SONDER
Sonder is an immersive investigation into the universal connections ensued by personal experiences. It is a collection of cathartic analog making and systematic digital making, to understand more about the human experience. Its creation stems from a desire for belonging and the innate compulsions of empathy.
The system extends through the practices of publication design, typographic exploration, motion design, 360° immersive design, projection design, papercut, and more.
PROCESS, UNDERSTANDING, AND DOCUMENTATION
“Sonder” by definition and theorized by John Koenig, “is the realization that each person is living a life as vivid and complex as our own—populated with their own ambitions, friends, routines, worries—it is an epic story that continues invisibly around us, with elaborate passageways to thousands of other lives that we’ll never know existed.”
Sonder pays homage to the meaning of life. It explores the theory of innate connection to a large whole through seven universal human experiences, [innocence, loss, trauma, disillusionment, self-doubt, acceptance, retrospection] all told from the perspective of my personal story.
These seven experiences were documented through diverse editorial compositions and printed on materials relative to the content: the thicker the cardstock, the heavier the content; transparencies where it unraveled; printer paper for the “regular” human emotion; and so on.
The actual design practice was iterative, as was the rumination of thoughts. Similar to the nonlinear way Sonder was established, the documentation is fluid in a hand-made, unbound codex.
The story had unfolded on the page—but it needed a larger space to live. Exploring themes of human existence, identity, and the world through only my perspective felt limiting and unjust. Yet, in the midst of a global pandemic, sharing my work with others became a challenge. This led to the creation of the virtual, 360° panoramic viewer: an interactive experience where users can observe, question, reflect, and draw their own conclusions at their own pace. In doing so, they construct a narrative that resonates with their individual experiences while contributing to a broader understanding of our shared humanity.
The eight realms to be explored are compromised of all my own making—from writing, painting, custom typography and systems, photography, projection, papercut, and voiceovers.
a living, breathing thing
A space to arrive
The final iteration of Sonder departed from a virtual 3D space into a truly immersive experience. In its metaphysical fashion, the designs developed from a metaphor for my personal journey in taking up space, to actually taking up space at Midway Artist Studio.
