Haoxuan Jiang
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From Dark to Bright to None

2022.12 — 2023.1

Light up, or not?

From Dark to Bright to None — book pages spelling the title

Using book design, texture experiment, and poster design to bring awareness to light pollution — emphasizing its weight through uncomfortable gradients and graphics, and how it harms the ecosystem and society.

Role
Designer
Project type
Book · Poster · Texture
Timeline
2 months
Tools
Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign
Theme
Light pollution
Format
Spiral-bound book

View the book below

Why the discomfort

The gradient colors are intended to be visually uncomfortable — pairing brightness against deep dark to convey the harm light pollution inflicts on animals and human beings. Rounded gradient shapes with pointy edges stand in for the threat, so the discomfort of looking mirrors the discomfort of the subject.

What I learned

Discomfort can be a design tool. By making the gradients hard to sit with, the book lets people feel the cost of light pollution before they read a single statistic — form carrying the argument as much as the words.

2024
A wooden comb study
Next
Comb

Thanks for reading. If anything caught your eye, I'd love to hear about it.