For our second Bridge project, we were asked to find a space to intervene at the University Center. I was assigned to the fifth floor which is where I found the Social Justice Hub. After doing some research, I learned that the space is actually called the “Baldwin Rivera Boggs Social Justice Hub”. The space was named after three major influences: New School alum and African-American gay writer James Baldwin; trans Latina activist and advocate for the homeless Sylvia Rivera, and Chinese-American social activist and feminist Grace Lee Boggs. After learning this, I tried to find traces of these influential icons in the space, but I had no luck. It interested me how the Hub did not show any signs of the people it is named after. I found this problematic, so this is what I wanted my intervention to fix.
Upon visiting the space, I noticed a huge wall on the far side of the room. It was covered in flyers and posters. For such an expansive wall, I thought it was not being fully taken advantage of. The papers just seemed out-of-place due to the tiny amount of space it took up, especially on such a big wall. Making sure the posters and flyers had somewhere else to be, I wanted to use the wall to honor Baldwin, Rivera, and Boggs by having quotes of theirs displayed in the space. During my visits to the Hub, I noticed the productivity present in the room since it functions like a coworking space. With this in mind, I made sure to find quotes that encouraged change and advocated for progression to serve as an inspiration for students trying to get work done or going through an artist’s block.
How I chose to lay-out the quotes was inspired by graphic designer Paula Scher, one of the artists suggested to me during last project’s critique. After research, I noticed her work with typography and how she uses a lot of bold, eye-catching fonts. Whether they were done in color or not, her work always manages to reel the viewer in. She also played around with placement and orientation, having certain words in different directions. Though some may find this distracting from the piece, I think it actually draws the viewer in more, encouraging them to figure out the meaning of the work.
Drawing inspiration from Scher, I simply played around with different ways to present each quote. I experimented with a sans serif font, giving it variety in order to enhance the overall impact of the design while being concise in type choice. While attempting to achieve Scher’s style, I made sure to consider readability and legibility to ensure users of the Hub will be able to read the quote. The quotes would serve no purpose if it could not be read. With this, I placed the byline at the top instead of its usual location at the bottom because tables tend to cover the bottom portion of the wall. I wanted to make sure Baldwin’s, Rivera’s, and Boggs’ names would be seen.
Overall, I am pleased with what I came up with. I believe typography is just as important as words themselves. Some people do not realize that conveying a message does not just rely on words, but also their appearance. A communicative tool as such should not be taken for granted.
