Navigating Illegibility
Xinting Feng (Carey)
My thesis explores the complex concept of illegibility in social and behavioral contexts, looking at how it interacts
with power structures, communication dynamics, and the constant shift between the visible and the invisible. The primary
aim of my thesis is to explore the cognitive frameworks deeply ingrained and influenced by cultural, historical, and
societal forces. This exploration will enhance our understanding of communities or individuals who differ from
mainstream cultural norms and power structures. Instead of trying to decode and normalize identities perceived as
“illegible,” we should acknowledge and appreciate the resilience of those deemed illegible and their ability to evade
and subvert power structures.
A.F.A.I.K (As Far As I Know)
In this project, I capture the unfamiliar and weird things on the street from the perspective of an outsider living in New York City and present them in a montage of images and illustrations. I don't expect to decode these things but simply document and appreciate them.
EMOLEX: We Talk Through Our Faces
Emolex is a simply structured symbolic language based on facial expressions. It allows users to personalize combinations to create characters that convey specific emotional information, fostering shared understanding when shared with particular individuals.
In this project, I have implemented the concept of “Legibility is a dynamic process” by altering the glyphs of each page
of my thesis writing. I start with simple and commonly used fonts and gradually move towards more complex and noisy
fonts. This approach challenges the audience’s reading habits and perception as they encounter unusual glyphs throughout
the process.
There are two different patterns in this Riso 4-color postcard set; one is a collage of randomly drawn patterns that I
put together and constructed a new visual experience by giving them different colors. The other is a different form of
the numbers 1-31 I created.