AlienationAlienation was initially created based on some initial concepts seeking an appropriate form. I attempted to find a visual language that could present multiple layers of information under one medium but converting that idea into practice was challenging. That’s when I came across a piece that my friend and classmate, Sabrina, had shared with me two years ago, which a designer uploaded to Instagram. I don’t know if I did it deliberately or didn’t notice that at the time, and so this precious inspiration remained untapped in our chat log for two whole years. Takahiro Kurashima is a Japanese graphic designer who adopts moiré to design. By converting the graphics initially framed in the book into animation, the viewer encounters two different forms of expression through interaction under the same medium. This approach certainly corresponds with my original intent, so I began researching and learning about how to create a moiré effect. After some initial research and visual experiments, a question emerged. How do I go about designing with moiré? Since I want to display a multi-layered perspective (or message) through my design, I think the text is the most intuitive way to express it. But what are these texts supposed to convey?
As a Chinese student who came to study in the United States at 18, I have struggled to integrate into this society due to race, language, culture, beliefs, personality, family values, etc. Alienation is a familiar condition that I endure. Similarly, when I go back to China, a once-familiar environment, I also fall into a state of alienation. Unable to adapt to either culture and system simultaneously, the sense of powerlessness is enormous. I am an outsider to both cultures, and there is nothing I can do about it.
Thus, in this project, I attempted to use the moiré pattern to present the cause-and-effect relationship of my alienation in both societies to reflect on my position objectively. The Chinese word is at the top when I live in the US, whereas English is at the bottom. For example, I can feel alienated by the language differences because I speak Chinese. However, when I live in China, the situation is quite the opposite, with English words at the top and Chinese at the bottom. For example, when I emphasized individualism, I also feel alienated from collectivism. However, all this information I have embedded through the moiré, so if you want to understand the information on the poster, you need to read it through the pattern I made to be able to read the words on it.