Rules
You Jin
My design theme is rules. I focus on how people establish visual structures to express rules and explore how rules are
used to convey stories. During my thesis project, I conducted an in-depth study on the application of rules in design,
summarizing my research methodology into three primary steps: observing rules, collecting rules, and remixing rules.
Thesis Book
The Thesis book is designed with inspiration from notebook page layout rules, featuring my Thesis projects and research literature.
Chapter 1 of the Thesis Book
The first part of the book is dedicated to the collection of rules, showcasing and categorizing my collection of various types of notebook pages.
Chapter 2 of the Thesis Book
This section demonstrates the visual structural characteristics of rules. The second part of the book presents my research literature on visual structures and rules, illustrating my observation of rules.
Chapter 3 of the Thesis Book
The third part of the book includes my design projects, showing how I remix and recreate rules.
Lo-Shu Magic Matrix Variations
This project transforms the numbers of the Lo-Shu magic square into a dot matrix for a music box paper tape, where the square's numbers, except for the central 5, rotate and invert to form varying visual and musical patterns. The creator analyzed the relationship of these 8 numbers to the central 5, expressing the discovered rules through changes in the dot pattern to compose a series of musical variations. It demonstrates the remix and transformation between different sets of rules.
Book of Lo-Shu
This project serves as a concise distillation of the preceding Lo-Shu Variations project. In this endeavor, I have preserved the characteristic of each number rotating around the number 5, illustrating their rotational process and pattern using a dot matrix approach. The rotational process of these eight numbers is presented on 35mm x 35mm square paper pieces, compiled into a small book. At the heart of this book are five holes that run through its entirety, symbolizing the unchanging central number 5 amidst the rotational transformations. Additionally, the format of this small book is designed based on the dimensions of a music box strip, allowing viewers to tear out any page they find intriguing and insert it into a music box to hear the music of the Lo-Shu square at various stages of transformation.