Welcome!

I am a Design Strategist and Design Researcher for Social Impact, with a keen eye on how our systems are designed and how they can be designed and redesigned to better support marginalized communities.

See below for featured work:

Redesigning Work for College Staff

︎ How might we redesign work to better support and enrich MICA Staff?

My graduate thesis project centered on understanding the professional lives of the staff at the college I was going to. This project took a look at work through the lens of the pandemic.

︎ Center for Social Design

︎ MICA Staff Empowerment Council

︎ Design Research, Design Strategy

︎ January - May 2022

PrEP Initiation

︎ How might we support BCHD Sexual Health providers and patients with PrEP Initiation?

The Baltimore City Health Department and MICA’s Center for Social Design collaborated on an initiative to help with PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) initiation for their patients at their two Sexual Health Clinics.

The six-month long project focused on how we could design with and for both the PrEP providers and patients.

︎ Baltimore City Health Department

︎ Center for Social Design

︎ Design Research, Service Design

︎ August - December 2021

School Values and Culture in Pandemic Realities

︎ What does it mean to “CNH” for the Board?

In a three-week HCD Immersive experience, MICA’s MA in Social Design department partnered with City Neighbors Hamilton (CNH) to explore how we could improve their school culture. A charter school in a neighborhood in Baltimore, CNH already had a thriving and meaningful school culture, which prioritized and supported it’s students first and foremost. However, over the course of the pandemic, some of what had made CNH great was starting to fray.

︎ City Neighbors Hamilton

︎ Center for Social Design

︎ Design Research, Design Strategy

︎ September - October 2021

Timeline of the Campaign to Protect Migrant Worker’s Rights

Working with a team of four volunteers over a week-long project, we developed two timeline redesigns for the Centro De Los Derechos del Migrante (CDM) team. The timeline demarcates key victories and successes in the campaign to advocate for migrant worker’s rights over gender discrimination.

︎ Centro De Los Derechos del Migrante

︎ Grassroots Designfest

︎ Copywriting, UX/UI Design

︎ February 2022

Visual Land Acknowledgement - Philadelphia, PA

This piece was created to honor the indigenous peoples of Philadelphia, PA, my home city, and to honor the land itself. It was created as apart of a class exploring how we can decolonize design. It was exhibited alongside other land acknowledgements at the Maryland Institute College of Art.

︎ Decolonize Design Course

︎ Fiber

︎ March 2022

Decolonizing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Practices in the Workplace

This essay was written as a part of a final project exploring how we might decolonize an area of interest. I focused on issues of the workplace to go alongside my thesis. My research led me to the problems surrounding Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) practices and how they can contribute to a DEI Industrial Complex.

︎ Decolonize Design Course

︎ Graphic Design

︎ Copywriting

︎ May 2022

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ALLISON JOY TOMLINSON

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