Team Lead, Visual Designer, Outreach Coordinator
Loving Our Country!
Loving Our Country is a capstone project in the Digital Media Studies major at the University of Rochester. The project explores how listening, storytelling, and public dialogue can create space for people to reflect on belonging, civic life, and their relationship to the country.
Developed in collaboration with community partners in New York State, the project brought together visual communication, public engagement, and story-based research. Our goal was to design a thoughtful and accessible platform for collecting, presenting, and reflecting on personal stories from community members across different backgrounds.
As Team Lead, I helped guide the overall direction of the project while also leading its visual design and external outreach efforts. My work focused on shaping how the project looked, how it communicated its purpose, and how we built relationships with organizations and partners across New York State.
The project asked a difficult but important question: how can a student-led capstone create meaningful public dialogue around identity, care, and civic belonging?
Because the topic was emotional, personal, and politically sensitive, the challenge was not just to gather stories, but to create an experience that felt respectful, inviting, and trustworthy. We needed to build a project identity that could resonate with both academic and community audiences, while also coordinating with outside organizations to make the work possible in real-world settings.
This meant balancing several needs at once:
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creating a clear and compelling visual identity
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communicating the project in a way that felt open rather than intimidating
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building relationships with community organizations across New York State
My Role
As Team Lead, I played a central role in both the strategic and public-facing sides of the project. My main responsibilities included:
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guiding the team’s overall direction and helping shape the project vision
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leading the visual design of project materials and public-facing assets
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coordinating outreach and communication with organizations across New York State
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helping present the project in a way that was accessible, thoughtful, and visually cohesive
I worked at the intersection of design, leadership, and relationship-building, making sure the project was not only conceptually strong, but also clearly communicated to outside partners and participants.