This project has been such a wonderful yet emotional experience. I feel I have grown as a designer and have begun to realize how I can blend my voice and personal experiences as an educational tool for others. One of the biggest aspects I have learned through this project and studying siblings with a disability has made me feel less alone. I often felt selfish for feeling the way I did, and through my research, talking with others, and seeing people’s reactions to my final project, this experience was incredibly meaningful. A big lesson I have learned is that I am very avoidant when it comes to talking about my experiences. Although avoidance is very prevalent in siblings with a disability, I have come to realize that I avoid sharing deep emotions with other people, contrary to what I had believed before. I wasn’t sure if I was worried about offending people, but I think that studying my topic made me realize that my voice is important, and I hope that this project will not only be used as an educational tool for families and mental health professionals but will also inspire other siblings with a disability to share their story to educate even more people.

The biggest thing that worked was the relationship I built between the writing and the visuals. That was very important to me, as I wanted to ensure the visuals meshed with the writing's impact. Besides all the trial and error to get the project to where it is now, I feel like I have made a significant leap forward from where I started. Furthermore, I feel that I effectively thought beyond traditional graphic design, and I thought about how I can elevate this book so that the interaction is significant. The vellum paper and fold-out pages really challenged how I can implement that, and I feel that I have done an effective job of ensuring that I implemented those elements in meaningful areas, rather than sporadically.

However, through this process, things that didn't work out came up. I think that the biggest challenge through this process was the format. Initially, I wanted to create a vlutter book (an accordion fold with a hard cover); however, based on my pre-final comps, it became clear that the accordion fold did not look presentable as I had hoped. It was too flimsy due to the influx of pages. In turn, I ended up creating a traditional book. It ultimately worked out; however, if I had more time (maybe I can explore this next semester), I would like to create more dummy versions of the book and see whether the flutter book method would be applicable. Furthermore, for my motion companion piece, I did not end up completing all 3 scenes due to time constraints, as I wanted to make my book as complete as possible. I got one scene complete; however, if I had had more time, I would have gotten all 3 done. Next semester, my goal is to complete my motion piece so it is ready to be exhibited at the senior showcase.

Throughout this project, AI was used to assist with concept development and as another source for my research. I would bounce ideas back and forth to ChatGPT, and through that assistance, I was able to narrow down what my project could be. Furthermore, through research, I would often collect sources that could be inspiring (more specifically, visual material) and ask ChatGPT how I could use them to further enhance my project

Final Format