Visual
Design Hero, Liu Zhizhi
A multimedia exploration of boldness, provocation, and visual identity through the lens of Chinese graphic designer Liu Zhizhi.
This project reinterprets Liu Zhizhi’s design philosophy across poster, booklet, motion, and digital formats. From system-building to storytelling, each piece builds upon a shared visual language to express his rebellious spirit and celebrates design’s potential to make the ordinary world more colorful, meaningful, and alive.
TIMELINE
12 weeks
TEAM
Independent
ROLE
Visual Designer
FOCUS
Art Direction
Print Design
Editorial Design
Motion Graphics
Digital Experience
OVERVIEW
Who is Liu Zhizhi?
Liu Zhizhi (刘治治) is one of the leading figures in contemporary Chinese graphic design. His work is known for its bold compositions, vibrant colors, and an experimental spirit that often challenges aesthetic norms. But beyond visual impact, Liu’s philosophy emphasizes design as a way to bring interest, emotion, and new possibilities to everyday life, making the mundane more meaningful and the ordinary more colorful.
Liu Zhizhi is my Design Hero because his approach pushes beyond aesthetics. His work and philosophy challenge what design can do, not just to communicate, but to provoke, inspire, and surprise. I was drawn to his playful and rebellious energy.
My roles & goals
In this project, my role was to study, interpret, and respond to Liu Zhizhi’s style and philosophy through a series of design outcomes: a poster, a 16-page booklet, a motion piece, a mobile app experience, and a website. My goal was to find a balance between honoring his voice and expressing my own. I worked within a visual system I built, rooted in color, shape, and typography, to develop a consistent design language across mediums.
OUTCOME 1
Poster
A type-based visual tribute that captures Liu Zhizhi’s boldness through color, composition, and typography, serving as the foundation for the visual language used throughout the project.
I layered odd, unordered shapes on top of an ordered typographic grid to reflect the tension at the heart of Liu Zhizhi’s work, between structure and disruption, between clarity and provocation.
OUTCOME 2
Booklet
A 16-page printed piece that weaves narrative, imagery, and design philosophy into a structured yet playful reading experience, exploring Liu’s work, values, and contradictions.
The booklet was the most challenging piece for me. I had to curate a story that both explored Liu Zhizhi’s philosophy and showcased his work, all while maintaining visual rhythm and consistency. The challenge was to echo Liu’s playful irreverence without losing clarity.
OUTCOME 3
Motion
An animated video that brings Liu Zhizhi’s ideas to life through movement, rhythm, and sound, merging visual storytelling with typographic and graphic expression.
I used an interview clip of Liu Zhizhi discussing his philosophy: that the role of the designer is to make the world more colorful, more interesting. I focused on animating that idea, combining typography, shapes, and voiceover into a lively, expressive sequence.
OUTCOME 4
Digital
A mobile and a desktop experience that brings Liu Zhizhi’s visual world into an interactive format, using motion, typography, and playful navigation to introduce his work, philosophy, and design journey.
