The current fabric of reality is unraveling into a great flood of information. As we stand at the dawn of a major transition, we are faced with an evasiveness of what the future is supposed to mean, how it is supposed to feel.
The project uses design as a tool of reflection to make sense of the zeitgeist through critically considering the forces that guide our reality and outlines the inherent power of design to challenge and reshape the status quo. By using ethnography, explorations of theoretical concepts and personal experiences, the project focuses on creation of designed objects that occupy different peripheries of the understood reality.
Ultimately, design is a universal language, a force that walks hand in hand with our understanding of consensus reality. Design is also a tool of revelation, a mirror which opens the infinite possibility of revolutionary power through imagining a new and free relationship with technological advancement.
Designed and produced by Ekaterina Maisheva with instruction from Allen Hori and Glen Cummings over the course of the ‘24-’25 school year at Pratt Institute
Printed, laser cut and assembled at the Pratt Institute School of Design, Brooklyn, NY
Paper used: French paper company whiptone 80lb cover cardstock, speckletone 70lb text paper
Typefaces used: Bitcount Mono, VCR OSD Mono, Repro
Other materials: acrylic purchased at Canal Plastics Center, 256 MB vintage motherboards purchased on Ebay, found mirror
A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications Design at Pratt Institute, May 2025