love me 006: jontie + pik = multiculturally obsessed

8/6/2019 LOVE ME 006: Jontie + Pik = Multiculturally Obsessed

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/love-me-006-jontie-pik-multiculturally-obsessed 1/5

At Obsessive Compulsive Designers |

OCD, we’re obsessed with multicultural-

ism, and have made it an integral part

of our culture. In short, that means we

respect diversity. More than an abstract

concept, diversity helps us look at and

understand the world in different ways.

It adds a richness and depth, not only to

our personal lives, but also to our designs.

Most importantly, our understanding of

diversity allows us to help our clients better

communicate with their diverse audiences.

So where does this passion come from? To

understand this, you need to understand me

and my wife, the founders of OCD. My name

is Jontie Karden and my wife is Kung Pik Liu.

While we come from different backgrounds,

we share a passion for better understanding

our world and the varied groups with whom

we share it.

I was born in a small town in New York State,

and like many small towns it was predomi-

nantly white and Christian. The people were

good, honest and hard-working. However,

among them, were some who saw other

racial, ethnic and religious groups as a

threat. There was this distinction between

“us” and “them.” Born and raised in this

environment, I found myself somewhere in

the middle. I was white, so when people

looked at me they saw “us.” At the same

time I was also a member of “them.” My

family is ethnically Circassian, a group of

Muslims from the Caucasus Mountain re-

gion of present-day Russia. Because of wars

with Russia, there is a large Circassian dias-

pora spread across more than 50 countries

around the world. My father immigrated to

the US from Syria, and my mother’s parents

from Russia and Germany. In addition to

the ethic differences, there was the religious

difference. Being Muslim was something very

So what’s all this talk about multiculturalism? Why is it important? Is it even relevant?

MULTICULTURALLY OBSESSED

http://bit.ly/mMazdK

http://www.ocdasylum.com/

http://bit.ly/mMazdK



rare in my hometown, and looked on with

some level of mistrust. To this day I recall

my history professor teaching us how Islam

spread across North Africa by the sword,

and anyone who didn’t convert to Islam

was killed. This idea was later refuted by

my professor at Cornell. He was an Israeli

professor visiting from Tel Aviv University,

and explained how Islam spread in a rela-

tively peaceful manner, with reports of Islam

“spreading by the sword” being completely

unfounded. I had a lot of respect for that

professor, and he helped reinforce the idea

that diversity doesn’t equate with conict. We

can all be different and still treat each other

with tolerance and fairness.

Despite some negative experiences, I took

pride in growing up “different.” It helped me

understand the world from multiple per-

spectives, and it gave me not only a respect

for diversity, but a passion to learn more. I

LEFT: Circassian from the Circassian village of Kfar Kama in Israel

RIGHT: Circassians in the French mandate legion in Syria



was nally able to act on this passion when

I went off to college and met people from

around the world. I loved learning about my

new friends, their histories, languages, faiths,

and probably most of all their cuisines! Even

though biology was my major, I took other

courses to help me better understand the

diverse world around me. My rst semester

writing course was titled, ‘Death and Burialin the Ancient Word’ (a morbid, but insightful

course!) and my second semester class was

taught by a professor of Latino Studies who

always supplemented the course with his

insights on diversity. I also took courses on

American Indians, the history of the Middle

East, the Arabic language, and more. Not

to proselytize, but my philosophy regarding

diversity is best summarized by the Qur’anic

verse, “O mankind! We created you from a

single (pair) of a male and a female, and

made you into nations and tribes, that you

may know each other (not that you may de-

spise each other).”

My wife, Pik, has a somewhat different story.

She was born and raised in Hong Kong.

Everyone, including her, shared the same

culture and language. So growing up, she

never had a feeling of alienation or of being

different from those around her. However,

TOP: Sai Yeung Choi Street South, Monkok, Hong Kong. photo by winhunter

BOTTOM: A panoramic view of the Hong Kong Island skyline at night. photo by david iliff



her culture didn’t address some of the spiritual

questions she had, and for that she went

looking to the “outside” world. As she attended

a Christian high school, she explored the

answers to her spiritual questions. It was also

during high school that she was exposedto the eld of graphic design, and felt an

instant connection. As it wasn’t a popular

subject at Hong Kong universities, she de-

cided to study graphic design in NYC, at the

Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT).

It was in New York City where she made

friends with people from around the world. In

addition to the cultural opportunities in NYC,

such as museums, she was able to learn rst-

hand about different cultures, languages, and

cuisines. It was here that she continued her

spiritual journey, now exploring the Islamic

faith. After much study and contemplation she

decided to accept Islam as her own. Little did

she know that a few months later, in Septem-

ber of 2001, her new faith would become a

household topic of debate and discussion. In

an ironic twist, on 9/11 she found herself on

a subway train below the World Trade Center,

after the rst plane had hit. Attacked by peo-ple of her own faith, she tried to understand

why this happened, only to start receiving

accusing glances and comments from fellow

New Yorkers. It was during this time that she

understood the importance of bridging the

understanding gap between Muslims and the

West, and so designed multiple projects to

accomplish this goal.

In late 2001, we met each other and were

soon married. We found it fascinating that

we got along so well, despite being from

opposite ends of the Earth. After living in

both the Northeast and Midwest, we eventu-

ally settled down in California to make our

photo by mohammad mertaban

http://silveredgephotography.com/








love me 006: jontie + pik = multiculturally obsessed

Documents