It happened during a summer workshop at Autodesk, where Inneract Project students were tasked with designing lamps inspired by the prompt: “I choose to shed light/shine light on _____.” Barbie had been working at IP for just a few months at that point, and was still pretty new to the world of design.

Inneract Project (IP) launched its very first program for high schoolers, IP Studio, challenging students to solve a need in their communities through design. The program intended to help students create a portfolio piece for launching their design career.

Inneract Project is a nonprofit organization working over 18+ years to empower the next generation of Black, Latinx and underrepresented designers of color. We care about uplifting the voices and creativity of designers of color, and introducing them to the many pathways in design.

We sent two IP Alumni to Spain with the Twitter team to attend Barcelona’s 18th annual gathering for creatives, the OFFF Conference. Meet Olivia and Saaleha…

Inneract Project started in 2004, directly as a result of Maurice Woods’ life. As a kid, Maurice always loved to create things but never considered it as a profession. As one of the tallest kids on the block, basketball seemed like the most logical career path. His athletic abilities helped him secure a college scholarship, but it would be another two years before he realized he could take his passion for creating and parlay it into a career in graphic design.