In the Corner of My Eye, — Samuel Kim

In the Corner of My Eye, (2021) / A Photo Zine.

This project is a visual exploration into our idealized relationship with the geographical surroundings we call “home” or “neighbourhood.” The project seeks to utilize graphic editorial design cues of the travel guide or real estate brochures which are physical representation of an infographic dataset with snapshot photographs and writing, combining a “cold” observational quality of space and geography in maps with a personal journal like experience.

The idea of home is often described in binary to exploration, demographics and foreign attraction, and recalls accounts of personal history and cumulative experience shared in a community as qualitative memories resonant of an intimate sensibility.

Photography as the subject of this exercise is a familiar and accessible way to connect to the users because of its universal and omnipresent quality in our everyday experience. The four categorized foldable pages titled home, hub (crossings), the walk, and ground level curates selection of photographs taken in four trails of colors and divided quadrants of the map illustrated on the front page. As one of the fastest developing areas in BC, Whally (City of Surrey) is both a place of possibilities and uncertainties for its residents; location being a central stop to the university district in the tricity district and home to massive residential building projects (affecting the housing market as well), change is not only perceived visually but also emotionally.

This design exercise offered an avenue to translate an objective understanding of maps and statistics to an everyday life experience which takes a voice and subjective authorship, a quality hard datasets often neglect.

“Personal Observation on Geographic Roots and Ongoing Reformation of Space”

Folded map and half opened page revealing respective titles.

The layout of the design needed an experience that was variable/transforming and clearly guided to follow along the photographs as representations of locations on the map. Color coding the fold out pages with colored trails of the map gave us a solution to easy transition from one to another.

The user is also allowed to avoid the title fold by opening the fold completely, but welcomed to explore the infographics through refolding existing creases that reveal these information.