Education
Feat. Mutual Friends

Future Notes I.
The Parables of Emerging Designers

Constance Chen
Dongyue Wang
Zhengya Huang
Planned and Co-organized——Winfield Chang

Future Notes invites student members to share their creative practices during the first one to two years following graduation. In this inaugural session, three emerging designers and their invited collaborators present distinct approaches to design shaped by the coexistence of traditional techniques, artificial intelligence, and new media.

Liu Yu, Poster Series of Mutual Friends: Design for the Future I., 2022.

Chen Wan-Yu
(a study of) BWV1080

Chen Wan-Yu’s project examines the use of digital generation as a creative tool in her study of orchid hybridisation. Treating code as a genetic sequence and music as a nurturing ‘nutrient’, she cultivated over 10,000 unique orchids through algorithmic processes. By translating 2D imagery into 3D forms, she positions generative programming as a disruptive yet fertile tool—sowing seeds for her future artistic development alongside her routine design practice.

The project has received feedback from professionals in scientific and biological disciplines. Inspired by real-world studies of orchids, its digital outcomes also offer practical implications for orchid hybridisation and discovery—highlighting the potential of generative design as a bridge between art and science.

Huang Cheng-Ya
The Projection of the Individual

Huang Cheng-Ya investigates the structure of content in book design, engaging with editorial processes from the early stages to cultivate a deeper understanding and greater flexibility in his design practice. For Huang, linear editorial structures—reminiscent of comics and animation—enable a more nuanced manipulation of symbols, while prompting reconsideration of the spatial dynamics between text and imagery.

Book design was not Huang’s initial area of creative focus; rather, it emerged organically from his student projects. Drawn to his calm and cohesive visual language, content creators began inviting him to collaborate. One notable work, Huang Cheng-Ya: Image and Text, employs his own body as a semiotic device and takes the form of a compact booklet, offering a distinct perspective on the relationship between image and text.

Wang Dong-Yue
IMAGEs Series

Wang Dong-Yue’s IMAGEs Series began as an inquiry into the fundamental nature of graphic design: Can design exist purely as image? Can it transcend the arrangement of text and information? Can it originate solely from aesthetic intuition rather than functional intent? His work prioritises the emotional resonance of standalone images.

Wang’s explorations tend toward organic, biomorphic forms with a propensity for self-replication and continuous growth. Through this process, he came to see the IMAGEs Series as a temporal snapshot of his aesthetic and technical boundaries. As a result, he now revisits the series annually as a personal project—refining his visual direction and exploring ways to integrate experimental insights into collaborative design work.

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