I AM. YOU ARE. WE ARE. FREE TO SPEAK. PROTEST. DISSENT.
DESIGN CONSORTIUM × ACLU OF NEW JERSEY
This exhibition grew from a year-long partnership between the Design Consortium at Express Newark and the ACLU of New Jersey. Rooted in Newark’s legacy of civil rights advocacy and the arts, the exhibition explores how design can help people understand, exercise, and protect their constitutional rights.
Across two semesters, the partners explored communication as a process of meaning-making shaped through dialogue, participation, and shared experience, using design-driven research and co-building to generate new ideas, language, messaging, and forms of dissemination.
Bringing together work developed throughout the collaboration with new installations and participatory experiences created specifically for this exhibition, the work presented encourages reflection, conversation, and civic engagement. Visitors are invited to consider not only the constitutional rights explored here, but also the role communication plays in shaping how those rights are understood, exercised, and defended.
Your rights are here.
Know them. Protect them.

ACLU New Jersey

Mar ➜ Oct 2026

An interactive public exhibition developed in collaboration with the ACLU of New Jersey and the Rutgers University-Newark Design Consortium, focused on making civil rights and liberties accessible through bold environmental graphics, educational materials, and participatory experiences.

For over 60 years, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Jersey has worked to protect and expand the rights and liberties of every New Jerseyan through advocacy, legislation, litigation, and community action.

On view at Express Newark from October 7th, 2026 to July 9th, 2027.

This exhibit is free and open to the public.

I AM. YOU ARE. WE ARE. FREE TO SPEAK. PROTEST. DISSENT.
DESIGN CONSORTIUM × ACLU OF NEW JERSEY
This exhibition grew from a year-long partnership between the Design Consortium at Express Newark and the ACLU of New Jersey. Rooted in Newark’s legacy of civil rights advocacy and the arts, the exhibition explores how design can help people understand, exercise, and protect their constitutional rights.
Across two semesters, the partners explored communication as a process of meaning-making shaped through dialogue, participation, and shared experience, using design-driven research and co-building to generate new ideas, language, messaging, and forms of dissemination.
Bringing together work developed throughout the collaboration with new installations and participatory experiences created specifically for this exhibition, the work presented encourages reflection, conversation, and civic engagement. Visitors are invited to consider not only the constitutional rights explored here, but also the role communication plays in shaping how those rights are understood, exercised, and defended.
Your rights are here.
Know them. Protect them.

MY ROLE:
As Design Lead, I directed the exhibition’s visual development from concept through installation and production, creating a cohesive system across environmental graphics, acrylic elements, printed materials, illustrations, and an interactive touchscreen experience.
THE OBJECTIVE:
To transform complex civil-rights information into an accessible, engaging exhibition that empowers visitors to understand and exercise their rights in New Jersey.
TARGET AUDIENCE:
New Jersey residents, particularly students, young adults, activists, and community members seeking clear and practical information about their civil rights.

Adobe Illustrator

Adobe InDesign

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Premier Pro

Clip Studio Paint

DIRECTORY:

EXHIBITION

FABRICATION

INTERACTIVE

INSTALLATION

Exhibition on view at Express Newark from October 7th, 2026 to July 9th, 2027.

This exhibit is free and open to the public.

EXHIBITION

INSTALLATION

ROLE:

INTERACTIVE

FABRICATION

I AM. YOU ARE. WE ARE. FREE TO SPEAK. PROTEST. DISSENT.
DESIGN CONSORTIUM × ACLU OF NEW JERSEY
This exhibition grew from a year-long partnership between the Design Consortium at Express Newark and the ACLU of New Jersey. Rooted in Newark’s legacy of civil rights advocacy and the arts, the exhibition explores how design can help people understand, exercise, and protect their constitutional rights.
Across two semesters, the partners explored communication as a process of meaning-making shaped through dialogue, participation, and shared experience, using design-driven research and co-building to generate new ideas, language, messaging, and forms of dissemination.
Bringing together work developed throughout the collaboration with new installations and participatory experiences created specifically for this exhibition, the work presented encourages reflection, conversation, and civic engagement. Visitors are invited to consider not only the constitutional rights explored here, but also the role communication plays in shaping how those rights are understood, exercised, and defended.
Your rights are here.
Know them. Protect them.

Design Lead

ACLU New Jersey

The Design Consortium

FOR:

TOOLS:

DIRECTORY:

As Design Lead, I directed the exhibition’s visual development from concept through installation and production, creating a cohesive system across environmental graphics, acrylic elements, printed materials, illustrations, and an interactive touchscreen experience.

To transform complex civil-rights information into an accessible, engaging exhibition that empowers visitors to understand and exercise their rights in New Jersey.

PROJECT OVERVIEW

MY ROLE:
As Design Lead, I directed the exhibition’s visual development from concept through installation and production, creating a cohesive system across environmental graphics, acrylic elements, printed materials, illustrations, and an interactive touchscreen experience.
THE OBJECTIVE:
To transform complex civil-rights information into an accessible, engaging exhibition that empowers visitors to understand and exercise their rights in New Jersey.
TARGET AUDIENCE:
New Jersey residents, particularly students, young adults, activists, and community members seeking clear and practical information about their civil rights.

MY ROLE

MY ROLE:
As Design Lead, I directed the exhibition’s visual development from concept through installation and production, creating a cohesive system across environmental graphics, acrylic elements, printed materials, illustrations, and an interactive touchscreen experience.
THE OBJECTIVE:
To transform complex civil-rights information into an accessible, engaging exhibition that empowers visitors to understand and exercise their rights in New Jersey.
TARGET AUDIENCE:
New Jersey residents, particularly students, young adults, activists, and community members seeking clear and practical information about their civil rights.

THE OBJECTIVE

TARGET AUDIENCE

New Jersey residents, particularly students, young adults, activists, and community members seeking clear and practical information about their civil rights.

The title wall introduces the exhibition through layered fluorescent lettering and a large-scale description of the show, while the Know Your Rights card display holds eighteen of the campaigns rights for viewers to take with them.

EXHIBITION - TITLE WALL & KNOW YOUR RIGHTS CARD DISPLAY

EXHIBITION - INTRODUCTORY WALL

EXHIBITION - ASSEMBLE YOUR RIGHTS CARDS

A set of 18 photographic takeaway cards translates the same rights featured in the Know Your Rights mural into an accessible, portable format. Each card allows visitors to explore individual rights and take essential knowledge with them beyond the exhibition.

The Know Your Rights mural brings together 18 guides from ACLU-NJ’s campaign in one large-scale installation. Each topic is paired with engraved imagery developed through the Design Consortium’s collaboration with ACLU-NJ, creating a unified visual overview of the campaign.

EXHIBITION - KNOW YOUR RIGHTS MURAL

EXHIBITION - KNOW YOUR RIGHTS MURAL

The mural spanning across the west entrance wall of the exhibit.

Mural and exhibit title wall in the introduction gallery hallway.

The police wall breaks down six common encounters between students and law enforcement in New Jersey. Dimensional red and blue acrylic figures bring each scenario to life, while clear questions and answers help students understand their rights while attending school.

EXHIBITION - POLICE WALL

The brochure display wall and window pair bold protest imagery with layered acrylic type. A built-in shelf offers folding poster-brochures for visitors to take home. extending the exhibition’s information and message beyond the gallery.

EXHIBITION - BROCHURE DISPLAY

EXHIBITION - BROCHURE DISPLAY

The collaboration wall features stylized photographs documenting two semesters of Design Consortium students presenting their work to ACLU-NJ. The images highlight the exchange of ideas and feedback that shaped the ACLU’s branding and messaging.

EXHIBITION - COLLABORATION WALL

EXHIBITION - COLLABORATION WALL

EXHIBITION - PROTEST MERCHANDISE DISPLAY

Lenticular posters change their message as visitors walk past, and two graphic t-shirts and two print posters sit beside them. Together they turn the Design Consortium’s empowering language into objects people can interact with and wear, taking the ACLU’s message beyond the exhibit and into everyday life.

EXHIBITION - PROTEST MERCHANDISE DISPLAY

Vinyl wall graphics paired with offset lenticular posters & display case (182” x 150”).

EXHIBITION - GLASS DISPLAY CASE

The glass display case brings together a wide variety of printed materials and campaign merchandise developed for the Know Your Rights initiative. Presented as a collection of objects, the case shows how a unified visual identity can extend across educational resources, advocacy materials, and physical takeaways.

EXHIBITION - GLASS DISPLAY CASE

This participatory installation invites visitors to identify the civil rights issue that matters most to them by adding a colored acrylic marker to the wall. Each color represents a different issue area, while circles and squares distinguish age groups.

As responses accumulate, the markers build upward into a living bar chart, transforming individual choices into a collective visualization of the community’s priorities.

EXHIBITION - PARTICIPATORY WALL

The tablet presents nine real-world scenarios in which hand-illustrated figures layered over stylized photographs show how civil rights apply to situations visitors may encounter, helping them recognize when these rights matter in their own lives.

INTERACTIVE - TOUCHSCREEN EXPERIENCE

INTERACTIVE - TOUCHSCREEN EXPERIENCE

press the VIEW ON FIGMA button to access this interactive tablet experience.

Not loading?

VIEW ON FIGMA

Not loading?

Questioned by an Officer
Traffic Stop
Officers at Your House
Counter-Protests
Dispersal Orders
Filming Police at Protests
Protests During School
Political Expression at School
Canvassing at School

The tablet is mounted directly within a typographic wall, integrating it into the visual narrative of the exhibit. The mirror-vinyl words empower visitors while subtly reflecting them, placing each person within the message as they pass by or interact with the tablet.

INTERACTIVE - TYPOGRAPHIC WALL

INTERACTIVE - TYPOGRAPHIC WALL

FABRICATION - ACRYLIC FORMS

I transformed vector illustrations into dimensional acrylic forms, using transparency, overlapping color, and shifting shadows to reflect the layered and interconnected nature of civil rights.

FABRICATION - ACRYLIC FORMS

FABRICATION - PRODUCTION

A series of coordinated fabrication techniques were conducted to convert vector illustrations into dynamic three-dimensional forms.

FABRICATION - PRODUCTION

INSTALLATION - VINYL

Working with Duggal, we tested vinyl samples for color accuracy, opacity, finish, adhesion, and removability. Proofs and installation trials helped us select materials that balanced the exhibition’s visual goals with durability and clean application across different wall surfaces.

Once the wall vinyl was installed, the acrylic forms were carefully aligned and mounted directly over the printed layout. The vinyl acted as a placement guide, helping maintain consistent spacing and clean registration while adding a dimensional layer to the graphic system.

INSTALLATION - ACRYLIC FORMS

INSTALLATION - ACRYLIC FORMS

When taking on this monumental project, my goal was to make civil liberties feel immediate, understandable, and deeply personal.

Across interactive installations, illustrated scenarios, printed resources, public participation, and environmental graphics, the exhibition transforms complex legal information into experiences that invite people to look closer, ask questions, and see themselves within a conversation that often leaves them out.

Ultimately, I AM. YOU ARE. WE ARE. FREE TO SPEAK. PROTEST. DISSENT. is about more than presenting information. It is about creating tools for participation and self-advocacy, reminding visitors that our rights are strongest when we understand them, exercise them, and help others do the same.

CLOSING REMARKS

CLOSING REMARKS

When taking on this monumental project, my goal was to make civil liberties feel immediate, understandable, and deeply personal.

Across interactive installations, illustrated scenarios, printed resources, public participation, and environmental graphics, the exhibition transforms complex legal information into experiences that invite people to look closer, ask questions, and see themselves within a conversation that often leaves them out.

Ultimately, I AM. YOU ARE. WE ARE. FREE TO SPEAK. PROTEST. DISSENT. is about more than presenting information. It is about creating tools for participation and self-advocacy, reminding visitors that our rights are strongest when we understand them, exercise them, and help others do the same.

Design Consortium Team:
Faculty Lead: Associate Professor Jennifer Bernstein
Student Team: Emily M. Anderson, Nigeria K. Brown, James Dixon, Ashley Escobal, Elizabeth Frias, Liam L. Gunning, Helen E. Jaramillo, Jazmyne T. Johnson, Ravin R. Melville, Alyssandre E. Mertz, David M. Ostrovski, Brandon Patino, Francesca I. Rainuzzo, Anthony J. Ramos-Oliveira, Kaviyan Ravindrakumar, Yulisbeth Rojas-Romero, Adriana B. Salazar, Kamara Smith, Trenton K. Soto, Jean Weekes
ACLU of New Jersey Communications Team:
Maia Raposo, Communications Director
Paloma L. Aguas, Deputy Communications Director
Mary Del Plato, Digital Communications Strategist
Exhibition Design:
Associate Professor Jennifer Bernstein, Creative Director & Designer
Liam L. Gunning, Lead Designer
Associate Professor Chantal Fischzang, Design Consultant
Exhibition Fabrication:
Duggal, Liam L. Gunning, Form Design Studio
Associate Teaching Professor Keary Rosen & Alessandra Puglisi

This project was created for / in collaboration with the following organizations:

gunning.art

liamgunningart@gmail.com

gunning.art