Broken Crayons represents a series of facilitated 1-hour workshops about creating unique letterforms.
Focused on visual exploration, the project is inspired by a child-like and material-discursive way of creating—making graphic designplayful, liberating, and accessible without a formal design education.
In order to promote the usage of analog tools and collaborative making, particularly with young children, the workshops incorporate a game called “Alphabet Soup” that uses worksheets and prompts. All assets are designed by me and eclectically collaged together to represent a diversity of motivational creative approaches.
This project represents the start of an independent creative studio and pedagogical process. My aim is not to appropriate children’s aesthetics just for personal style or popular appeal. Rather, I consider this the beginning of an educational design approach at both a primary and collegiate school level. I hope to introduce creative advocacy to young students and encourage professional designers to push the boundaries of design acceptance and sensitivity.
Expect updates on this project in the future.
Done for completion of the RISD BFA Degree Project thesis, supervised by Ramon Tejada.
Documentation of the final installation showcasing the results of the workshop.
Documentation of print media utilized in promoting and participating in the workshops.
Documentation of peers and students participating in the workshops—photos courtesy of myself (Truman Lesak) and Matthew Cuschieri.
Documentation of every letter drawn in the workshops by both college and elementary students.
Thank you to the RISD Design Center Commons Gallery, M. Virginia Cunningham Elementary, and Martin Luther King Elementary for hosting and participating in the workshops.
