memory book
The Book of Memories was an experiment of my graduation project for the bachelors degree in design, and it was in the experimental modality. The subject of the project was nostalgia in relation to playfulness and design.
In this project, we conducted interviews about childhood, memories and play with five young people and used this material as a basis for experimentation in design. One such experiment was this book, made entirely by hand.
2020-1
Academic project
Individual
Worked areas:
Illustration
Editorial design
Experimental Design
GOAL
This book was thought of as a way to explore different languages, intertwining visual, sensory and poetic elements, from the childhood story of the interviewee Ana Cláudia, along with my personal memories.
INSPIRATIONS
The inspiration came from both personal diaries, artist books, children's picture books and pop-up books. I opted for accordion-type binding due to its high adaptability for the exploration of pages, folds, cutouts, reliefs, and so on.
THEMATIC AXES
Based on the interview, I identified four main themes to guide the creation of the book: the family (and the special people who make up our memories), the fun (including music and parties), the fears, and finally, the present (the consolidation of the experiences of the past in the person who we are today).
NARRATIVE LINE
I organized the book as a narrative line that worked as an accompaniment to a person's life trajectory. This trajectory is represented by a string, which appears at different moments in the book.
TREE METAPHOR
I also used the metaphor of the tree to symbolize life and the passage of time. On the first page, it begins as a very small plant, and as the book progresses it grows, until at the end it is shown as a large leafy tree.
CREATIVE PROCESS
To define the narrative and visual structure of the book, several initial storyboard sketches were first created. I also researched visual references on artist books, photo albums, various types of manual binding, and experiments with the support itself, such as cutouts and folds.
TEXTS AND POETRY
In order to dialogue with Ana Cláudia's narrative and my personal experiences, I researched poetry and texts by authors like Cecília Meireles and Fernando Pessoa, who talk about homesickness and memory. I also created my own poems for the book, like those in the last two pairs and the guards.
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