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Q: How can we interpret the forms of value that we place on inanimate objects?

A: Favourite Things
a print and digital catalog of favourite objects
I have always wondered why and how certain items take on new forms of value as time goes on. Many people have a favourite item which they perceive to have more value than the amount of money exchanged for them. In order to answer these queries I interviewed 30 people about an item they believe to be special to them. I left the reasoning beyond that up to each person, acting only as a conduit between their descriptions of their objects and the catalog.

The goal of the catalog is to interpret the reasons behind why people place high value on items that may seem useless or ugly or worthless to others. This project also features the use of D3.JS, a Javascript library specializing in interactive data visualizations.


The printed book

I interviewed each person and photographed their object for a visual interpretation of their description. Each object has its own double-page work-content in the first section, which is based on memory and abstraction.



The abstracted images on the left side of the pages are meant to represent the objects through the way the stories describe them, as a sort of memory of an item more than the item itself.



The second section takes all of the collected qualitative data and analyzes it in its quantitative form. Using infographics, the various definitions of value are compared.



Some of the infographics make use of translucency with layers of vellum to compare more at once.



The interactive website

The digital component explores a new way to view the content in the print version. The use of D3.JS allows the user to carve their own journey through the stories and data visualizations in a fully interactive experience.


The viewer can move through the website in any order they choose, which allows for a more customizeable journey than the linear experience taken through a book.



To read the catalog as a PDF, or to enter the website, use the buttons below:


CATALOGWEBSITE



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Chloe's face

Designer, drummer, maker, shower singer

Chloe is currently working as a product designer in Toronto. In her spare time she enjoys designing data visualizations, interactive Arduino experiences, and writing on her blog.

You can find Chloe at [email protected], drumming in her Brazilian batu drumming band, at a number of local music concerts, or cycling around the city.

This website and all content therein is intellectual property belonging to Chloe Silver 2012-2023.