Hirotomi Suzuki
Academy of Art College

Alone

Objective: In my entry I ask: Are we alone? I tried to use textures to graphically represent the effects of loneliness as well as the effects that others (friends and society in general) have on me, be they good or bad. I used scuff marks, ink splatters, crumpled paper, torn paper, and other textures to achieve this. For example pages 3 and 4 shows an ink splatter (representing people in my daily life: friends, strangers, homeless people) with a strong directional line leading toward the isolated word “alone” which is ultimately what I am at the end of the day. I used personal imagery (photos, drawings, packages) because the subject matter is personal to me. In the last two double-page spreads (one consisting of images, the other text) the basis of my conclusion is: whether we live our lives separated from one another or not, we ultimately die alone; however, the emotional ties we make during our lives keep us connected to one another. I showed this paradox graphically with a package (symbolizing the connection of two people), and the lonely dead flower on the opposing page.

Tools used: I used Adobe® Photoshop® and Adobe InDesign® to make my book. Photoshop was essential for combining images (photos and drawings) with scanned textures. The color-correction capabilities allowed me to manipulate my own photos to create a consistent look throughout my book. InDesign made it easy to manage a large document with multiple pages. The master page feature allowed me to set one layout for all the pages in my entry. The vector-based text used in InDesign gave me much clearer text then any other program. This was my first time using InDesign and I found it easy to use with Photoshop and perfect for layouts.

Back to 2003 Adobe Design Achievement Awards winners.