The Circle of Belonging: Data visualisation and exploring cultural identity

Sabrina Brouwers has been working on her final Graduate Diploma Graphic Design project from her home studio in London. A laptop, a sketchbook and a camera: these are all she needs to stay inspired and creative, particularly during lockdown in the UK.  

As well as completing her final project, Sabrina has kept creative with passion projects including weekly drawing challenges. We spoke to her to find out more about her Graduate Showcase submission and her working style.

Describe your design practice?

My personal manifesto and attitude towards design are inspired by the therapeutic effects of visual simplicity. My design practice uses bold and minimalistic aesthetics.

The visual characteristics of my work showcase geometric forms and a monochrome colour scheme. That being said, my fine art background has shaped my design practice into a very multi-disciplinary approach. I love exploring new media, both digitally and physically and I always try to approach my projects with a newly learned skill.  

Having a particular interest in experiential design, my practice is influenced by materials that enhance interior spaces such as reflective surfaces, glass and light projections. As my practice normally focuses on spatial installations, ever since the lockdown, my work has taken a major turn. The limitations faced during the height of my final project encouraged me to learn new digital skills to bring these spaces to life through the screen. The outcome of my final project is in a digitally constructed space, guiding the audience through a virtual exhibition tour.

Please tell us more about your Graduate Showcase submission. What were the inspirations and ideas behind it?

My final project of this year is titled The Circle of Belonging and is a spatial data visualisation project about cultural identity. I have created a website dedicated to this project which displays a virtual exhibition space exploring a growing collection of data which highlights the ways in which our sense of belonging to a cultural community is based on our cultural background and upbringing.

The Belonging Survey played a key role in the completion of this project: 50 participants were asked to share the number of countries they had lived in and their sense of belonging towards a cultural community. These responses were then used as the base of the growing collective for which  I designed a data icon to visually represent the results.  

As this virtual space displays a growing collection of data, an interactive survey is introduced allowing the audience to create their own circle of belonging. As the participant inputs their data and creates their personal circle, it will be introduced into the space by being projected onto the large front face of the room in real time.

The motivation behind this project comes from my own cultural background. I am a Third Culture Kid (TCK) - someone who has grown up in several different countries and cultural environments. I have often asked myself which one of the seven cultures I identify most strongly to.  

In this increasingly globalised world, the term Third Culture Kid has become less of an anomaly and I am inclined to discover the effect that a multi-faceted cultural background has on a sense of belonging towards a cultural community. Through audience participation, I hope that this project will bring together individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds and make people aware of each other's cultural similarities and differences - ultimately  encouraging the growth of a community, in which the participants feel they belong.

As a result of the change of working environment, are you re-engaging with elements of your practice such as drawing and painting or perhaps going digital?

Since finishing The Circle of Belonging I have had the time pick up several little passion projects, tapping into my older ways of working. I have begun a personal project where I am exploring 3-dimensional illusions through abstract shapes and forms. I am challenging myself to study these shapes and shadows through as many media as possible in order to learn new skills and keep exploring my practice and discovering hidden talents. Recently I have been experimenting a lot with pencil drawings, 3D animations and abstract photography.

What’s next?

Now that I have completed my course at Chelsea, I am looking to join a multidisciplinary design studio that specialises in experiential design. I am inspired by studios such as HUSH and Acrylisize. I am in awe of their participatory design approaches and am inspired by their fearlessness in realising the most ambitious projects. I am excited to join a team of creatives in order to work collaboratively to realise ambitions ideas and designed experiences.  I am also excited to continue developing my own practice as a designer and keep pushing forward my experimentation through spatial installations.

What advice do you have for students considering studying Graduate Diploma Graphic Design? What’s your highlights? What have you learnt?

My time at Chelsea has been unforgettable and extremely rewarding. What I enjoyed most about studying here was the continuous flow of creativity and ambition from the like-minded creatives around me. I felt so much support from my peers and my tutors and truly felt like I belonged to a community that helped me to continually challenge myself.  

My best experience was my course’s collaboration with Conway Hall library where we had the chance to showcase our zines to a wider public. I have learned so much more than I  ever expected about my position in graphic design, as well as all the interesting and relevant theories and debates about design thinking. For a new student, the best advice I can give is to truly get involved in the community and take every opportunity that comes your way.