About the author/designer of this thesis:
Angela Guzman is a graduate student in Graphic Design at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). She also graduated with honors and a 4.0 grade point average in Industrial Design as an undergrad at the same institution. She takes great pleasure combining her past and current knowledge in these two fields (see her portfolio at www.guzdesign.com). Born and partially raised in Bogotá, Colombia, she finds herself, like many Hispanics living in the United States, at the center of the cultural "crossroads" — the places where Hispanics and Americans collide head-to-head and where stereotypes meet. Her graduate thesis, "From Both Sides: Visualizing Mutual Adaptation through Hispanic Empowerment and American Awareness" depicts how Hispanics and Americans perceive one another. She feels that through visual design, everyone can effectively learn something new and start a respectful bi-directional conversation. This body of work aims to transfer and translate information from both sides.
Angela's thesis study began to take shape when one of her sisters, Ciri, shared a story about a young Mexican girl in the third grade who couldn't participate in Physical Education class. The girl's feet were "hurting too much" and she was "scared to tell the teacher." Ciri then continued by sharing a sad discovery: the girl's shoes were too small and caused her feet to swell significantly, preventing her from playing kickball. Angela, in the mist of thinking about her 16 month thesis adventure, quickly realized that even in developed countries, like the United States, some families could not afford new shoes. Perhaps the American Dream was impossible to reach, or the definition had changed. As the story unfolded, Angela put other pieces together; her own personal stories plus that of other immigrants and their American neighbors. With this in mind, her thesis shifted into full gear. The conclusion she drew is as follows: there is a story to every pair of feet; many people are misguided, misunderstood, and misinterpreted from both sides.
