Designmatters Catalyzed My Future
Twelve years ago, I received a great privilege from Designmatters to be sent to New York City to work at the United Nations. I represented ArtCenter as the first ever design intern to work with the Department of Public Information and was tasked to create the annual NGO conference website. That summer was one of my most formative ones – both personally and professionally.
As a solo designer sent out across the country, I crafted communications of development goals and human needs. At times, I was working in the basement trenches with the DPI team. Other times, I was meeting with alumni creatives around the city for advice. This experience showed me the transformative power that design can have in the world for human purpose. (It was such an amazing time, that I recruited a friend of mine, Dan Lee, to be the following year’s intern.)
An image from Greg’s graphic design work with Restore NYC, a non-profit that is dedicated to providing freedom and after-care services for international sex-trafficking survivors in New York City. Photo credit: Anna Wolf (Photo ’02)
Designmatters expanded my personal vision and ability to impact the world. The following year, I was part of a Designmatters team sent to Copenhagen to launch an international event around design to improve life. These seeds of experience grew into a decade of leveraging my design abilities to help further a greater good – from social entrepreneurship to guiding nonprofits to healthcare. I’m thrilled to see how I’ve been followed by a generation of Designmatters fellows and with many more to come.
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Greg Wong (Graphic Design ’05) is passionate about creativity, innovation and growth hacking. With expertise in crafting narrative communications, he activates brands to grow with real world impact. Connect with Greg here gregwong.com
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