Pioneer Works
Visual Identity | Web Design | Interactive Installation
This project reimagines the visual identity of Pioneer Works, a cultural institution bridging art, science, and community. Inspired by the modular structure of its physical space, the system is built from grid-based units that adapt across print, spatial, and digital formats. Through minimal forms, humanistic color palettes, and flexible typography, the identity balances institutional clarity with open-ended exploration. The result is a cohesive yet dynamic language that grows with its programs and people.
Logo and Modular Type
The visual identity begins with a modular type system built from repeating brick-like units, echoing the architecture of Pioneer Works itself. Each letter is a structural element—flexible, scalable, and designed for complex systems. Typography here is not just form, but framework.
Posters Series
Each poster functions like a spatial structure—navigable, layered, and modular. Together they highlight artists, communities, missions, and time-based programs, forming an interconnected system of visual storytelling. Posters become portals into the institution.
ID Collateral
The stationery applies the modular identity through minimal layouts and soft, desaturated tones. The color palette blends technological clarity with human warmth, supporting a calm but structured visual language. Each element—from letterhead to notebook—demonstrates how the system scales with precision and consistency.
Business Cards
Each card uses the modular system to deliver clear, structured information at a small scale. Color variations indicate different roles while maintaining visual unity. Precise layout and typography ensure consistency across all identities.
Brochure Design
The brochure follows a modular layout system, with alternating page designs to control rhythm. Programs and exhibitions are color-coded for clarity, while key pages break the pattern to create flow and emphasis. The front and back covers echo the modular type system, tying the book back to the core identity.
Name Cards/Staff Badges
Subtle color variations distinguish cards while preserving a unified system. On the back, a contour-like graphic inspired by mapping visuals represents structured identity within a shared landscape. These details turn small-format objects into meaningful extensions of the brand logic.
Tickets and Postcards
Tickets use angled corners referencing the “P” form, with color accents to signal variation across uses. Each design maintains the modular language while introducing tactile distinction. Postcards emphasize exploration and sharing—extending the system into informal, participatory exchanges.
Spatial Design
Environmental graphics apply the modular system onto physical surfaces in a minimal way. From glass doors to banners, each element integrates typography into space without overwhelming it. The identity quietly blends into the environment, becoming architectural rather than decorative.
Website
The website adopts an editorial logic, using modular layouts to balance structure and spontaneity. Content is organized by theme, with alternating rhythms and color blocks enhancing readability. The interface echoes printed matter while adapting seamlessly to digital flows.
Installation
This installation translates the modular logo into physical space. The “P” structure is sculptural, while the “W” emerges as a negative shadow. Projected content dynamically shifts across the surface—displaying live programs, texts, and portraits—turning the wall into a responsive, living interface.
Are We Still Surfing?
Exhibition Identity | Web Design
“Are We Still Surfing?” is a modular identity system designed for a speculative exhibition at Pioneer Works, featuring the work of artist Yehwan Song. The project explores how digital interfaces—through glitches, tabs, and layered windows—shape contemporary experiences of identity, presence, and disconnection. Built within the same visual framework as the broader Pioneer Works system, it adapts the modular type and layout logic to reflect a more introspective, destabilized tone. Across print, web, and spatial media, the exhibition becomes a test site for how institutional systems can accommodate emotional, fragmented narratives.
Modular TypeThe modular type system is constructed from repeating, pixel-like units to reflect digital logic and system-based design. Each letter acts as a programmable module—precise, repeatable, and capable of generating structure across media. This typography is not expressive in the traditional sense; instead, it functions as a rule-based framework for distributed identity and communication.
Posters Series
The poster series visualizes fragmented identity within digital systems through stacked browser frames and recursive compositions. Textual prompts like “ARE WE STILL SURFING?” or “IDENTITY GLITCH” emphasize dislocation and repetition as characteristics of online presence. The visual layering simulates system lag, echo chambers, and the recursive logic of screen-based environments.
Postcards
Postcards isolate browser-like phrases such as “HELLO” and “ARE YOU THERE?” within minimal compositions, recontextualizing digital greetings in physical space. The use of the modular type reinforces the system-generated nature of communication. These pieces question whether meaning is retained or lost when digital syntax enters analog form.
Brochure Design
The brochure mimics multi-tab browsing experiences, using foldouts, overlapping grids, and non-linear reading orders. Visual interruptions and clipped images reflect how digital narratives are often fragmented and recombined. The layout treats each segment as a self-contained window—inviting readers to piece together disjointed identity traces.
Tickets
Event tickets are treated as extensions of the browser metaphor, incorporating elements like URL bars, window headers, and digital identifiers. This approach repositions the ticket not just as access, but as data—representing a traceable point within a larger information system. The design highlights how entry into physical space is increasingly mediated by digital protocols.
Website
https://editor.p5js.org/xhou1/full/B0QL-ntdD
The website uses layered, pop-out windows, recursive nesting, and micro-interactions to simulate glitch-based digital experience. Users navigate through cascades of content, echoing browser overload and systemic ambiguity. The interface deliberately exposes instability—challenging the notion of coherent, fixed identity within digital frameworks.
Spatial Design
The spatial design transforms the exhibition wall into a virtual browser window, blurring the boundary between physical and digital space. Typographic elements are arranged like interface components, creating a layered, screen-like reading experience. The blue sidewalk sign outside acts as a physical echo of the system—portable, modular, and directive. Together, they anchor the identity in both site and simulation.
©2025 JoeyHou
All rights are reserved
+16263948646