Routine Series: A Visual Post-Mortem

Routine Series is a year-long data-mapping project that captures the architecture of a life under extreme pressure. For 365 days, I recorded the granular metrics of my existence: steps taken, bed and wake times, distance traveled, and perceived stress levels.

To translate this data into a visual language, I established a rigid symbolic system. I used each month’s primary floral motif as the structural base of the composition, while the corresponding birthstone defined the color palette. I then used my daily metrics to direct specific transform functions within Adobe Illustrator, allowing the data to mathematically distort the organic forms.

What began as an exercise in "visualizing an invisible system" inadvertently became a documentation of a mental breakdown. During this period, I was balancing three jobs, graduate studies, and family life. I felt I was doing everything, but doing everything poorly. While the work functions as a sleek, digital record of a routine, it is actually a forensic look at burnout—revealing the exact moment where the organic self is stretched to its breaking point by the weight of the system.