Inclusive: A Classroom Kit to Celebrate Diversity

Inclusive: A Classroom Kit to Celebrate Diversity

WORDS, PHOTOS, AND ILLUSTRATIONS BY LISSA VO

I remember back in elementary school, I would stare at the posters on the classroom wall and compare my classmates to the kids in the posters to see who looked the most alike. During these exercises, I noticed that there was never a person in the posters that looked like me. It didn’t bother me much, but what really got under my skin (literally) was that I could never find my skin tone, or anything even close to it, in crayons. My only options were white, black, and brown—peach, tan, and light brown as well, if we had a 24-pack.

I’m not sure why I focused on those things as a child, but I always wondered why I wasn’t included. It created thoughts in my head that I wasn’t important enough to be in something as mundane as the visuals around the classroom. Years later, I still struggle to find representation in media, whether it’s in cheesy stock photos, commercials, books, movies or television shows.

During my last semester in the graphic design BFA program at the University of Minnesota — Twin Cities, I created a classroom kit named Inclusive. This kit included stickers and posters featuring racially diverse children, as well as a wide range of skin tone coloring materials. The goal of this project was to create a resource for elementary school teachers so that they can feel confident that their education materials reflect the diversity of their classrooms. Implemented in a classroom setting, the inclusive visuals and school supplies would help instill confidence in children at an early age.

The exhibition turned out better than I expected. The reaction I got was very positive and supportive. Despite my success, the journey to get there wasn’t the easiest.

The biggest issue I encountered while working on the project was the lack of helpful feedback, as well as understanding, from my white classmates. Every week during critiques, they always talked about how amazing my message of diversity was and never gave me constructive criticism. I felt like they were afraid to say the wrong thing and always tiptoed around me. One day in class, we had to give feedback to everyone’s work anonymously. I received a note from a classmate that said they were confused on the idea of the project and that the lack of representation of Asian Americans was not an issue. I was frustrated, drained, and felt very isolated. After that, I knew I couldn’t rely on the help of my classmates, so I decided to go to my friends instead.

Luckily, my exhibition class professor is an Asian woman herself. Without her, I would have gotten zero feedback and in-class support during my work on this project. I knew from the get-go that I wanted to address the lack of representation of Asian Americans, but I didn’t know how to go about it. My professor really pushed me to think of more creative and tangible solutions to the problem rather than calling it out and telling others to do something about it.

“Lissa, this is a serious problem and we are not going to just tell people that it is a problem—I need you to make a solution. We know there is a lack of representation of Asian Americans, but we don’t need you to keep saying it. Make a space or create visuals yourself and find a solution. No more call to action. Solve the problem,” she said.

As people of color creatives, we need to do less “call to action” projects and focus on more tangible solutions.

Now that was a game changer. I started to change my mindset and focus on creating effective solutions. I started to do some research and asked myself: why are there are very few children’s books featuring people of color? Is it because there are no authors of color? Is it because children of color don’t like to read? No, that’s ridiculous. Then I asked, why are publishers not publishing children’s books with people of color?

I concluded that a possible solution would be to create my own publishing company for authors of color. Although it was only a hypothetical publishing company, I fully believed in the idea of the project. My new direction ultimately led to the creation of the classroom kit.

Problem: lack of representation in elementary school classrooms. Solution: create a kit for elementary school teachers so they can then make their space more inclusive.

I know that being a creative of color can be a little tricky and lonely right now, but just know that you’ll be okay. My advice is to link up with people of color in your field, especially the ones who are considered experts like my professor. Use online resources and post your work online to get as much feedback as possible. With so many creatives of color experiencing the same problem, spread across the globe, you could also make friends. Good luck to you all. I can’t wait to see your solutions. —L.

LISSA VO is a graphic designer based in the Twin Cities. She is passionate about creating thoughtful design. Her design process emphasizes interaction with the community, research and being open minded to all types of feedback.

Website: lissavo.com

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