THE CHALLENGE
It started as a conversation between friends. What is it like to be Asian in Texas? What does that label even mean-- Asian or Asian American? ‘Asian’ is a label that encompasses so many people, so many stories, that it almost loses meaning. Yet, it’s a label that brings so many people together, forms community, and provides a sense of comfort. We sought to uncover more about this ‘blanket identity’ through this project and dive deeper into the following questions:
How do we celebrate Asian stories in the United States and the interests that make people who they are? Can we tell stories about the Asian community in Austin without centering their trauma, but rather focusing on the things that bring them joy and give them a reason to wake up everyday?
THE SOLUTION
After a year of planning, The Blanket Identity was ready with the goal to share honest stories about the intersection of passion and identity of Asian individuals in the U.S.
through mini-documentaries. The group of co-founders consisted of Kaitlyn, a writer; Iris, a photographer; and me, a visual artist, so film/video felt like it overlapped neatly with our interests.
The UT Center of Asian American Studies also saw meaning in what we were doing and were kind enough to help us find team members who specialized in filming and editing (Hayden and Michele), source talent to star in our mini-docs across Austin, and lend us their space, equipment, social media following, and kind words to our process.
Our mini-documentaries focused on a variety of Asian individuals in the Austin area, from an Electrical Engineering student passionate about music production, to an apolitical student turned ACLU lawyer turned Asian American Studies professor, to a four year old who loves construction raised by a joint family with Hindu and Muslim parents. The full lock-up for the project, designed and hand-lettered by me
In the year-long planning process, I focused on developing the branding for this project. While I experimented with a lot of treatments, the motif of a blanket being pulled up, as if to reveal the person under it, was ultimately what I felt most matched our intentions with the project.
TBI had introduction posts for everyone involved in our project, from those we made documentaries about to those involved in making the documentaries. I wanted each post to feel personal and incorporate a mix of mediums and textures. I asked each person to draw a self-portrait and write a bit about themselves to add some of their own personality to the post!
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In the other post types, I tried to incorporate the same playful style through background and text textures so our branding would feel consistently tactile and human!
Our project was also recognized and written about through the Division of Campus Events and Entertainment which housed a lot of UT’s cultural departments (including the Center for Asian American Studies). Sadly. due to Greg Abbott’s administration and the systemic devaluation of university DEI programs, this link is no longer able to be accessed since these programs have lost funding. It still means a lot to me that a department that gave me and other students like me so much and added so much to my college experience appreciated the work that we did.