Hello there. I’m Alexshe/they, a designer with a multifaceted practice centered on storytelling.


Photo by Colectivo Multipolar


I partner with clients to create meaningful visual narratives.

For over a decade, I’ve designed publications, identities, and illustrations for people who are passionate about what they do. I collaborate most often with institutions and programs in arts and culture, as well as fashion and lifestyle brands. Our projects share stories that amplify creative voices and center community.
My approach to design imbues intention into every detail. Driven by concept and conversation throughout the process, I craft design as a synthesis of insights and ideas. My work is informed by my MFA in Visual Communication Design from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and BA in English literature from the University of Chicago.

I constantly investigate story as a multimodal experience that opens eyes and deepens connections. I believe stories are critical steps in realizing vast possibilities, from whom we can become to the world we can create.



My self-initiated projects explore intersections of design and poetry.

Tenderly is the moniker of my self-publishing practice. My work deals in poetic and adapted text and image, visual structures of comics, and conceptually driven forms. It investigates the many ways that storytelling addresses gaps between experience and understanding, making space for readers to reconsider the familiar.

My work has been in such fairs as the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, Chicago Alternative Comics Expo, Boston Art Book FAir, LA Art Book Fair, and Chicago Art Book Fair. It is collected in the Joan Flasch Artist’s Book Collection, zine and comics collections at the University of Chicago, MassArt, and MICA, and the National Museum of Women in the Arts, among others.
My teaching centers conceptual work and narrative in design.

I teach courses on design fundamentals and visual narrative at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. I also teach printmaking at Spudnik Press and comics workshops in community-based and professional settings. 

In my classes, I emphasize storytelling in design; varied modes of research and critical thinking as paths to new ideas; and iterating on visual elements, configurations, and structures to explore how an audience perceives and interacts with design.

My areas of interest include creativity through constraints, design as poetry, and the special relationship of materiality, form, and content in artist’s books. I’m fascinated, too, by design in comics, immersive narratives, and participatory reading experiences.

I’m happy to lead workshops or give talks. You’re welcome to write to me and share your ideas.


Good things begin with a message.︎


Contact

For all inquiries and opportunities, please tell me a bit about yourself and what you have in mind.

I’ll get back to you soon.
Fruit

Publications
Print Materials
Brand Identities
Illustrations
Website Design
Advertising
Placemaking & Wayfinding
Some collaborators

Clark Atlanta University Art Museum
Newcomb Art Museum of Tulane University
Flaten Art Museum
Zuckerman Museum of Art
Atlanta University Center-wide Symphony Orchestra
Iceberg Projects
Varca, a Bridal Atelier
Quiltfolk
Further

Tenderly,


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