Yijia (Yoka) Zhuang
Biography
I’m a designer passionate about exploring social issues through visual design. My work focuses on communication and understanding between people, aiming to use design as a tool to foster inclusion and empathy in society. I believe design is not only a form of expression, but also a powerful force for social change and a bridge between cultures.
Portfolio
Original Machines
Original Machines is a visual communication project that explores the relationship between artificial intelligence and human emotion. Centred around the image of a metallic heart—symbolising life and human feeling—the project visualises AI’s attempt to understand and simulate the complexity of human emotion through cold, data-driven logic.
By integrating dynamic graphics generated in TouchDesigner and a range of promotional materials, the project constructs a visual system that is both coldly precise and poetically expressive, questioning whether AI can truly convey human emotion through data in the age of technology. Through the development of a cohesive brand identity, Original Machines investigates how human emotion can be seen, interpreted, or even fabricated in a highly digitalised communication landscape.
Deep Dive
This project started because I often saw misunderstandings and hurtful comments about sexual assault online. Sexual assault is not just a personal trauma—it is also connected to how society blames and shames survivors. Questions like “What were you wearing?” shift the blame to the victim and hide the responsibility of the abuser. Many stories begin with pain and end in silence.
I designed a book called Not My Fault to respond to these online discussions and share the real voices that are often ignored. I collected first-person stories from hashtags like
#WhatWereYouWearing
#WhyIDidNotReport
#YouAreNotAlone
and turned them into visual language. This project hopes to help remove shame and stigma from survivors, letting their silence be seen and their pain be understood.
The Grey Table
According to Chinese culture, family meals symbolise reunion and affection, especially for the older generation. However, the lack of interaction at the dining table weakens this symbolism. Many elderly people living alone feel lonely and tend to eat casually, which negatively affects their health. Sharing food by picking up dishes for one another is a common practice in Chinese dining culture. Inspired by this, the fonts are created based on the trajectory of soup dripping onto the table. These fonts were incorporated into motion graphics and shared on social media to encourage people to visit home more often and accompany their elders during meals.
