PUBLICATION · 2026
Culture · Identity · Archival
A publication about the memories kept in the everyday. It combines a personal archive with historical records. It reveals the stories hidden in ordinary items and explores how memory shapes identity and belonging.
Process
01 — Archive
Gathering personal archive material from the collection of my childhood school notebooks, scanning and curating the pieces by formulating a coherent storyline.
Penmanship rapid case study exercise, identifying patterns in handwriting from the archival records
02 — Editorial Thread
Due to the high-volume of content from the archive, I organized in a dynamic spread sheet to categorize the year, subject, theme and possible chapters
Master spreadsheet and pivot tables to organize the sequence of the book
03 — Type & Layout
Handwriting and identity was a key part of the project, so I opted for a minimal layout that prioritized the images, with a neat typeset typographic hierarchy using a serif typeface from a Mexican foundry.
InDesign working document, grid system and paragraph styles
04 — Tenango
There was a story across the book, but needed a visual language that tied the project and personal connection within all the project, so I created my own version of a Tenango, a traditional art expression native to the state I am from in Mexico, Hidalgo.
Tenango drawing process, using crayons as a way to reflect my childhood medium with illustrations found in the archive featured in the book
05 — Print Test
This was the last class pin-up I had, I tested the printing for the book, the colour profile, type size, paper materials for printing and the window from the cover page.
Pin-up in class, original tenango painting as a potential backdrop for the exhibition, the main pages from different chapters in the book and a mid-fidelity copy of the book.
06 — Grad Show
The intention of this project was to give back to those who became part of my childhood and upbringing as a creative, so I wanted the research findings from repositories to become takeaways for people, a brief introduction of what both the book and the Tenango meant, and two copies to flip through of the book, one in Spanish and in English
The opening night of the grad show at Emily Carr, families reading through my childhood reflections and heritage repositories