Process and Ideation

• community tree
• the problem/ statement
• visual identity
• project vocabulary/ insights + how might we
• quantitative & qualitative/ SWOT
• survey and interviews
• my community/ audience
• experts
• final reflections

community tree

the problem

Problem Statement ..... Children don’t have language opportunities in early American education that could encourage empathy development and cultural awareness.

I love ..... my language and my experiences with language.
I believe ..... that children could benefit from language opportunities not only in their education but in their personal lives and relationships.
I am committed to .... creating a more inclusive and empathetic world.

I want people to feel that this is an important element in creating a better world.

My plan is to argue ..... we need to increase awareness and respect of cultural differences, like language, early in development.

How I plan to argue the above is .... By providing evidence of the effectiveness of language education and making a case for empathy.

visual identity

Visually and conceptually some things that I was really inspired by include "If Not Winter" by Sappho, translated by Anne Carson. Sappho's work and a lot ancient text that has been lost is something that's always been of interest to me, in realtion to language and the evolution of language. Anne Carson does a beautiful job of tranlating not just words, but emotion - I think really captures just how the orginal could have been made to feel and understand.

The typeface 'Kobe', created from VJ Type is also something I find visually and conceptually helpful in developing a project surrounding language. It's a typeface that was inspired by Japanese characters, made to mimick the strokes and meanings behind Kanji. There's a lot of thought put into each and every letter, with respect to Japanese. I think that merging of english and japanese is the kind of thing I can carry into my project, in relation to spanish.

insights + how might we

Design Challenge - A way to inspire empathy and encourage language development
Theme - Early Language Education

Insights - Children don’t get enough language opportunities in the United States.
Theme - Early Empathy Development
Insights - Children can benefit from exposure to cultural differences.

How might we - encourage empathy and curiosity in young children?
How might we - increase access and knowledge of language/ barriers for young children.

quantitative & qualitative/SWOT

I did a SWOT analysis, that leans more towards the business side of things, to consider the impact these ideas might have in the industry or as something like children’s media. Figuring out how a socially conscious brand might function and how people might react to that.

survey and interviews

I did interviews, asking questions about exposure to languages and cultures in childhood, education, or public spaces. To try and see how much or when this conversation about race and language may have happened in people’s lives.

Question/ Goal - How much exposure do people receive in childhood, to other languages, and how does that influence their experience and opinions surrounding language?

Do you speak a second language?
Does your family speak a second language?
Did you study a second language in school?
How young were you when you had exposure to foriegn language?
Do you think of learning a second language as something recreational or necessary?

my community

personas from that community

Child
Age- 8
Gender- Female Race/Ethnicity, Nationality- white american
Physical characteristics- small, light hair, etc
Education- pre-k and primary education Language- English / monolingual
Interest/ Media Consumed- disney, barbies, kids video games and tv, playdough, coloring books
Beliefs- beginning to take influence from parental beliefs - perhaps more centric, not noticeable
Needs- emotional management and regulation, basic beginning education, social etiquette and behaviors
Challenges- language/ reading comprehension skills developing,
Background Story - Growing up in a suburban middle class household, two working parents, and a stable routine. Beginning to form personal interest and seek out more specific media in a more creative direction, wanting more hands on activities/ building exercise.

Adult
Age- 34
Gender- Male
Race, Ethnicity, Nationality- White Latino American
Physical characteristics- healthy able bodied
Marital Status/ Family - Father of 1, married for 6 years
Education- college BA
Language- English, minimal language education from school and early childhood
Interest/ Media Consumed- Tejano music from childhood, watches discovery channel
Beliefs- Centric->left, raised conservative
Needs/ challenges- way to connect with young child and be a strong and supportive role model, possibly connect with heritage
Background Story - wants to be emotionally available father,

experts

My experts include a professor, in game design and theory, Colleen Macklin, and Allison Ross a street artist that worked at playstation and with her husband on their brand bunny kitty. Victoria Guiterrez who works in childcare and education. Allison also mentioned a UX/UI Designer at playstation she could introduce me to as well. They had a lot of great insight on building these types of games, games that are socially conscious and collaborative. How to work with and create something for an audience like young kids where there might be a lot of limitations.

• Allison Ross - Street Artist brief project at Playstation
• Colleen Macklin - A game designer and Professor at Parsons School of Design
• Victoria Guiterruiz - Child Care Worker

final reflections