Meet the 2022 Change in Design Finalists

  ·  May 19th, 2022

We’re thrilled to announce the five talented designers chosen by our jury as finalists for the 2022 CUP Fellowship for Change in Design! While we can only choose one designer to work with for the year, we’re showcasing all of our finalists in the spirit of cultivating and uplifting new talent in the design field.

Jonai Gibson-Selix

Jonai Gibson-Selix is a multi-disciplinary designer based in Philly whose practice lives at the intersections of design and culture, identity, and justice. Here, she challenges boundaries through her process of co-learning and co-creation to ensure that connection, access, and care are reflected at the forefront of her print, digital, and environmental experiences.

Jonai is just a few days away from holding her BFA in Graphic Design [Black Art History minor] from the University of the Arts and currently serves as the Art Director of Tessera Arts Collective.

Check Out Jonai's Work

Keysha Rivera

Keysha Rivera is a textile and design artist living and working on Chitimacha, Houma, and Choctaw also known as New Orleans of Taino Indigenous ancestry. Her work revolves around cultural preservation and the configuration of displaced histories. Her familial research acts as a guide for the creation of works. Her design work focuses on challenging the status quo and the power of visual and written storytelling.

Check Out Keysha's Work

Nestor Kok

Nestor Kok is a designer, illustrator, award-winning journalist, and comic book creator. Before pursuing an MFA in design at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, he completed an undergraduate law degree in the UK. Nestor aims to push the envelope on creating at the intersection of comics, graphic design, and book arts; reshaping past trauma into fictional narratives that provide both author and reader control and catharsis over old wounds. In 2021, he was awarded the Caxton Club Graduate Grant for Projects in the Book Arts.

Check Out Nestor's Work

Pedro Aizza

Pedro Aizza is a Brazilian graphic designer with a BA in Graphic Design from St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas. He strives to create work that holds meaning with as few elements as possible and prioritizes functionality to give his work purpose. This simplification process often brings in abstraction, adding versatility that he uses as leverage to break through barriers of language and culture. An ongoing theme in his projects is the clash and overlapping of distinct cultures. He also can’t say no to a good afternoon run and recently has found great joy in expressing his design through printmaking.

Check Out Pedro's Work

Yasmin Ali

Yasmin Ali is a recent graduate from College for Creative Studies and is a graphic designer currently based in Brooklyn, NY. She is interested in using design as a tool to examine questions pertaining to race, gender identity, and the other complex systems we live within. Her work ranges from visual identity for social impact groups to creative workshop ideation. She hopes to continue to be a part of projects that incorporate thoughtful discussion and cultivates community.

Check Out Yasmin's Work