Publication / scanned
Layered Memories, Dual Realities
This publication is a deeply personal exploration, a layered narrative that bridges who I was with who I am becoming. It began as a simple prompt: to see ourselves as collectors. To sift through the things we’ve kept: objects, papers, memories, and examine them not just for what they are, but for why they’ve stayed with us. What stories do they silently tell? What weight do they carry?
As I looked through my collection, I was surprised. Among the many things, I realized I’ve kept every single report card from kindergarten through my undergraduate degree. Page after page, filled with numbers, ranks, and red ink. I carried them with me from India to New York City, documents that no longer hold value here, but once defined my entire sense of worth. Education has been one of my most profound traumas, yet subconsciously, I’ve clung to its proof.
Designed as a dual-toned, layered book, it invites the viewer to shift perspective, literally. Using red and blue 3D lenses, you can only read parts of the story through each colored filter. The red lens reveals one version of the narrative; the blue lens, another. You need both to see the full picture, but you must choose which one to read at a time. The physical experience mirrors the emotional one: healing doesn’t come from erasing the past, but from learning how to see it differently.
By using RGB as a tool, layering text and imagery in a way that only reveals itself through tinted lenses, I wanted to create a book that is not just read, but experienced. One that requires you to look again. And then again. It’s a book about perception, memory, and how time and distance transform meaning.
This project became a quiet act of reconciliation between the past and the present, trauma and growth, burden and clarity.
Iteration
Step 1 – Collect & Categorize
Begin by gathering personal artifacts and memories, then categorize them using a set of meaningful keywords.
Step 2 – Visual Exploration
For each of the 8 selected keywords, create 4 unique compositions, resulting in a total of 32 visual experiments that explore different facets of the collection.
Step 3 – Collage & Recombine
Randomly select and combine 3 compositions to form each of 5 new collages. These unexpected juxtapositions create fresh narratives and surface hidden connections
Using all the previous outcomes, design a book centered around the most prominent emerging theme. The final book
Final outcome
(only works on desktop)