CHANDRA PHENPIMON



Hom(e)age


DURATION3 weeks, Fall 2024

ADVISORRebecca Leffell Koren

PROJECT SCOPEBook Design
A book about my second home in Bangkok, Thailand. It is my homeage, rather my home-age to the city I’m so grateful to grow up with. 

Hom(e)age is a collection of five short stories capturing the little moments I cherish. It includes a fictional conversation between the birds in my mango tree, a choose-your-own-adventure encounter with a Komodo dragon, and more (Read below). From the very beginning, I knew I wanted to write the copy myself. I did not want it to sound like a travel guide or a history book. I wanted the book to feel personal and show my version of Bangkok. Most of the writing comes from my own experiences, memories, and stories growing up there.

The design is bright and full of energy, just like the city itself. A fold-out map on the cover marks my favorite spots, while hand-drawn illustrations highlight everything from the famous Moo Deng to prayer flowers. Hom(e)age celebrates the small details that define daily life in Bangkok and I hope through this book, you will see the city through my eyes.

Please note that the video above is a selection of pages, not a full flip through.

FRONT, BACK, AND INSIDE COVERS

SECTION SKETCHES AND PLANNING
LAYOUT IDEATION FOR SECTION 5 (ILLUSTRATED MENUS)
BRAINSTORM FOR KIT OF PARTS
SKETCH FOR FRONT AND BACK COVERS
SCOPE
At first, I thought of focusing on Thailand as a whole, then narrowed it down to Bangkok, and eventually landed on something even more intimate: my neighborhood, my house, and the nearby market. By narrowing my focus, it stopped being about capturing a place in a general sense and started becoming a record of small, meaningful details.

FORMATThe form of the book was just as important as the content. I imagined something layered and playful, with short sheets and interactive pages. Bangkok is a city that does not reveal itself all at once. My favorite thing about Bangkok is that you notice something new with every walk around the block. The layering of different colored pages is my way of showing that and every page is meant to feel like a small discovery.

CONTENTS
  1. Bird Talk – A short story written by my mom about the birds that visit our yard.
  2. Komodo Khaos – A choose-your-own-adventure tale inspired by my actual run-in with a Komodo dragon.
  3. Jack of All Fruits – A series of designed seed packets celebrating Thailand’s adventurous tropical fruits. Inside each packet is a “seed”: a short narrative and, occasionally, a photo of me with the fruit.
  4. Snack Attack – My top 10 favorite 7-Eleven snacks in Thailand.
  5. Street Food Menu Redesign – A visual menu created for Bangkok’s iconic street food carts, which often don’t have menus at all.

I chose these sections because they  reflect a different part of how I experience Bangkok, whether through family, humor, or food. Together, these topics form a nonlinear map of how I relate to Bangkok. It’s not about explaining Bangkok, but about inviting people into my version of it.

ILLUSTRATIONSThe illustrations were hand-drawn, inspired by the style of traditional Thai woodblock carvings. I also designed graphic elements based on details from Thai temple architecture, classic wallpaper patterns, and the tiles commonly found in Thai kitchen floors.


CONTENTS OF SEED PACKET IN SECTION 3, INCLUDING SHORT BLURB AND CHILDHOOD PHOTO 
MAP OF MY NEIGHBORHOOD DESIGNED TO FOLD INTO A FOLDER FOR STORING PHOTOS (SEE ABOVE)
SECTION 5 (STREET FOOD MENU REDESIGN) FEATURES PATTERNS FROM THAI KITCHEN FLOOR TILES

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