“In early 2050, a mountaineer vanished into the depths of the Alps. After being presumed dead, he turned up in a small tavern at the tip of southern Germany in perfect health. His own accounts describe how months earlier, he had been lost and near-death when he stumbled upon the beautiful mountainside nation: Föhn. He was graciously taken in by its citizens and nursed back to health. He stayed for a time to learn about Föhn and its people—only to discover its existence had been mysteriously wiped from the map between World Wars. His only keepsake from the city—this book, detailing the nation’s history, government, language, culture, currency, transit system, and more. Despite the wealth of information provided by the text, it did little to help researchers and other hikers locate the lost city, which seemed to slip back into the bright whites and blues of its mountainous sanctum…”
This project was created as the final assignment for Color Theory—an upper-level Graphic Design class. The worldbuilding research framework and corresponding assignment prompt asked students to create a fictional “nation” documented in the form of a historical guidebook, manifesto, or style guide. The documentation serves as an archive of an array of attributes and artifacts, including the history, psychology, language, and nation branding. The experimental publication is a work of design fiction. It includes original research, writing, illustration, image-making, and design to imagine a narrative about the peaceful, hidden, and fictional mountain nation of Föhn.
- Student
- Will Wright
- Instructor
- Heather Snyder Quinn
