The term nerd is a word that has changed in meaning over time. While it once defined a recluse with thick glasses and a pocket protector, the term has evolved into a much larger, overarching word. Nerds are people who are intrigued by things that don’t come to mind for most people who are not attached to that moniker. Typical hobbies that nerds gravitate towards are different types of games, anime, comics, and anything in a fantasy or sci-fi setting. However, in reality, almost everyone has some interest that would be seen as ‘nerdy’, and that isn’t something to be ashamed of. Today a nerd is used to define what people are passionate about, what they try to engross themselves in and learn every aspect of it until they become experts in the field. Unfortunately due to this label people try to distance themselves from other “nerds” who may share the same interests, over fear of being stigmatized because people fear that their nerdy hobbies would be mocked because they aren’t normal hobbies. I intend to create an interactive piece that will allow people to find others who share their nerdy passions free of the social pressures we are normally constricted by and see what other people nerd over.

  Nerdtopia celebrates Nerds by allowing them a safe place to just nerd out over their personal passions. Through the means of an interactive website, an interactive data visualization, and a brochure. The Interactive website is meant to connect people by letting them create a profile and view other people’s profiles to find people who share their nerdy passions with and get in contact with them.

ipad variation:

  The participatory interactive piece was supposed to be a physical wall visualization that participants could add their nerdy passions under the ten genres as they build out from the center to show people what genres are most commonly nerded over as opposed to others. However with the COVID-19 outbreak I no longer felt comfortable making a physical participatory piece so I moved it to the digital world as a website.

The Brochure is a way to show people who are unaware of the struggles nerds have gone through to finally be accepted and the transformation the word Nerd has undergone going from a derogatory term for a bookworm to an expert on a particular subject. This is also to warm people up to self identify as a nerd because some people are unaware of the change in the definition of Nerds.

I was hoping that Nerdtopia would bring people together over a shared passion for a shared subject that you might not have thought other people knew about.