Self-Portrait as Info Design

Challenge: Self-Portrait as Info Design

Professor: Dan Boyarski
Graduate Design Studio I
Carnegie Mellon University
Fall 2009How could we offer insightful glimpses of ourselves through information design?

Although this was an individual project, our final pieces essentially served as learning tools for getting to know each other as a class. Making use of R.S. Wurman’s five hatracks, the goal was to organize our personal data into accessible information that engages the viewer. I chose to work with Time and Category in organizing my personal data.

My theme was hair—my hair—which has been a motif of personal interest for a few years now. Rich in social, historical, and emotional metaphor, I used anecdotes about my hair mishaps to create a delving portrait. I organized the memories according to three major phases of self-growth, beginning with my earliest as a young girl. The second layer of the composition—Category—captured elements of my personal philosophy that surface in the anecdotes. I aimed for a simplistic, carefree feel. Humor helps. It is an inviting, meaningful introduction to my personal history, personality and philosophy.