With a focus on blending experimental and interdisciplinary visual storytelling, my projects explore societal narratives like digital identity, cultural representation, and emotional engagement. Rooted in research and creative interaction, my work aims to reflect on modern communication challenges while celebrating the intersection of design and cultural exchange.
COMMUNICATION DESIGNER LI WEN YI. 2024 PORTFOLIO
3d virtual display & zine
video link
https://youtu.be/MKVmVbiz41M
Illusory Reflections
Urban Imagery Behind Social Media and the Absence of Reality
Social media tends to present an idealized image of the city, but this image is often exaggerated and distorted, like a false mirror image. This project poignantly reflects the influence of social media on urban promotion and the division between reality and virtual representations.
INSPIRATION BACKGROUND RESEARCH
Today, mass social media plays a significant role in shaping people's perceptions of different regions. Social media algorithms recommend content to users, creating a new relationship between people, media, and places. Negative news and rumors are often amplified on social media, making it challenging to distinguish between accurate and false information.
This can distort people's understanding of a region, leading to a "mediated sense of place" that alters urban spaces over time. As regions develop their own cultures, mass media's communication becomes intertwined with these cultures, influencing the significance of a place.
The coffee shop I actually felt
Impact of Negative Bias
Negative Bias is the tendency to pay more attention to negative information than positive or neutral information. Social media takes advantage of this by promoting negative news and rumors to attract attention, even if they're not entirely accurate. This can create a biased view of certain areas, shaping a negative urban image influenced by constant media exposure and public opinion.
The Pervasive Issue of Disseminating False Information Online
False information is a common issue online due to the fast and widespread nature of information sharing. Inaccurate or misleading news can quickly spread, often because they grab attention, evoke emotions, or spark controversy. This can lead to misunderstandings and potentially harm individuals, organizations, or society.
My friends' favorite coffee shop used to be filled with plants, but now it's all stacked coffee cups.Despite the air conditioning, the heat was unbearable, unlike what I expected.Sweat dripped down my face, longing for an iced coffee to cool down.The décor was mostly stainless steel, grey burlap, and wood.The small space had just two tables and a sofa, creating an intimate atmosphere.
The coffee shop in the medium
Various of people's especially selectively scenes, other flat the reality environment, subjective
With the for publicity, local identity traveller's help or with an
Influences on Place Perception: Perspectives of Relatives and Friends
Our judgment of a place is influenced by those around us. Relatives emphasize family ties and emotions, while friends highlight entertainment and social aspects. This leads to different perspectives and emphases in how the place is described and evaluated.
Mediated Society: Information Dependence and the Evolution of Social Media
Mediatized society is formed by the dynamic interplay between media and society. It arises from growing audience needs for information, spurring media advancements. With the rise of social media and its vast information accessibility, global connectivity, and real-time sharing, people increasingly rely on and engage with media. This deepens their dependence on media platforms.
SUMMARY OF RESEARCH
Various types of media influence the formation people's perception of an unfamiliar area, especially social media. Social media will only selectively present some wonderful specific scenes, through text, pictures, videos and flat media to convey can not fully capture reality of the details, atmosphere and environment, which also often exists between subjective and objective differences.
the current high reliance on social media publicity, how does the sense of place and identity brought by social media affect the traveller's experience and how does the medium or hinder people to establish a connection an unfamiliar place.
FIRST HAND RESEARCH
Perceived publicity through social media to be more authentic than the narratives of relatives and friends.
The perception is that publicity through social media is not as authentic as the narratives of relatives and friends. Whether or not you
Step1. Artist Research
Hieronymus Bosch
One of his most famous triptychs is The Garden of Earthly Delights (c. 1495–1505) whose outer panels are intended to bracket the main central panel between the Garden of Eden depicted on the left panel and the Last Judgment depicted on the right panel.
The painting is rich in symbolism, featuring various strange creatures, fantastical landscapes, and symbolic motifs. Through this masterpiece, Bosch expresses his concerns about the moral decline of humanity and reflects on religious beliefs.
Expressing concepts through shaped objects
VISUAL EXPERIMENT
Step 2. Scene
Setting
Render
Step 3. Object morphology and material settings
Step 4. Elements
Outcome 1.3d video display video link
https://youtu.be/MKVmVbiz41M
https://youtu.be/MKVmVbiz41M
Outcome 2.Zine
Motion Graphic & Web Design
video link：https://youtu.be/g078Ve6nmeI
MAKEOVER MADNESS
"Makeover Madness" is an interactive project exploring the cultural and personal significance of makeup in expressing identity and navigating social scenarios. Through a virtual environment, users can experiment with different makeup styles, fostering confidence and encouraging self-expression in a judgment-free setting.
INSPIRATION
Facial decorations and expressions in specific situations can convey personal characteristics and role positioning. According to the interpretation of a specific image and emotion of the character under the audience's gaze, thereby achieving the purpose of role-playing.
These decorations and expressions, as an important part of role-playing, enable individuals to effectively express the necessary characteristics and emotional states in particular scenarios, facilitating effective interaction with the audience.
RESEARCH
PERSONA
Korean light and sweet makeup creates a fresh, cute, and youthful effect through pink blush, translucent foundation, natural brows, and highlighted aegyo-sal, reflecting the pursuit of natural beauty and a youthful appearance, characteristic of Korean makeup.
Japanese Shibuya gal makeup showcases a rebellious, wild, and vintage beauty through dark foundation, exaggerated eye makeup, dark lashes, and light lipstick. It emphasizes individuality and a rejection of traditional beauty standards.
Asian smokey makeup achieves a highend yet lively look by retaining natural skin texture, concealing facial imperfections, highlighting facial contours, and using deep eye shadows and natural nude lipsticks. This reflects modern women’s pursuit of self-expression and natural beauty.
The new Chinese style makeup blends traditional and modern elements, emphasizing a dignified and elegant goddess image through matte foundation, natural brows, full eyeliner, and bright matte red lipstick. It reflects a respect for traditional culture and the pursuit of graceful elegance.
Tantan faces the challenge of self-expression and acceptance in a workplace environment. She wants to show her true self through make-up, but the reactions of her colleagues undermine her self-confidence.
To address this concern, I developed a game that allows users to create makeup looks online. The main function of this game is to help users venture into different makeup looks in a virtual environment while avoiding the embarrassment and stress of reality.
FLOW CHART
Community
Makeup Design
Scene Dialogue
VISUAL EXPERIMENT
Step1.
Summarise the shape of facial make-up
EXPERIMENT
For the makeup style, I borrowed traditional Chinese patterns and plants, borrowing their shapes and colour schemes to include new shapes in addition to the shape of the face. make-up
Step2. Drawing some extra shapes
Step4. Fill it with the appropriate color
Step3. Put them together
The font is derived from the traditional pattern of Chinese orchids.
USER FEEDBACK
I got a lot of likes after trying my hand at picking my own shapes and colors to form my own cards and posting them in the community. This gave me more confidence to try new makeup looks in real life. But I felt there were so few scenes to pick from that it wasn't a great reference for me, and the dialog was limited and didn't do a good job of recreating all of my experiences.
CozyEve
Brand’ s Values
We are committed to providing care and support to women, especially during the special time before the monthly physiological period. CozyEve provides PMS supplements to help alleviate the discomfort, as well as conducts online and offline activities to disseminate scientific knowledge about PMS and its care. We believe that a healthy body and a peaceful mind are an important part of a new woman's lifestyle, and CozyEve strives to make it easy for every woman to face PMS and embrace a better life every day.
Brand Promise
We promise to wholeheartedly care for every woman's health and happiness. By offer ing high-quality health products, professional health education, and both online and offline interactions, we are dedicated to helping women confidently and gracefully embrace the beauty of each day.
Brand Slogan
Nurturing from the Heart, Empowering Women Anew
Brand Personality: Caregiver
INSPIRATION 2.Research
Humans are among the very few species to experience a period. The menstrual cycle starts in the brain, which sends signals to the pituitary gland to produce hormones that stimulate the ovaries. The ovaries house egg-containing follicles that release an egg during ovulation. The ovaries also secrete hormones to help prepare the uterus to host an embryo, which results if the egg is fertilized by a sperm. If no embryo implants, the uterus disposes of its lining, and the cycle begins again.
RESEARCH
1.Firsthand research on PMS
Questionnaire on pms
Number of investigators: 20 14/7/202-17/7/2024
It has been found that women will relieve their discomfort by taking specific medicines before or during their periods.
For her “Pill Series,” Kim carves semiprecious stones into the form of pills. The series grew out of her realization that many of the pills she kept in a drawer were not only medication but also symbols of someone’s love—a wish for her good health and wellness, a tangible representation of caring. She views her jewelry, in turn, as a wearable manifestation of her own deep affection.
Yoojung Kim
“Cozyeve” feminine). to women, only echoes psychological night
2.Research on what's in a women's bag
Most of them carry a notebook with them to help them keep track of their daily schedule
All the medicines are still in their original packaging
They also have a certain demand for water cups
The frequency of jewelry is very low, most people put in the bag is the use of high frequency of items, practical things in life are more likely to appear in women's bags, such as notebooks, chargers, headphones and so on.
SUMMARY
In China, awareness and promotion of PMS are relatively limited, with some women lacking sufficient knowledge about it. Through research on the items women commonly carry in their bags, it was observed that they tend to prefer items that offer both practicality and an attractive appearance.
This insight highlights a gap in health education around PMS and a preference for functional, aesthetically pleasing products among women.
“Cozyeve” combines the meanings of ‘Cozy’ (warm, cozy) and ‘Eve’ (night, It represents the brand's desire to provide warmth and support women, especially at special times of the month. The brand name not echoes the physical comfort that our products bring, but also the psychological care and warmth that we hope to bring to women, just as the brings tranquility.
Color
Product Trial
base design process
About PMS and the introductory brochure
Describe to the user some of the basics of PMS, describing the active ingredients in the health medication taken each day for seven days.
Product handbag
The pattern on the handbag references the translucent shell packaging of the tablets
Brand Characters Design
Character expressions are based on the symptoms that will occur during the seven days of PMS Day 1
Sleep Issues
Easily fatigued
Emotional fluctuations
research findings that users are willing to keep a record of their daily affairs on a daily basis, a yearly calendar for the year 2025 has been designed and is able to work with the period recording function in the app to help remind users of the time to take health supplements to alleviate PMS.
APP DESIGN
In the app users can keep track of their periods to deduce when they need to start taking pills, find out what pms goes through, and the different problems each of the ingredients in the pills can solve. There is also the ability to purchase products and peripherals both online and offline by registering as a member who can participate in offline events.
Product packaging box
Add the brand logo as well as the brand name and slogan
The block-like packaging makes it easy to notice, and with the calendar and applet, it helps to remind people whether or not to take their medication today
Packaging designed in a pull-out format for easy storage and opening
Take it with a CozyEve
Feedback
Overall, Cozyeve products are elegantly and practically designed. The pill and capsule shapes are not only easy to carry but also convey the brand’s warmth and thoughtfulness.
The packaging colors and design provide a comforting feel, helping to ease discomfort while bringing a sense of care.However, there’s room for improvement in certain design aspects, such as making the packaging easier to open and reseal, and perhaps making the small-sized items easier to locate in a bag. With refinements to these details, the user experience would be even better.
CozyEve glass!
Book Design
https://youtu.be/VRvAHBcRdqw
What are you doing?
The project sheds light on the phenomenon of over-cautiousness and worry about the appropriateness of wording in modern social interaction, reflecting the social anxiety and emotional manipulation behind this phenomenon.
By providing specific chatting scenarios and sample responses, the project not only demonstrates common conversational responses, but also explores whether this over-cautiousness alienates real communication between people. The critical part of the project will analyze the social pressure, emotional disconnection, and even inhibition of authentic expression that this phenomenon may bring about, aiming to remind people of how to maintain authenticity in daily conversations instead of being bound by social conventions.
INSPIRATION
In digital socialising, people communicate via text, leading to overly cautious responses becoming the norm. As a result of the promotion of emotional intelligence, many people rely on ‘high emotional intelligence skills’ to handle social interaction rather than expressing themselves authentically. This phenomenon increases self-censorship, and interpersonal communication becomes superficial and lacking in sincerity. The project aims to shed light on the hidden concerns of this cautious socialising phenomenon, and to critique the impact of this over-cautiousness on authentic communication, prompting people to reflect on authenticity and emotion in social interaction.
RESEARCH Background research
The Rise of Digital Communication and the Limitations of Text-Based Interactions
With the widespread use of social media and instant messaging, text has become the primary mode of communication. However, without the nuances of vocal tone and body language, text-based communication is more prone to misinterpretation. This limitation has led people to communicate with increasing caution to avoid misunderstandings.
Psychological Drivers Behind Overinterpretation
The Dual Influence of Emotional Intelligence and Social Pressure
Emotional intelligence (EI) is highly valued, and there’s growing emphasis on “saying the right thing” in social interactions. Yet, the overemphasis on EI has also introduced social pressures, especially regarding self-expression. Many people carefully scrutinize their words before responding, worried about unintended offense. This caution has made everyday conversations tense and complex.
VISUAL EXPERIMENT
Overinterpretation is often rooted in social anxiety and a heightened dependence on relationships. In communication, people tend to search for “hidden meanings” or subtle implications, attempting to extract deeper insights from surface-level text. This behavior adds to the complexity of messages, making conversations indirect and unclear.
Firsthand research
SUMMARY
Careful wording and high emotional intelligence responses are prevalent in modern socialising. People adjust the wording and word count of their replies in different social situations to respond to the expectations or social roles of the other party.
My fellow classmate spent ten minutes editing her text message before sending it to one of her teachers, and asked four friends to see if the tone was appropriate.
EXPERIMENT
Step 1
Arrange the letters and words on the stamp that you want to print on the paper.
Step 2
Printed on paper with a coding machine.
Step 3
Stick the printed scratch-off paper on the appropriate page in the book
Step 4
Scrape off the grey part of the paper with a small plastic spatula to reveal the pages of the book
Book Cover Making Process
BOOK DESIGN
Thank you for exploring my portfolio. This collection represents my journey as a visual communication designer, showcasing how I navigate the intersection of design, culture, and social dialogue. Through each project, I strive to address contemporary issues with a creative and critical lens. I hope this body of work inspires meaningful reflections and sparks a deeper understanding of the potential of design in shaping our shared future.