My capstone project takes the form of a photobook designed in the visual language of a LEGO instruction manual. Using intentionality to make photographs, graphic layouts and purposeful sequential imagery, my book explores the idea of “making” not as a fixed or linear process, but more as something flexible and interpretive. Instruction manuals are typically associated with linear-ness, precision and assumed correct outcome. But by putting that in conversation with something more fluid and personal, my project questions what instructions are for, how we think about them and how structure can both guide and limit creativity for it is not an infinite well, but something that needs nurturing.
A lot of contemporary culture surrounding creativity seems to emphasize a specific outcome or result. In my academic life, the internet, and social media, making is often presented as a series of optimized steps designed to produce a polished and final result. And don’t get me wrong, I love optimization, but that's just it. Optimization in that sense is a part of the making process. My project found itself from an interest in the making process. What does it feel like for me to make, and how does that feeling and iteration change across mediums for me. LEGO instruction manuals are wordless and overall universal. There is purpose in forcing ourselves to subvert that order and redefine our own process and thinking. I will say, comparatively, this project touches heavily on the artistic side of design as opposed to the efficiency and replication side, but I think it has its feet in both pools. I am aiming to bring attention to the importance of intentionality within both pracitces and how they work in tandem and conversation with one another.
The research for this project included examining the evolution of LEGO instruction manuals, design systems and methods, and expanding my horizons of visual story telling. There was also a fair amount of adobe technical skill research conducted. Throughout the lifespan of my project, I had a lot of pivoting moments. Moments where I was deeply inspired by something that might change the trajectory of the project. This led me to researching those things. I explored different 3D modeling softwares, photography styles, and magazine/zine methods. My whole process and mental work is what ultimately led me to what the state of the project is currently in.