As a part of CUP’s ongoing series spotlighting our collaborators, Meet the Designer, we sat down with designer Luiza Dale!
Luiza is a graphic designer based in Brooklyn. Her most recent CUP project, Immigrants & NY will be featured in an exhibit on CUP’s Making Policy Public program at The Drawing Center later this month! She chatted with us about her background, experience collaborating with CUP, and even revealed her secret skill.
Can you tell us a little bit more about you as a designer? How did you start doing design work? I originally went to school for Architecture in Brazil and towards the end of the course I was getting more and more interested in being able to represent my work better through typography. I then moved to New York where I studied graphic design for a few years before deciding to stick around and have a practice in Brooklyn.
How would you describe your practice? Ah, tough question! In a lot of ways I’m too inside of it to be able to see it for what it is, if that makes sense. I like to think that my practice is about recontextualizing existing information and presenting it back to people, to invite conversation. I find it particularly important to make work that takes back democratic means of communication like independent printing and publishing.
What is a project you’re working on now, that you’re excited to reveal soon? I just finished the print production phase of a poetry book that is coming out later this month! I feel such a big relief when sending something to print after working on it for months on end. This project is in collaboration with the non-profit Newest York Arts Press.
Are there creatives in fields outside of design that inspire you or your work? I enjoy reading and writing very much.
What was one of the best parts about working on Immigrants & NY? The time we had to work made it possible for us to really think things through. And the testing sessions with members of different immigrant communities were also essential for our design and editing decisions.
What was the most important takeaway you learned from the project? As much as we live in scary times regarding immigration, it’s important to help immigrant communities know they have rights.
How did the project impact your work moving forward? I’m motivated to continue to carry social and political responsibility in my work.
What is your secret skill that has nothing to do with your design work? I think I can cook!