Foreign/Familiar

Thesis Exhibit

Foreign/Familiar explores the notion of being foreign and the baggage that comes with it. Based on personal introspection and a series of interviews, it tells stories from the point-of-view of foreign MICA students: international students and students for whom English is a second language (IS/ESLs).

By letting the foreigners tell their stories, it highlights the myriad of ways the United States and its inhabitants are foreign to them. Ultimately, it aims to push the concept further and find ways to use design and storytelling to make the foreign familiar.

Project completed under MICA’s Graphic Design MA program

Role

Graphic designer 
Research 
Copywriting

Interviewees

Vilde Ulset, Kimmy Tsai, Hayelin Choi, Jo Zhu, Oscar Arce

CREDITS

Sandie Maxa & Maureen Weiss, GDMA instructors

Recognition

Before leaving my home country, I noticed the amount of effort that MICA put into welcoming international students. First, the school sent out a primer about Baltimore and MICA culture. In addition, Sukyun Weaver got in touch and became the point person for English Language support. During orientation week, international students had a one-hour primer on cultural differences and the cultural adjustment curve. I was surprised to learn that the MICA student body is composed of 30 percent international students and students for whom English is a second language (IS/ESLs). By the end of the hour, I asked if the same session would be conducted for the rest of the student population, but it was not.

My key takeaway:
IS/ESLs need to adapt
to American life and culture.

Foreign/Familiar aspires to spark conversations. By telling stories firsthand from the perspective of “foreigners,” there’s hope that people will become more understanding and embrace the foreign.

Interviewee: Vilde Ulset, teaching me a few Norwegian words

Interviewee: Jo Zhu, at the recording booth

Design Decisions

Creating the visuals took a lot longer than expected. I let the visual language be influenced by the interviewees’ energy and tone. By the fourth interview I had a better sense of what the project feels like. Foreign/Familiar is witty, a little humorous, with some cold, hard truths sprinkled in between.

Foreign Voices

When I started thinking about the thesis project, it was my goal to create an experience rather than an end product. Foreign Voices allowed me to achieve that. The mix of visuals and sound evokes a personal conversation between the speaker and the person in the exhibit space.

Having the centerpiece be an audio-visual experience allowed me to think of design as a dynamic means of communication. This also gave the exhibit a narrative quality that made it more engaging to a wider audience. The videos were created with minimal animation to let the visuals and translations take center stage. To create a more inclusive sound environment, I opted to use a sound dome that was not as loud as speakers and not as personal as headphones.

Foreign/Familiar Exhibit

The Foreign/Familiar exhibit includes the Gallery of Foreign Oddities, Foreign Voices, and the Foreign/Familiar book. It was exhibited at the Fox 3 Gallery as part of MICA Grad Show II from March 29, 2019 to April 14, 2019. 

Foreign/Familiar Process Book

The book is an expansion of Foreign Voices and also features in-depth stories behind the Gallery of Foreign Oddities. This includes the rationale behind the project and offers a behind-the-scenes look at how the project was created. It was meant to be piece that exhibit visitors can spend more time with. Having a print piece also let me tell more stories in an expanded and more accessible manner. I manually produced the book, binding and crafting the cover.

Final Thesis Process Book

The MA in Graphic Design graduates in the exhibit space