Lela Johnson
Lela Johnson is a designer and visual storyteller working out of Chicago. Her practice is heavily informed by her journalism undergraduate background. She plans to pursue visual storytelling and data visualization post-graduation.
Decolonial Georgia, 2021, Artist book, and book box
Policing in the USA: An Infographic, 2020, Published by F Newsmagazine
Tree Dimensional, 2021, Laser-cut acrylic sculpture
Memory Panels, 2021
Is It Worth It?, 2021, Published by F Newsmagazine
Data is a powerful communication tool and visual manifestation of human stories. I believe the biggest mistake an information designer can make is sharing an inherently human piece of information without first considering the human. The ability to convey large amounts of information, both structured and unstructured, across cultures without heavy reliance on language is a beautiful thing.
My cross-disciplinary educational experience is a strength of mine, guided by my passion for both design research and the written word. At heart, I am a creator of visual narratives in any and all forms. At the root of each project is a story that I hope to tell in an interesting and unconventional manner, pushing the envelope on what makes a “story” and how they can be told with numbers. Storytelling is an art as old as humanity itself; we use stories to challenge the past and envision the future.
Colonial cartography serves as a weapon of intent, the intent being to carve up and redistribute occupied land with little to no reference to the centuries-old relationship between said land and its inhabitants. My objective is to juxtapose this approach with indigenous cartographic practices that depict a rich relationship between landscape and historical narrative, “reading” the landscape rather than weaponizing arbitrarily-drawn partitions.