Rui Ma is an accomplished designer based in Los Angeles, focusing on graphic design, art direction, and digital design. With a passion for illustration and fashion, Ma’s work often incorporates bold, dynamic typography and illustration in powerful color palettes. Drawing inspiration from life itself, music, art, and other creatives and their work. The creative’s most recent project jumps deep into the world of emotions, as she explores how feelings might look if you could visualize them as a designer.
What would emotions look like in the visual world?
A series of posters representing the four different types of basic emotions in both English and Chinese languages – Joy, Anger, Sadness, and Fear. The posters also show the connection between emotions and facial expressions in visual form. Rui Ma created the designs in a grid with abstract illustrations, vibrant colors, and dynamic typography. As each visual language works as individual designs on its own, simultaneously, all the poster designs work as a system.
Emotions can be abstract and also representational at the same time. The challenge of the project was how to visualize emotions in playful and contemporary design or illustration styles.
Emotions can be abstract and also representational at the same time. The challenge of the project was how to visualize emotions in playful and contemporary design or illustration styles. “The research on the connection between facial expressions and emotions was also a challenge but an interesting subject. For example, Would people have the same facial expressions when they have certain emotions? I asked myself when I was working on it. Surprisingly, the answer is yes according to online sources from scientists”, Rui Ma writes.
The English font used in the project is by Raoul Audouin and is called the Velvetyne Type. Follow Rui Ma on Instagram for more design inspiration.
