Objective: Community, typography, materiality
The Cube
The Cube is an exploratory typographic project investigating how a tangible object can communicate stories, foster interaction, and reflect cultural diversity. Developed collaboratively with Jamie Zhang, Saeideh Loftigogarchin, and Cassie Urbenz, the project combines participatory design, material experimentation, and multilingual typography to highlight hidden connections and relationships within the MxD community.
Starting from a shared word bank, we iteratively sketched, mockuped, and built a wooden cube designed to be held and explored. Tealights introduce warmth and motion, while cutouts of words in multiple languages—Chinese, Mi’kmaq, Persian, Russian, Korean, Spanish and English—explore identity, emotion, and social issues. Jamie Zhang led the final design, synthesizing form, language, and interaction into a cohesive object that invites reflection and engagement.
This project was informed by material-led typography, human-centered design, and reflective practice. Inspirations include Ellen Lupton’s Design for the Senses, multilingual visual storytelling, and design approaches that foreground empathy, context, and cultural diversity.
Acknowledgement: This project was developed under the guidance of Dr. Dori Griffin, professor at the University of Florida.
