Demi Lashawn Keilu
I’m Demi (he/him), a multidisciplinary designer working at the intersection of social design and architecture. My practice integrates human-centered and data-informed strategies with cross-disciplinary collaboration to shape spatial solutions that respond to social, civic, and urban challenges, drawing from a background across multiple creative mediums.
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, alongside developing architecture projects grounded in community engagement and public interest design.
My work has involved collaborating with residents, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations to understand complex urban challenges and translate them into spatial and systemic solutions. I bring a strong foundation in research—using interviews, mapping, and participatory methods to uncover insights that inform design decisions and ensure they are responsive to real needs.
My strength lies in navigating collaborative environments, learning from diverse stakeholders, and applying a process-driven approach to shape thoughtful, contextually grounded architectural outcomes.
Contact
Let’s stay connected
Reach out about a project, collaboration or just to say hello!
A few partners I’ve collaborated with
