HOMEBOY HEALS
04.2019
Listening isn't a step in my process. It's the foundation.
Homeboy Heals helped me rethink what participatory design can look like. Rather than jumping to solutions, we began by building relationships. By inviting the community in directly, we created opportunities for them to shape both the story and the outcome.
This project remains the clearest expression of how I approach design: by putting people first.
CLIENT
Homeboy Industries
ROLE
Art Direction
Research
Graphic Design
TIMELINE
Eight Weeks
RESPONSIBILITIES
Community Interviews
Research Facilitation
Co-Creation Design
Campaign Strategy
Print Design
Art Direction
Editorial + Print Design
TEAM
Saúl Barrera, Photographer
Center for Diversity, Equity + Inclusion at ArtCenter
SCOPE
Community Research
↓
Campaign
During my time with the Center for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at ArtCenter, I had the opportunity to partner with Homeboy Industries on a campaign designed to recruit volunteer mental health professionals—particularly practitioners of color—to support the community.
From the beginning, it became clear that this project couldn't succeed through assumptions alone. Homeboy Industries is built on trust, healing, and belonging. Rather than designing a campaign about the community, we wanted to create one that emerged from it.
That shift fundamentally changed our process. Instead of asking, "How do we communicate Homeboy's story?" we asked, "How can we create space for the community to tell it themselves?"
CONTEXT
↑ ↓ PHOTOS
Film, Captured by the Homeboy Community
We developed a two-part co-creation process that invited participants to contribute their own experiences in tangible ways.
The first component, "From Their Lens," placed disposable cameras throughout the headquarters, inviting participants to document everyday moments from their own perspective. The second, “From Their Heart,” was a handwritten drop-box where community members reflected on what Homeboy Industries meant to them personally.
Together, these contributions became more than research. They became the creative foundation of the campaign, ensuring that every design decision remained rooted in lived experience rather than outside interpretation—The final work truthfully reflecting Homeboy Industries from the inside out.
PROCESS
↓ CO-CREATION TOOLS
Disposable cameras, “From Their Lens”
Dropbox + Note Cards, “From Their Heart”
Rather than presenting Homeboy Industries through polished marketing imagery, we embraced collage as both a visual language and a metaphor.
Individual photographs, handwritten notes, textures, and layered compositions reflected the organization's spirit of rebuilding—not as a story of brokenness, but of transformation through community. We intentionally designed the campaign for print, allowing it to live throughout Los Angeles County and invite people into a space that already felt deeply personal.
DESIGN DIRECTION
↓ POSTERS
Mixed Media
↑ POSTER MOCKUPS
Meant to be seen by local LA commuters
↓ ZINE
For community spaces like coffee shops + libraries
While the project’s success wasn’t measured through traditional marketing metrics, it demonstrated the value of co-creation as both a research method and a design philosophy. More importantly, it reinforced that authentic storytelling begins by creating opportunities for people to represent themselves.
IMPACT
Beyond the final deliverables, the greatest impact was establishing a design process that centered community participation from concept through execution. Homeboy Heals helped me lay to rest, “I understand,” and Instead activate, “I’m listening.”
This methodology continues to inform my professional practice today.
PERSONAL GROWTH
↓ SAÚL + MADISON
Homeboy Industries HQ
