Graphic Design

Bo-Yu Chen

Bo-Yu Chen is a Taiwanese graphic design practitioner whose practice ranges from photography to branding and typography in Latin alphabet and Chinese character typefaces. His work focuses on Language and Community. He is one of the co-founders of ‘Junction ’, a non-profit online platform which aims to provide insight into academic and professional life for Taiwanese students who want to study and work in art and design fields in the UK. 

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Awards
Nomination, Golden Butterfly Award, 2016 

Exhibitions
Work in Progress show 2020, Royal College of Art, London, 2020 
The Summer Exhibition, The Elephant West & Troubadour Trust, London, 2019

Contact

ku.ca.acr.krowten@nehc.uy-ob

Website

Instagram

Behance

Degree Details

School of Communication

Graphic Design

Incorporating typography, branding and publication, I use my graphic design practice to illuminate issues impacting underrepresented communities. My recent work has focused on the effects language barriers have on migrant student experiences. I’m interested in how digital spaces can playfully lead a viewer through an interactive experience and facilitate empathy and understanding of the challenges faced by others.

An Invisible wall

Visual design (homepage and concept)

Visual design — I didn’t find it as hard as arriving at a new school in a new city could be, but I do remember comparing myself with perfect English speakers and thinking ‘I could never be as comfortable as they are’.

Visual design — 'I try to use easy words and repetition to describe one thing which is bothering me.'

As an international student, I was very excited about trying new things at the beginning of the term, but as a “non-proficient” speaker of English, I felt constantly frustrated by the language barrier which hindered my access to information and ability to communicate with my class. My frustrations contributed to a deep sense of loneliness which became the focus of my research. I became interested in personal perspectives of loneliness, in particular those of non-native/proficient speakers of English.

This digital space contains interviews conducted with international students in London. Through a series of playful Interactions in typography, it aims to facilitate empathy and an understanding of the challenges that communicating in a second language presents.
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Please click the link to experience this digital space. You can also contact me for more information or to share your personal stories via the survey on the web.
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https://aninvisiblewall.com/
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Medium:

Website

Size:

Loneliness, Language, Language Barrier, Cultural Differences, International Student, Migrants, Community, Graphic Design, Typography, Web Design, Digital Space, User Experience

Cover

Content

Editorial

Jimmy — Normally, I feel very anxious and tired which causes bad mood swings. Physically, I smoke a lot and sometimes break out in a cold sweat.

X — It affects me physically, as I suffer from an eating disorder...

George — It affects me mentally first, I feel a bit depressed. And this translates to a physical discomfort/ contraction but not always.

Vince — I feel lonely when something triggers me, it could be a movie, a scene or an action.

Animation

Work in Progress show 2020

At some point last year, whilst on the tube, I found an article in a discarded copy of The Economist about loneliness in London. This article indicated that Britain is the ‘loneliness capital of Europe’. In fact, London struck me as a lonely city when I started my new life here one and a half years ago.

As an international student, I was very excited about trying new things at the beginning of term; all the while, I felt quite frustrated with language barriers and cultural differences, which hindered my access to information and ability to communicate with my class as well as in daily life. According to research by the British charity The Forum, loneliness is also one of the toughest challenges facing migrants in London.

Using this zine, I wanted to illustrate the problems with loneliness in London, through a combination of informative statistics and interviews conducted with migrants in the city. How does loneliness affect us in our day to day lives, and what can we learn from it?
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