Uplifting/Lifting Up: Asian Power From Our Own Hands
Since arriving in the United States nearly two years ago, Tingyu "Danica" Dou has been troubled to hear that when people talk about race, the matter is often quite literally Black and White. Despite the fact that anti-Asian racism has always been present in the U.S., it is rarely discussed. The COVID-19 pandemic outbreak triggered a sharp increase in racist statements and hate crimes against Asians in Western countries. According to the non-profit group Stop AAPI Hate, nearly 4,000 incidents have been reported nationwide since the pandemic started. This fueled Danica's decision to dedicate her thesis, Uplifting / Lifting Up: Asian Power From Our Own Hands, to fighting discrimination against Asian Americans.
“According to the non-profit group Stop AAPI Hate, nearly 4,000 incidents have been reported nationwide since the pandemic started.”
While carrying out research and conducting interviews, Danica heard stories that rarely surface in public discussions and mainstream discourse about race. As a designer, she made it her mission to show these stories and understand why they are not being shared. She used culture as a bridge to connect people and empower them to fight discrimination.
Danica’s thesis exploration revolves around delivering power back into the hands of Asian people through their voice, representation, and culture. She asks the question: “how might we use design to fight anti-Asian hate?”
Kickass Azn
Kickass Azn is an app that helps Asian Americans be vocal about their concerns and amplifies their voices to a larger audience. There are two ways to interact with the app: Anyone who self-identifies as Asian American can record a 90-second voice message about growing up as azn (Asian). People who aren't Asian can listen to the stories and learn about history and culture from the platform.
“Society attempts to silence Asian Americans by calling them model minorities,” Danica shares of her inspiration behind the app. “and Asian American people are often not vocal enough to tell their experiences. That’s why I designed Kickass Azn—to create a platform for us to share our experiences.”
Yong
Yong is an app that lets Asian American teenagers create their own superheroes to accompany their personal stories. It’s an effective way to engage young people in current social issues and empower them to express their voices through creative work. Yong provides a series of interactive customizable options, from potential superpowers to props to pet peeves, that serve as jumping-off points in order to spark teens’ imagination and help them create unique superhero stories.
“Yong can help teenagers break stereotype and lets them explore their identity, dream big, and give the power back to their own hands,” Danica says.
Disguised Pizza
Disguised Pizza is a critical design project that calls attention to a common problem: Asian American schoolchildren getting bullied for eating traditional food at lunchtime. It is a set of products built to camouflage Asian kids’ traditional food to help prevent bullying.
The main lunchbox resembles a pizza box, so anyone who looks at it will assume that a single slice of pizza is inside. This helps the child fit in with their peers.
When the child opens the Disguised Pizza lunchbox, however, it is actually full of the traditional dishes that the child’s mother packed, allowing them to enjoy the food in secret.
The product is also aware that children often complain about the smell of traditional food. So the kit also includes a camouflage spray for children to create a pizza smell around themselves, and an instructional pamphlet to teach children how to use the kit step by step.
It is important to point out that this product is built to be speculative and it is never meant as a solution. The rest of the thesis exploration is about bringing pride back to Asian food, proudly displaying Asian cultures instead of hiding them.
Tso Delicious
Tso Delicious is an experience that uses sound to popularize stories about Chinese foods. In order to alleviate the stigma around Chinese food and Chinese restaurants in the West, this experience invites people to leave a voicemail describing one of their favorite Chinese dishes. It aims to bring these stories to people who don’t have much knowledge about Chinese food.
The first part of the Tso Delicious experience design was poster distribution: Danica hung posters around New York City’s Chinatown, asking residents to call and share their stories. Through this, Danica gathered stories in different languages related to homesickness, memory, and recipes, and created a social media campaign.
The second stage of the Tso Delicious project was interactive: Danica created clay fortune cookies containing facts about Chinese food and distributed them around Chinatown as well. The posters that Danica hung up around the neighborhood played on stereotypes, spotlighting food that doesn’t traditionally come from China, such as General Tso’s Chicken.
Food Weapon
Food Weapon is a social campaign featuring a new way to “eat” Asian food. Its designs depict traditional food as weapons, giving individuals the power to fight anti-Asian racism while displaying pride in their culture through the lens of humor.
The designs featured in the Food Weapon series can be made into posters and distributed to local shops to raise awareness. On her website, Danica invites visitors to download the designs for free. She then took the project a step further, and created t-shirts and other items to make a personal statement or be held in protest to showcase Asian power. You can buy your own Food Weapon stickers, t-shirts, phone cases, pillows and more on Danica’s RedBubble shop.
