Nao Lee’s posters are digital terrains that hide small and unruly treasures for you to find

Often in graphic design, whether consciously or not, we learn to make things match, to keep things uniform enough to look like they all come from a cohesive whole. But Nao Lee (a.k.a undefinedtomato) is an expert in overriding this inherited instinct – she’s the kind of designer that just loves juxtaposition. That might be why she’s so drawn to posters. The format has the magic ability to combine all kinds of “complicated narratives into one scene”, the designer tells us. These densely packed compositions that she constructs with layers upon layers of digital noise “enable readers to interpret their meaning from their own perspectives”, Nao explains. “This sparks open debate and inspiration.”

For a designer whose compositions are full of adventure and chaos you would think Nao’s design inspiration comes from things that are quite extraordinary, but her influences are actually quite domestic. “I love vernacular,” she says. “Medical toothpaste packaging, document forms, or snack logos are everyday items that hold a hidden impact.” The designer especially loves when the more experimental visual elements of these vernacular design objects are mixed in with more refined typography or illustrations. This balance of pragmatism and play “narrows the hierarchy between designers and readers”, she says and is something that she likes to take on in her creative approach.

If you’ve caught yourself thinking that you can see the outline of maps, or the textures of real terrains in the Seoul-based designers’ work, you’re not far off. Nao’s distinct visual language aims to conjure up “a nostalgic feeling for the past, when people were curious and held a sense of amazement about the land they lived on”, she says. Enchanted by ancient symbols and archaeological sites, the designer‘s posters and publications feel as if they are laden with small treasures she’s hidden to unearth: a series of tiny drawings skirting the margin, text in amongst several skins of pattern and texture; the more you look, the more you dig up.