Description:

Outside the Moving Window is a publication that explores grief, cultural identity, and memory through non-linear storytelling. Prompted by the sudden passing of a family member shortly before a return trip to Japan, the project unfolds as a personal, poetic response to loss and reconnection with heritage.

The design blends photography, illustration, and text into a three-dimensional narrative reflecting past, present, and reflection. Influenced by Japanese culture, Psychogeography, and cinematic composition, the project captures the emotional tension between absence and presence. Photographs document intuitive moments during travel through blurred figures, quiet seats, and fleeting views, while hand-drawn illustrations evoke memory through soft textures and dreamy light. Text is written as reflective narration, fragmented and quiet, emulating thoughts half-remembered or left unsaid.

The publication itself embodies the emotional quality of the story. The format is an extended landscape orientation to emphasise the concept of the journey. Multiple paper stocks and sizes like Japanese Hanshi washi paper, tracing paper, and untrimmed edges, allow for a tactile experience that mirrors the fragility and unpredictability of memory. The double hardcover with a window invites the reader to glimpse the story through layers, just as we see the past through haze and distance.

The work engages with psychogeography and the sensory impact of space on the self. As a visual record of a return journey, it becomes both a commemorative object and a tool for cultural reflection. Rather than offering answers, the publication creates a space for resonance, particularly for individuals navigating diaspora, intergenerational distance, or unspoken familial grief.

Outside the Moving Window is a quiet act of resistance to forgetting. It values emotion, slowness, and care, and uses design not only as a medium of communication but as an embodied experience. By focusing on small details and intimate moments, the project challenges conventional narratives of mourning and memorial, offering instead a space to feel, listen, and remember.