Line of Enquiry

The internet has diminished the seriousness of psychological issues.

This project investigates how contemporary internet language has contributed to the dilution and aestheticisation of psychological distress. While these terms enable fast, collective recognition of emotional states, they also risk flattening complex affective experiences into humorous, ironic, or consumable labels.

Positioned within graphic communication design, the project does not aim to diagnose, treat, or represent psychological conditions. Instead, it explores how design can function as a container for emotional ambiguity, resisting the demand for clarity, explanation, or resolution. Drawing methodologically from art therapy—specifically its emphasis on non-verbal expression, containment, and process—the project translates these principles into editorial and interactive design practices.

Enquiry

How can graphic communication design hold emotional experience beyond simplified internet terminology, and what happens when emotional language is deliberately destabilised rather than clarified?

Audience

Young adults (18–30) who actively engage with internet culture and affective slang

Individuals who encounter mental health discourse online but feel alienated by clinical or self-help narratives

Line of enquiry

V1: How do internet linguistic express psychological distress and hold emotional ambiguity rather than resolve it?

V2: How does Chinese internet language transform psychological distress into shareable affect, and how can graphic communication design reintroduce weight into these softened expressions?

V3: How does Chinese internet language reshape the articulation of psychological distress, and how can graphic communication design reveal the structures underlying these expressions?