Samantha Green
The Observational Age

The feelings of navigating your twenties, growing up, and moving forward result in a spectrum of emotions that should be heard, understood, and validated. The Observational Age was an exploration of loss, time, growing up, and moving forward through an experimental approach to emotional data collection.

Realizing my quarter-life crisis emotions was a significant time in my life, I began researching more about how other twentysomethings feel as applied to emotional design and data collection. I wanted to explore how my emotions could be designed, brought to life, and collected. I cannot physically see my emotions, but as a graphic designer I can create visuals to express them.



Each day from April 6 - 26, 2020, I completed five tasks. Each task was a form of emotional data collection that reflected my path of self-discovery through my readings then related to elements of design. The first task was a walk from my house and back that increased by length every day. During the walk an object was photographed and collected for texture and photography. For color, I completed an hourly mood chart every day from 10 AM to 10 PM. The third task was to document what aspects of my life I thought about frequently that day and turn each day into a coded visual animation representing motion. Typography was explored through creating a roughly developed typeface every day from my handwriting. Finally, a five-minute doodle was drawn every day to explore shape.



This design book com plies my findings, organized by day. There is also a final section at the end of the book for the reader to collect their own emotional data. Texture, photography, motion, typography, and shapes all have a strong hold on both my career and my life. My emotions affect these elements in my personal work. Through the visuals created, I was able to make connections of what brings me joy, what triggers me, and how my mood affects design overall.

Samantha Green
Originally from the Greater Boston Area, Samantha Green moved to Chicago in 2016 to pursue her design career. In college, she studied graphic design and received two minors in public relations/advertising and user experience design. Her specialties are art direction and project management with a focus on emerging concepts and trends. In her free time she enjoys photography and exploring new parts of Chicago. She is excited to see where her career takes her and for the next chapter in her life.

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