therefore i am

A Visual Memoir of Sorts

Group Members

Emory Banker; spot illustrations and spreads
Simran Modhera; photography & main writer
Helen Nichols; illustration spreads
Zoe Peterson; photography & main writer
Eve Porter; spot illustrations and spreads, writer
Lauren Sciortino; layout design, writer
Megan Soriano (that's me!); web design, writer

Seven artists, the beautiful countryside in the South of France, and reaffirming our place as we head towards new horizons. On this 3 week excursion to the SCAD Lacoste campus in France, a group of students and myself chose to create a booklet filled with writings done by several group members along with various illustrations and photographs that supplemented the text.

My roles within this project included art direction, project management, web design and creating short pieces of writing to go within the book.

Reaching beyond France

There are only so many pages that can be bound together in a small memoir, but we wanted to emphasize that the journey doesn’t end when we return home. We’re always growing, always learning and always discovering the different sides of who we are. What better way than to learn from other people? The website focuses on interactivity as you scroll down and hover over a word and click on it, a story or image will appear based on that word.

In the ever growing digital world, many books feature a digital presence to promote the work. While not everyone may have the opportunity to visit Lacoste, France, we wanted a way to share these experiences with other students who have traveled abroad or were thinking about taking a big life changing trip. Life experiences are one of the many ways we can connect to other people and build human connections.

Art Direction

The title of the book comes from the saying, "Cogito ergo sum", which translates to "I think, therefore I am." This phrase was said by the French Philosopher & Mathematician, René Descartes. In its essence, the phrase means that the very doubting of one's existence is proof enough of one's existence. Imposter Syndrome is pretty commonplace in the world of art & design and sometimes we begin to wonder, "Am I really good enough to make it?"

The book makes its way from questioning who we really are to a declarative statement that establishes confidence in who we are as artists.

*Layout done by Lauren Sciortino. Photograph by Zoe Peterson.*