Case Study: This Is Solitary
This Is Solitary was developed to promote Spike TV’s documentary series Time: The Kalief Browder Story. This project had the usual challenges—a tight budget and a limited timeline—but because I am deeply passionate about social justice, I put extra pressure on myself to execute the work to its highest potential. This meant collaborating with another designer, a writer, a developer, and a freelance illustrator; together we built a multifaceted, highly visual story.
Natalie Chang, my Atlantic Re:think colleague tasked with writing this piece, wanted to do more than a straight-forward, reported story. Solitary confinement is a well-worn topic, so in order to differentiate this piece, she decided to incorporate a more human, first-person element.
One way we solved this was to introduce each section of the article with a vivid, second-person narrative that placed the reader in the shoes of someone in solitary confinement. Visually incorporating this narrative was tricky; we wanted it to be distinct from the rest of the article, but not to distract from or disrupt its flow. We landed on a scroll-activated execution that would display the second-person narrative over the chapter header illustrations. I worked closely with Ashley Hartt, our developer, to perfect the animation’s timing.
We were happy with this addition, but there was still something missing: We needed to include a real, first-hand experience in solitary confinement to bring the piece to life. I had recently volunteered design work for Getting Out Staying Out (GOSO), a training program for young, formerly incarcerated men. Through GOSO we found a young man who was willing to share his experience in solitary confinement. We incorporated audio excerpts from our interview into the piece.
All of these elements made the program a great success. It was eventually shared on Twitter by the Juvenile Law Center, the Center for Constitutional Rights, and the Opinion Editor of The Marshall Project, among others. We often get requests to develop programs similar to this one, and it is still one of the projects I’m most proud of.
Credits:
Writer: Natalie Chang
Illustrations: Simon Prades
Design + Art Direction: Ari Curtis + Devin Rochford
Development: Ashley Hartt