What happened at Price of Life?

Wondering what happened at Price of Life in October? Here's a brief snapshot. Thank you for your prayers and support in this life-changing event.

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Infographic: A year in review!

It's been a big year! Pat and I got married, traveled over 15,000 miles, and contributed to many events and programs that led thousands of students to faith in Jesus. We're grateful for your partnership in prayer and financial support this year, and for your friendship and support as we joined our lives together in marriage.

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We're looking to reach our budget by the end of June by raising another $5,000. Would you prayerfully consider giving a one-time year-end gift, or begin a monthly gift as we start a new fiscal year?

 

An Animated Infographic

Global Urban Trek Promotional from InterVarsity twentyonehundred on Vimeo.

Last fall I shared with you an infographic I created to promote InterVarsity's Global Urban Trek program. This spring it was turned into an animated video, with the talents of one of our team's talented interns who specializes in animation. Check out the video and see if you can recognize the elements from my original infographic!

What if we chose what Jesus chose?

Infographics are a type of project I particularly enjoy. I love the challenge of organizing information in a visually elegant way to communicate something. The weekly infographics I work on usually have some element of humor or fun, but once in a while I also get to work on more "serious" infographics.

Recently I worked with Marissa, who leads InterVarsity's Global Urban Trek program, to create an infographic that communicates the need for ministry in slum communities, the mission of what the Trek does, and the results of how God works through the Trek. The main message of the piece challenges readers to consider the life that Jesus chose - a life of poverty.

This was particularly energizing project to work on. Working with Marissa was great because she gave me freedom to use my design expertise (some clients can be a lot more picky and try to tell me how to design something, which isn't very helpful.) Marissa began by telling me her overall vision and hope for the piece, after which I did some of my own research and sketching. Our collaboration created something that both of us are very excited about. The hope is that this infographic will be useful both in recruiting students to the Trek, and also casting vision to potential financial ministry partners.

The color scheme uses the 'earthiest' tones in our color palette, but I also included blue for some brightness.

The printed version features an image of a slum community in Manila on the cover.

Visualizing Scripture

While cleaning up I was organizing all my manuscript study papers from months of team meetings. One thing I've begun doing is doodling little infographics on my pages that help me process ideas we are learning in that passage. It has been a fun, different way to engage in Scripture. Here are a few I redesigned for sharing with you all.

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The Bible at a Glance

I recently redesigned this helpful "Bible at a Glance" chart, which gives an overview of the entire Bible, including a timeline, major characters and events, themes, and a list of all the books by category.

I worked with International Student Ministry to update this chart, and it will be included in the I-DIG (International Disciples Guide book) I designed for them, coming out in early June. 

I'm excited because this is a very useful tool in any context, especially with students who are learning about the Bible for the first time. I love being able to use my design skills to help students encounter Jesus through Scripture.

You can download this resource on our website. Original chart used by permission of InterVarsity Press.

My Top 10 Favorite Projects in 2012

This year has been eventful in so many ways. In terms of my work and ministry, 2012 was the year I explored and developed new areas of creativity. Beyond my design work, I've had the chance to write, learn photography, and manage social media. It has been a wonderful opportunity to branch out and serve God in new ways.

Here are 10 projects I'm proud of from this past year:

10. Receipt insert illustration, September
Every month I design the receipt package that goes out to all our donors. Admittedly it is not my favorite project by any means. But in September I created this illustration for the insert, and it turned out to be pretty fun. I enjoyed the process of drawing the hands and the text, as well as creating the texture behind the image.

9. Illustration for InterVarsity blog, May (on intervarsity.org)
Illustration is another area of creativity in which I've had the chance to gain more skills through one of my ongoing projects - the InterVarsity blog. I enjoy the process of visualizing ideas that had only previously existed in words. This one I did in May was a fun one that I particularly enjoyed. I'm developing a particular style of drawing that I hope is fun and engaging to viewers/readers.

8. Campus photo shoot, June (original post)
During the summer I got a crash course in photography, running eight separate photo shoots over the course of eleven days! It was a great opportunity to develop my skills in photography, something I've enjoyed all year. I still have a lot to learn but I'm proud of the progress I've made.

this was one of my favorite shots from the photo shoot
I did on campus with several new staff posing as students

7. Urbana 12 Special Guest Invitation, June
I enjoyed this project because of the process of problem solving it entailed. Previously the reply card was a separate postcard that did not seem to have any connection to the actual invitation. By designing it as a perforated attached card that you could rip off and mail in, it kept the whole thing cohesive and elegant. I enjoy projects where I can use my creativity to solve problems, as well as make them look good!

 

 

6. Urbana 12 infographic "How to Raise Money to Get to Urbana," June (on Facebook)
This was the first of several infographics I designed to promote Urbana 12. I was excited because I not only designed it but was heavily involved in coming up with the ideas. I enjoyed creating each illustration and using the Urbana color palette to convey a light-hearted, fun tone to the piece. Humor is one of my favorite ways to communicate.

5. Books of the Bible pie chart infographic, April (on Facebook)
This simple infographic was our most popular of the year. The team meeting for this infographic was one of the most memorable, fun moments of the year.

4. Urbana 12 Conference Handbook, October (original post)
Despite the stress this project inevitably incurred, I am actually very proud of it. For Urbana 09's handbook, I began with a layout that another designer had started. But this time, I was able to create the entire handbook from scratch. I'm excited about the solutions I came up with for the various types of information that needed to be presented.

3. ONS infographic, June (on Facebook)
If you're counting, this is the fourth (out of 5) that uses the Urbana color palette, and the third (of 3) infographic on my list of favorite projects. I was especially excited that this infographic contains real (and interesting, in my opinion) data. This is the only infographic to date for which I have had to come in on a Saturday to complete. I'd like to say it was worth it, because I'm very pleased with how it looks.

2. "Singleness Sucks, Sometimes" blog post, October (on intervarsity.org)
I wrote three blog posts for the national InterVarsity blog in 2012. This one about my journey as a single woman was by far the most personal and significant. It became the year's fifth most read post in only a month! I've been truly enjoying the opportunity to communicate truth through my writing. I hope to continue this area of creativity and expression in 2013. 

1. Join-In Booklet for Urbana 12, November (original post)
Once in a while there is a project which really inspires me to create something really good. The Join-In Booklet for Urbana was my favorite piece of the year, and I'm apt to think it was because the cause was so important. Through this booklet I helped 16,000 Urbana participants join in assembling 32,000 medical kits, in partnership with caregivers in Swaziland, Africa. 

Urbana 12, Day 2

(1) My infographic was published in the Urbana-themed Inheritance magazine, available at the Asian American lounge (2) A shot of what my computer screen looks like as I sort through and process photos.

Day 2 is coming to a close. Today has been significantly busier and more stressful. Please pray that communication would be clear and that systems would function and be helpful in getting our work done! Pray that we would show grace and care to each other.

On another note, I am enjoying seeing all the beautiful photos our photographers have been providing! You can view a sampling at 2100's Facebook page.

 

It always makes me happy to see students using what I've designed!

Making information understandable, part 2

One of my projects this month is a redesign of the new "general" InterVarsity brochure. It's the one that we give to those who are considering giving financially to InterVarsity, or who want to learn more about our ministry.

The brochure includes a large amount of statistics about how many people and chapters are involved, how many people made decisions to follow Jesus through our ministry, the ethnic makeup of our students, etc.  My job is take this text and transform it into something that will engage readers and help them process what all the information means. The result is below:

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The two images have the exact same information. The first is presented only with text. The second is my design that enhances that information and makes it visually interesting and much easier to understand. This graphic looks fairly simple, but it actually took several hours to transform the text into what you see!

Information design is one of the things I love about my job. It's my hope that this infographic will help potential donors know more about InterVarsity's ministry, and as a result, be compelled to support our mission.


Check out my first post on information design here and other infographic examples here.

The flowchart that changed everything

As I reflected on the Easter story this past week, I realized it really came down to two very significant events: Christ's death and Christ's resurrection. These two events changed everything.

This week, I designed this infographic to celebrate Easter, which we posted on our 2100 Facebook page. We had tossed a lot of different Easter-related ideas around, but I really felt the Holy Spirit bringing me back to these two phrases: "It is finished." It has begun. Together they perfectly describe 1) our faith in the one who finished the work at the cross, and 2) through his resurrection, our calling to a new kind of life with him.

May this image be helpful to you as you continue to reflect on the beauty and simplicity of the cross and the empty tomb, and may it lead you to joyful worship of our risen Savior!

2,615

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I just designed this donor report which gets sent out to everyone who gives to InterVarsity. This edition is espcially interesting as it contains some data on this past year of our ministry. One of my favorites: 2,615 new believers this year! Praise God for all of those students and faculty who entered the kingdom!

Click on the image to see some of the ways God has been at work on campus thanks to you and all of our donors!

(Note - the annual report link is not yet live. if you go to the link shown on the report, you'll be directed to last year's report. I'll let you know when it's up! It will include much more information as well as some stories and videos about God's work through InterVarsity this past year.)

UPDATE: the Annual Report link on our website is now live! 

Change the university, and you change the world.

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Recently I created this infographic in honor of World Assembly. Isn't it quite amazing that only 13% of the world's college students are in North America? It certainly gives you perspective thinking about the 18 million students that InterVarsity is seeking to reach here in the US.

I'm so thankful that InterVarsity is part of International Fellowship of Evangelical Students, where we get to partner with over 150 other student ministries all over the world. It's great to work alongside thousands of staff and students who are seeking to proclaim Christ on university campuses everywhere. Pray that the nations would know Jesus Christ is Lord!

James 4: the way of greed vs. the way of grace

sorry for the delay in posting for chapter 4! i've had the design done in pencil for a while, but haven't had the chance to get it polished up. 

chapter 4 was full of cause and effects, which makes for a nice, pretty flow chart. it all begins with 'desires that battle within' - ie: SIN.  as in many other passages in scripture, there appears to be a choice between two paths: friendship with the world (enmity with God) or humility before God. the crazy thing though, is that it isn't our own actions that get us what we want. it is all about grace. 

"Come near to God and he will come near to you." (8a) 

It is God who comes near to us. we do have to make the choice to submit ourselves to him in every way, recognizing our sin, but it is God ultimately who comes near to us and changes the entire flow of the flowchart! this is the Gospel! 

thank you Jesus, for giving up your life so that we could have intimacy and friendship with God our Maker. thank you that we no longer have to go down the way of greed because you have provided the way of grace!

James 3: it only takes a spark...

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 I kind of struggled this week to figure out how to visually represent this chapter. In the end I had to go with something simpler than what I imagined. But I was struck by James' use of many different metaphors to express the way that a person's speech (tongue) can have a huge impact on the person as a whole. There were all these small-ish things that had a large impact. A horse can be turned one way or another by the bit in its mouth. A ship is steered by a small rudder. A forest fire is created from just one spark. 

⁵ Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. ⁶ The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. 

James isn't just talking about an individual person's speech affecting that same individual person. He actually begins the chapter by warning people that 'not many of us should become teachers'. Why? It's because he realizes the impact an influencing agent can have on the larger community. The tongue has great potential for bad but also for good. It's a warning but also a challenge. Those of us who are in leadership positions, especially those of us who speak often (verbally or otherwise), have great potential for good and bad influence. What are we going to do with the power and potential given to us?

James 2: Favoritism and Faith

Chapter 2 of James contains some pretty deep stuff.  Here are my attempts to summarize...

The first half talks about favoritism and judgment. I found this highly convicting. How quickly I judge people based on outward appearance. I'm drawn to people who are popular, charismatic, beautiful, intelligent and charming. These are the social "riches" in our culture today. And while I may not be outwardly mean, I do tend to avoid or ignore people who I find socially awkward or less attractive, those who are socially "poor". I hate to admit this, but it is true. James admonishes people like me, who favor the rich over the poor. The thing that brings us back to equal ground, is what all of us have in common, rich, poor, you and I: "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it." (2:10). I am a rotten sinner, no matter how good I appear, and therefore, I have no right to judge others based on their appearance. Man. So much harder to actually live out!

The second half is where the big meaty stuff is (as if the 1st half wasn't already pretty heavy!)  This is the famous "faith without works" passage! It's a complex concept, and I definitely don't claim to understand it completely. BUT, I think there is also something simple about this: Faith that is not demonstrated by action is not real faith. Verbal profession without any consequential change in lifestyle, is meaningless and empty. It's like having a car but never getting in, starting the ignition, and driving it. What is the point? The engine may as well be dead.

The tricky part is when 2:24 says "You see that people are justified by what they do and not by faith alone." Doesn't this contradict what Paul says in Romans and elsewhere in his letters? Doesn't the new covenant eradicate our obligation to the law? No and Yes. James here is talking about actions that are a response to genuine belief and profession of Christ. He never says that faith is not necessary. It is. It's completely necessary and essential. The kind of works that Paul says is meaningless, is the kind that replaces faith. Doing a bunch of dutiful, obedient actions in hopes that you can earn your way to salvation is what Paul criticizes. I think Paul would be the first one to agree with James that real faith means a faith that is demonstrative and life-changing.

This definitely doesn't do justice to the 'faith and works' discourse, but I hope it was at least partially helpful. The takeaway point for me is that I need to ask myself, "What am I doing that shows real faith?" If I have a hard time seeing actions in my life, why is that? Have I been leaning on an inaccurate view of 'faith alone'?

Some food for thought.

James 1

James has been quite a challenge so far! After a week of personal study, I kind of realize why I hardly ever hear it preached on or study it in group Bible studies. Some commentaries I've read have said that certain scholars think there is no real clear theology in James. It's important though, to note that James was likely writing to Christian Jews who already had a pretty solid basis of theology. His focus landed more on practical living, as in, knowing what faith looks like and feels like. In some ways, this can be more challenging than talking about God theoretically isn't it?

For example, in the first chapter, one thing that James talks about is anger, speech and listening. These are 3 things that I know I deal with each and every day of my life. I'm much more prone to quickly get angry than to quickly listen. I say things that I really shouldn't. It's only natural, right? And yet according to James, it has everything to do with my faith. Being a 'doer' of God's Word means being slow to get angry, and being quick to listen. Lord, help me be a doer and not just a sayer or thinker.

So, I know that 'righteousness' can't really be measured. Because compared to God, our righteousness = 0. But I thought it might be fun/insightful to create 'infographics' based on what I'm learning in James. Here are a couple from chapter 1:

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James

Something I miss about being on campus staff is having a good source of accountability to do consistent, in-depth Bible study. As I leaned towards using most of my time on campus working with small group leaders, I used my own personal time in Scripture to prepare and know the passages that the leaders would be leading. I've had some pretty great times in both Hebrews and Luke because of that. I have grown so much in my understanding and love for God's Word.

My first year in Madison I was not participating in any group Bible study, and because of that my own quiet times suffered. This year I made an intentional effort to rejoin Bible Study Fellowship, as well as a Bible study group through my church. It has been a great year of studying Isaiah in BSF and Daniel in my church group.

Now that the summer is here, BSF is ending and my church group will meet less often. I really don't want that to affect being in God's Word on a daily basis! So I've decided to study the book of James this summer, or at least the beginning of this summer since it's only 5 chapters.

I'll try to post some updates on what I'm learning and thinking as I study through it. It should be a good study... I haven't heard James preached on much, nor have I ever studied it closely. Looking forward to getting to know James as well as learn what God has to say through his letter!

Design is Funny

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One of the more fun things I've been doing these past couple of months has been creating and designing 2100's "Infographic of the Week."

Infographics are basically just visual ways of displaying information. Sometimes they communicate real data but others times they are used to express something humorous. Our infographics have been the latter, and our aim is to show the humor that can arise when you intersect faith or InterVarsity's ministry with campus culture.

The one we created this week was especially fun and funny. Since Easter is so late this year, we thought it would be fun to see how Holy Week and Finals Week are different and similar. Surprisingly there is a lot of overlap! ;)

To view past infographics, or to follow our future infographics, make sure you go to our Facebook page and "like" us.

Making information understandable

part of my job as a designer is to make information understandable. the beauty of design is that we can take a fairly complex set of ideas, and organize it into something that you can look at and quickly understand all the main ideas. (well, good design does this anyway. it's a work in progress for me.)

i worked on these 2 diagrams recently for International Student Ministry. the first diagram shows the level of satisfaction of a person who encounters transitions in moving from their home to a foreign culture, and back again. in both cases, there is a cycle of fun, flight, fight and fit responses that happen throughout the experience.

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this second diagram is a widely used model that helps us see what happens whenever anyone is in a situation where more than one culture is involved (which is nearly all the time, actually). it shows that you can either approach these situations on a green line (desired) or red line (not desired). how you approach will largely effect how you respond, although there are certain aspects that are inevitable.

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we made both of these diagrams into 2-sided bookmark that will be sold at an upcoming conference. i'm looking forward to helping communicate these two ideas to people so that they can learn and grow in engaging new and different cultures. as people who are called to be a witness to the world, these are important things to know and understand!