Religion & Politics.
The effects of religion on American society.
The Process.
For my senior project, I knew I wanted to create something meaningful to me. I was raised with religion and noticed early on the ways it affected my life and my mindset. I wanted to know more about the ways religion has affected others and American society as a whole. America is the most religious (wealthy and industrialized) country in the world, yet it is something we are told not to talk about. The goal for my book is to both educate and inspire people to feel more comfortable talking about things like religion and politics, because I believe through the power of conversation we as humans can have a better and more complete understanding of the human experience.
User Research.
The first step in creating my book consisted of doing interviews and surveys with my target audience: young adults ages 18-30. I decided on this age range because typically people begin to experience independence for the first time around these ages as they enter a new phase in life separate from their family and the people they grew up with. During these transformative years, many people begin to call into question their upbringing, religion included, and may seek answers to the questions that come up.
My interviews and surveys told me what I needed to know about what my users were interested in learning about as well as their general feelings about religion. Based on my results, I created a user flow to specify the ways my users will interact with my book.
Research
Once I had a good idea of my target audience, I spent a good portion of the semester researching and writing the book. I wanted to make sure my information was accurate, unbiased, and interesting. I read several books about the history of religion in America, as well as books about cults, politics, and religion.
Sketches.
Onto the design of the book. I started with sketches on paper, creating a visual layout of each spread. This process helped me have a better understanding of the layout of the content as well as the flow of the book as a whole.
Imagery.
Finding and creating imagery that eludes to religion was a bit of a challenge. But I developed a process where I was able to complete the same steps for each image so that once everything was edited and colored to my liking, I would have a cohesive book with imagery that relates to religion without flat out saying it.
Final Designs.
