Art Director for Good
Art Director for Good
Adobe Design Achievement | Semifinalist | 2018
Young In Prison is a non-profit organization that focuses on rehabilitating and advocating for youth in the prison system. They aim to end the school to prison pipeline and work to reintroduce young offenders to society, so that they may contribute positively to the community. Their workshops involve creative, sports, and practical programs, and they partner with local organizations to create internship and work opportunities.
I was tasked with reimagining the Young In Prison logo and website, and creating a print series to promote their cause.
The style of the redesigned logo recalls the artwork that the youth participants create. The symbol is an interpretation of an eye looking through a prison fence, with the blue iris referencing the lucky eye, meant to protect from malevolent looks. The style of the writing is recalls handwriting, but still conveys the feeling of confinement.
While YIP creates magazines that feature the program participants’ experiences and art, these are nowhere to be found on the website. The website redesign puts the youth’s work front and center and invites the audience to explore more.
The text-heavy columns of news and featured stories are replaced with notes and pins that recall school supplies. These are designed to capture audience attention and provide the most relevant information about the organization succinctly.
The current website has a wealth of information, but doesn’t convey the uncomfortable contrast between adolescents and prison. The work that the participants create is nowhere to be found, and while they display the motto “Create to Liberate,” the initiatives that they support are not visible on the website.
These posters take normal childhood and adolescent rites of passage and pull them into the prison setting, highlighting how incongruent the two are.