Skip to content Skip to footer

Guess Who: Asian Edition

MADE FOR

GRADUATION YEAR 2020 MINERVA ART ACADEMY

Role

VISUAL DESIGNER, PHOTORAPHER, ART DIRECTOR

NEXT LOCATION

TRAVELLING WITH THE PLAY ‘DE BANANENGENERATIE’

BUY CARD GAME
READ STORIES
GOLD LAMP - DCA

Why

As a woman born and raised in The Netherlands with Chinese roots, pitching my graduation project in 2019 about racism and discrimination in a white dominated academy was a challenge. Educating white teachers who didn’t believe that racism and discrimination towards people with East and Southeast Asian roots exist.
This once again showed how important it is to raise awareness about these topics. Racism and discrimination towards people with East and Southeast Asian roots are normalized in The Netherlands that it’s often overlooked.

Because of colonialism and white supremacy, racist stereotypes about different communities are shown in Dutch Media. This leads to negative prejudice and racist behaviour.

Many communities from Asia are forgotten in policies about inclusivity, anti-racism and discrimination. In The Netherlands, the word ‘Asian’ often only refers to Chinese or East Asians (China, Korea and Japan) while Asia is a massive continent with a rich diversity of cultures, languages and people. Generalizing and acting like Asians are a
a homogeneous community hurts and ignores Asian communities.

Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, verbal and physical racism towards people with East and Southeast Asian roots couldn’t be ignored anymore. This also convinced my white teachers that this is really happening in the world.

Goals:
– Create real representation to show real people with Asian roots
– Break the racist prejudice that people with Asian roots look like each other
– Uplift Asian communities with real representation
– Raise awareness and open conversations about racism and discrimination towards people with East and Southeast Asian roots

Impact

When releasing my graduation project presentation in 2020 with my research, this went viral on Instagram. With 83.000 views, 8965 saves, 375 comments and 3608 likes. It was also reposted on the Instagram account of Madeleijn van den Nieuwenhuizen from @zeikschrift, with 91.000 views, 162 comments and 3864 likes. Several famous Dutch people have reposted my graduation presentation in their story.

In 2021 and before the release of the exhibition I was interviewed by Frysan local newspaper Rondom vandaag and svjmedia, a student journalism platform.

In the beginning of May 2022, when the exhibition finally opened at OBA Oosterdok. Several mainstream media outlets wanted to interview me about Guess Who: Asian edition. Linda.nl, EditieNL (RTL Nieuws), FunX, NPO Radio 1, NOS nieuws, NOS Stories (294k views) and local radio stations.

The news coverage helped with creating more awareness and opening up conversations about racism and discrimination towards Asian communities. By visiting the exhibition, people could play the game themselves.

The potential and vision for the future is that the life-sized version will travel to different locations in The Netherlands. Visiting schools, businesses and open spaces so various people can play and interact with the portraits. Creating the game in different languages such as English so the game can be played internationally.

BUY CARD GAME
READ STORIES
DIY PRINT GAME
Close
HI, I’M Adam Smith

Art direction,
web & digital product
design experience.

Dicta sunt explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem quia voluptas sit.

popular services

Our practice

Adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt labore dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim.

Business strategy

Natus error sit voluptatem accus auntim doloremque lautan.

Brand strategy

Natus error sit voluptatem accus auntim doloremque lautan.

Product design

Natus error sit voluptatem accus auntim doloremque lautan.

Motion graphics

Natus error sit voluptatem accus auntim doloremque lautan.

Subscribe. Subscribe.

Subscribe. Subscribe.

Helping brands stand out

Creative approach to every project. We work to bring you joy

People
0+
Projects
0
Years
0+
Partners
0
About our projects

We develop & create digital future

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore.

Services
resume

Education & experience

Dicta sunt explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem quia voluptas sit aspernaturaut odit aut fugit, sed quia consequuntur. Dicta sunt explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem quia voluptas.

Portfolio
Site of the day
Readability
Techno world
2020
Motion graphics
Animation
Motion lab
2021
Business model
New strategy
Market life
2022
Video design
Visualization
Live cam project
2023