Impact of Design ‘Clicks’ for Designer While in Nicaragua

Graphic designer Veronica Silva’s trip to Nagarote, Nicaragua with Project Resound provided the “real-world” experience she expected – and a whole lot more. 

“In school, it didn’t click that design impacts so much,” Veronica said, “but it does. “Everyone interacts with design in some way, either through content, a service, or a product.”

50% of the Nicaraguans in rural areas live below the poverty line, and 11.5% live in extreme poverty. This inequality manifests not only in GDP per capita but also in access to resources such as capital, water, electricity, telephone, mobile phone service and paved roads.*

She added, “Working as a member of the Project Resound team helped me to realize the impact of design, how it can help people and the gratification you feel when it positively affects a community. The small things you can help with make a big impact.”

Veronica had just completed a degree in graphic design when she met Project Resound founder Louis Baker, who at the time was recruiting for the Nicaragua trip. After doing some research, she joined the project and headed off to Nicaragua, a place where she had never traveled before and didn’t know what quite to expect. After an immersive tour of sites in Managua and the surrounding countryside she went to work.

The Project Resound team was asked to serve the Cooperative Multifuncional Jesucristo es el Señor, R.L. in a rebranding project that included the redesign of the logo, a web page design and collateral pieces including brochures and slide decks. The cooperative is a worthy financial institution that helped the community by making micro-loans to entrepreneurs. It had a good brand image in the community but needed a better brand identity.

“We found that the identity was sending the wrong message and needed to provide a context of security and caring for people. The photographic logo was overly aggressive and the slide deck was difficult to read, as it had larger rivers of text and multiple fonts that conflicted with one another. The depiction of coinage created an overwhelming sense of money over caring.”

The new designs were completed in extreme heat on an outdoor tin-roofed porch. Nicaragua was beautiful, but it was hot! “I was sweaty, but happy that we had a ceiling fan to cool us and wi-fi to help us get the job done!”

“The trip gave me a refreshing new perspective, not only about graphic design and its impact, but also about connecting with people in a local community and focusing on their needs and how to meet those needs. Working with Project Resound helped me to see things in a different way.” 

Veronica didn’t leave her new perspective in Nicaragua. She came back with a desire to help people through design in her free time. She volunteered with the Los Angeles Mayor’s office to conduct workshops and share knowledge with high school students. 

She highly recommends Project Resound to others and encourages future participants to “be open minded and willing to try different things. “Each project has a very specific focus or opportunity, so you should also consider the opportunities that could arise around the project. They may surprise you!”

*Philipp, J. (2020, July 09). 5 causes of poverty in Nicaragua. Retrieved March 18, 2021, from https://borgenproject.org/5-causes-of-poverty-in-nicaragua/