Joyce Ho uses design to ask fundamental questions

For New York-based designer Joyce Ho, design is a chance to slow down in a world that never stops moving. She describes her practice as a balance between “constraints and creativity”, and it is through this balancing act that she seeks to spark connection, curiosity and “critical imagination” in her audience. “Like an open ending to a movie where people sit and ask ‘what’s next’—sometimes a parody, other times maybe a plot twist,” she adds.

Born in Shanghai, Joyce moved to the US to study Graphic Design at Rhode Island School of Design, before eventually landing her current role as a Digital News Design Fellow at The New York Times. It was during this period of transition that Joyce discovered design’s capacity for provocation – an outlet through which she could challenge and subvert mediums and topics. In one of her recent projects, Joyce designed two miniature books around the question ‘what is a rock’, with one of the books containing an actual rock within an internal cutout, and the other containing a plethora of text and images about rocks. Joyce describes this as one of her “sillier projects”, though she has also explored more serious ones like ‘what is death’.

For this project, titled Cyborg Wear, Joyce spoke to four people who have experiences with life-or-death scenarios. These conversations were then translated into a book which offers readers a unique insight into the topic, as well as hopefully a deeper understanding of how to navigate it, both theoretically and in practice. As with Joyce’s other projects, the physical object is cherished, with great attention paid to every little detail. Handmade stitched labels, text-printed spines, and a cover made of mylar and containing close-up imagery of Joyce’s actual skin make for a book that is intriguing both for its content, and its overall design.