MFA 1. Design Center branding.
I was part of the branding team; curated and expanded the design center’s branding ideas of layering color, which emphasizes the concept of collaboration and building together.
MFA 1. Design Theory: Manifesto project.
My manifesto began as a critique of euro-centric design practices and the grid, but developed into a blend of ideas about macro-political critique and discipline-specific introspection. My manifesto argues that design is never neutral, it shapes memory, power, and ideology. Drawing from Nicole Guidotti-Hernández’s Unspeakable Violence and Michael Rock’s “What Is This Thing Called Graphic Design Criticism?”, it positions design as a tool that often contributes to cultural erasure and aestheticizes systems of control. But it also insists that design can be a site of rupture: a means of critique, remembrance, and resistance. My manifesto calls for a practice that doesn’t gloss over history, but agitates the present, refusing passive aesthetics in favor of tension, interruption, and critical awareness.
I made the pamphlet in riso, one, because riso is known for its slight misregistrations, layered textures, and inconsistencies. These “errors” mirror the manifesto’s embrace of tension, rupture, and refusal of polish. It literally resists the hyper-slick neutrality of commercial print aesthetics, making the critique visible in the medium itself. Two, riso prints in separate color layers, which reflects the manifesto’s core idea: that design is never one-dimensional. Just as memory, authorship, and ideology are layered, so too is the ink, each color revealing or obscuring parts of the whole. And three, riso has historically been used for grassroots publishing, zines, protest posters, and underground art. It aligns with the manifesto’s call for design as resistance, not luxury.
MFA 1. Typography: Censorship project.
Digital broadside.
In this project I used Frida Kahlo’s poetry in Spanish as my main type, which contrasts in scale with the English type on the right.
The censorship obscures parts of her poems, which makes both the Spanish and English texts change into a new poem and the new express the meaning in a different way. Typography grows and shrinks, and changes between 2 typefaces, just the way the language changes between left and right.
MFA in Graphic Design 🎓2026
thank you to Rafael @2071photo , my mom, and Milo for ALL the support these past 2 years (especially this past month when thesis work became so demanding and I was at the studio until 5am). love you all 🫶🏻 we did it.
Poster for CalArts EAVA visiting artist Sarina Nihei!
A freelance animator and illustrator from Japan, Sarina creates surreal short films and music videos with a focus on hand-drawn animation. She is a graduate of Tama Art University and the Royal College of Art. Her acclaimed 2014 film “Small People with Hats” has won awards globally at the Ottawa International Animation Festival, Holland Animation Film Festival, and British Animation Awards.
PAUL BRACH VISITING ARTIST LECTURE SERIES PRESENTS: Kathy Grove - Photography and The Guerrilla Girls / March 26 Thursday/ F200 / 4:30PM.
___
Conceptual feminist photographer Kathy Grove takes part in the Paul Brach Visiting Artist Lecture Series with her presentation, "Photography and the Guerrilla Girls."
____
Poster designed by Kat Ispache, MFA GD2
Huge congratulations to Kat Ispache (GD MFA2) on winning the Type Directors Club Scholarship! 🎉
@katispache@typedirectors
These works were developed during Kat’s MFA1 year and include both her Design Theory Manifesto project and Typography project.
Design Theory · Manifesto Project Kat’s manifesto began as a critique of Euro-centric design practices and the grid, evolving into a macro-political critique and discipline-specific introspection. It argues that design is never neutral—it shapes memory, power, and ideology. Drawing from Nicole Guidotti-Hernández’s Unspeakable Violence and Michael Rock’s What Is This Thing Called Graphic Design Criticism?, the project positions design as a tool that can contribute to cultural erasure and the aestheticization of systems of control, while also insisting that design can be a site of rupture, critique, remembrance, and resistance.
The manifesto takes the form of a risograph pamphlet. Its misregistrations, layered textures, and inconsistencies are embraced as intentional “errors,” mirroring the project’s refusal of polish and resistance to hyper-slick commercial print aesthetics. Riso’s history in grassroots publishing and protest culture aligns with the manifesto’s call for design as resistance rather than luxury.
Typography · Censorship Project This digital broadside uses Frida Kahlo’s poetry in Spanish as the primary typographic voice, contrasted in scale with English text. Acts of censorship obscure portions of both languages, transforming the texts into a new poem with altered meaning. Type grows and contracts, shifting between two typefaces to mirror the movement—and tension—between languages.
#tdcscholarship #calartsgd #gdmfa #typography #designtheory
