Background
Expand the Conversation is an imagined national political movement that helps people organize through protest and political action to advocate for the unrestricted use of non-violent language controlled by the Federal Government. The Trump administration has banned a long list of words and phrases that even mention diversity, minorities or offer more inclusive language to specifically transgender and nonbinary people. In research facilities looking for federal government grants, they are not allowed to use any of these words or they will not receive funding even if these words are crucial foundations of their research. This is especially affecting research labs on college campuses.
Expand the Conversation based in the belief that banning the use of words that open up conversations about differences and create a more equitable world is harmful for present and future generations. Prohibiting use, and in turn understanding, of a word will only make people fearful of the word and concept. Expand the conversation by talking and learning about subjects you may not understand.
Research
When creating this system, I knew I wanted to make something political and specific to the moment we are living in. I did a lot of research on contemporary political campaign branding that has been successful in recent years. I noted how color choices outside of the typical American flag can denote change in political movements and bold unique fonts help reach younger audiences. The biggest thing my research showed me was the importance of meeting your constituents through a visual language they understand and relate to.
The most successful campaign design's I referenced conceptually and visually were Pete Buttigieg's 2020 Presidential campaign, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's 2018 campaign and Zohran Mamdani's 2025 Mayoral campaign. These campaigns all stepped outside of the traditional "America" look and made their design more accessible by designing for the people they were trying to reach. My research extended across parties and countries around the world to see what worked for different groups of people in different moments historically. All this research helped inform and frame my visual system.
Branding
Branding for system
The branding for the full system uses traditional elements of type in an inventive way. Brackets are used to add or clarify information to a sentence. Putting the word Expand in brackets communicates the idea that these words need to be added back into the conversation. The yellow boxes behind the words mimic the form of the black box that is used to redact words from documents but instead it highlights the words and makes them stand out. The color scheme sticks to the traditional red, white and blue we see in the flag but adds the yellow to communicate a sense of urgency and change. For my typefaces, I chose two from Google Fonts so they could be accessible to anyone who wants to make posters, flyers, or graphics for events relating to the movement in their area.
Web Design
The organization has a website that helps introduce the mission of the movement, share the list of words that were banned by the administration, and call people to action by showing a map of events around the country and offering the opportunity to start your own event. I wanted to make the site easy to interact with by keeping traditional UI but add my own elements of the system to make the experience unique. I also wanted to keep the tone very youthful and cheeky to give the movement a lot of personality. I feel this tone comes out most in the List of Banned words tab.
Print Design
Using a risograph machine, I created flyers to spread around the University of Florida campus to promote a protest event. I wanted to use riso to call back to its origins in grassroots movements, like this one. I also felt the visual style of the risograph gives the print side of the system a unique and eye catching look. I used a variety of styles on these emphasizing image, text, and a combination of both on the three designs I produced.
Motion Applications
I made a few motion applications of my system. I made a simple logo animation to be used in the website and on social media channels. I also made an animation similar to the logo version that showcases a handful of the words that are banned and the name of the organization at the end. I pictured this being used on social media for social channels as well as ads.
