Hearts are broken, suicide is considered and real life decisions are made. Purely based on what the internet offers as advice. We treat our digital devices as a best friend, a lover, our therapist. They become our personal diary. We entrust them with our deepest secrets, frustrations and insecurities.
We have grown into a life where we and the digital world are inseparable.
'Dear Digital' is a hybrid publication exploring the increased dependancy of humans and the digital world.
"Dear Digital" is a publication that combines text from three different sources. While it aims to entertain and satirise our digital dependency, it also highlights a serious truth: our reliance on digital devices has become so dependant we cannot live without it anymore. The book features collage-based visuals directly inspired by its text, creatively illustrating internet and other digital experiences. The visuals are there to support the absurdity of the content.
Additionally, it's a hybrid publication, emphasising our digital dependence as you need your phone to complete the reading experience. A printed book can no longer solely exist without a digital counterpart.
'Dear Human' - the app that belongs to the book.
Unreadable text in the printed publication
"Dear Human" is the digital part of the hybrid publication. In order to finish reading the book, you will need this app. The way it works is as follows: open the app whenever you come across a page where not all words all visible.
Hover your phone's camera over the page. The AR camera integrated in your phone will detect a code which will make the missing sentences visible.
Dear Digital © Pip van Gelderen, 2023