Do not take if you are allergic to oversharing or mild narcissism.
This project is inspired by the “Five Things” podcast from 89.3 WFPL and Louisville Public Media, wherein guests describe five things that represent them and their lives. In choosing five items that represented myself, I decided to include pill bottles to represent the physical and psychological handicaps I’ve struggled with in my life, usually alleviated with the help of medication or therapy.
I used the form of 16 mini-page accordion-folded booklets as “chapters” inside each pill bottle. The pill bottles were each wrapped in labels acting as the “book covers,” and all the bottles were placed in a display meant to mimick the appearance of a medicine cabinet. Each booklet describes a part of my life that is framed by these health issues, with the five things being medication, mobility aids, childhood stuffed animals, journals and keys.
The design of the booklets were inspired by the standard orange color of pill bottles (although green and blue bottles were also used in this design), with red outlines and yellow highlights reminiscent of a medicine label. Each booklet takes a very personal look into honest discussions of mental illness and physical disability. The very nature of a book design within pill bottles encourages readers to open their mind to the vulnerability of the subject upon opening the first bottle.
