Escapism through Design
Chong Zhang
Escape, as a verb, has always been considered as a negative word. It seems to be closely associated with betrayal, opportunism, and cowardice. In addition, it is closely related to movement and restlessness. In our current society, many people have various problems to “escape” from every day. As a designer, I am interested in how “escape” or “escapism” can be illustrated in the graphic design field. This thesis contains the diverse definitions of escapism and several experiments in different creative methodologies throughout the whole capstone project. This process unfolded and revealed most of the foundational ideas for the thesis, as well as the creational approaches to them, which were further developed through the Capstone Project.
website: michaelz.design
Escapism
By 3D-scanning the environment in my daily life, I created a parallel world around myself. Combining with the real-life environment video, I intended to indicate the chaos in real life and my willingness to escape from reality. Combining virtual things and natural scenes can create a contradictory feeling, making people feel they are real but virtual constructs. This slight sense of strangeness is the key to achieving escapism. Based on this idea, the capstone project applied a similar method to create this sense of strangeness. I combined elements from my reality in unexpected ways using 3D modeling. This created a parallel world that felt strange enough from my real world but still comprehensible. The experience allowed me to understand how to create a world that could provide escapism.
Escapism
Clip in the video
Riso Zine
In this photo album, escapism can be visualized through the photos by using windows and doors as metaphors and combined with the illustration.
Riso Zine
Riso Poster
Escapism through design_Thesis
Escapism through design_Thesis
Layout Design
Escapism through design_Thesis
