Yohan Perera believes that powerful design can create powerful change. 作为TechChange的创意总监, 他将自己的技能用于平面设计, 动画, 摄影, and 电影making to make a difference with clients like the United Nations, 美国国际开发署, 和联合国儿童基金会. 他作为国际学生的经历 满帆的数字艺术 & 设计 program helped him pave the way to a meaningful career in the field of international development.

Yohan noticed that graphic design could influence the world around him when he was still in primary school in Sri Lanka. 他在IT课程中学到了一些基本的Photoshop技巧, then put those to use when he designed a poster for a Christian camp at school. 他在校园里到处张贴结果, and the number of attendees more than quadrupled from the previous year.

他加入了斯里兰卡联盟, 青年领导的和平和解运动, 当他高中毕业的时候. The organization brought young people from Sri Lanka’s four major ethnic groups together after the conclusion of the country’s 30-year civil war, and Yohan proudly contributed his graphic design skills to the cause.

“One of the most impactful pieces I worked on was a campaign against the harassment of women in public spaces,他说. “我不得不制作t恤和贴纸贴在公交车上. [It was to encourage] young men to speak out against harassment of women. And I was like, ‘Man, design has such power,’ because done poorly, nobody would pay attention. 如果做得好，他们会的.”

That project wound up being an essential part of Yohan’s journey to 满帆. 他的斯里兰卡联盟导师, 普拉珊·德·维瑟, found out about the school during a speaking event in the United States; when he came back to Sri Lanka, 他鼓励约翰申请. With help from the 国际 Department and a portfolio filled with designs from his international development work, Yohan became the first international student to receive the school’s Creative Minds scholarship.

Yohan had support from church connections and 满帆’s students and staff when he arrived, 但奥兰多仍然令人惊讶.

“I think Florida was the culture shock and not really the United States. I remember I landed in New York, and I was like, ‘I kind of get it.’但到了佛罗里达，我就想，‘这是什么鬼东西?“那里的景色很奇怪，一直又热又潮湿. 一切都是那么遥远!他笑着说.

Yohan didn’t have too much time to get distracted by Central Florida’s notorious climate: The 数字艺术 & 设计项目让他从第一天起就很忙. 他学习艺术基础, 比如用铅笔和纸画画, 然后在此基础上进行动画制作, 电影, 摄影, 以及Adobe After Effects等软件. Some of his biggest takeaways were tips on how to turn his passion for design into a skill set he could rely on every day.

“按需创新很难，”他说. “我在第一堂课上学到的一些东西, 我现在还在练习……头脑风暴, 思维导图, all these little tricks that they taught us just to come up with ideas.”

After graduating with high marks and Advanced Achievement Awards, Yohan immediately started hopping between continents for his design work. 他加入了刚果的普拉善组织, where he worked on videos and 动画 for the peace-building conference. The organization decided to replicate the reconciliation efforts in additional countries, 很快，约翰就开始帮忙打理网站了, t恤, 标志, 以及新成立的全球联合组织的总体品牌推广.

Yohan回到美国寻找更多的工作, 不久他就遇到了克里斯·纽, the Chief Operating Officer at a new startup called TechChange. Chris was impressed with the design work Yohan had done with Global Unites, 在一个付费的测试项目之后, Yohan以初级平面设计师的身份加入公司.

TechChange is an all-in-one digital training and events firm. They create online courses in their learning management system for organizations like the United Nations, 联合国基金会, 联合国儿童基金会, 美国国际开发署, 和更多的. 尤汉参与了公司所有的视觉资产, 喜欢的视频, 动画, 图形, 布局设计. He works remotely from Sri Lanka, and he was recently promoted to Creative Director.

The time zone differences between Sri Lanka and the US works in Yohan’s favor as he’s tackling his daily responsibilities: Daytime is his quiet work time, 他在哪里研究设计趋势, 为TechChange创造新概念, 为动画构建故事板, 并给公司的自由合同工发邮件. 在晚上, 他与美国和TechChange重新建立了联系, jumping onto calls and planning out future projects with his colleagues.

Yohan has had some dazzling moments in his career: He’s traveled to countries like Mozambique and Madagascar to 电影 content for peace-building training lessons, 他在一次大型活动上给比尔·克林顿拍照. But Yohan didn’t become a designer for the glitz — he’s more satisfied with smaller TechChange projects that make a big impact.

“The videos I produced over the years are only going to be seen by a very specific set of eyes, 但这是一双重要的眼睛. Some of the 动画 we produced were directed towards government officials in different countries, 试图改变他们对不同立法的看法. 这不是最容易的地方, 但这是一个非常关键的领域，设计很重要, 因为好的设计会引起注意.”