I created this 'slide-book' during my first attempt at getting into a BA Graphic Design course. While it's not a well-designed piece of work, this personal display of some of my 'obsessions' shows what brought me into graphic design. All the things that I love and that make me who I am are divided into a few categories in the layers of the 'book'.
The layered 'book cover' shows various aspects of a my past-time activities, hobbies and passions.
INTRODUCTION
Around 2014, I finally realised what I liked and what I'd like to turn into my profession. Well, that is... out of many other activities and things I'd love to learn and work on.
For years, I've felt like my life's joys came in strange phases, or seasons, similar to the natural ones, repeating, coming and going and sometimes expanding, sometimes shrinking. These seasons of my inner world are a constant presence. They don't disappear.
Here I turned them into a "slide-book" to show what I'm "obsessed" with. However, I failed because this is NOT all. There's more. There's always more.
DESIGN & COMMUNICATION ISSUES
The biggest disadvantage of this project is the lack of verbal explanation. What I understood about myself is not clearly conveyed visually in this medium.
If I remade this 'experience', letting the reader into my always-busy head, I'd add more typography into the first layer, which would then become a cover. I would keep the transparent laminated film because it expresses my wish for the audience to clearly see my 'obsessions' and find me at the bottom. I do feel, at times, as if my head is crowded, and I am overwhelmed by everything I want to do, read, watch or experience, without the ability to find the right order to do so.
With each layer’s body copy, or placed above each layer, I would better explain what I want to express and perhaps add a few interesting backstories. I believe that all that I enjoy passively (and actively) is what brought me to art and graphic design. Without these passions, I would never have become a graphic designer in the first place.
With each layer’s body copy, or placed above each layer, I would better explain what I want to express and perhaps add a few interesting backstories. I believe that all that I enjoy passively (and actively) is what brought me to art and graphic design. Without these passions, I would never have become a graphic designer in the first place.
Layer one: Films, TV shows and Animation
Some of my most beloved films and series are shown here, including Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Lethal Weapon films (dir. Richard Donner), Kill Bill, Matrix, Inception, Back to the Future, Dark City, Short Circuit, and Japanese anime films Howl's Moving Castle, Akira, Princess Mononoke or Ghost in the Shell. Lord of the Rings extended editions is, however, missing! 😱 Oops... And many more titles, of course.
Some of my most beloved films and series are shown here, including Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Lethal Weapon films (dir. Richard Donner), Kill Bill, Matrix, Inception, Back to the Future, Dark City, Short Circuit, and Japanese anime films Howl's Moving Castle, Akira, Princess Mononoke or Ghost in the Shell. Lord of the Rings extended editions is, however, missing! 😱 Oops... And many more titles, of course.
Layer two: Manga and Graphic Novels
Sandman graphic novels, manga novels Rurouni Kenshin, Attack on Titan and others.
Sandman graphic novels, manga novels Rurouni Kenshin, Attack on Titan and others.
Layer three: Fiction Novels
This layer shows that my preferred fiction genre is fantasy, my favourite titles being The Witcher by Andrzej Sapkowski, Robin Hobb's Farseer and other trilogies, Neil Gaiman's and G.R.R. Martin's novels, as well as, of course J.R.R. Tolkien.
This layer shows that my preferred fiction genre is fantasy, my favourite titles being The Witcher by Andrzej Sapkowski, Robin Hobb's Farseer and other trilogies, Neil Gaiman's and G.R.R. Martin's novels, as well as, of course J.R.R. Tolkien.
Layer four: Japan
While I haven't yet visited Japan, I fell in love some culture and the language through Japanese animation and manga. This further evolved into enjoying modern Japanese rock and metal music too.
While I haven't yet visited Japan, I fell in love some culture and the language through Japanese animation and manga. This further evolved into enjoying modern Japanese rock and metal music too.
Layer five: Music
Rock and metal music have been a part of my daily life for over two decades. I enjoy listening to many bands, particularly from the 80s scene, as well as Japanese and Finnish musicians and bands.
Rock and metal music have been a part of my daily life for over two decades. I enjoy listening to many bands, particularly from the 80s scene, as well as Japanese and Finnish musicians and bands.
Every day, these above-mentioned obsessions grab and pull at me, spreading my focus in all directions. To complete anything, I have to focus solely on ONE of my 'obsessions' at a time. I'm trying to avoid any further outside influence that would add more to this chaos; more to read, more to watch and more to listen to. The major reason to try and stop feeding this cycle is that my obsessions are passive. Apart from martial arts (I used to do Okinawan Gojuu Ryuu karate [ 沖縄の剛柔流空手 ]) and learning Japanese [ 日本語の勉強 ].
Shown below is the one active obsession that I keep enjoying and developing: creativity. This is currently the obsession that I want to keep feeding.
Layer six: Art and Design
The passion for long-term development began when, as a child, I made a newspaper about an imaginary animal world. Further, my passion for aesthetic beauty continued with an after-school art course, drawing anime and manga characters, and with my slightly odd love for fountain pens, beautiful script and using multiple colours to adorn headlines in my textbooks. Over the years, I changed my handwriting style several times, trying to find new ways to lay text on paper. Later, while at BA Mass Media Communication, I created a student magazine’s layout in Adobe InDesign with no clue about graphic design or the way to work with print typography. Some years later, I started making posters and flyers for a few bands that I liked. I also recall looking at posters for some of my favourite films like Jurassic Park, Back to the Future, Superman (dir. Richard Donner), Dark City and others that left me in awe.
The passion for long-term development began when, as a child, I made a newspaper about an imaginary animal world. Further, my passion for aesthetic beauty continued with an after-school art course, drawing anime and manga characters, and with my slightly odd love for fountain pens, beautiful script and using multiple colours to adorn headlines in my textbooks. Over the years, I changed my handwriting style several times, trying to find new ways to lay text on paper. Later, while at BA Mass Media Communication, I created a student magazine’s layout in Adobe InDesign with no clue about graphic design or the way to work with print typography. Some years later, I started making posters and flyers for a few bands that I liked. I also recall looking at posters for some of my favourite films like Jurassic Park, Back to the Future, Superman (dir. Richard Donner), Dark City and others that left me in awe.
Until I realised that all these were connected to graphic design, I had no idea that I was enjoying something I could become a professional in.
It feels like I'm going mad! 😱
The Splatter-Scatter
Many hobbies and no time, all create my scattered mind.
