The Making
In order to contextualize my thesis I have to show how it relates to the whole picture. Thinking about the current immigration snafu can be a daunting experience.
But I have discovered that by taking it one step at a time, literally, this elephant in the room can be appropriately addressed. "Immigration" is synonymous with the "Unites States". Tourists will always encounter a foreign born US citizen in large American cities or even its small towns. Sometimes, they walk pasts a man whose family's ancestors date back to the first Irish or Italian descendants who set foot on the East Coast. But it is a sad reality to witness how in front of my eyes, certain Americans forget that they too qualify as an immigrant based on their own marginalizing definitions of such. Many times, foreign citizens of the United States (or even those born here) are treated as social pests—a species of uneducated, economically starving men and women who lack human qualities. Just because certain ethnic groups of Hispanic immigrants may look a certain way, it does not mean that they are bandits from Mexico eager to cheat their way up the American economic ladder. The media is largely to blame for exaggerated stereotypes that only cause fear and disgust, like a New York City subway rat.
"Visualizing Immigration History" helps break down the facts. It helps to illuminate the truths. I designed it with the intention to communicate, and teach, our history and how this beautiful country was built upwards. In my opinion, immigrants are the backbone; they do all the heavy lifting regardless of their time in history. Asking little in return, they work long hours and sleep little. I found that through a short video that exhibits the facts, people of all educational backgrounds can walk away with something new. This "info seed", as I call it, should help them understand where we come from and how we relate to one another. It also helps avoid remarks like those during World War II; such as "20,000 charming German children would all soon grow up into 20,000 ugly adults".
It was difficult to gather the correct facts on American immigration history. I started to look through several history books, do multiple and reliable Google searches, and eventually I was directed by a classmate to an article from American Apparel called "Legalize LA". I put all my information together and compared it to this publication. Everything I had stitched matched it. Now I was finally ready to start the next phase: the design process.
At first, I thought it was best to design a printed piece of material that contained the map of the United States, a few distasteful quotes on immigration from past to recent years, and the countries of origin where immigrants came from. I used the famous "We the People" phrase, the preamble to the United States Constitution, in its original typeface with the intentions of playing with its visual connotation. But the more I looked at the final piece, the more I grew skeptical. Something about it just looked static, and history is constantly in rapid flux.
Video seemed like the best format to showcase my findings and effectively teach an audience. But "I'm a Graphic Designer" I said, "how was I to make a video?" Well, I dipped a finger to test these waters, and before I knew it, I was waist deep in a world of moving pictures. I also chose to highlight two major wars—to emphasize how times of economic instability shut the immigrant valve. After a few weeks assuming the video was done, it again seemed like it was missing something. This time it was the sound. Two weeks before my thesis wrapped up, I added tidbits of audio to enhance the stacking effect and the chaos brought by world wars. The final piece lasts 38 seconds, and starts with the past to the present, and back to the past.
