A student at the University of Southern California recently created a campaign, through stickers, to encourage and inspire those who are upset over the election of President Donald Trump.

Jane Li — an arts, technology and the business of innovation major at the Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy at USC — created the crowdfunding campaign “We Gon’ Be Alright 2017” to encourage people to maintain a positive attitude.

“I was reflecting on everything that happened during 2016, and noticed that people were very discouraged,” Li said in an email. “I thought everyone could use some positivity heading into 2017, so I made a design to express that sentiment.”

She said she decided to share optimism with people by turning her design — “We Gon’ Be Alright” text in red and blue —  into a sticker and selling it on a crowd-funding campaign. Because she wanted to promote community, too, she decided to donate all of her proceeds to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, she said.

The 2016 election cycle seemed to cause stress to a significant number of Americans. More than half of Americans said the election season was a very or somewhat significant source of stress in their lives, according to the American Psychological Association.

The election was particularly stressful to millennials. According to the APA, 56 percent of millennials said the election was a very or somewhat significant source of stress.

Li created her design by drawing it out in her sketchbook and then digitizing it in Adobe Illustrator. She said her initial goal for the project was to make $500, but last week she managed to reach $600, she added.

“I’m not entirely sure what I’m going to do after this. Maybe I’ll make some more designs, or maybe I’ll move on to other creative projects,” she said. “Either way, this campaign has really gotten me to think about how my design work can have a bigger impact than just being something that looks nice.”

She said the most rewarding part of the campaign has been seeing the amount of impact her designs could have on a national scale and being able to step outside of her comfort zone to create her first crowdfunding campaign.

Janet Kim, a marketing designer for the book publisher Knock Knock, which Li interned for last year, said in an email that she heard about the campaign after Li emailed her about it. Kim said she wanted to support Li’s endeavors and donated to the campaign.

“It raises awareness, not just for the direct actions of one orange tyrant, but also the emotional and mental wellbeing of the people who are directly or indirectly affected by his ‘presidency,’” Kim said.

Published on February 1, 2017 at 9:15 pm

Contact Deniz: dsahintu@syr.edu