WONDERLAND
This work is a visual experience called wonderland. COVID has changed our lives immensely - and I felt that feelings of excitement was of utmost importance for human beings. Reflecting on pre-COVID times, concerts, festivals, events, and amusement parks gave us the excitement and energy to live. As a designer/creator, this project made me realize that I want to make things that excite people.
Mood board
Mood Board is a collection of dreamy images that will make you forget about the painful reality, and will make you feel as if you are in a dream world where everyone can have fun and get excited.
Persona
My primary persona is about my age. I am targeting late teens and 20s who were stuck in the house and were unable to participate in outdoor activities such as college, and festival because of COVID. I also aimed to create this project that would resonate with a wide range of generations from adults to children, so I assume as a second persona the early teens and 30s and 40s, who have also lost the ability to participate in entertainment due to the pandemic.
ROUGH IDEA
CONCEPT
The island has many rides and attractions that thrill us. In the center of the piece is a Ferris wheel, where each space is an individual speaker that plays different sounds loudly. Every person have an unique experience that only they have experienced, which I wanted to listen to and share in the form if music. These music all express specific precious memories with different sensibilities, personalities, backgrounds.
In addition, this is a world where animals, such as jellyfish, are swimming in the sky. In front of the Ferris wheel, there is a time-machine (looks like a balloon dog) which people can use to move between space and time. As kids, we all share the memory of wanting balloons that were sold at a theme park. I wanted adults to recollect that melancholy feeling, so I created my time machine in this form.
There is a Japanese shrine on the left side of the island. I was trying to make this world more meaningful to me as well, so I decided to build famous Japanese shrine called 四重の塔 (four-storied pagota) inspired by my 15 years of growing up in Japan. I also create rotating signage for this island in the entrance.
