websites
freeDimensional Web Presence
Ari designed and produced sister sites for freeDimensional (fD) and Center for International Art in Community (CIAC), its New York partner center and home office. fD is a growing international network that organizes community resources for the support and protection of activists, artists and citizen journalists around the world.
Both sites take advantage of free services, extending the fledgling NGOs' reach for little to no overhead. Features include Flickr and blog feeds integrated into the design for an automatic stream of fresh content from staff, members and partners; an interactive Flash map and guide to the network's partner centers; and easy access to numerous communications and social technology tools.
fD logo by Kate Boyle; CIAC logo by Ari.
The Glass Contraption Identity and Website
Ari designed a site that established international activist-art-clown troupe The Glass Contraption's online presence and provided them with a way to catalogue previous productions, promote new happenings and inform potential funders about their work.
The project began with an extensive branding consultation that resulted in the troupe's updated logo, along with secondary graphics and iconography that appear throughout the site as well as in printed materials.
Media That Matters: Good Food DVD, Animation, Mailer
Media That Matters: Good Food is a collection of short films on food and sustainability that streams online, screens around the country, and is distributed on DVD to activists, educators and the general public. In addition to working on curation, curriculum-development and outreach, Shira created the branding for the project and designed the DVD, website, and promotional materials, including a fold-out mailer that doubles as a screening poster and ships postcard size. She also animated, scored and edited the intro for the collection, which features populist hero Jim Hightower. You can watch the intro on the Good Food homepage (it's the first thing that plays).
When Media That Matters: Good Food premiered at the 2006 Community Food Security Conference in Vancouver, BC, Shira co-ran a media bootcamp workshop in which participants learned the basics of video production and made a Public Service Announcement. Shira edited the spot the night of the workshop and it screened as part of the Good Food premiere, giving workshop participants the chance to see themselves on the big screen.
Media That Matters: Good Food Website, featuring intro animation and video »
"What Is Good Food?, trt 1 min. 40 sec., (3.8 MB Quicktime file) »
YouMeiTi 有媒体 Blog Design
YouMeiTi 有媒体 explores the intersections between information, media, technology and youth in China. Ari worked with the blog's author, researcher Tricia Wang, to create a bilingual visual identity that would appeal to the site's many audiences. The project included designing the blog, and creating branded business cards that double as promotional cards for the site.
EATWISE Identity and Website
Ari built the website for EATWISE (Educated and Aware Teens Who Inspire Smart Eating), a project of AmeriCorps' FoodChange, on a Movable Type template system so that the youth in the program can maintain the site themselves. New events, nutrition articles and resources, recipes, and "Questions of the Week" are added regularly when the program is in session, keeping the site fresh and useful year-round.
The teens in the program actively participated in the design and development of the EATWISE brand and website. Here they are in t-shirts bearing the logo they helped create.
eatwise.us »Kate Clinton Online Presence
Ari's redesign and development of lesbian humorist Kate Clinton's web presence has radically increased the veteran comic's ability to interact with her fans and to reach out to new audiences. Nearly 3,400 mailing list subscribers and over 2,200 friends on MySpace also keep in touch via Kate's forums, live chats, and the occasional survey. The site's blog, CommuniKate, was rated one of the Top 10 Lesbian Blogs by About.com in 2007.
Kate's eagerly-anticipated monthly newsletter is jam-packed with her reading recommendations and activist tips, fan-submitted photos and letters, and a popular monthly trivia contest. The site, built on a Movable Type template system, also features audio and video downloads, photo galleries, reviews, and a shop selling Kate's official merchandise and many books and CDs.
Ari also redesigned Kate's visual identity, which has seen her through several tours including 2006's It's Come to This 25th anniversary show and 2007's Climate Change show. Kate's site recently shifted to an election-year look for her latest tour, Hilarity Clinton '08.
