Sara Johnson

Artist Statement

Sara Johnson is a graphic designer interested in expressive typography and image making. For her thesis, she explored parasocial relationships: one-sided relationships that someone forms with celebrities or social media personas. She chose five articles on the topic, designed and bound a book, and did a small exercise in data visualization. This project had an emphasis on screens because many of these parasocial relationships are exacerbated by the internet and the presence of social media. She also explored the idea of the artificial or unreal, using vellum sheets throughout the book as a metaphor for the relationship itself being not real. 

The mirror used in the front cover acts as a vehicle of reflection, in hopes that the reader will think back to times when they felt connected to someone they didn't know. Johnson herself grew interested in this topic after being in a parasocial relationship and observing others that allowed these connections to get out of hand.

IMAGE GALLERY: PARASOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS AND WHY WE ENTER INTO THEM

Click through to enlarge and view individual artworks from Sara's thesis project.