Behind the Simple Pleasures.
For my Visual Texts assignment in Visual Principles for the Screen at WashU, taught by Laurel Schwulst, I selected A Catalogue of Simple Pleasures by Alex Singh and co-contributors as my text source. I chose a 16:9 aspect ratio for the series.
As I worked, the process quickly became meditative. I would scroll through the catalogue and pause at a phrase that resonated with me in that exact moment. I’d sit with it for a bit and ask myself: How does this make me feel? What colors or imagery does it bring to mind?
From there, I’d look for an existing image—or sometimes a photo from my camera roll—that captured the spirit of the phrase. In Procreate, I layered watercolor brush strokes over the image and later added darker details using the gouache brush. After that, I brought the piece into Illustrator, experimenting with different typographic layouts. I used the Adobe typeface Pie Pie for the final compositions.
Over time, this workflow became something I genuinely looked forward to. It shifted how I moved through my day; I started noticing and appreciating the “simple pleasures” in my own life more actively.
I hope you enjoyed scrolling through this catalogue—and that it inspires you to slow down and appreciate the beauty in the mundane, too.
Back to Simple Pleasures.