BACKGROUND
Monument Avenue, America's Most Infamous Street
Richmond, Virginia is most infamously known for once being the Capital of the Confederate States. After the Civil War and in the Jim Crow Era, those in power in the VA wanted to honor those who fought for the South. Thus Monument Avenue was paved along with four large statues (Robert E. Lee, J.E.B. Stuart, Stonewall Jackson, and Matthew Maury) and a new era of white supremacy was started.
RESET IN STONE
PROBLEM STATEMENT
The Story of Monument Avenue Has Been One-sided for Decades.
The Lost Cause was a success, but its time in Richmond must come to an end. Even after protests, many people are not well informed about the history of People of Color in our city.
01 | ANNOUNCEMENT VIDEO (1 min/audio)
02 | APP & AR FUNCTION
04 | POST CARDS
We knew that the stories of the protests need to be told but not everyone can be in Richmond to experience the Reset in Stone monuments.
So, we created a postcard that can be sent out that has a QR code to initiate a unique experience.
POSTCARD AR EXPERIENCE
View an Interactive Set of Stories from Anywhere
We created a set of 3D objects that represent stories that were collected from protesters, artists, musicians, etc.
After scanning the postcard, users can click on the objects to hear anecdotes of the summer.
*video demo has audio
05 | BRANDING
Design System coming soon.
NEXT PROJECT
MILLER GENUINE DRAFT
Hamza Ali - AD
Pratibha Nigam - CW
With a shoutout to Dani Loleng, Sharon Byun, and Charleen Martins Lopes for helping with the postcard AR.
REFLECTION
Marching forward.
Working on Reset in Stone was challenging with the project being so intertwined with the emotions of the Summer protests. My team wanted to do justice for those we were trying to put a spotlight on and were energized by the passion we each had for doing it the right way. It was rewarding to bring this idea to life.
THE CREW
Cinema 4D
Spark AR
Photoshop
Illustrator
Figma
TOOLKIT
Four week, Team Project
TIMELINE
Concepting
Art Direction
3D Design
UI/UX
MY ROLE
The 2020 Protests
After the death of George Floyd, protests against racism and police force filled the streets of Richmond, Virginia demanding a change in a system built on systematic inequality.
Monument Avenue quickly became a target of vandalism due to anger at the fact that we still had such symbols of oppression in such a predominant part of the city. Protestors tore down the J.E.B. Stuart Statue before the city stepped in to announce that they would be taking down the rest from their pedestals.
*photos I shot on film
OPPORTUNITY
A New Avenue to Start a Dialogue.
We saw this as the perfect opportunity to work with The Valentine Museum, Richmond's oldest museum dedicated to collecting, preserving, and interpreting Richmond's history.
One of the many things the Valentine has committed to showcasing is the protests. We saw an opportunity to work with them to bring the power of their museum throughout the city where statues were taken down.
"You can't just erase history."
This is the argument constantly used against the removal of monuments like these. And you know what? We agree. The removal of the statues gave us a perfect canvas to bring in even more history lessons that weren't taught in the average public school textbook.
03 | AD CAMPAIGN (OOH + INSTAGRAM)
Onboarding
Each function lives inside the Reset in Stone App. Compatible with iOS and Android.
Finding the Next Monument
In-app will be a map of each monument in Richmond where you can easily access the new spotlighted story being told by Reset in Stone.
AR Function
Once at the pedestal, the user clicks on the Reset in Stone camera option to utilize the AR function.
In this example, the spotlight is on those that protested and wanted their voices heard. Now, standing proudly in the middle of the boulevard is a protestor with their fist in the air.
Rooted in Richmond
Reset in Stone includes a directory of each spotlighted story. The user can comfortably interact with each information piece which includes the location of the AR function if they choose to go and see it in person as well.
