Qeyno Labs page
Overview
When I moved to Oakland in 2013 I knew I wanted to further my career as a designer. After doing some research, I discovered a tech event being held in San Francisco called a hackathon. Anyone could participate. The experience was great. I networked with professionals, gained UX/UI design experience, and came away with insight for where I wanted to take me career. After attending numerous hackathons I met Kalimah Priforce. We connected over our passion for technology and mentoring young people. Later that year I joined his startup Qeyno Labs as the Design Director. Our mission is to facilitate environments where underserved youth could learn about careers in technology as developers, designers, and innovators.
What is education revisioned. Online learning has taken off, incubators and accelerator programs are common place. The challenge we constantly faced was how to serve and empower our black and brown communities through the tools of technology. Our hackathons and tech diversity initiatives allowed us to create intentional space with new possibilities for our youth and supportive communities across the nation.
Year
2014-2018
Responsibilities
Company brand development and visual identity
Web Design - Qeyno.com
Hackathon Program Development
Community Outreach and Marketing
Design Thinking, Rapid Prototyping, and Wire framing
Work Samples
UX & Web Design
What does an educational portal look light for an ed-tech startup?
Brand Identity
Evolution of the Q bulb. How to incorporate the ingenuity of a lightbulb while conveying the possibility of traveling a new road. The 2015 version was fun and energetic. Exactly what we wanted to be. As we continued to develop we transitioned from the youthful roads and found a sophistication in our second iteration. And currently, we concentrated our energies to optimize our affectiveness as a company. And our current logo showcases that. Heavy, solid, witht he o’d to the letter Q and genius of the lightbulb.
Program Development
Qeyno’s Hackathon Academy is 2.5 day educational pop-up. The students (usually middle school to college) are also joined by adult mentors who are experienced professionals in their respective industries. They then form teams, build prototypes of their apps, create business plans, and present their ideas to a group of judges to conclude their competition.
For our participants, everything happens fast. Our curriculum emphasizes team forming, rapid prototyping, and presenting a minimal viable product. As key facilitator of the hackathon process, its important to answer questions and coach teams through their processes.After understanding the primary needs of the hackathon process, i designed a “hacker packet” as a supplemental tool that provides direction and helps with the learning curve for participants.
