Demi Lashawn Keilu
I’m Demi, and my pronouns are He, Him, His. I’m a multidisciplinary designer whose work experiences are founded in social design and creative direction. I use human- and data-driven strategies, cross-pollination in collaboration, and a background in multiple creative mediums to deliver innovative solutions across multiple fields.
Social Design Projects
Casting Lines, Building Trust: Listening Through Crabbing, Gardening, and Story
The Wall Walk: Designing Resilience with Community at the Center
Making Meetings Matter: Reimagining City Leadership Gatherings
Telling Our Story: A Design Workshop for NYC Magnet Schools
Summary:
In partnership with the NYC Department of Education, I co-led a branding workshop series for 23 public magnet schools. Instead of handing schools a brand, we gave them the tools to shape their own—through hands-on activities in persona-building, storytelling, and communications planning. The result? Stronger identities, clearer messaging, and empowered educators using branding as a tool for equity and enrollment growth.
Click here to see the deck.
Click here to see the deck.
Hampton Voices: Storytelling That Connects Residents and City Hall
Summary:
I created and led Hampton Voices, a bold multimedia storytelling platform where residents share their lived experiences with city services—and city staff respond. Through podcast episodes, short videos, zines, and posters, we elevated voices often unheard in municipal decision-making. This initiative reimagines civic feedback as a tool for empathy, healing, and policy change—while building Hampton’s brand as a human-centered, resilient city.
Click here to see the deck.
A Humane Path Forward: Co-Designing Policy with Lived Experience
Summary:
When Hampton considered an ordinance affecting unhoused residents, I helped facilitate a workshop that replaced fear-driven debates with empathy-driven design. Through anonymous storytelling activities and idea stations, residents, city workers, and advocates explored housing, sanitation, peer support, and dignity. This project reframed ordinance-making as a design challenge rooted in shared humanity—not punishment.
New York City Language Access
Over the course of a year and a half, my colleagues and I collaborated with multiple city agencies in order to brainstorm: How Might We improve language access services for New York City residents?
Human Centered Shelter Design
Human Centered Shelter Design
How might we support city staff in designing more responsive and functional shelter spaces?
How might we build capacity and invite collaboration with our stakeholders?
Deconstructed Design Challenge
How Might We turn waste into affordable and attractive furniture?
Childcare Application Guide
How Might We design a more easy to understand application guide for families?
No Kid Hungry
Case Study: Modular Design
Projects I do in my down time.
How can design help highlight a film process?
Graphic Design & Branding
Transforming visions into vibrant visuals: Expert graphic design services that bring your brand to life with creativity, clarity, and impact.
About Me
For the past decade, I have worked as a designer, filmmaker, professor and artist’s assistant. The common thread among this work is not just the artistic side of my brain but the part that obsesses over the process.
My biggest strength is my ability to think creatively, even in environments where that isn’t always accepted. A designer in any sense of the word should be able to understand how to collaborate with multiple parties from diverse backgrounds, while also understanding that any preconceived notions should be left at the door.
I am highly cognizant that my role is to learn from my collaborators, and in turn use my knowledge about the process to support their needs, whether it’s product, process or prototype.
Contact
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