Monica Wong, UX/UI Design, NYC

Nathan Ashker

Travelogue book about a journey from Asia to America — without a plane.

Project

Book Design

Industry

Travel

Memoir

Services

Creative Direction

Nathan Ashker decided to quit his job in Hong Kong and head home to America — but without taking a plane. #AsiaToAmerica: Without A Plane documents his 23,000-mile journey through photographs and short essays.

#Project Goals

Instagram played a significant role in Nathan's adventure. Nathan had connected in the early years of Instagram with people around the world, sharing similar interests and photography. On his journey, he was able to meet them in real life and learn about their culture and country through their perspective. He also had the chance to connect with strangers he had never interacted with before who was following his journey through Instagram.

• The hashtag needed to be part of the book title — it was how his journey was documented on and how people followed along.

• A small square format just like Instagram. Easy to hold, not precious.

• Maps to show where he visited

• Feature the photographs of a other Instagrammers he met on his journey

• The hashtag needed to be part of the book title — it was how his journey was documented on and how people followed along.

• A small square format just like Instagram. Easy to hold, not precious.

• Maps to show where he visited

• Feature photographs of other Instagrammers he met on his journey

Design

I approached design with a strong typeface to reflect Nathan's bold adventure. To create visual distinction for each county, I created a system using two primary colors from the nation's flag and their geographical coordinates. The colors were used both in country introduction pages and photo pages. The maps included points to indicate where Nathan had visited.

Layouts were a mix of short essays, anecdotes, photographs, and quotes.