This document describes a student project exploring social justice themes through graphic design. The project involved creating an interactive typographic installation based on Maya Angelou's poem "I Rise". Initially, most of the pyramids in the installation are closed, showing the words "Fear" and "Terror". As the viewer opens the pyramids, the phrase "Together We Rise" is revealed. The document outlines the student's concept development process, including ideating different designs on paper and digitally before deciding on the origami-inspired final piece.

1. 1S O C I A L J U S T I C E A N D D E S I G N
P R O J E C T 1 C O N C E P T D E V E L O P E M E N T
‘I`
Together, We Rise
By Akansha Gupta
Social Justice and Design: Typography Project
Spring 2017

2. 2S O C I A L J U S T I C E A N D D E S I G N
P R O J E C T 1 T o g e t h e r W e R i s e
This project is a typographic interpretation of the
line “Leaving behind nights of terror and fear, I
rise” from Maya Angelou’s poem “ I Rise”.
This is an interactive installation where, initially,
all but one of the small pyramids are closed. The
front of each pyramid has the words ‘Fear’ and
‘Terror’ printed in small point but bold font style.
The only open pyramid shows a part of the word
‘Rise’ printed on white. This invites the interactor
to open the other pyramids. As interactor opens the
pyramids into flat squares, the phrase ‘Together We
Rise’ forms from the combination of the prints on
the inside of each pyramid.
In this interaction and its form, the piece conveys
the message of the poem both literally and meta-
phorically.
Together We Rise
Choose three words from the poem ‘I Rise’ and create a
graphical representation for each of the words
Use only type: Helvetica or Futura
Use the square form
Use only Black and White color
Use only paper
Brief
Constraints

3. 3S O C I A L J U S T I C E A N D D E S I G N
P R O J E C T 1 T o g e t h e r W e R i s e
Ideation and rapid sketching on paper
To start, I chose the words ‘Hope’, ‘Dream’, ‘Slave’, ‘Rise’, as I thought those captured the essence of the poem. I sketched all the ideas that I had first on paper.

4. 4S O C I A L J U S T I C E A N D D E S I G N
P R O J E C T 1 T o g e t h e r W e R i s e
Detailing concepts in Illustrator
Then I digitized the best ones in Illustrator. I also kept adding more concepts as I was having ideas while working in Illustrator.
A sign of hope
Silver lining Hope rising Hope rising
Hope overpowering the dark Hope cannot be confined Hoping

5. 5S O C I A L J U S T I C E A N D D E S I G N
P R O J E C T 1 T o g e t h e r W e R i s e
Confinement that deforms
Enclosed on the other side
Diminished and confined Broken Just another ‘slave’
Confined and ignored Sidelined as ‘lower’ Confinement
Broken Confinement and suffocation Oppressed

6. 6S O C I A L J U S T I C E A N D D E S I G N
P R O J E C T 1 T o g e t h e r W e R i s e
Breaking off and rising up Breaking off and rising up Rising and Expanding
Rising form the darkRising slowly Risen

7. 7S O C I A L J U S T I C E A N D D E S I G N
P R O J E C T 1
Hope, Dream, Rise
T o g e t h e r W e R i s e

8. 8S O C I A L J U S T I C E A N D D E S I G N
P R O J E C T 1
As ‘Dream’, ‘Hope’, and ‘Rise’ move closer to
the ‘slave’, the ‘slave’ breaks out of it’s bounds
T o g e t h e r W e R i s e

9. 9S O C I A L J U S T I C E A N D D E S I G N
P R O J E C T 1
Sample
The Slave who is thought to be confined in the
darkness had big dreams and hopes.
T o g e t h e r W e R i s e

10. 10S O C I A L J U S T I C E A N D D E S I G N
P R O J E C T 1
Sample
The slave dreams and hopes and then rises from
the darkness more stronger than ever
T o g e t h e r W e R i s e

11. 11S O C I A L J U S T I C E A N D D E S I G N
P R O J E C T 1
Dreams and hopes allow the slave to break
free and rise
T o g e t h e r W e R i s e

12. 12S O C I A L J U S T I C E A N D D E S I G N
P R O J E C T 1
Changing the words
From the class feedback I realized that I was using a lot of visual juxtaposition between black and white, so I decide to change the words and choose a line which
had that juxtaposition in it’s meaning. I chose ‘Leaving behind nights of terror and fear, I Rise’.
The words ‘Terror’ and ‘Fear’ are bold and black
and they are falling behind with all their heavi-
ness. In contrast, the words ‘ i rise’ are light and
rise up from below.
T o g e t h e r W e R i s e

13. 13S O C I A L J U S T I C E A N D D E S I G N
P R O J E C T 1
Rising above terror and fear
which are now not recognizable
I rise breaking off from the
chains of terror and fear
Rising from the depths of
terror and fear
I rise above terror and fear
T o g e t h e r W e R i s e
Interactive piece: Rising
from the depths of ter-
ror and fear

14. 14S O C I A L J U S T I C E A N D D E S I G N
P R O J E C T 1
Exploring the use of origami
T o g e t h e r W e R i s e

15. 15S O C I A L J U S T I C E A N D D E S I G N
P R O J E C T 1 T o g e t h e r W e R i s e
This final piece was inspired from the origami piece on page 14. I
used a 29 inch square foam board as the base and stuck 25 pyra-
mids in a 5 by 5 matrix. Each pyramid was created from a 5 inch by
5 inch square on which the text and black background was print-
ed. I used card stock paper because it was stiff enough to hold its
shape and the black print of ‘Fear’ and ‘Terror’ left a grunge-style
texture which matched the message I was trying to convey.
The final interactive piece