Mishbah Patel

The Comic Forge

Bachelor of Design Retail Experience Interior Design Spatial Narrative Speculative Design Story-telling Fictional space Imagined Futures

www.linkedin.com/in/mishbah-patel

Alternative 19th century Nuffield Street hosts The Comic Forge’s towering facade that shimmers with a labyrinthine shelving network made up of interlocking copper pipes, twisting and coiling across the building’s glazed surface. Almost like a living, breathing, entity.

AD24 Award

Artichoke Award

For outstanding Interior Design

Te Tī Tūtahi (Newmarket) Reimagined

In the heart of the city of Brassmoor, where smog-clouds mingle with the haze of machinery, a peculiar factory looms. The Comic Forge—a vast, steam-powered marvel—humming with life as cogs spin in endless rotation, pulleys groan under the weight of their burdens, and vats bubble with strange, ink-like fluid. However, this factory isn't for forging iron or gears. No, it specialises in something far more precious: stories. This steam-powered facility recycles paper remnants donated from the proletariat. These remnants of Brassmoor’s past are fed into towering, steam-belching contraptions, cleansing it of grime but preserving its history. Each torn edge and ink stain holding whispers of long-lost tales.

The Comic Forge reflects on the transition between eras and explores the liminal space between past and present. It is inspired by the speculative steampunk aesthetic—an alternate Victorian era marked by retrofuturistic steam-powered technology. Like a comic book’s sequential storytelling, the design guides users through an immersive narrative, blending historical and speculative elements. The Comic Forge emphasizes the preservation of stories, inviting participants to experience history as a living, imaginative continuum. The illustrations made in this factory don’t just show stories; they bring them to life.

Remnants of Brassmoor’s past are fed into towering, steam-belching contraptions that pulp and refine the paper, cleansing it of grime but preserving its history. Each torn edge and ink stain holding whispers of long-lost tales.

Master or veteran, each work within the communal chamber, crafting exquisite graphic novellas with these repurposed pages.

In the speculative city of Brassmoor, comics forged from recycled memories are highly sought after. Not merely for their content, but for the ever-changing residual knowledge within them—half-remembered dreams, forgotten legends, or the last thoughts of someone long gone.