Mengyi Wang
About
Mengyi Wang, a graphic designer based in London & Beijing. She has a wide range of different skills, including developing branding, visual identity, product packaging, printed matter, and moving image. She specializes provides design strategy for marketing service to clients and target audiences.
Her creative process is rooted in capturing the essence of everyday life, channeling real emotions and establishing a profound emotional connection with the designed product. In her approach, she seamlessly integrates traditional paper media with contemporary technology, repurposing graphic design and modern advancements as mediums.
Statement
My project is about memories and loss. My grandfather passed away six months ago, and I am eager to recollect more memories of him. While going through an old photo I had kept of him, I realized that I hadn't properly examined this photo in a long time. In our era of information overload, our typical approach to viewing photographs involves focusing on the main subject, often neglecting the individual details that can offer fresh insights or help us recall overlooked memories. I believe that many individuals share this desire to preserve their cherished memories.
To address this need, I have developed an interactive system that facilitates the recollection and documentation of people's cherished memories. This system incorporates photographs as a medium, and employs eye-tracking technology to record the process of individuals viewing the photo. As the area of the photograph being observed disappears, it prompts the audience to pay closer attention to other details within the image, thereby enabling them to recapture important memories in a unique manner.
This project caters to individuals who possess cherished memories and wish to maintain and explore them in different contexts. The aim of this system is to provide people with an opportunity and space to notice the finer details within their treasured photographs, ultimately assisting them in preserving the memories that hold the greatest significance to them.
Memories
13-02-2019
I realize that I had never truly examined this photo in detail, even though it was the only time I had held his hands in four years. I noticed the rough and rocky ground beneath us, and I remembered wearing uncomfortable shoes that day, that was the reason for hand holding. I recall how he despised the vibrant color of his jeans, yet he still wore them outside the door because he knew it made me happy. He was always so formal, wearing a shirt whenever we went out, just like in the picture. Remembered he never quite approved of my dress style, but he never prevented me from wearing anything either. Gazing at his headphones, I wonder when he developed an interest in online novels. It seems he had been listening to them for quite some time now. And now, I can finally recollect the weather on the day the photo was taken, it was a remarkably sunny day, unlike any I had seen since he fell ill afterwards.
12-05-2017
Those objects have occupied their place on the table for more than a decade. My grandpa would sit at this table for hours, engrossed in stock speculation. I can vividly recall him wearing his glasses, taking a pen, and diligently writing in an old notebook. Even now, I still like to write things by hand, just as he did. He was a smoker, I have memories of helping him clean the ashtray when I was a child, but as I grew older, I realized that I didn't need to do it and never had the chance. The table has a pale yellow hue with a grainy finish, often adorned with remnants of cigarette ashes and accidental oil stains from my childhood.
03-05-2022
On the day of his funeral, I sat in the car, gazing out through the window, and there were thousands of these purple wildflowers all over the hills. It struck me that I had never truly taken the time to appreciate these delicate blooms, much like how I hadn't sincerely examined his face in a long while. My attention had always been captured by the lush green leaves, but now, I recognized the exquisite beauty of the flowers, and they remained etched in my memory.
26-01-2020
Whenever I visit to his house, he would prepare an array of dishes, fish stew and beef slices were always the highlights. Vegetables were a rarity on the table, as neither of us had a particular fondness for them. As I observed the plates, which had graced my grandfather's home for as long as I could recall without ever being replaced, nostalgia washed over me. When he decided to renovate the house, the dining table being replaced by a spacious table with a swiveling top. Despite this change, he always sat on the right side of the table, closest to the room's entrance, a position that he had held steadfastly for over a decade.
Memories, Memories
I tested the visual system I designed on a crowd and archived the resulting images here.
Medium: Paper 150gsm