Day 11 Designing a visual system

I am currently working on a visual system for my university submissions. Maybe I’ve indulged in too many design books, but I just love playful, intentional design—and I don’t want my work to bore myself or others to sleep.

Here is what I imagine:
Each slide has two sides. One holds the straightforward answer to the assignment—my reasoning and a clear documentation of the physical process. The other side holds the research, inspiration, and philosophy behind it. That is the real, non-linear process, where I show what I am learning. I want to share what I am uncovering not because I am asked to, but because I genuinely want to.

Diving into all the cool things people make feels like a buffet. Design can be so fun.

It’s strange—despite thinking about these things so much, I rarely have the opportunity to share them. One of my current inspirations is Tyree Guyton, an African American artist who transformed his street and neighbourhood in the 1980s through what became the Heidelberg Project. He used art to bring hope back into a place that was becoming increasingly unsafe. Reading about what happened to the project later makes me sad—the aggression it has faced is hard to comprehend.

That is the power of art, isn’t it? It can make people hopeful, help them believe in the human spirit again—and precisely because of that, it is always at risk. Play is part of art, and it is deeply vulnerable. Art is meant to be for everyone.

One day, in my own way, I would like to create work that references this project. If I ever get to renovate an old, crumbling house, the façade will be covered in colourful dots too. They are an invitation—you are welcome here. That is why they worked so well for Tyree’s work. Dots carry a very different energy than squares.

I am not a particularly extroverted person, but I imagine my future neighbours walking past that house, once empty for years, now covered in dots. Maybe they pause. Maybe they wonder: who lives there? What are they doing? Why are there dots everywhere? I imagine their curiosity—and maybe, one day, they stop by to say hello.

In hard times, it is important to remember that art and hope are not a luxury. They are what give us the strength to keep going, to believe in the human spirit.

I hope you are well wherever you are
Celine