The visual identity is developed through the spacing between words as its core method. Spatial relationships are used to reflect the structure between water systems and rural development, moving from unity, to dispersion, and toward reassembly. In this way, history and space are translated into a perceptible visual language, where text is no longer just a carrier of information, but becomes the structure itself.
At the same time, the project reflects on the relationship between locality and modernity. When design enters rural contexts, it often carries an external perspective, treating “locality” as something to be distilled and preserved as cultural symbols. However, when locality is reduced to a sign of tradition or backwardness, it can easily be appropriated from the outside and used as a way to reinforce identity, rather than reflecting lived reality.
From this perspective, locality should not be understood as a fixed cultural label, but as something that is constantly changing. If certain cultural forms are no longer practiced or actively maintained by local communities, that is part of their natural development, and also an authentic expression of locality. After a long process of modernization, rural communities in China are not only preserving the past, but also actively engaging with contemporary life. Design should not simply reuse cultural symbols, but respond to this ongoing transformation.
Identity
Project Title:
Art Field Nanhai
Client:
Art Field Nanhai
City:
Foshan
Year:
2022
Tian Bo
Designers:
Chen Luyi, Li Tong, Ling Hongdai
Project Manager:
Wang Man
Dimension:
Various