Marcela Sobrinho Ramos - MA Graphic Design and Art Direction
"A Palanvara" / Exploring Symbolic and Imaginal Graphics
A Palanvara is a fictional, symbolic language initially created for an in-progress fantasy novel titled "The Rainbow Wings". What began as an exploration to create fantasy-based visuals for an equally fantastical story, has evolved into a deeper analysis into the rituals of graphic-design, "Graphicology" (the study of Graphics as a legitimate academic field coined and created by John Walsh) and the rich, historic process of icon-creation.
A Palanvara aims to bridge the author's imaginal, fictional world with her academic, graphicological practice. She invites you to view each symbol as an icon and a window: as a chance to meditate on meaning and how we convey information – as well as the humans and artists of the past. How are the symbols of history are used to cross boundaries between past, present and future?
Entangled in the work is the evolving story of "The Rainbow Wings", the journey of the young naive Faerie Princess Aricidæcilia, and her journey questioning her role within a system that has waged war against the forces of The Mountain for millennia. What results is a powerful, transformative story about gender identity, the fallacies of a patriarchal and extremely gendered world, and one's own choices prevailing against societal expectations.
Marcela Sobrinho Ramos is a transfeminine and Brazilian graphic designer and writer, who views her practice as a scalpel, slicing between the expectations of an increasingly nonsensical world. She hopes you can dive into a new world, ripe with its own griefs, beauties and possibilities.
