Claire Zhang's Portfolio

The Quick & The Dead: Theresa Hak Kyung Cha involved a two part design commission for publisher, Wendy's Subway.

For the first half of the project, I created an identity system based off of Theresa Hak Kyung Cha's written and visual work: primarily inspired by her use of fragmentation. This part of the project involved designing a series of five lecture graphics for IG and web, as well as creating another series of graphics for the two commissioned artists attached to the lecture series. One is currently in progress, and for the other, I created a poster gif playing with obscuring and revealing text.

The second half of the project involves designing an end-of-series digital publication that is a culmination of all the lectures. This project is still in progress.

Recipes for Community is a project sown from a simple concept: sharing recipes to bridge distance.

The book documents an email chain I started in March 2021, connecting 6 people of Asian diaspora living in America, some of whom had met individually but have never come together as a whole. Through the cultural medium of cooking, Recipes for Community seeks to apply the essence of "cooking for one another" as a concept beyond cooking, one that can be applied to any form of connectivity and community. By having the participants share recipes, stories, pictures from their childhoods, and more, Recipes for Community unfolds beyond a "cookbook," transforming into an exploration of space, memory, community, and family, while building exactly that — a family.

Ostensibly, this book documents a community started as a space to provide healing for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders during a year when the veil of model minority was pulled back to reveal how truly vulnerable we are and have always been to the violence of a perpetually foreign existence. However, I want this project to be a seed to grow more intimate, healing communities across digital and physical boundaries, not only for AAPI, but other marginalized communities as well.

Recipes for Community is both an object and an invitation — a way of reminding others the solidity of the communities we create, and an open invitation to join our table.

Queer Asian Euphoria is a zine created to document and celebrate the Asian diasporic community both online and in NYC.

This zine is a further exploration of community building, and how design can serve to connect people. This project pulls from instagram polls, emails, and text messages, asking the question, "What does Queer Asian Euphoria mean to you?" Printed and exhibited at Emergence Zine Fair with Hyperlink Press.

Long Distance Relationship is a coding and design experiment done in Caspar Lam's Core Interaction class.

This website acts as a poetic archive, documenting and comparing light from the West and East coasts. Link to website here.

To Love, To Be Loved is a zine created as an outline of the concepts explored throughout my thesis year.

This zine was created in E Roon Kang's Thesis 1 course, taking three major themes and conducting extensive research on them, highlighting important people and works of art that are related to those concepts. This was an exercise in design research and conception for a year-long design process, culminating in Recipes for Community.

AN INTERVENTION WITH THE JOHNSON MUSEUM is a site-specific installation projected onto the side of the Johnson Museum of Art in Ithaca, NY.

The project began as an assignment for Lynn Kiang's Experience in Space class. The prompt was to research and design a temporary installation that would interact with a chosen public building. I wanted to create an installation that intervened with museums as an institution, calling for provenence and ultimately, repatriation of stolen art. The Johnson Museum of Art in particular is known for having one of the largest Asian Art collections in all of the United States. Video of on-site installation here.

Waiting for the Moment is a short film self portrait done in Shira Inbar's Motion Graphics class.

Waiting for the Moment is an exercise in combining poetic prose, photography, audio, and motion graphics. Sound design by Scott Li.

A film poster designed and illustrated by commission for Evers Pund's award winning short film, Remnants.

Traditionally illustrated using watercolor and ink, copy designed on Indesign and Photoshop.

(PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE)

September 2022 -

The Jewish Museum, Junior Graphic Designer

Working within all areas of print and digital design in a small team of 3. Supporting the Museum's overall visual identity through exhibition graphics, programs, invitations for programs, onsite signage and multi-channel advertising. Notably, led the rebrand of the New York Jewish Film Festival, as well as the advertising for Mood of the Moment: Gaby Aghion and the house of Chloé.

Jan 2020 -

Freelance Graphic Designer

Select clients include: Greywolf Press, Nightboat Books, and Wendy's Subway. Main areas of freelance include book design and digital graphics for small publishing, as well as film production work in the feature film industry. Currently designing a book for The Quick and the Dead: Theresa Hak Kyung Cha lecture series.

Aug 2019 -
Jun 2021

Synoptic Office, Research Assistant

Interviewed visiting designers for Parsons Lecture Series on the intersection of culture and design, published in 1, 10, 100 Years: Form, Typography, and Interaction at Parsons. Created assets for exhibitions, including the 2021 Venice Biennale and the Hong Kong Museum of Art. Motion design and graphics. Research for web projects including the Chinese Type Archive.

June 2021 -
September 2021

Lolita Bandita, Bloomeffects Design Intern

Designed assets for client Bloomeffects, including digital assets like GIFs, social media graphics, and advertising graphics, as well as internal assets, including pitch decks, brand books.

May 2020 -
Oct 2020

The Brooklyn Rail, Production and Social Media Assistant

Worked with entire editorial team to produce assets for social media, including captions and graphic content, like GIFS and event posters. Edited video content for artist studio visits and lectures both for Instagram and Youtube, creating captioning and concise videos. Helped organize initiatives and programs such as The New Social Environment.

Jan 2019 -
Jul 2019

Lipman Studio, Art Direction Intern

Design research, creating pitch decks and development presentations. Retouching, layout, and graphic design for print and web, animating gifs and web banners. Video editing using Premiere and After Effects.

(EDUCATION)

2023

Type@Cooper, Animating Variable Type with Romello Goodman

2017 - 2021

Parsons School of Design, BFA in Communication Design
Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts, BA in Literary Studies, Writing

2020

School for Poetic Computation, Digital Love Languages with Melanie Hoff

(SKILLS)

Proficient in Adobe Creative Suite, including Photoshop, Indesign, Illustrator, and Adobe After Effects.
Confidence in both print and digital creation practices.
Experience in Exhibition Design, with a strong eye for interactive design in 3D spaces.
Extensive knowledge of Typography, Graphic imagery, and Illustration, always looking to learn more.
HTML, CSS, and Javascript, as well as Figma and Github.
Writing, Creative and Analytical, detail-oriented copywriter.

(INVOLVEMENT)

Winner of Point of You Contest with i-D and Vice.
Co-organizer of Hyperlink Press's Emergence Zine Fair, 2022.
Tabled published zine at Printed Matter Book Fair, 2022-2023.
Performed debut writing piece, Solstice, 2022, at the New World Symphony in the Frank Gehry center.