100 Days is an annual project at New York City’s School of Visual Arts that was founded by Michael Bierut. Each year, the students of the school’s Master’s in Branding Program spend 100 days documenting their process with a chosen creative endeavor. This year, we’re showcasing each student in the program by providing a peek into ten days of their project. You can keep an eye on everyone’s work in the SVA 100 Days projects gallery.
AJ Nielsen is a brand consultant driving business growth through cultural intelligence and storytelling expertise. For his 100 Days project, Nielsen devoted 10 minutes each day to drawing his father’s portrait (in person or over FaceTime).
In Nielsen’s words:
“The enemy of grief is time. Yet the aspiration of quality time is often out of reach for family members struggling to accept the diagnosis of a loved one. This project aims to equip viewers with “grief prevention” tools through access to the ordinary. In this case, drawing my father’s portrait for 10 minutes daily created an attainable structure for our time together. As a person living with Parkinson’s disease, his symptoms are full-body and ever-changing. To acknowledge the disease without allowing it to define our time together, we conducted a simple wellness check on a 1-7 scale. I hope this project inspires others to discover micro ways to form real-life connections with those they love and to see that the cumulative effect of small actions creates meaningful impact.”
I hope this project inspires others to discover micro ways to form real-life connections with those they love and to see that the cumulative effect of small actions creates meaningful impact.
AJ Nielsen
Find his project on Instagram at @ordinarytogetherness.
Archival box containing 100 drawings on 8.5” × 11” copy paper, made with Sharpie marker. July 10th (#100/100).
Archival box containing 100 drawings on 8.5” × 11” copy paper, made with Sharpie marker.
Portrait sessions were held over FaceTime when travel restricted in-person meetings.
June 1st, 2025 (#61/100)
April 16th, 2025 (#15/100)
May 4th, 2025 (#33/100)
Portraits were scanned with an iPhone and edited into a high-contrast black-and-white format for Instagram.
Pictured: April 23rd, 2025 (#22/100)
Portraits were scanned with an iPhone and edited into a high-contrast black-and-white format for Instagram.
Pictured: May 30th, 2025 (#59/100)
Dad, 2025
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