When the human disappears from our messages
When the human disappears from our messages
Categories
Categories
Editorial Design, Typography, Visual Storytelling
Editorial Design, Typography, Visual Storytelling
Client
Client
buchgestalt – exhibition in Kyoto & Berlin
buchgestalt – exhibition in Kyoto & Berlin
Project Type
Project Type
Publication Design
Publication Design
Year
Year
2025
2025
This project explores how communication has shifted in a world that has become faster, louder and increasingly digital. Once, handwritten letters and postcards carried traces of time, intention and personality; today, messages are often brief, instant and easily forgotten. Inspired by the stories of my grandparents, this publication retraces the evolution of communication across one lifetime — from telegrams and payphones to carefully written postcards and, eventually, instant messages and voice notes. Their personal journey becomes a lens through which a broader shift is revealed, inviting us to reflect on how much humanity remains in the ways we communicate today.
This project explores how communication has shifted in a world that has become faster, louder and increasingly digital. Once, handwritten letters and postcards carried traces of time, intention and personality; today, messages are often brief, instant and easily forgotten. Inspired by the stories of my grandparents, this publication retraces the evolution of communication across one lifetime — from telegrams and payphones to carefully written postcards and, eventually, instant messages and voice notes. Their personal journey becomes a lens through which a broader shift is revealed, inviting us to reflect on how much humanity remains in the ways we communicate today.
This project explores how communication has shifted in a world that has become faster, louder and increasingly digital. Once, handwritten letters and postcards carried traces of time, intention and personality; today, messages are often brief, instant and easily forgotten. Inspired by the stories of my grandparents, this publication retraces the evolution of communication across one lifetime — from telegrams and payphones to carefully written postcards and, eventually, instant messages and voice notes. Their personal journey becomes a lens through which a broader shift is revealed, inviting us to reflect on how much humanity remains in the ways we communicate today.
The project weaves together collected memories, old letters and everyday narratives, pairing them with a visual language that moves between analog warmth and modern clarity. Archival materials, handwriting fragments and historical formats meet contemporary typography and layout. Through this interplay, the publication highlights the emotional resonance of written communication while making visible the transition from slow, deliberate expression to the rapid, fragmented exchanges of the digital age. Instead of judging this change, it aims to show its nuances — the beauty, the loss, and the quiet transformation of language over time.
The project weaves together collected memories, old letters and everyday narratives, pairing them with a visual language that moves between analog warmth and modern clarity. Archival materials, handwriting fragments and historical formats meet contemporary typography and layout. Through this interplay, the publication highlights the emotional resonance of written communication while making visible the transition from slow, deliberate expression to the rapid, fragmented exchanges of the digital age. Instead of judging this change, it aims to show its nuances — the beauty, the loss, and the quiet transformation of language over time.
To reconnect with the tactile, lasting quality of handwritten messages, the project includes a set of customizable postcards designed to encourage people to write again — to pause, choose their words, and create something that endures beyond a screen. They serve as a gentle reminder that communication can be more than a notification; it can be a gesture of sincerity, presence and care. At its core, the project is an invitation to bring back a little warmth into the ways we reach out to one another — and to rediscover the human touch that once defined our messages.
To reconnect with the tactile, lasting quality of handwritten messages, the project includes a set of customizable postcards designed to encourage people to write again — to pause, choose their words, and create something that endures beyond a screen. They serve as a gentle reminder that communication can be more than a notification; it can be a gesture of sincerity, presence and care. At its core, the project is an invitation to bring back a little warmth into the ways we reach out to one another — and to rediscover the human touch that once defined our messages.
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