We had the distinct pleasure to interview award winning designer Yunzi Liu about their original and creative Book design work. Yunzi Liu is an award-winning communication designer, that makes our world a better place with their original book works.
Yunzi Liu ("YL") answered Design Interview ("DI") questions about their award-winning work Quirky Louise Book. Interview questions prepared by Frank Scott.
YL : This was a project called Bio-Diagram that I finished at school. I tried to examine myself from an outsider's view and realized how ordinary I was except some weird habits of mine. For example, when I trim my fingernails, my order is as follows: left thumb, right thumb, left pinky to the left index finger, right pinky to the right index finger. I tend to ignore this sort of detail in daily life without taking a few seconds to think if they could make any difference when the results keep accumulating. This was how I got the inspiration.
YL : I would like to dive into my living habits and examine the butterfly effects that my quirky habits can cause, on me, or the planet. Since this book is based on infographics, taking the most accurate numbers and collecting enough data to average it out is the most challenging task during the design process.
YL : This pop-up book is pretty personal. I would like to make some changes if I have a chance to publish or sell.
YL : About a month.
YL : Bio-Diagram is a given topic, but this project is more of pursuing my inspiration. I developed this idea mostly because of my interest in understanding and analyzing myself and ended up with astonishing numbers and facts. Even every one of us seems trivial to the whole universe, our casual behaviors may cause huge influence.
YL : I want to produce and sell by myself.
YL : I am always interested in making books. This pop-up book structure is adopted because it is quite architectural. It resembles rooms at home which can create an environment for the content.
YL : My instructor Adam Lucas inspired and helped me a lot during my design process. He guided me to clarify and simplify my thoughts and he is pretty open about the forms I used.
YL : Mostly young people.
YL : I guess the combination of the unique book structure and its content can differentiate my design from other similar concepts.
YL : Louise is an English name that I used when I was at school because my Chinese name is too difficult to pronounce. I started my research based on my unusual habits so I chose "Quirky" to modify myself.
YL : I used Adobe Illustrator.
YL : Illustration and infographic resonating with each other might be the most unique feature of this design.
YL : Not technically, but I did ask for my friends' help when I collected raw data.
YL : technology helped a lot in data collection, such as some health apps that can keep a record of how many steps you have walked for a day.
YL : The majority of the content came from data and analytical research. For example, when I wash hands, I damp my hands, turn off the tap, use hand soap, turn on the tap, and clean the tap after use. I noticed that some people would let the tap run when they were applying hand soap, so I wanted to compare the two ways and see how much water I could save or waste. At first, I measured the diameter of my tap and taps of other school buildings to take an average and used a stopwatch to calculate the speed and other time durations. After calculating, I found that I saved water and got the number of how much water I could save in one year. Then I measured the water I used to cook a regular bowl of rice to see how many bowls of rice that saved water could cook. Also, I researched online to get newly updated numbers about available clean water and other numbers worldwide. I also collected numbers from phone apps.
YL : The first challenge for this project is collecting adequate and accurate statistics since the topic I chose is relatively personal. I tried to gather as much data as possible, such as experimenting with my friends and families. Another big challenge is how to exhibit the numbers so that they can not only convey enough messages but also not too overwhelming. To solve this, I left out some numbers in-process and hight the most shocking numbers. For the graphics, choosing the best forms of diagram for each topic required careful consideration. Instead of huge complicated diagrams, I used several simple diagrams for one topic to demonstrate different facts. Technically, how to close the book structure was another problem. The traditional structure can be opened 360 degrees but the reader has to hold both covers. After trying various ways, I hid thin magnetic tapes in the front and back cover so when they meet each other, they will stick together automatically.
YL : First of all, A' Design Award is a renowned competition in all the design fields. Becoming an award winner is my biggest honor. Also, I found that when I presented this work at school, my instructor and classmates were all astonished at the numbers, which means none of us had ever thought how much difference that easily overlooked behaviors could make. So by entering this competition, I hope to call for the young generation to take responsibility for the world and become more speculative about future problems.
YL : I learned how to collect raw data and extract meaningful ideas through data analysis.
YL : There is still a big room for me to continue this project. I do appreciate this opportunity. Thanks.
