Context
The briefing for Time Capsule was to create a publication based on the year 2024. The publication needed to be a sign of the times by using three chosen objects, ideas or symbols, to create a publication that was a time capsule of the year. This project shows my developed publication for Time Capsule. My three chosen themes were centered around America's political climate, specifically conspiracy theories, politicians and influencer culture.
The Problem
I had to find a way to incorporate all three chosen themes harmoniously into one book, bringing attention to my topics through apparent and meaningful design choices while juggling various different projects and deadlines at the same time.
The Solution
I focused on hiding conspiracy theories inside the book by using a french fold, a method of bookbinding where the fold of a page is faces outwards rather than into the spine, meaning there is hidden space inside the page. I wanted to raise the question of why a large number of America's politicians are over the age of 60. Each page number in the book is false, and is instead the age of the politician in question. I also focused on areas of the politicians faces instead of them as a whole, to bring attention to their details instead of their identity. I then had a dedicated section at the end of the book on influencer culture being perceived in the real world, showing the nature and possible absurdities of constant phone use and self surveillance in public.
What I did
I prototyped my book cover and layout through a set of sketches and selected layouts, incorporating the layout in Indesign then collecting and editing assets of my chosen media to add. Once I was happy with the layout and design I printed my pages to then bind into my book.
What I learnt
I became knowledgable in the entire process of creating a publication, from prototyping and designing to printing and pressing. This knowledge was valuable to have and helped me to create a more ambitious publication in my RFI project. Adding a section for conspiracy theories that was in theme with the subject matter by having hidden areas in the book for the viewer to uncover taught me that detailed and subtle pieces of information are just as impactful as big pieces.
