ON STRIKE! SHUT IT DOWN!
Exhibition and Graphic Design
Additional Personnel
Curator: Jesse Martinez
Archivists: Tanya Hollis, Alexandria Post, Meredith Eliassen, Alex Cherian, and Catherine Powell
Photography: Sessie Rahman
I served as the exhibition and graphics designer for “On Strike! Shut It Down!” located in San Francisco State University’s Special Collections & Archives Gallery. This is the first permanent on-campus exhibit of the SF State Strike of 1968–1969, the longest university strike in U.S. history.
I was directly responsible for producing the visual identity (wordmark, color palette, typography, image treatment), exhibition graphics (wall panels, object labels, wayfinding), and marketing materials. Additionally, I planned the physical exhibit layout & spatial flow, alongside curator Jesse Martinez.
The exhibit was anchored in deep crimson to embody the strike’s polyphonic energy: resistance, turmoil, bloodshed, anger, empowerment, chaos, violence, revolution, and progress. Against neutral white gallery walls, the crimson hue creates a spatial rhythm that commands attention and sustains it across the exhibition.
The typographic treatment directly references archival materials distributed during the strike and secondary retrospectives. Eurostile serves as the main typeface for headlines, hero text, and section dividers. I drew inspiration from the cover of “Crisis at San Francisco State,” a retrospective produced by the SF State journalism department. Neue Haas Grotesk was selected for body text and captions. It serves as both a callback to archival materials that used Helvetica and a practical solution that aligns with the Smithsonian’s exhibition guidelines, which require Helvetica for legibility and accessibility. Rather than using generic Helvetica, I chose Neue Haas Grotesk, the digital revival of the original 1957 design.
Texture created a tactile, period-accurate atmosphere. I applied grain, creases, folds, and halftone sparingly to avoid compromising the integrity of the archival imagery.
Every design choice carried a single intention: to function as a direct narrative and interpretive tool.