My MFA graphic design thesis involves visualizing Sonata no. 2, a piano piece by the pianist and composer Alexander Scriabin. Scriabin was interested in color, and he believed that combining music with other stimuli would enhance the audience’s experience of the music. Inspired by the idea of a multi-sensory experience, I created an image for each phrase or short musical idea in the music.

I created the images by combining photography, painting, and text. I wrote about the music, and combined the text and images into a book. I designed the structure and pacing of the book to reflect that of the music. Music and design both involve layers, transparency, texture, rhythm, and expression. My goal is to visually communicate the different rhythms, harmonies, melodies, moods, and characters of each phrase through color, composition, and type. The images in this book provide one interpretation of Scriabin’s Sonata no. 2.