Yohan Perera相信强大的设计可以创造强大的改变. As the Creative Director for TechChange, he uses his skills in graphic design, animation, photography, 和电影制作，为像联合国这样的客户带来改变, USAID, and UNICEF. His experiences as an international student in Full Sail’s Digital Arts & Design 该计划帮助他在国际发展领域铺平了有意义的职业道路.

当他还在斯里兰卡上小学的时候，Yohan就注意到平面设计可以影响他周围的世界. He learned some basic Photoshop skills in an IT course, 然后在为学校的基督教营地设计海报时使用了这些东西. He plastered the result around campus, 参加人数比前一年增加了四倍多.

He joined Sri Lanka Unites, a youth-led peace reconciliation movement, as he was graduating from high school. 在斯里兰卡30年内战结束后，该组织将斯里兰卡四个主要民族的年轻人聚集在一起, Yohan自豪地为这项事业贡献了他的平面设计技能.

“我参与过的最有影响力的作品之一是反对在公共场所骚扰女性的活动,” he says. “I had to create T-shirts and stickers to paste on buses. (这是为了鼓励)年轻男性站出来反对对女性的骚扰. 我当时想，‘天哪，设计有这么大的力量，’因为做得不好，没人会注意. Done well, they would.”

这个项目最终成为Yohan全速航行之旅的重要组成部分. His Sri Lanka Unites mentor, Prashan De Visser, found out about the school during a speaking event in the United States; when he came back to Sri Lanka, he encouraged Yohan to apply. 在国际部的帮助下，以及他在国际发展工作中设计的作品集, Yohan成为了第一个获得该校创意思维奖学金的国际学生.

当Yohan到达Full Sail时，他得到了教会关系以及学生和工作人员的支持, but Orlando was still surprising.

“我认为佛罗里达是文化冲击，而不是真正的美国. 我记得我在纽约降落时，我想，‘我有点明白了.’ But then Florida, I was like, ‘What the heck is this?’ The landscape was odd, it was hot and humid constantly. And everything was so far apart!” he laughs.

Yohan没有太多的时间去关注佛罗里达中部臭名昭著的气候:数字艺术 & Design program kept him busy from day one. He learned art foundations, like drawing with a pencil and paper, then built on that with instruction in animation, film, photography, and software like Adobe After Effects. 他最大的收获是如何将他对设计的热情转化为他每天都可以依靠的技能.

“Creativity on demand is hard,” he says. “Some of the stuff I learned in the first class, I still practice it… brainstorming, mind mapping, 他们教给我们的这些小技巧只是为了让我们想出一些点子.”

在以优异的成绩和优等奖毕业后, 为了他的设计工作，Yohan立即开始在各大洲之间跳跃. He joined Prashan in Congo for Congo Unites, 他在哪里为建设和平会议制作视频和动画. 该组织决定在其他国家复制和解努力, and soon Yohan was helping out with the website, T-shirts, logos, 以及新成立的全球联合组织的总体品牌推广.

Yohan headed back to the US to find more work, and soon he met Chris Neu, 他是一家名为TechChange的新创业公司的首席运营官. 克里斯对尤汉为环球联合公司所做的设计工作印象深刻, and after a paid test project, Yohan joined the company as a Junior Graphic Designer.

TechChange是一家集数字培训和活动于一体的公司. 他们在自己的学习管理系统中为联合国等组织创建在线课程, the UN Foundation, UNICEF, USAID, and more. Yohan’s had a hand in all of the company’s visual assets, like videos, animations, graphics, and layout design. 他在斯里兰卡远程工作，最近被提升为创意总监.

斯里兰卡和美国之间的时区差异对他处理日常工作很有利:白天是他安静的工作时间, where he researches design trends, creates new concepts for TechChange, builds storyboards for animations, and emails the company’s freelance contractors. In the evenings, he reconnects with the US and TechChange, 接电话，和同事一起计划未来的项目.

Yohan在他的职业生涯中有过一些令人眼花缭乱的时刻:他曾前往莫桑比克和马达加斯加等国家拍摄建设和平培训课程的内容, and he got to photograph Bill Clinton at a large event. 但Yohan并没有成为一名浮华的设计师——他更满足于那些能产生巨大影响的小型TechChange项目.

“我多年来制作的视频只会被一群非常特定的人看到, but it’s an important set of eyes. 我们制作的一些动画是针对不同国家的政府官员的, trying to change their mind about different legislation. It’s not the easiest space, but it’s a very crucial space where design is important, because good design gets attention.”