IMPOSTER SYNDROME
Translating Digital to Physical
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As part of one of my design courses in my final year of university, I was instructed to create a physical installation that portrays a message on the topic of design.
I chose to portray the beef I had with design, or rather myself, constantly feeling like an imposter as a designer and comparing myself to my peers. I knew that I was not alone in these thoughts, and that many other students felt the same; but we couldn’t all be imposters, could we?
This project required knowledge and planning of physical dimensions and installation, which are skills that digital designers often forget to hone, though are of great importance when working with material that will be physically printed or displayed.
With my installation, I wanted to embody the feelings of uncertainty that are a trademark of imposter syndrome, and the dichotomy of how we view our work compared to how others view it. To show this, I used the contrast of black and white colours, designs featuring distorted eye and face motifs, and mirrors that the viewer can see themselves in as they walk through the hallway to view the installation.
The text blended into the designs reads, “Am I the real deal? Am I just an imposter?”
To create the physical installation, I used thrifted mirrors, acrylic paint, and temporary vinyl in which I used a cricut machine to cut my digitally illustrated designs into.
While we were required to take our installations down at the end of the semester, my professors chose to keep my work up for another year as the design fit into that of the campus and was well received.
