The APC communications team has a new member: her name is Cathy Chen, born in Taiwan and Canadian by choice, but mostly a world traveller. She joined the APC staff in July as our new publications and multimedia coordinator, and she started with a big challenge, which was designing the visuals for APC's Member Meeting 2017. She defines herself as a "visual communication strategist" and has a strong interest in cultural diversity. APCNews wanted to know more about what she is going to bring to the APC team and so we asked Cathy some questions.
APCNews: Why did you feel interested in working for APC?
Cathy Chen: I was interested in working with APC due to its diverse cultural entities. It is not only an opportunity to understand how people across the globe work together, but also a way to explore the diverse perspectives and ways of storytelling. Moreover, the subject matter of women's empowerment through the use of ICT aligns with my research interest: how to repurpose the concept of development to support local knowledge and practices through the use of ICT.
APCNews: What is your background?
CC: Immediately after college, where I studied visual communication and information design, I had a strong interest in filmmaking; however the path shifted as I joined an artist residency where I teamed up with three other people to create an interactive musical drumming system for children with autism. Subsequently, I pursued a master's degree in digital interaction design, where I explored the concept of “development” and “technology”. I had a strong interest in mobile education in rural parts of India. I joined APC's member Digital Empowerment Foundation, an Indian-based NGO, as an information designer in 2014, and have since lived in Delhi for the last three years.
APCNews: What are you going to bring to the APC staff team and the network?
CC: I can complement APC’s content and provide informational visuals to the network and help envision, organise and implement the vast amount of publication content into a more accessible and multimodal informational resource platform.
APCNews: What do you enjoy most and least about working in an online environment?
CC: I enjoy the freedom: having the flexibility to work online allows me to live anywhere around the world, as I’ve always enjoyed travelling around, living in various cities. Moreover, APC has a diverse network of people from all over the world. Discussing issues with people from different backgrounds exposes me to different perspectives and ways of interpreting situations. Least: time differences and the lack of physical communication and nonverbal communication, since it takes longer to get a simple answer. Sometimes, nonverbal communication delivers a lot about how one feel about certain opinions and/or work.
APCNews: How would you describe your job in three words?
CC: Visual communication strategist.
APCNews: What is your favourite APC publication?
CC: GISWatch.
APCNews: What is the importance of having strong multimedia and design concepts in organisations like ours?
CC: To interpret and simplify heavy content in a visually digestible manner so others who are not so well-versed with the subject matter can chew the content with fun, insights and ruminations.
Check out some of Cathy's previous work: