Published: 3/3/2021
We are pleased to announce that our collaboration with students at Lawrence Technical University has been successfully completed. The project began in early 2020, and although COVID-19 measures prevented us from continuing in-person meetings at the Detroit Center for Design and Technology on Woodward Avenue, we shifted to online meetings and helped the students create their final products. If you haven’t already read about the project, you get caught up here.
We were excited to be able to continue our history of working with universities and students in the region, and having the campus so close allowed us to, at least early on, have a good amount of in-person interactions. DWEJ acted as the “client” for these students, who gained valuable experience discussing project and organizational needs, working out project scope and client expectations, pitching ideas and incorporating feedback, and making final presentations. In addition, staff from DWEJ provided extra education. Catherine Diggs and Sandra Turner-Handy talked to the classes about recycling in Detroit, and Catherine also arranged a visit to Recycle Here!, one of Detroit’s first drop-off recycling centers. Brad Ashburn discussed developing credibility and community buy-in for innovative projects, outreach campaigns, and how to leverage “influencers” to help create awareness around their projects.
There were ultimately three products created, two pieces of promotional materials for us (a donation card and an informational pamphlet), and a recycling pilot project. DWEJ, as the client, selected a few of each of the final promotional designs and will use them in upcoming campaigns and at public and in-person events, once they resume.
We are grateful to Lawrence Technical University, the students who participated, and class instructors Nur Saltik and Blake Almstead for coordinating and assisting with the project. The collage above shows some of the materials that we selected, as well as images from a few of the pilot projects.