Sometimes, when you are making your way through the Doane University campus, it can feel as if you are in your own world and disconnected from others. However, one teacher is trying to encourage students and staff to tell the stories they have about Doane to help make the campus more connected through the Humans of Doane Project.
Humans of Doane is a project for GDC 275—Typography 1, taught by Assistant Professor of Art and Graphic Design Chelsey Augustine. Augustine was inspired by photographer Brandon Stanton’s Humans of New York, a photoblog of random New Yorkers and a short story they chose to share with Stanton.
Humans of Doane features students and staff submitting anonymous stories about anything that is interesting to them, whether it be something at Doane, something in the world, or an opinion they hold. Students in the class will be taking the anonymous stories submitted and making creative, conceptual layouts to share those stories in typography, a form of graphic design that focuses on using different types of type and text. The students will have an installation of the stories on the Nyrop wall in the Perry Campus Center from Oct. 28 to Nov. 11.
“Humans of Doane is making my class more connected to the campus environment at Doane by mixing course content with everyday life,” Augustine said. “I think more often than not, a lot of people tend to forget about our art and design programs here at Doane. While we are in the Art and Education building, we are a little bit secluded from other departments or areas of campus. We have incredibly talented students and student groups that enjoy creating and making, so there’s no better way of showcasing that talent and work than making their project content a bit more realistic and personal.”
Augustine believes that this installation can help make the rest of the Doane community notice the artistic talent of the students at Doane as well as be more connected to each other. By sharing stories that matter, Augustine believes that it can inspire empathy and understanding between people at Doane.
“I hope that this project will add a bit of perspective to everyone here at Doane. I think we often forget that while we are all here in the same place, focusing on academics, playing sports, etc., everyone has a different life experience. We tend to forget that not everyone walks the same path and it’s good to diversify yourself and hear from others about their experiences and stories,” Augustine said. “Students, faculty, and staff should contribute to Humans of Doane because we want to hear from you! Whether those journeys are positive, negative, boring or exciting, they should still be told! The story you share might spark something in someone else or encourage others to think about things differently.”
Anyone interested in submitting a story for Humans of Doane can do so via the graphic attached to this story or this link to submit stories. The finished typographies will be featured on the Nyrop wall in the Perry Campus Center from Oct. 28 to Nov. 11.
