Mia Bejarin

My design approach constantly moves between the traditional and the unconventional, always seeking a fresh and exciting perspective on any project I tackle. I have always appreciated analogue processes and tools, but my work is mostly created digitally as I understand the growing need to embrace technological progression in the industry and cater to a new age of digitally-native audiences. This digital approach also better conveys the crisp hyper-realism I intended for my recent project, A Manifesto To Construe.

This project is a repackaging of the 1924 Surrealist Manifesto originally written by André Breton. Simultaneously, it is a re-imagination; not only of his ideas for the art movement to come, but of the academic journals we know of. Made for young designers intrigued by the lore of art movements and unique editorial design, this experimental spiral-bound publication intends to visualise Breton’s thoughts through the deconstruction of notebook pages, aided by the use of my custom typeface Construe – a deconstruction of Times New Roman. The publication is separated into coloured chapters, interlinked by hand-drawn lines, forms and letters floating and flowing, akin to past and present Surrealist imagery. The deep blue pages, a symbol of space and time, allow the reader to sink into the potentially illegible text and construe, for themselves, how Surrealism can impact them as designers. Through subtle typographic techniques, the reader can be guided through the varying tones of the Manifesto, from childhood imagination battling a logical world, to accessing dream-like states through art and literature.