Independent Project | Editorial Design | Archive
YEAR:
2024
ROLE:
Graphic Designer & Researcher
TOOLS:
InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator and Risograph
Independent Project | Editorial
Design | Archive
2024
Graphic Designer & Researcher
InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator and Risograph
Research Focus
Selective Recording is an ongoing database project that began during my postgraduate studies at UAL. Its first edition examines how Malayalam cinema portrays Gulf-based NRIs (Non-Resident Indians), focusing on the limited archetypes used to represent their experiences and their relationship with Gulf countries. Through a case study of thirteen films released between 2000 and 2024, the project explores how these narratives are often framed through a binary lens of aspiration and hardship.
Outcome
The outcome is a research-led publication that visualises patterns in the representation of Gulf-based NRIs within Malayalam cinema. The project was featured on Bounty Hunters and presented at A Line Which Forms A Volume symposium at London College of Communication, where I shared the research methodologies and design strategies underpinning the publication.
MethodologyUsing a factual and analytical approach, the publication indexes recurring character archetypes, narrative patterns and representations of Gulf countries across the selected films. The research combines film analysis with database design, translating qualitative findings into a structured publication that supports both linear and non-linear reading. Multiple points of entry allow readers to navigate the material through different themes, categories and relationships, encouraging broader engagement with the research.
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.