The Shape of Loss – An illustrated story about grief
Isa Imay
The project turned three personal objects into an illustrated narrative, developed for Illustration Contexts and Practices. From these objects I explored grief and ancestry, setting the story in Japan — where part of my family comes from — as the starting point for its visual language.
During the research I discovered the Jizō Bosatsu statues, protective figures found in Japanese Buddhist temples, which inspired the character who personifies grief. Despite its monstrous appearance (blue fur, horns, sharp teeth and claws), the monster has a gentle expression. The orange mark on its forehead refers directly to those on the Jizō statues.
The narrative draws a metaphor between running from the monster and running from the pain of loss, proposing a reflection on accepting grief and learning to live with absence rather than fighting it.
The illustrations were made in Adobe Illustrator, with textures and a faux-risograph effect produced in Photoshop to create a visual language inspired by analog printing. The book’s format was inspired by the dimensions of Buddhist sutras used in Japan. The transparent cover emphasizes the monster’s shape, which is the very shape of loss.
Imprint / Technical Rider:
Year: 2026
Dimensions: 105 × 148 mm; 24 pages
Materials: Cover on tracing paper printed in blue; pages on Munken Pure 120 g.
Production and finishing: Stapled binding; digital color printing.
Resources and credits: Original text; typeface: Providence Sans Pro.
Illustrations in Adobe Illustrator CC 2025, textures and risograph effect in Adobe Photoshop CC 2025, layout in Adobe InDesign CC 2025.
Curricular Unit:
Illustration Contexts and Practices (1st year)
Supervising Professor:
Rui Vitorino Santos
Keywords: Grief, Ancestry, Japanese Culture, Japan
See this project in the Material Archive interactive archive →