Portfolio
It’s Hard Being Dill
71 page chapter of middle grade novel named It’s Hard Being Dill. The first chapter also doubled as the Pratt Institute thesis which won the Award in Academic Excellence for Innovation, Creativity and Originality.
Synopsis: In a fight to free children imprisoned by the Catholic school system, ten-year-old “liberation leader”, Dill, succumbs to corruption, leading to the eventual downfall of his revolution. By illustrating socialist ethics and beliefs, the book imagines a regime where, in navigating from one political extreme to another, a middle ground can still be found. The cluster of once angry children must learn to transition into a peaceful, egalitarian society, led by no individual or ruling class.
Publications
The New Yorker, September 2020.
Run time: 2015 - current
Pwatt Institute
Pratt Institute satire and merchandise since 2015.
Cartoons for students.
Pwatt Institute started in August 2015 with the intended audience being the class of 2020. Throughout the semester, however, the comics grew in popularity and are now a part of the Institute’s culture.
School Newspaper Sunday Specials
Pwatt Institute has been publishing weekly Sunday Specials in the Prattler’s online column. Print comics have appeared in Fall 2017 and Spring 2019 with a coloring spread in Spring 2020. Read a selection here.
Prattler #29 of 63
Collaborations
Pratt has made educational and informational comics for the Critical and Visual Studies department, Pratt Orientation and Food Insecurity.
#1
What Is CritViz? #2
Philosophy Minor Informational Postcard
Food Insecurity Postcard
Pratt Orientation Grocery Informational Comic
Pratt Orientation Sunday Activities
Run time: 2014 - current
A webcomic and blog, Dining with Dana aims to represent the underrepresented in alternative subculture.
Comics and Articles
Annual Black Goth Appreciation Day
Every June 21st Dana highlights musicians and creators during her “Black Goth Appreciation Day”.
Empowering Young Readers
Music.
Dana’s goal is to bring alternative musicians of color to light. While she previously shared a large number of them, she now focuses intensely on specific artists. Her most recent feature included Tobi Okandi from O. Children and Madame St. Beatrice.
Fitness.
Fit Bat workouts (pictured below) began as a fun alternative to traditional workout tutorials. The beginner sets eventually gained popularity. Dana has garnered several hundred of her “fit bats” into a Facebook group.
Confidence.
By being herself, the cartoon character inspires black women and girls to express their ideas, feelings and beauty. Her purpose is to showcase the range of black expression and identity.
Run time: 2013 - current
Born 2 Crash
42 Born 2 Crash is a spin on École 42’s motto “Born 2 Code”. It chronicles the life of 14 year old genius, Denver the developer. It is based off of experiences from the author’s time in the school’s inaugurating class in 2013.
Run time: 2013 - 2015
Marketing through Comics
Born 2 Crash created illustrated content for a number of school associations, press kits and the institution itself.