Spectra: The Gayest Design Exhibition Ever*
Mike Ray, MFA 2024, Graphic & Interactive Design
Spectra Installation, exhibition entrance and show statement. 40” x 60” scroll on linen canvas, pressed cardboard, paint, and various mixed media. Photo credit: Neighboring States
The 2024 GAID MFA cohort presented Spectra as a celebration of design and identity. A culmination of our graduate experience, we looked to highlight the connective threads that existed between our diverse set of projects. We each use design to craft stories, create a sense of belonging, emotionally engage our audiences, highlight our cultural and sexual identities, advocate for marginalized communities, demand accessibility and empathy, and focus on you: the student, user, consumer, critic, friend and potential client, collaborator and co-conspirator.
There was an ecstatic vibration amongst us when we first met and realized that we represented every letter of LGBTQ. It is an energy that has persisted, and one that we know was felt as the audience took in the collective work at our exhibition. Spectra was our final stamp on the GAID graduate experience— a mark that was intentionally ambitious and unapologetically queer.
*The Spectra team did not scientifically verify the exhibition's level of relative queerness.
"Spectra" Installation, interactive wall. Printed materials on enhanced matte paper at various dimensions, mixed media. Photo credit: Mike Ray
"Give & Taste" Installation, staged dining room table with linen cotton canvas placemats/napkins and printed materials on enhanced matte paper at various dimensions. Photo credit: Neighboring States
"Give & Taste" (detail) Installation, staged dining room table with linen cotton canvas placemats/napkins and printed materials on enhanced matte paper at various dimensions. Photo credit: Neighboring States
"Give & Taste" (detail) Staged table setting with linen cotton napkin and printed materials on enhanced matte paper at various dimensions. Photo credit: Mike Ray with Adobe stock template
"FullFill: A Shared Support System" Pressed cardboard, laminated paper, foamcore, matte paper, paint, wooden cubes. Photo credit: Neighboring States
"FullFill: A Shared Support System" Installation, pressed cardboard, laminated paper, foamcore, matte paper, paint, wooden spheres/cubes at various dimensions, glass vessels. Photo credit: Mike Ray
"Quiet Force: An Introvert’s Guide to Starting a New Job" Installation, enhanced matte paper, 22” x 30” spreads, 7” x 10” printed workbooks Photo credit: Mike Ray
"Quiet Force: An Introvert’s Guide to Starting a New Job" Staged book spreads, 7” x 10” printed workbooks Photo credit: Mike Ray
"Good Mood: Wallpaper with Vibes" Installation, 22” x 168” wallpaper strips on kozo paper, 11” x 17” swatchbook of pressed cardboard, laminated paper and canvas swatches, printed materials on enhanced matte paper at various dimensions. Photo credit: Mike Ray
"Good Mood: Wallpaper with Vibes" Staged room with wallpaper art at scale Photo credit: Mike Ray with Adobe stock template
"Sek-See: A Celebration of the Queer Form" (detail) Installation, enhanced matte paper, 23” x 46” spreads Photo credit: Neighboring States
"Sek-See: A Celebration of the Queer Form" Installation, enhanced matte paper, 23” x 46” spreads, 10” x 10” experimental zine Photo credit: Mike Ray
"Sek-See: A Celebration of the Queer Form" (detail) Zine spread, enhanced matte paper, 10” x 10” experimental zine Photo credit: Mike Ray
"F*ck Small Talk" Installation, enhanced matte paper, 24” x 36” and 22” x 16” prints, user flow screen recording Photo credit: Mike Ray
"F*ck Small Talk" Staged mobile screen user flow Photo credit: Mike Ray with Adobe stock template
"F*ck Small Talk" Staged mobile screen user flow Photo credit: Mike Ray with Adobe stock template
Mike Ray
Mike Ray is a Creative Director & Educator who splits his time between Philadelphia, New York City and the middle of nowhere, PA. Mike’s research and practice focus on leveraging the transformative power of design to foster profound connections between individuals. He is driven by a passion for fostering inclusive and ambitious creative environments. His approach is rooted in the belief that diverse perspectives contribute to groundbreaking ideas. A storyteller at heart, Mike leverages a spectrum of emotions and experiences to craft compelling narratives with a thoughtful balance of humor and gravity. As an educator, his primary goal is to ensure that everyone has a seat at the table when ideas are taking shape, emphasizing the importance of belonging in the creative process.