Speculative Currency
Typographic Exploration, Photo Manipulation, Conceptual Design
Inspired by an excerpt from the book
“Annihilation” by Jeff VanderMeer, these experimental compositions explore themes of confusion, distortion, beauty, nature, and reflection. These themes were the foundation for a fictional world and the unique “currency” that would exist within it. The currency exists in a future where people pay for their transgressions with their sanity.
There are five levels, with one hundred strikes allocated per level. Each time someone receives a strike, their reality becomes gradually distorted until they cannot distinguish between truth and illusion.
Throughout “Annihilation” the characters continue to lose their grasp on reality and descend into madness the longer they stay inside Area X. Shimmering, hypnotizing, and disorientating are adjectives commonly
used to describe Area X and the main influence behind the design language of the identification cards. The cards serve as a visual representation of the amount of distortion the cardholder is experiencing.