The Addiction of Today’s World

Digital Illustrations

For our senior project, we were tasked with creating original artwork that follows a complex theme of our choice. I chose to illustrate 6 digital pieces to show the stages of social media addiction.

According to Care Addiction Center, there are 6 stages of addiction, initial use, experimentation, regular use, dependence, addiction, and treatment/quitting. The 6 illustrations follow these stages.

Stage 1: Initial Use

The first step in the addiction process. The first use of something either for the first time ever, or after quitting. For some, they are instantly hooked after the first use, but for others, the addiction does not start until they repeatedly use it.

Stage 2: Experimentation

The user starts to use the substance in a multitude of ways as they start to become accustomed to using it. The user starts to turn to use increasingly, especially in times of stress.

Stage 3: Regular Use

The user starts to use more frequently as it becomes part of their routine.

Stage 4: Dependence

As the user starts to use more and more, they get to a point where they have to always have it easily accessible, going without it is not an option.

Stage 5: Addiction

The user cannot stop using and it starts to consume their life, affecting their relationship with others and most importantly, their relationship with themselves.

Stage 6: Quitting

Realizing they have a problem, the user quits altogether. After no longer being part of their life, they realize how much impact it had on their life and are now trying to reclaim it.

To show the impact that social media has, I designed booklets, highlighting relevant statistics. They range from lightest - darkest, both in terms of color and content.

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