Selective Recording
Independent Project | Editorial Design | Archive

YEAR:
2024

ROLE:
Graphic Designer & Researcher

TOOLS:
InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator and Risograph

Selective Recording
Independent Project | Editorial
Design | Archive

YEAR:
2024

ROLE:
Graphic Designer & Researcher

TOOLS:
InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator and Risograph

Selective Recording is an ongoing, independently developed database project that began during my postgraduate studies at UAL. Its first edition is a research-led publication indexing Malayalam films that portray NRIs (Non-Residential Indians) at the extreme ends of the socio-economic spectrum, framing their experiences and their relationship with the Gulf countries through a black-and-white lens of dream versus nightmare.

Using a factual tone, the publication examines the limited archetypes employed by Malayalam filmmakers when depicting Gulf-based NRIs, analysing films from 2000—2024 across a case study of thirteen titles. Designed for linear and non-linear reading, each chapter offers a distinct point of entry into the research.

The project was well received and featured on Bounty Hunters and at A Line Which Forms A Volume (ALWFAV)’s symposium at London College of Communication, where I presented the research methodologies behind the publication.

View case study

The database is limited to films that feature protagonists who have either migrated to/or are migrating to these countries and are shot partly or fully in the depicted countries.

Despite a substantial portion of Indians residing in these countries, with a significant portion employed in white-collar roles, films continue depicting characters at the extreme ends of the socio-economic platform.