Bridging the Gaps of Lao American Identity Through Design

After my trip to Laos, I became fascinated with the statues and artwork featuring mythical creatures at temples. After doing more research, I began to do illustrations of them. This piece features a hongsa, a mythical bird.

Bridging the Gaps of Lao American Identity Through Design

An interview with Michael Sasorith

INTERVIEW BY BRENDA TRAN

MICHAEL SASORITH is a classic jungle Asian designer. Like many Southeast Asian web designers who came of age in the digital era, he got his start by teaching himself to code AsianAvenue and Myspace user page layouts. Today, he’s a designer at ArcStone, a Minneapolis-based agency that focuses on marketing, web design, and web development. Although he initially considered his work and Lao American identity separate, he later found ways to merge them through creative projects.

In our conversation, Michael talks about how he got his start in design, the influence of Lao culture on his own work and advice for future Southeast Asian designers.

What’s your story?

I’m originally from Rochester, New York, but Minnesota has been my home since 2001. I’ve been drawn to web design since my days doing basic HTML/CSS projects on Asian- Avenue and Myspace.

I have a BFA in Graphic Design from the University of Minnesota — Twin Cities and currently work as a designer at ArcStone, where the majority of my work focuses on UI/UX design.

Website designed for Hunger Solutions, a non-profit organization that works to combat hunger in the state of Minnesota.

What are your goals as a designer?

Like most design students, I wanted to do almost anything and everything—I was just eager to create. After thinking about it more carefully, I decided that I wanted to work with nonprofits and community organizations that did important social work. Fortunately at ArcStone, that’s a large part of our clientele. I get to help enhance the visibility of organizations like Hunger Solutions.

Do you struggle with the underrepresentation of people of color, specifically Southeast Asians, in the design field?

Like many Southeast Asian people, my family came to the United States as refugees. Resettling in Rochester, we lived in poverty and there were not many opportunities or paths for the youth of color aside from drugs and gangs. I only had one aunt who went to college and graduated before me, and accomplishing the same achievement as her was a big deal. But also like her, I was one of the first of my family to go to college, specifically the first to go into the design field, and there was very little guidance or any mentors to help me along the way.

I remember going into the graphic design foundation courses at the University of Minnesota, and a lot of the other students talked about having family who were designers or even went to schools that taught them how to screenprint and use Adobe programs. I felt “othered” instantly because of my background, lack of experience and network. On top of that, I was paying for college all out of my own pocket and had to work 30 hours a week while being a fulltime student. I was far behind in skill, knowledge, and experience compared to the other students in my program, who were mostly white.

Going into the professional workforce was when I really started to feel the struggles of being a designer of color. While others were getting jobs quickly, I was struggling to even get an interview. People would look at my portfolio and say I’m a good designer, yet I didn’t get any job application responses. I started developing a lot of questions in my head: is it because my last name is “ethnic”? Should I write down a fake one as an alias? Is it really because I’m Asian?

After getting a job, the feeling of being “othered” was still present and I had to learn to code-switch—hiding parts of myself to assimilate to a white-dominated industry. Design, like many other industries, is very much about who you know and networking. But, it can be difficult for designers of color to get their foot in those network circles—especially in Minnesota, where the culture can be very insular.

On a positive note, these struggles pushed me to be better and work harder. And in some ways, it’s exciting to carve out a path on my own.

How did you begin exploring your Lao American identity through creative work?

In the beginning of my design career, I believed I couldn’t combine my Lao identity with my work—or at least, I didn’t know how. After taking a Lao language course through the Southeast Asian Diaspora (SEAD) Project, I made my first trip to Laos last summer. It felt like a puzzle piece that I didn’t realize was missing got put back into place.

I was very inspired by the Buddhist temples and the amazing artistry involved in their creation. They all had amazing statues, buildings, and paintings. There was so much that I didn’t know about my culture and the religious traditions tied to it.

After that, I started to use my design knowledge and skills to create work that celebrates and uplifts Lao American identity.

Has your recent reconnection with Lao culture changed the way you view design, in terms of its function and potential outcomes? If so, how?

I don’t think it has changed my view of design. I’ve always believed that design can accomplish amazing things if people invested it in it. Refocusing and connecting with my Lao culture, if anything, has expanded my appreciation of art and design from a larger global and cultural viewpoint. It has revealed the less visible paths of design that can be explored.

When we think about color, typography, and other design principles, it’s often from a Western/Eurocentric viewpoint. But, those design principles do not necessarily work for every culture in the world. For example, most of the typography “rules” are relative to the Roman alphabet. For languages like Lao, standard typography teachings don’t accommodate for tone marks or vowel symbols that are placed before, after, above, and below a consonant.

In regards to Lao culture, there’s a lot of richness in Lao art and design that isn’t visible in the design community and I’m excited to help change that.

What are some Southeast Asianfocused projects you’ve worked on?

I designed the SEAD Project’s Lao and Hmong language coursebooks and have my own personal project, “Wow Speak Lao,” in which I design graphics to go alongside Lao words to help Lao language learners strengthen their vocabulary. Currently, my favorite project involves creating Lao script fonts.

What advice would give incoming Southeast Asian designers?

Let the unknown and unwalked paths of design fuel your creativity and passion instead of bring upon fear. Also, there are a lot of great Southeast Asian people doing great things.

One of the things that I love about Southeast Asian culture is that everyone’s seen as family. We call everyone aunt or uncle, sister or brother, even though we’re not related by blood. If you’re in need of help, reach out to the community because we’re family!

There’s a Lao proverb that basically says, “if you don’t know, learn. If you do know, teach.” If you have knowledge to give, uplift your community by teaching it. —M.

Learn more about Michael's work:

Website: michaelsasorith.com

Email: msasorith@gmail.com

Instagram: mikesassafras, wowspeaklao

Facebook: wowspeaklao