thumbing a ride, a summary

I have chosen to title this system, Thumbing a Ride in order to encapsulate the hitchhiking / wandering nomad theme. The hierarchy has been elevated for History, Culture and Personal Experience, as they have been included in my subtitle as well as enlarged as topics within the diagram. Cardboard signs as the title backgrounds, resonate with the theme, since Rainbow, actually held signs stating her next destination.

Continuity has been established within my design by retaining a collage theme, (with similarities to my original research book). The cohesiveness of the system has been aided by the use of torn edges, roughly-cut shapes, chopped-up text and the repetition of hand rendered text and drawings. The delicate, hand-rendered elements make this story more personal, raw and fleeting.

When my beloved icons were in color, within this diagram, they were invisible. Formally speaking, the crisp, black and white icons create a sense of stability and seriousness within the rough elements of the design. Also, the icons are helpful to give the viewer a quick read of the illustrated topic to follow.

My design devices include yarn roads and dashed lines to help direct the eye. The yarn is unraveling from the glove to give it context. Additionally,since the most unique part of my system is a documentation of personal experience, a background of colored paper has been added to illustrate Rainbow's point of view.



above: detail of the unraveling glove. below: a view of the road with dashed lines.
above: Although this is literally a montage, rather than a collage, I have attempted to give a three-dimensional illusion by the use of a drop shadow behind Rainbow and in the title area.