Project Resound: Shaping Future Designers

Natalie Davies joined Project Resound as a young designer looking for real-world design experience. She found that and more.

What began as a search for a new portfolio piece quickly became a project with lasting impact – not only for the Guatemalan community of Fraijanes served by the Project Resound team, but for Davies herself. 

The team partnered with students from the Universidad del Istmo (UNIS) to create an educational outreach program about water conservation. Their final campaign, featuring an animated character named Aguatemala, was intended to help local children gain a greater awareness and interest in the conservation and management of the municipality’s water resources.

Davies described how immersive her experience became as the team journeyed through the research, ideation and concepting of Agua Temala.

“By removing us from everyday routine,” Davies said, Project Resound “dropped us into the issue.” She added that this immersive approach allowed the team to better understand the problem at hand and more effectively empathize with the people of Fraijanes. 

For Davies, the team’s excursion to a local school for a person-to-person meeting with their target demographic, was perhaps the most impactful part of the project. Observing the children was the greatest moment of reflection for Davies: only then was she was able to fully understand the community she was helping to serve. 

Davies’ role focused primarily on the poster and print materials of the educational campaign. Her work on the team gave her a different career perspective.

“I had the notion I was going into print-based media (after graduating college),” Davies said. Since then, her work has evolved to include digital as well. Project Resound was just one piece in the puzzle to form the whole of her work today. 

After serving in Fraijanes, Davies found herself telling job recruiters about the experience and how the Project Resound had brought together designers from around the world who – without compensation – had worked together to make a lasting difference in a small community in Guatemala.