This is something I’ve always wanted to do—convey the beauty of mathematics. The concept for this project actually began in 2019, but due to limitations in my abilities at the time, I couldn’t find a good way to implement it. I was fortunate to fulfill this wish during my Grad Thesis. In my view, the beauty of mathematics can be emotional, even poetic. A simple example is that the quantity of numbers between 0 and 1 is the same as the quantity of numbers from 1 to infinity. The first time I learned this fact, a scene from ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’ came to mind:
“He spent several days as if he were bewitched, softly repeating to himself a string of fearful conjectures without giving credit to his own understanding. Finally, one Tuesday in December, at lunchtime, all at once he released the weight of his torment. [. . .]
‘The earth is round, like an orange.’”
I hope to convey such wonderful moments to others.
For a long time, my classmates, and even my mentors, couldn’t fully understand what I was trying to achieve. This was neither simply integrating shapes with numbers nor really an attempt to teach mathematics. During my research, I encountered Wittgenstein’s picture theory of language, and I realized the pivotal role visual thinking plays in human language, including mathematics. This insight inspired me to transform the beauty of mathematics. Ultimately, I chose to convert mathematical concepts into a novel setting and based on this, I wrote an adventure story, accompanied by illustrations.
Print Design
literature
Thesis
3D Art
Literature +
Design = Mythmatic
My thesis explores how math, as a language for creative thinkers, can inspire and broaden our minds.
Language can be a bridge between concepts and the limits of our language can limit our potential.
As a designer interested in math, I feel that “math” is misnderstood.
Math doesn’t have to be rigid, composed only of geometric shapes, or “perfect.” Math, like the languages of music, architecture, or painting is a language that can always bring something emotional rather than rational to mind.
My eagerness to convey this is the foundation of my thesis.
To manifest these ideas, my Project takes the approach of a graphic novel, revealing math truths through story and visual elements. By combining the logic and language of math with literature, and design I hope that each language can enrich and broaden the other.
I am giving a lecture on sharing Thesis design experience.
Ruiqi Zhou