Merida Toala

The United States of America was built by immigrants, and this country has benefited from the innovation that they bring. Immigrants make up a significant portion of the workforce in a range of industries, over two-fifths of all farming, fishing, and forestry workers, and one-quarter working in math and sciences. (americanimmigrationcouncil.org). Over the past few years, immigration has sparked major attention. From building a wall, deporting families, a global pandemic that paused visa services, and now holding separated immigrant families in detention camps. Many people in power do not support immigrants but fail to acknowledge that this country capitalizes off immigrant culture on a daily basis. I wanted my poster to display immigrant struggles in America, the detention camps being on of them, as well as authentic citizens supporting immigration reform through the handwritten posters. The typography I included is a bold message, and I wanted the graphics to decipher that in a way th...

     For this assignment, the topic I chose was immigration rights, which are civil rights laws for people born in foreign countries who migrate to another permanently. In recent years, the media has put a spotlight on the struggles of immigrants trying to come to America. The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been capturing undocumented immigrants across the states and holding them in detention camps. In these camps, abuse and mistreatment occur. Oftentimes, families are separated from one another, children from their mothers and siblings. People are detained in these camps because the government is trying to find "that they are either a danger to society or a flight risk." (ACLU. 2022) I do not believe that immigrants are treated fairly in these detention camps and there should be reform for allowing foreigners to reside in America. Concept #1      For this poster, the idea I had was to use the outline of the United States' land....

  The "Charging Bull" and "Fearless Girl" on Wall Street, NYC by NBC News. Original Photo:  Hijack Concept Sketches: My photomontage image hijack: My intention with this assignment was to manipulate the original meaning of the "Charging Bull" image and the "Fearless Girl" taken by Getty Images. I wanted to display a message of gun violence in America against children. My goal was to show the comparison between the "Fearless Girl" and the American children of today who have to be fearless in an instance of a school shooting.  I incorporated firearms, pistols, child protesters, a police car, a bulletproof backpack, and an American Flag. I enjoyed exploring the different tools, settings, and techniques in Photoshop that helped me enhance the original photo into the message I wanted to portray. I was utilizing the saturation and brightness, the opacity of different elements, layering, merging, and more to create the final product.  When you...