Little Boxes

Study Abroad | Northeastern University

Project Scope

Each student selected and pursued a study of a topic of interest to them with a connection to Berlin. The study was initiated with a close examination of a primary form, artifact, and how it is integral to a system; cultural, social, physical, political.

The goal was to discover the opportunity to invent or advocate something: to originate an idea with value or benefit to the situations encountered in their individual reconnaissance of Berlin. The ultimate test of their endeavors is in the form of a poster expressing each “idea.”

Solution

A poster is a classic visual communication form that demands its design to be attractive, clear, effective, and succinct. We used poster design to guide the process of developing a clear idea and communicating it clearly.

Project Details

A1 Poster (546x841mm)
Program(s) used - Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator
Skills developed - brainstorming, design thinking, independence

Team

Independent work

Mentored by Hans-Jörg Pochmann

Ideation

It was difficult for me to try and come up with an idea for a project that was related to our experience in Berlin after only being here for a few days. Something that has been on my mind since arriving in Boston to attend Northeastern is my cultural background. I already knew I wanted my project to somehow tie into this concept. It was also interesting to see how the other students were dealing with being in a new country. For some, this was their first trip outside of America. I didn't feel so alone because of my cultural difference anymore because we were all unfamiliar with the new setting we were in.

General Goals

A bold statement that doesn’t necessarily guide the audience's thoughts, but is an integral element of the design.
Some form of irony
Must be inspired by an event/experience during my time in Berlin

Possible Solutions

Concept 1

Simple design - typography-based
“You are supposed to feel something about this”
About the paradox of the graphic artist
Is art supposed to have a meaning?
Idea that art is meant to evoke emotion - similar to memorials meaning something

Concept 2

Something about my cultural background
Feeling out of place because of my “Malaysian side” vs. my “American side”
“Third culture kid”
How I identify myself - Chinese-American? Malaysian?
Feeling more at home in Berlin - a place where I am completely removed and unrelated to
In the grocery store items are organized in a peculiar way - feels like I’m the object on the wrong shelf

Concept 3

Can of worms
Every conversation starts with a simple concept and spirals into a never-ending conversation

Concept 4

Is being brand-loyal equivalent to modern-day propaganda?
Branding and marketing
Falling for the marketing strategies
Redesign a well-known ad (eg by Nike) in the style of Nazi Propaganda
The idea of stability - there’s a guarantee that you will see the same brands around the world
Not seeing brands you’re used to throws you off balance
Going to the supermarket was disorienting because there were unfamiliar brands
Brands operate differently in different countries

Diverge

Something that Hans encouraged us to do was diverge as much as we could. This was extremely challenging for me as I tend to shut down ideas quickly if I think they are "bad." However, once I started diverging, I was finding inspiration in everything and it became difficult to hone on in a particular direction.

At this stage, I wanted to combine concepts 2 and 4.

Supermarket

The way the supermarket is organized is strange

Random clothes in the tea/coffee aisle
Peanut butter in the middle of the pasta section
Who makes the structure of a supermarket?
It feels wrong, but it’s just the way things are in other places
The international section has American food
How the structure of something dictates where things should belong
Who makes the structure?

The pressure of having to identify as something - “the box”

Shouldn’t have to fear being “other”
Structure/stability of labeling things
Design can go off the page to challenge this "box"

Cultural Background

Feeling uncomfortable in different places (depending on where I claim to be from)

In America I’m Malaysian
In Malaysia, I’m American

The Asian community in Berlin

I feel like more of a minority here than I do in Boston
Is there a Chinatown in Berlin?

Brand Power

“Has America made Coke? Or, Has Coke made America?”

Because Coke is so “American”, it provides comfort to me, an American, in a foreign country
Seeing instant noodles in a grocery store makes me happy because it’s something I’m familiar with

American Census Survey

Who makes the boxes?

Federal agency proposes new / changed survey question
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Census Bureau decides whether change has merit
Create wording options
Evaluate question performance in field test
Census Bureau solicits public comment; approves or rejects change
Census Bureau implements change

Why do we ask questions about...

Race

Create “statistics” and present “estimates” by race group
To “evaluate” gov programs and policies
“categories are not an attempt to define race biologically, anthropology or genetically”
The survey allows you to mark more than one race on the form
Originated in 1790 Census
- How has the census changed over time?
- Are there Census surveys in places other than America?

9 race boxes and 2 “other” boxes
2020 Race AND ethnicity box

How does DNA affect your perception of yourself?

People who have lived their lives thinking they are one thing (eg half Chinese, half French), but it turns out that they are not what they thought (eg they don’t have any French DNA)
People who are racist against a certain group and find out they have that DNA (eg racist against Africans and they have African DNA)

Mind Maps

At this point of the process, I had so many ideas whirling around in my head. I wanted to "brain dump" and get them all down on paper so I could sift through the small ideas and figure out what the big picture was going to look like.

After completing a form study and listing out every single "box" both literal and metaphorical, I landed on wanting to create some type of optical illusion related to boxes.

Grocery Store Brainstorm

Square Brainstorm

Grocery Store Brainstorm

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Main Objectives

Optical Illusions

Our brain will conjure symmetry where none exists

"Dissociation between the physical reality and the perception of an object/event"

How does color change our perception?

Layout Iterations

Final Product

Presenting Our Work

The final piece of the project was to present our work, gallery-style. We spent the afternoon putting up all our work and each stood in front of the class explaining our rationale, process, and reflections. It was incredible to see everyone's work after 5 weeks of working in the same studio. We had an opportunity to ask each other questions and fully appreciate the work we've seen each other do.

Final presentation

Students listening to presentations

Student setting up display

Final presentation

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