom, in third
world countries, are the roots of survival for
their families. Women are the ones seeking
jobs, performing chores, raising children, and
providing a means of education to increase
their quality of life.
Due to a lack of funding, CARE has not
released a fundraising campaign since 2009.
Meanwhile, organizations like the World
Wildlife Fund and UNHCR have generated
millions in donations with their captivating
campaigns such as “Earth Hour” and
UNHCR’s celebrity ambassador program.
CARE needed a campaign that attracted
new patrons and inspired current donators
to increase their monthly contributions. The
campaign had to uplift the women that CARE
helps, contrary to the usual, disheartening
depictions of poverty that belittle those
in need. They wanted a campaign that
encouraged and uplifted aid workers,
patrons and beneficiaries.

3. Against All Odds, Bloom.
Rose Mapendo, who survived the Congolese genocide
with her 9 children, went on to found an organization that
aids refugee families and advocates for their asylum.
Illhan Omar, who survived civil war in Somalia at age 10,
went on to become the State Representative of Minnesota
in the 2018 congressional election.
Rebecca Walker, who coined the term “Third Wave Feminism”,
educated women on the importance of dismantling sexist
institutional systems and feminine unity..
We chose three women whose stories demonstrate courage through adversity. Their ability to strive for goodness through all
kinds of misfortune is what lead us to the floral metaphor; a plant that blossoms each spring despite the challenging conditions.
Encouraging and beautiful, the flora theme informed the campaign’s visual elements and language.

4. Execution
The ads would be printed onto billboards, posters, magazines,
and social media platforms to spread CARE’s empowering
message. Since our target audience was women of all ages,
we chose to amplify the campaign through all forms of media.

5. Activation
With CARE’s call to action, “Bloom”, the final
activation of the campaign will be the Roots
to Bloom Festival, a family-friendly event that
invites patrons to experience the positive impact
that CARE has on communities around the
globe. The festival features an artisan market
with goods made by CARE beneficiaries,
panel discussions hosted by aid workers and
ambassadors, workshops to educate the public
about the different services CARE provides,
and music performances by socially-conscious
musicians.

6. ,
History
Challenge
Formerly known as GMC TV, Gospel Music Channel,
UPtv is a playful, family-centered network that
broadcasts uplifting films and shows. Their viewership
has reached over 67 million American households
as of 2015. Through quality entertainment with
authentic, uplifting stories about the family, they
positively portray life’s biggest moments, reaching
viewers’ hearts and changing the world. UPtv’s Our
Wedding Story, an uplifting wedding documentary
series, has received rave reviews since its’ premiere
in 2018. To increase anticipation and viewership
for the second season of the show, UPtv needs to
find creative ways share the love through interactive
branded content.
Create branded content for UPtv’s Our Wedding Sto-
ry that will retain audiences and attract new view-
ers through a brand partnership. Align Our Wedding
Story with Lowe’s so that viewers can watch the
next step of the newlyweds lives together - building
a home.

7. Our team demonstrated thought processes and inspirations through mind maps and
moodboards. We wanted to present our ideas in a clean, colorful layout that captured
the joyful essence of Our Wedding Story.

8. The first activation was the “Do It Together” commercial; it featured
a couple performing an upcycling project on a vintage mirror. Along
with designing the transformation of the mirror, I was tasked with
motion graphic design to describe tools and instructions using visual
aids, and designing the pitch book which we presented to UPtv.
The print ads accentuated the DIT concept with various doing home
improvement projects.

9. We generated profiles and consumer journeys
for our target audience to better understand how
they would interact with the campaign.
The design for the book was clean and breathable
through ample white space, simple shapes, and
thin lines to enhance movement.
Audience

10. History
Challenge
Pierre Cardin is a household name in fashion.
His fame is accredited to his avant-garde
designs from the 1950s - 80s and his branded
merchandise. Inspired by the Space Age,
Cardin’s dresses were unabashedly bold for
the era, using geometric figures like circles
and triangles to form his designs. As his fame
grew, he penned his name on a plethora
of common items, irregardless of their
connection to his fashion house. Suitcases,
pens, hats, wallets, and other materials were
used to spread his name past his target
audience.
Design a campaign that pays tribute to
Cardin’s creations while increasing interest
in his work amongst younger generations.
Pierre CardinPierre Cardin

11. “Hope Is Violent”
Derived from the French poem by Guillaume Apollinaire, “Le pont Mirabeau”, L’espoir est violente is a statement that reminds
audiences to keep looking towards the future the way that Pierre Cardin did. Opening his fashion house in 1950, just five years
after WWII ended, Cardin went on to envision the future of fashion through bold, unapologetic designs. The print ads featuring
hypnotic, neon figures are silhouettes of Cardin’s models which bring to mind the bright colors and neon lights of the 1980s.

12. At La Place de la Concorde in Paris, Pierre
Cardin’s public exhibition will take place in
a temporary building whose facade is a
bright, blue infinity mirror. Inside, there will
be a pop-up shop where customers can
purchase momentos and souvenirs based
on Cardin’s work. The setting seemed
most fitting, since Paris is where Cardin first
opened his fashion house.
Activation in Paris

13. In Union Square, NYC, Cardin’s
public exhibition will continue, attracting
consumers to the pop-up shop. The
exhibit will also invite Manhattanites to take
the 3 train to the Brooklyn Museum where
Cardin’s retrospective will be on display
until January 26th, 2020.
Activation in New York

14. Challenge
Create a language-learning, storytelling activation that attracts new users,
engages audiences through social media, and amplifies the Duolingo brand.

15. To better understand the essence of Duolingo, we broke down their brand purpose and target audience
to better understand how we should utilize the brand elements in the augmented reality game.
Brand Essence

16. We took the original three little pigs story and turned
into a language-learning adventure. In this scenario,
the user is the pigs’ last defense against the Big Bad
Wolf. The player must reach the three little pigs before
the wolf does.
Running on a timer, the user must translate the pigs’
warnings and directions from Spanish into English in
order to navigate the game.
Storytelling

17. History
L’Esmeralda
Challenge
Based on the name of the tragic heroine from
Victor Hugo’s Notre Dame de Paris, “L’ Esmeralda”
is an interactive experience concept that changes
appearance for each person who interacts with it.
A projected rose window, modeled after the
windows of the Notre Dame, changes its shape and
color according to the temperature and heart rate
of the individual interacting with the console. In the
same way that ach person has a personalized vision
of Heaven and a unique relationship with God, no
two designs are the same.
Utilize physical computing techniques and
technologies to develop an artful and beautiful
interactive experience.

18. This graphic mockup of the physical computing system helps the technical artist understand
how to set up the hardware within an artful pedestal. The pedestal is remniscent of the baptismal
fonts found in cathedrals.
Physcial Computer

19. According to the information gathered from the subjects body
heat and heart rate, a unique rose window pattern is generated
through color and line shape. This subject, for example, has a
low body temperature and a high heart rate.
The mother/daughter pair depicted in this mockup have a high
body temperature and a low heart rate.

20. For the digital music festival “Around
the World in 8 Days” eight international
cities will be given 24 hours to livestream
a list of up and coming artists.
The purpose of the festival is to increase
awareness of musicians around the
world, expand international fanbases,
and reach audienes who are not able to
physically attend music festivals.
History

22. The live show is the
center of attention on
the microsite. The city
guide hides behind the
compass until a mouse
over action is complet-
ed by the user. The
user can access the
setlist through the list
icon on the lower right.

23. Audiences will be able to interact with
the microsite on a series of devices.
Keeping the layout horizontal for
phones will maintain the sensation of
the concert experience, which would
be lost in a vertical orientation.
User Experience

24. Pholosify B
Rebeka Thompson, a.k.a Pholosify B, is an
aspiring R&B singer-songwriter based out of
Queens, NY. After a few meetings, we were
able to identify her style and visual influences
- a sporty, tomboyish queer woman exploring
the natural beauty of the concrete jungle. We
organized a photoshoot in Midtown Manhattan’s
Bryant Park and the subway station nearby to see
how she interacted with her city and gain visual
inspiration for her branded content (album cover,
social media posts, posters, merchandise, etc.)
History

25. Process
After playing with the photos in Photoshop, I
began to put together a story about Pholosify’s
creative journey. Each photo has a sense of
longing to go places, being in motion, and
starting an adventure. She’s described the
debut of her EP as a “step in the right direction”.
As such, I concepted an album cover in which
she is sitting in a subway symbol as though
she were looking out of a train window, making
her way to her destination with an open yet
determined experession.
The project is currently a work in progress that
will be completed by February 2020. Her EP is
set to launch in April.

26. Why Music Branding?
After the death of my beloved grandfather in 2008, my family inherited his extensive
record collection, thousands of records in long, blue crates. One day, I went looking
through his collection and fell in love with the artwork on the Afro-Cuban, Donnie Darko,
Arethra Franklin, Duke Ellington, and hundreds more records hidden away like treasures
from a time capsule. I decided that I wanted to design album covers when I grew up. 12
years later, I’ve been given the opportunity to design merchandise for a young musician
from the very city I was raised in . My artwork has been faith-building throughout my life,
because it’s always brought me the exact places I wanted to be and challenged me in
ways I couldn’t have expected. I want to use my work to uplift others, and what better to
do so than by helping young musicians make their dreams visual.