Yanan Hou
Graphic Designer
Based in the San Francisco Bay Area
Elsewhere to Play
 My work explores communicating and expressing between images and text, and sometimes I also makes some fun illustrations.
10'6'' × 9'9''
-PUBLICATION DESIGN
-THESIS PROJECT
-RISOGRAPH

I realized that perhaps the most appropriate story has always existed within my daily life. Instead of constantly looking outward for material, I decided to return to my personal territory—using my own space, body, and sensory experience as the starting point of narration.

A person’s life can be regarded as their largest territory, and the living space, as an external extension of the body, clearly marks the boundary of that territory. For one week, I recorded my room by randomly collecting some items that met at least one of the following rules:

  • Items used daily.
  • Items I saw every day that left an impression in my memory.
  • Items received within this week.

Then I categorized these items using the four types of containers I regularly use in daily life.

During the process of documenting and categorizing, I gradually realized that these items were actually placed exactly where they belonged. Everything radiated outward from the center of my daily activities, forming a cave precisely tailored to my needs.

This project, as a more text-based response, has been a greater challenge for me. In this work, I am not just a designer. I take on the role of a comprehensive creator. I define the subject of my work, I decide what I want to write about, and I determine my own working methods. In this process, graphic design becomes less of a profession and more of a tool for self-expression.


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