Visakh Menon
Climate Designer focused on designing interactive documentaries and immersive journalism pertaining to issues of climate change, land use and food production
Visakh Menon is an art director, interactive designer and educator based in New York City. Over the last 15 years he has been creating immersive digital experiences, data visualizations and branding for institutions, leading global brands & independent documentaries. He designed and developed the webby nominated and World Press Photo awarded Unknown Spring, an immersive digital doc that focused on Fukushima residents in the aftermath of Japan’s nuclear disaster and was followed up with a second documentary project "the Invisible Season". His recent project "Beneath the Horizon" focused on the impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and the impact on the Gulf coast.
He is an Adjunct Lecturer of Communication Design at New York City College of Technology (CUNY).
Projects
Beneath the Horizon, An interactive documentary, examines the consequences of two major oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico: The 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the northern Gulf and the lesser known 1979 Ixtoc oil spill in the southern Gulf. By featuring scientists who have devoted their lives to studying the spills and residents who lived through them, we explore how the environment and people cope with disaster and what we can expect for recovery in the future.
A collaborative project with filmmaker & photographer Jake Price, The University of South Florida and the Center for Integrated Modeling and Analysis of Gulf Ecosystems research consortium
Beneath the Horizon is funded by the C-IMAGE Consortium and The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative
Role: Art Director, interaction Designer & front-end developer.
The Invisible Season is a follow up to the Unknown Spring Project, an online anthology that chronicles a community's efforts to overcome the tsunami that struck Japan on 11 March 2011 & its impact on climate change and land use following the nuclear fallout. 5 years in the making, through interactive maps, survivor interviews, videos, and audio slideshows, this project provides a portrait of Yuriage & its residents as they try to move past their traumas and continue on with life.
Funded by PBS-POV.org and Kickstarter. Screenings at: NY Film Fest. World Photo Press Fest. Filmgate Interactive Miami.
Role: Art Director, interaction Designer & data visualizer