Catalog of Influences
Book Design, 5.83 x 8.26 in Kettle Stitched Book
What influences my design process? What inspires my design decisions? Catalog of Influences takes a closer look into the communities that I belong to and the influence they have on me and my work. In this piece, personal and found photographs are arranged alongside various pieces of writing on the topic of community. Color is used to divide the book into three sections — Proximity, Belong, and Exchange — each one a different interpretation of what a community is.
I bound this book using a kettle stitch that was visible to the reader. The pages are visibly woven together to make up the complete book, much like the various communities I belong to are woven together to make up who I am.
The photographs used for this book range greatly in content, but each one has a specific importance to me. There are photos of work from artists I find inspiring, photos of the town I grew up in and places I have been, photos of relatives I have never met, and more. These seemingly unrelated images meld together through color and rhythm to tell a story about community.