Brain rot

In December of 2024, Brain rot was crowned Oxford's word of the year. Brain rot is defined as the deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as the result of overconsumption of material (now particularly online content) considered to be trivial or unchallenging. I find this word and meaning to be quite important in this digital age. So much so that I decided to name my longest book yet after it. Although the book itself doesn't really explore the word or its meaning, I like to think that the term "brain rot" coincides with what I felt like I was going through when making everything that's within this novel. This book travels through the years, starting in 2018and ending in 2024, and showcases my progression as a creative. This book also acts as an ode to my "creative agency" I created called Freebase5. Throughout the entire process of making this book, even the days, weeks and months leading up to it, I wasn't sure if that was something I should do. I created Freebase5 in 2021 to give myself a more "legit" voice in graphic design, and I've made over 400+ designs ranging from posters to 2d and 3d pieces to wine labels and everything in between. It's something that was my identity as an artist and as hard as it is to steer away from that, I think it's time. I'm not going to completely erase it off the face of the earth, but I'm going to let it exist in its own time and space and let it be something I can reference back to whether it's for appreciation, remembrance, inspiration etc. Brain rot is what it feels like sometimes to process all the things I do and say and that's why I have this title. Through this book you'll find a bunch of words, projects, ideas, mistakes, graphics, you name it. Most importantly, you'll find me. Who I was and how I got there. I hope by the time you see this, I'll have progressed even further. I hope by the next time I see you, you've progressed further as well. On to tomorrow.