Hack404

Hack404 is a 36-hour Toronto-based high school and post-secondary hackathon and I had the incredible opportunity to collaborate closely with the design team as a Design Organizer to bring Hack404's creative vision to life.

My journey with Hack404 started from designing the first iterations of the website and Instagram posts. Then in the blink of an eye, I was designing some last-minute signage for the venue! Throughout this time, I was able to see everything develop from the ground up and take part in creating a variety of design assets. I even took on design tasks I haven't tried before like designing a sponsorship package! It truly was a dream working with such talented people as we all came together to tackle different aspects of Hack404's visuals.

Although I wasn't able to attend the event physically, it was so surreal and fulfilling watching everything come together on the day of the hackathon via Instagram stories and posts. I had so much fun meeting new people while adapting to remote collaboration, and it really goes to show the impact that great teamwork can have, no matter the distance.

GBDA Society

GBDA Society is the representative student body for students in the Global Business and Digital Arts Community. It is an organization that brings students of all years within the program together through events and social media involvement. I had the opportunity to work on the GBDA Society team for the Winter and Spring 2025 terms.

In the Winter term of 2025 at GBDA Soc, I had the cross-functional role of Brand Strategy Director where I worked closely with all departments of the team, especially the design team, Director of Operations, and President. Together with the design team, we launched a complete rebrand including a new logo, fonts, and social media presence. I then collaborated with the Director of Operations to strategically integrate our new brand across event materials such as pens, lanyards, certificates, badges, banners, and signage. By designing, producing, and promoting our brand identity, I helped foster a stronger sense of visual identity among GBDA students, gaining new skills and an incredible amount of hands-on experience.

In the Spring 2025 term, I had the special opportunity to serve as GBDA Soc’s Design Coordinator remotely. Despite being away from campus and having an off-term, I took the initiative to stay actively involved in the program so I could fully understand and stay up to date with its developments and direction. In this role, I supported the design team in creating social media posts and was responsible for reformatting and scaling designs to suit different display formats, including TV screens and a microtile wall.

Icon Design

While in my first year at university, I was given the assignment in my GBDA101 class where I had to design three icons, categorized as methods of charging. Tied together by their cohesive color pallet and rectangular structure, my goal was to explore and visualize their functions while presenting them in a clear and simple design consisting of basic shapes.

The first icon illustrates cable charging. The electrical outlet is represented with three outlet openings. The coiled blue line connected to the outlet represents a charging cable with green ends depicting the adapter and the connector, demonstrating the flow of energy from one end to another. The second icon depicts wireless charging. The icon consists of a dark blue rectangular box with a green ring, symbolizing the charging platform. Along with the curvature of the green ring, shorter curved lines emit from it that demonstrate the wireless effect of the charging. A white lightning bolt is also placed in the middle of the rectangular box, along with three blue circles towards the bottom, to represent the energy and battery levels. The third icon represents battery charging. It is illustrated through the borders of a dark blue rounded rectangle, blue blocks stacked inside of it, and protruding green bumps on the top and bottom to indicate the positive and negative terminals. The gradient of the blue blocks inside the rectangle indicates the dropping or raising of battery levels while a green plus sign in the top right reinforces the generation of energy. I decided on my objects through observing objects within my vicinity that I interacted with daily and started by sketching them through as many perspectives as I could.

Visual Identity

In my first year as a GBDA student, I was given the assignment to design the visual identity of a peer through a logo, design a poster as an extension of the logo, and create mockups by applying the logo on real-life objects.

The logo and poster I designed for this assignment explores the concept of authenticity and spontaneity while making new connections, and it is depicted through the two main symbols of a bird and a book. The logo depicts a mockingbird made of two parts: wings, which are formed by a book with covers and layered pages inside, and the body, which is represented by a cursive “s.” The top of the “s” represents the bird’s head, the curve in the letter mimics the bird’s body and stomach, and the hanging tail, cut with a triangle, indicates both the bird’s feathered tail and a book mark.

I decided to capture the personality of my client as someone spontaneous, impulsive, and authentic, through a bird because I felt that their energetic movements, curiosity, and enthusiasm parallelled nicely with my client and the concept of forming new beginnings and connections. Considering her passion for reading, the reason why I chose a mockingbird was due to my client’s interest in the Hunger Games as their story also dives into the symbolism of mockingbirds.

Magazine Design

My favourite assignment during my first year at GBDA was the Magazine Design project where we had to take our own pictures and create a visual layout of a magazine. I used InDesign to create my project and filled the magazine with my design journey through the program. In addition to designing the magazine, we were required to print our magazines, fully encompassing the process of designing and producing. I thoroughly enjoyed this project and seeing the unique designs my peers created, it was a nice way to wrap up to our semester.

My ART IB Exhibition

"As an artist, my intention is to bring viewers to their senses while inspiring them to connect with my art on an emotional and spiritual level. My aim is to help slow down the pace of humanity and encourage viewers to explore deeper meanings in life by capturing the small moments that usually go unnoticed. I hope for my viewers to stop and smell the roses, and to appreciate the people or environment around them. Though my artwork touches on sensitive subjects, I wish to bring a sense of peace to people that see my work and create a heartwarming effect on them by incorporating themes of family, childhood, nature and personal matters. I strive to make a positive influence on my viewers as they relate and reflect on their personal experiences to my artwork."

"The concepts explored in my pieces revolve around relationships and the emotions associated with them either between people, animals, objects, or the environment. My intention is to draw emotions from each situation and illustrate them, expressing them through my artwork and immersing the viewer into my perspective."

"Since my artwork tends to deal with mature themes of relations, my target audience leads toward the young adults, as I hope my artwork can encourage the audience to acknowledge her emotions and go from their experiences."

- Sections taken from Charlene's Curitorial Rational (2024)