From 2021 - 2023, I was the visual project lead for the Aesop Queer Library in the US and Canada. For one week each year, we cleared all of the products in three Aesop stores in NY, Toronto, and LA and gifted visitors with a queer-authored book of their choice. Together with a small team, I helped shape the inaugural AQL, a project that went on to travel the globe and come to life in Aesop stores around the world, since becoming a beloved brand activation.
This project required cross-functional collaboration with both internal and external partners, and I touched many pieces of this project, including curating the book list, vetting authors, liaising with the publisher and book sellers, coordinating logistics for the books, art directing the photo shoots in LA, and leading the visual expression in-store and for PR events.
In 2023, I developed the creative concept for the campaign, which was produced by our Global Creative team and used on Aesop.com, Instagram, and on all in-store collateral. The creative was a visual play on censorship, with a quote by George M. Johnson, the author of a frequently banned title, All Boys Aren't Blue.
For the 2023 Aesop Queer Library, The Aesop Foundation partnered with the ACLU Foundation to donate $100,000 to support their efforts fighting censorship and book bans. We hosted an event at Aesop Williamsburg with Alok Vaid-Menon and ACLU lawyer Chase Strangio in conversation.
I curated the book list based on recommendations from Aesop employees, and worked with Penguin Random House and queer-owned bookstore partners to coordinate book selections, quantities, purchases, donations, and logistics. I also arranged for donations of remaining books at the end of the activation, to organizations supporting the LGBTQIA community.