Brand & Product Design
Translasian is self-help series of products and workshops that assist international students from East Asia to adapt to New York with confidence and comfort.
We aim to bridge the cultural gap and to enable East Asian international students to embrace themselves and navigate fluidly in a variety of cross-cultural contexts.
Recent studies show that students from East Asian countries have fewer friends than their European counterparts. The obvious roadblock people think of is the language one. However, cultural barriers are also significant struggles that students experience throughout their transition period. There is an abundance of programs for international students, media, and platforms to fill the gaps in the language arena. However, there is no specific tool to help students from East Asian countries educate themselves to understand and adapt to very different social values. They need extra insight to succeed in their transition to American.
Thesis Advisor Bobby C. Martin Jr.
Photograph by Santiphap Thengtrirat
Music by suthee gomootsukhavadee
The illustration style is spare and whimsical in order for the audience who may have language limitations to read through quickly.
User Journey Video
Why “ Translasian”?
“Translasian” is derived from combining the words translation and Asian. it is a medium create specifically for Asian to assimilate in New York.
A “Let’s Phrase It” matching cards game, New York version, is to enable newcomers to understand what people truly mean when they say it. The cards set divided into 4 categories: What People Really Mean, New York Slang, Millennial Slang, and idioms.
