Local Shop Archives
Challenge: Create a “technology of memory” that records, reveals, or responds to traces of personal, social, cultural, political, or material significance. The project explored how design can make invisible stories visible while questioning what is remembered and what fades over time.
CLIENT
YorkU DSA
DELIVERABLES
Branding, App design, Ad campaign
CONTRIBUTORS
Phuong Thao Dinh, Yolanda Wu
YEAR
2026
ROLE
Creative Direction
AWARDS
1st place winner- yorku dsa designathon 2026
Approach: Our group focused on the local businesses that quietly shape our everyday lives and memories, yet are often overlooked within routine. We created an app that documents and archives the life stories of local business owners, preserving their experiences and personal histories before they disappear. The platform allows users to reconnect with community staples they may have forgotten over the years, while creating a deeper sense of connection between people, place, and memory.
“That local _____” is a campaign highlighting the fact that we as people often forget about the small local vendors that are a part of our everyday lives. Even though we interact with them on a daily basis, we usually do not know much about Their past and end up referring to their shop as “that shop”. This campaign pin-points it and prompts the viewers to read about and familiarize themselves with the vendor of “that ” place.
The audience will discover the traces through the app and through posters placed around in public spaces. It encourages people to reflect on the history of the businesses we frequent in our ever y-day lives. It highlights something people rarely think about.