Graphic & Web Design Manager

About Make Me Visible

Make Me Visible is an advocacy and accountability platform being built for people who become invisible when families, healthcare systems, employers, professionals, law enforcement, courts, and other institutions fail them.

The platform centers on evidence, witnessing, continuity, protection, accountability, and real advocacy. It is intended to help vulnerable people organize what happened, preserve supporting information, communicate complicated experiences, control access to sensitive materials, and create a credible path toward protection and accountability.

The people using Make Me Visible may be frightened, exhausted, disabled, working from a phone, managing hundreds of documents, or attempting to explain years of institutional failure. The design must reduce confusion, preserve dignity, communicate safety, and help the user understand what to do next.

The Experience

Make Me Visible is seeking a Graphic & Web Design Fellow for a fast-paced, hands-on, 3.5-month educational experience.

The fellow will learn how to translate a serious public-interest mission into an accessible and coherent visual system across website pages, product interfaces, reports, presentations, advocacy campaigns, media materials, and digital communications.

This is not an internship built around placing content into templates. The fellow must learn how to read requirements, understand what a page or asset must accomplish, identify missing design decisions, develop a thoughtful visual solution, explain that solution, and improve it through feedback.

The fellow’s work will complement Make Me Visible’s design efforts without replacing an employee or independently controlling the organization’s brand, website, or product design.

The Design Challenge

Make Me Visible must communicate:

Evidence without appearing cold
Protection without appearing institutional
Urgency without becoming sensational
Dignity without becoming passive
Accountability without presenting allegations as established conclusions
Safety without creating false promises
Complexity without overwhelming the user
Visibility without exposing confidential information
Human experience without exploiting the person who lived it

The visual identity must feel credible enough for attorneys, journalists, investigators, advocates, funders, and institutional partners while remaining understandable and emotionally safe for vulnerable users.

What You Will Learn and Contribute

Website and Page Design

Translate approved requirements and content into clear page structures
Develop wireframes, responsive page designs, and user journeys
Design for desktop, tablet, and mobile devices
Create layouts that establish hierarchy without overwhelming the user
Design clear calls to action, forms, navigation, and informational pathways
Identify missing content, interaction states, and design decisions
Prepare developer-ready designs and specifications
Review implemented pages against approved designs
Document visual and functional discrepancies
Revise designs in response to user, developer, and supervisor feedback

Product and User-Experience Design

Help design experiences involving intake, evidence uploads, timelines, document organization, and controlled sharing
Account for users with limited stamina, reduced concentration, disabilities, and high emotional stress
Design clear loading, saving, saved, error, recovery, empty, and interrupted-session states
Make private, shared, pending, and revoked information visually distinct
Reduce the risk of accidental disclosure
Use plain language and predictable interaction patterns
Explain who can see sensitive information before the user shares it
Design mobile-first workflows for people who may not have access to a computer
Participate in supervised usability reviews

Visual Identity and Design Systems

Help build and maintain Make Me Visible’s visual identity
Select and document typography, colors, spacing, image treatment, buttons, forms, icons, and reusable elements
Develop reusable components and design tokens
Establish rules for consistency across web, product, presentation, and campaign materials
Create a system that can grow without losing the mission’s visual integrity
Document how and when core design elements should be used
Identify visual patterns that feel generic, sensational, clinical, childish, or inappropriate for the mission

Graphic Design and Communications

Design advocacy graphics, reports, presentations, infographics, quote graphics, media materials, and campaign assets
Translate complex information into understandable visual formats
Develop graphics that remain accurate when removed from their original context
Create layouts for evidence-supported public-interest narratives
Prepare visual materials for media, attorney, partner, and funder conversations
Design assets for multiple digital formats without sacrificing readability
Maintain visual consistency across related materials

Accessibility and Inclusive Design

Design toward WCAG 2.2 AA principles
Apply readable typography and sufficient color contrast
Create visible focus states and clear interaction feedback
Account for keyboard navigation and screen-reader structure
Use large enough touch targets for mobile users
Avoid relying on color alone to communicate meaning
Design content that remains usable when enlarged
Consider cognitive accessibility, fatigue, stress, and reduced concentration
Document accessibility decisions for developers
Identify accessibility gaps before development begins

Developer Handoff and Design Quality Assurance

Organize Figma files, components, assets, and specifications
Use consistent naming and version-control practices
Provide responsive behavior, interaction states, spacing, and component details
Explain intended behavior rather than supplying only static screens
Participate in design-to-development reviews
Compare implemented pages with approved designs
Prioritize functional, accessibility, and comprehension issues before cosmetic differences
Prepare annotated feedback that developers can act upon
Confirm when corrections have been implemented

Research and Design Reasoning

Study the intended audience before choosing a visual direction
Review comparable advocacy, legal, accountability, and evidence-management platforms
Identify visual conventions that should be used, adapted, or avoided
Explain how design decisions support the mission and user
Distinguish personal taste from evidence-based design judgment
Test whether users understand the hierarchy, privacy status, and next action
Revise work based on findings rather than defending an ineffective design

Educational Structure and Supervision

Each fellow will receive:

An Individual Fellowship Plan identifying design strengths and learning goals
Orientation covering Make Me Visible’s mission, users, confidentiality, accessibility, and responsible design
Access to approved requirements, content, Figma files, and design references
Weekly instructional and design-review meetings
Defined assignments connected to learning objectives
Regular access to a designated supervisor
Substantive feedback on visual direction, hierarchy, accessibility, and execution
Opportunities to revise and improve work
A midpoint evaluation and final skills assessment
Coordination with an academic institution when credit is requested
A final summary of the design competencies demonstrated during the fellowship

Milestones

Weeks 1–2: Mission, Users, and Design Audit

Complete confidentiality and responsible-design orientation
Review Make Me Visible’s mission, audience, content, and requirements
Audit existing visual materials and website pages
Identify accessibility, hierarchy, consistency, and usability issues
Complete an initial skills assessment
Establish an Individual Fellowship Plan

Weeks 3–5: Visual Direction and Design-System Foundations

Develop a visual direction grounded in Make Me Visible’s mission
Establish or strengthen typography, color, spacing, imagery, and component rules
Create reusable design-system foundations
Present the reasoning behind the visual direction
Revise the system after receiving feedback

Weeks 6–9: Responsive Website or Product Workflow

Map one high-priority user journey
Create wireframes and responsive designs
Include loading, error, empty, saving, recovery, and privacy states
Design desktop and mobile versions
Conduct an accessibility review
Revise the workflow based on feedback

Weeks 10–12: Communications and Developer Handoff

Create a coordinated set of advocacy or communications materials
Prepare developer-ready files and specifications
Participate in a design handoff
Review an implemented page or prototype
Prepare annotated design-quality feedback
Confirm whether major corrections were completed

Weeks 13–15: Capstone and Professional Development

Complete a polished web, product, or campaign design system
Present the user problem, visual reasoning, revisions, and final result
Document accessibility and implementation decisions
Produce a portfolio-appropriate case study using approved, nonconfidential information
Complete a final skills assessment
Complete a responsible design-file and asset handoff

Measurable Learning Deliverables

By the end of the 3.5-month fellowship, the participant should be able to demonstrate meaningful progress through work such as:

A written design audit
A documented visual direction
A reusable Figma component library
A responsive website page set or product workflow
Desktop and mobile designs
Loading, error, saving, recovery, empty, and privacy states
An accessibility review and correction log
A coordinated set of graphic or advocacy materials
Developer-ready specifications and assets
An annotated design-quality review
A final capstone presentation
A portfolio-quality case study using approved materials
Documented improvement between the initial and final skills assessments

Work will be evaluated for accuracy, usability, accessibility, organization, confidentiality, design reasoning, responsiveness to feedback, and completion of agreed learning milestones.

Website launches, user adoption, media attention, funding, partnerships, and other outcomes controlled by third parties cannot be guaranteed and will not be the sole measure of performance.

What Success Looks Like

Success means the fellow can demonstrate that:

The design reflects Make Me Visible’s purpose rather than a generic template
Pages establish a clear hierarchy and next action
Mobile users can understand and navigate the experience
Accessibility is addressed from the beginning
Sensitive information and sharing status are communicated clearly
Design files are organized and usable by developers
Major interaction and failure states are included
Design decisions can be explained in relation to the user
Feedback results in visible improvement
Completed work can be continued by another designer or developer
The fellow developed stronger visual, technical, and professional judgment

Non-Negotiable Work Standard

This is serious work for people who have been ignored or failed by systems expected to protect them.

Design must be intentional, accurate, accessible, organized, and complete. Fellows are expected to review requirements carefully, raise problems early, and bring possible solutions.

Initiative does not mean making unauthorized brand or product decisions. It means investigating the problem, developing a thoughtful recommendation, explaining the reasoning, and continuing to improve the work when the first approach is not effective.

Repeated missed deadlines, recycled template work, incomplete source files, failure to follow written requirements, mishandling of confidential information, unexplained silence, or claiming work is complete when major elements remain missing may result in reassignment and may lead to the fellowship ending under the written agreement.

Who Should Apply

Apply if you:

Are pursuing or recently completed studies in graphic design, web design, UX/UI, interaction design, visual communication, human-computer interaction, or a related field
Can show complete website or product-design projects rather than only isolated images
Understand responsive design, accessibility, hierarchy, components, and developer handoff
Can create serious advocacy designs without making them feel clinical, childish, sensational, or generic
Work confidently in Figma and relevant professional design tools
Maintain organized and understandable source files
Can follow detailed requirements while exercising thoughtful judgment
Explain why a design decision supports the intended user
Accept substantive feedback and improve work through revision
Communicate blockers before they threaten a milestone
Take confidentiality and responsible design seriously

Applicants do not need to claim expertise in every area. We value honesty about current strengths, learning needs, and individual contributions to previous projects.

What You Will Gain

This fellowship provides supervised experience in:

Mission-driven brand development
Responsive website and product design
Designing for vulnerable and disabled users
Accessibility-conscious design
Figma systems and reusable components
Mobile-first user journeys
Evidence and privacy-related interface design
Graphic design for public-interest advocacy
Developer handoff and design-quality review
Communicating complex information visually
Explaining design reasoning to technical and nontechnical stakeholders
Receiving substantive feedback and improving work through revision
Building a portfolio-quality case study

Fellows will not be given meaningless design assignments simply to fill time. Work will be connected to defined learning objectives and supervised opportunities to build practical, transferable skills.

By the end of the fellowship, participants should leave with stronger design judgment, tangible work, clearer evidence of their capabilities, and a deeper understanding of how design can either protect or endanger people navigating complicated systems.

Important Fellowship Boundaries

The fellow will not:

Publish or deploy designs without authorization
Independently change Make Me Visible’s brand identity
Use confidential case materials in public designs
Place protected information in personal accounts, portfolios, or unapproved platforms
Upload confidential information to AI tools
Use unlicensed fonts, images, templates, icons, or other assets
Present another person’s work as their own
Make final legal, privacy, security, or accessibility determinations
Speak publicly on behalf of Make Me Visible
Replace the work of a paid employee

Only approved, synthetic, publicly available, or appropriately redacted information may be used in design work and portfolio materials.

The fellowship does not create an entitlement to future employment. Either party may end the fellowship in accordance with the written fellowship agreement. Confidentiality, return of access, transfer of source files, and deletion of protected materials remain required at departure.

Proof-of-Ability Requirement

Applicants must submit:

Three relevant examples of web, product, or UX/UI design
Three relevant examples of graphic or visual-communication work
A short explanation of their specific contribution to each project
One example showing how a design changed from the initial concept to the completed result
A brief explanation of how they would visually communicate evidence, protection, dignity, accountability, and action for Make Me Visible
A link to a portfolio, Figma presentation, or other verifiable work

Applicants who submit only template work, unexplained team projects, broken links, unlicensed work, or projects they cannot verify as their own will not be considered.

About the Founder

Make Me Visible was founded by Sweta Patel, an entrepreneur, investigative researcher, and patient advocate who has spent years navigating complex legal, medical, financial, and institutional systems.

The platform is being built from lived experience, not from a distance, to create the structure, visibility, continuity, and protection that vulnerable people are too often denied.