NORTHEAST: A Digital Guide to Chinese-Canadian History
WEB DESIGN
An educational young classroom website and resource for Chinese-Canadian history.
PROJECT SUMMARY
NORTHEAST is the result of a semester-long project to research, design, and develop a comprehensive interactive design solution for a new or existing community program, non-profit, environmental or social cause. The objective was to create a solution that solves a meaningful problem while showcasing design, interactivity, and craft.
Between 1885 and 1923, Chinese immigrants had to pay the Head Tax: a racist immigration policy to exclude immigrants based on their ethnic background. From 2020 to 2021, Vancouver experienced a 717% increase in anti-Asian hate crime. Chinatown seniors, especially, were the victims of hate crimes and assault. This project aims to break the generational cycle of anti-Chinese sentiment and racism in this country through education and meaningful representation within the Canadian school curriculum.
NORTHEAST is an educational website and resource for Chinese-Canadian history. This website is designed for young (Grade 5-7) classrooms. Through accessible lesson plans and interactive content, NORTHEAST helps teachers create an engaging classroom experience on the hardships and contributions of Chinese-Canadians in Canadian culture and society.
ART DIRECTION Hong Kong Neon Minimalism
Since the students will be spending the longest amount of time on the site, the design choices were made with this specific target audience in mind. Chinese culture and identity was also a key factor in design decision making, as the students may be of this ethnic background (approximately 1.8 million Canadians are of Chinese descent.)
The website was designed to communicate Chinese-Canadian culture and history as not only a source of learning but something that can be shaped today — empowering Chinese youth who interact with the site’s representation of historical figures and its other content.
This project aims to break the generational cycle of anti-Chinese sentiment and racism in this country through education and meaningful representation within the Canadian school curriculum.
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