Juliana Castro Varon is a designer who writes. Juliana is a designer who swims. Juliana is a designer interested in AI. Juliana is a cautious optimist. Juliana is a designer who loves a good marquee animation  

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• 1. Cita Press 
  
• 2. Reeve App & Packaging
  
• 3. AI Pedagogy Project
• 4. Rough Cut Collective
  
• 5. Are Images Real?
• 6. Speculative Design
• 7. Miscellany
• 8. Access Now - User Research
  
• 9. Small Web Projects
  

About

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About

Hola, I’m Juliana Castro Varón, a designer with a decade of experience working with cultural institutions, news agencies, and non-profits. I’m the founder of Cita Press, a Fellow at the History Design Studio and an affiliate at metaLAB at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society, where I research AI and image manipulation. I use design and emerging tech to reimagine how people access information and knowledge. 

Recently, I was a consultant with Mozilla, helping revamp the Creative Media Awards—a program funding artists and journalists who create interactive, screen-based projects focused on trustworthy AI. In the past, I've led a range of design and web projects, from large to small, creating graphics, contributing to an AI + education initiative, and launching a feminist publisher. I’ve also been a Fulbright Scholar and a Mellon Public Knowledge Grantee. My interests range from the literary line between fact and fiction, to the beauty of Times New Roman, to weird AI memes. 

Writing: I’ve written about heroes for Atlas Obscura, AI for the Miami Herald, failure for Kickstarter, and translation for Are.na. My debut essay collection, Papel sensible, came out in 2022 with Planeta, the world largest Spanish-language publisher. You can find it on Amazon, Barnes & Nobles, Buscalibre, and bookstores in Colombia. 

Press: I recently joined the Wonks & War Rooms podcast and Charlas con Charli to talk about AI and image manipulation. I’ve talked about design and digital rights with AdobeXD, and AIGA’s Eye on Design. I’ve talked to CBC twice, once about failure and another time about AI. In Spanish, I’ve spoken to El Tiempo, Infobae, CityTV, and more. El Colombiano selected Papel sensible as one of the 22 books of 2022.

Speaking: I’ve presented my work (mainly on design, tech, AI and creativity) in events all over the world. 

Past: 7 Fellows Predict the Future at the Harvard BKC, a conversation with Joanne McNeil at the Harvard Bookstore, keynoting the Europe Data Protection Congress in Brussels, 2024 Internet Archive Public Domain Day.

Upcoming: HarvardxDesign Conference, April 20, 2024.