Sonisa Noun

A Cambodian visual communication designer and design anthropologist who transitioned from a professional background in commercial art direction in advertising to work at the intersection of design research and applied anthropology. She uses decolonial arts-based methods and qualitative visual inquiry to investigate sensitive areas within care systems, institutional stigma, and women's health.

More about Sonisa

Originally from Cambodia, her background began in advertising as an art director before she transitioned toward a research-driven practice. Her educational path includes a Bachelor of Arts in Visual Communication Design and an Erasmus Mundus Joint Master program in Design and Health_Care. Her core interest lies in combining qualitative anthropological fieldwork with visual methods like analog drawing, body-mapping, and sketching to look closely at institutional care systems and women's health. This intersection informs her creative and academic work, including research papers on analog drawing frameworks for trauma-informed inquiry and campaigns on male infertility awareness that demystifies taboo topics, as well as her personal interests in street photography, autoethnographic journaling and analog sketching. Her practice focuses on using this design anthropology approach to research and design supportive, person-centered experiences within healthcare and care systems.

Reflection on the Mentorship Program

The AAN mentorship program served as a vital space for building a sharp focus on her research and passion projects, providing the extra eyes of an active professional that offered an invaluable perspective beyond standard classroom supervision. The program offered immense support and affirmation that gave her the confidence to fully embrace becoming a design anthropologist, a unique trajectory that had not been suggested or advised previously. Engaging with the cohort also widened her perspectives on how these methodologies can be applied in professional practice.