Old relationships are like ghosts from our pasts. They can haunt you, influence you, and change the way you take on your future. In the case of Adnan Syed, his high school romance will haunt him for the rest of his life.
When Adnan was a Senior at Woodlawn High School, in 1999, he dated a fellow classmate, Hae Min Lee. Not long after they broke up, Hae went missing. Her body was found about a month later and Adnan was arrested for her murder. He’s been in jail ever since.
Adnan and Hae’s relationship was a big talking point in the State’s case against Adnan. They took a high school romance and put it under a microscope in hopes of catching a murderer.
This book seeks to look at their relationship by using different filters to allow readers the chance to get a better understanding of their relationship. The filters are created through words of Hae Min Lee and Adnan Syed and the words of their loved ones.
The book is comprised of translucent velum layers and pearlized paper intended to create a ghostly and ethereal feeling throughout the piece.
Each filter is printed on a vellum sheet. These filters stack on top of a focus page. By unfolding the focus page and aligning it with each of the filters, readers reveal new information about the story. This gives each reader a unique interaction by allowing them to customize their reading experience. All of the text, excluding my own comments, is taken from the podcast Serial.
When I made this book I wanted to focus on the tactile interaction and forcing the reader to make decisions about how they interact with the book.
