Dylan Box

Current Work

• Diskette Press

  Co-Owner, 2024-Present

  Diskette Press is an award-winning publisher and press based out of Detroit, Michigan. We seek to publish small- or first-run print work from upcoming trans and queer authors. Primarily known for publishing comics, we also have a variety of both fiction and non-fiction work published in limited runs.

  Responsibilities Include

  • Artist Management
  • Financials and Accounting
  • Prepress, Printing, and Production
  • Sales and Distribution
  • Machine Maintainance

• Encoder Rat Decoder Rat

  Co-Owner, 2021-Present

  ERDR is duo of creative technologiests, Dylan Box and M Kuznetsov, dedicated to creating installations and experiential design.

  Past Projects

  • Gender Generator: A novel interface for visualizing gender. Commissioned by MIT CAST as part of their Generative Unfoldings exhibition
  • A Night at the Orfelia: An ongoing installation art series dedicated to discovering queer utopian futures

• Freelance

  Development & Design, Ongoing

  Graphic Design, Marketing, and Web Development focusing on community organizations and non-profits.

  Clients

  Chalkfly, Challenge Detroit, Osborn Neighborhood Alliance, Detroit Sound Conservancy, Downtown Boxing Gym, Back Alley Bikes, Detroit Public Library Friends Foundation

Past Work

• CareEvolution

  Product Design, Development, 2022-2025
  CareEvolution develops software to enable researchers and healthcare providers manage and collect data. Additionally CE provides support for many public health organizations to create impact-driven programs.

  Projects Include

  • Design and development of NIH-funded at-home test submission program, MakeMyTestCount
  • Design and development of at-home test distribution programs for Project ACT and other public health initiatives
  • Managed accessibility audits and updates
  • Product localization development
  • Front-End app design and development for developer tools and API dashboards

• Waymark

  Lead Developer, 2013-2022
  Waymark is a video production platform designed to create customizable videos at scale right in your browser. I worked for years on the Video Technology team developing a browser-based video editor and that allows users on any device to edit HD videos in real-time right in a web browser, no downloads needed.

  Skills and Technologies

  • Front- and Back-end javascript development
  • Project and Library Architecture
  • Built custom WebGL-based template rendering system
  • After Effects Extension for template exporting
  • Templating Web App for internal users

• AIGA Detroit

  President, 2020-21 | Board Member 2015-21
  AIGA Detroit is the professional non-profit organization for designers and creatives in Southeast Michigan. As the local chapter of the national non-profit, our organization creates programming, workshops, and intitatives catered to our members and the braoder design community in Detroit.

  Notable Programs

  • The Kit: a directory of local printers, suppliers, and resources for designers
  • Building Critical Consciousness: Awarded a $10k grant to conduct a local demographic survey and develop a workshop series around building anti-racist practices in the creative workplace.
  • Ope! Midwest Portfolio Review: Organized the first-ever cross-chapter virtual portfolio review for emerging designers
  • Zoom Chats: Weekly lectures from famous artists, designers, photographers from Detroit and around the world, held virtually
  • Music X Design: An international 24-hour livestream celebrating the shared music and culture of Techno and House Music in Detroit, Chicago, and Berlin

• WaterHealth India

  Product Design Consultant, 2011-2012
  WaterHealth India is an international Social Enterprise dedicated to bringing affordable, safe, and accessible drinking water to underserved communities in India. As the project leader for the redesign of the flagship WaterHealth Center water purification plant, I worked with Engineering, Supply Chain, Construction, Marketing, and Delivery teams to design a pilot plant for the future of the WaterHealth Brand.

  Tasks

  • Conducted extensive user-research studies on customers, operators, and internal stakeholders to discover challenges faced by the current design
  • Worked with suppliers and construction contractors to design a material-efficient structure that could be prefabricated and built quickly on virtually any site
  • CAD Modeling and building of small and human-scale mockups of the structure for approval and testing by various departments.

Selected Work & Awards

• BODEGA

  Nominated – BODEGA CAT Award Best Minicomic

  Girl Yaoi by Ana Two, 2026 As Diskette Press.
  

• Nominated – Expozine Award Best English Language Comic

  Butch Bait by Zoot, 2025 As Diskette Press.
  

• Creating Inclusive Trans and Queer Futures: A Night at the Orfelia

  2026
  Essay on trans new media art in Guiding Principles for Inclusive Design Values: Reimagining Design Practice and Education by Lorelei D'Andriole and Chelsea Thompto Published by Rockport Publishers

• Our Gooey Queer Futures, Ourselves

  Chromatic Aberrations, 2024
  Publication and oral history interview exploring queer Detroit through history, art, and culture.

• A Night at the Orfelia

  Detroit, MI, 2024
  Installation of interactive queer utopian art and performance by two dozen Midwest trans and queer artists.

• Rat City

  Detroit, MI, 2024
  Sample installation of the Salt Lick at the Rat City event during the Movement festival.

• Networked Worlds Memo

  Online, 2024
  Online publication by WeTransfer featuring organizations and projects imagining creative spaces and settings.

• Messsy at the Orfelia

  Detroit, MI, 2023
  Exhibition of installation and concept art for future queer utopias as part of the Orfelia series.

• Gender Generator

  MIT CAST Generative Unfoldings Exhibition, 2021
  Commissioned by MIT Center for Art, Science & Technology - Arts at MIT as part of the Generative Unfoldings exhibition, in conjunction with the 2021 CAST Symposium, “Unfolding Intelligence.”

• Co.Act Nonprofit Fundamentals Grant

  2020–21
  Awarded a grant for professional development and mentoring on nonprofit organization practices, and for developing curriculum for teaching diverse hiring and retention practices in the creative field for AIGA Detroit.

• Music X Design

  Online, 2020
  A 24-hour livestreamed cultural exchange paying tribute to the creative influence of Detroit, Chicago, and Berlin on culture and electronic music.

• Zoom Chats

  Online, 2020
  Livestreamed lectures from local and international artists and designers, organized by AIGA Detroit.

• The Preservation Factory

  Detroit, MI, 2019
  Detroit Sound Conservancy exhibition of archival practices and artifacts from Detroit’s music history at the Detroit Historical Museum.

• Riopelle Collective Artist Showcase

  Mott Community College, Flint, MI, 2016
  Gallery show of work by members of the Riopelle Collective, organized by Mott Community College.

• Utopia Toolbox Vol. 1

  2015
  Published essay on Hopscotch Detroit in a collection of design tools and utopian artistic practices.

• Detroit Dropcaps

  Detroit, MI, 2014
  Community art event focused on teaching typography design during the 2014 Detroit Design Festival’s Eastern Market After Dark.

• Untitled Bottega Opening Gala

  Detroit, MI, 2013
  Led installation and creative reuse of an abandoned warehouse space for the community art center opening event and the 2013 Detroit Design Festival.