MDes Graphics/Illustration/Photography School of Design
Yujie Wei
(she/her)
Illustrator
Works
Tomorrow, I will be…
My project explores themes of identity in online communities such as OC (Original Character) and the disparities between IRL (In Real Life) and online identities. I ask the question ‘are our online avatars a truer reflection of our inner self?’ and “how does identity evolve and adapt in response to new opportunities offered through technology’?
Key Opinion Leader
This online creature is The Key Opinion Leader(KOL). KOL is someone who is keen to voice their opinions and stir up the crowd. I added a crown to this character to show a dominant look among the community.
In addition, this character has a long tongue, which can be interpreted as it loves commenting or judging everything.
Troll
This character is The Troll.
The red and blue colour scheme reminds me that this is a classic colour scheme for boxing matches. I think this pairing brings out the aggressiveness of this character. At the same time, it looks like a warrior and fits the connotations of the identity of a troll very well.
Expert
I give the character the identity of The Expert. Its mask represents the fact that underneath it, it could just be an ordinary person. But for example it could be an expert who knows a lot about certain games.
Meanwhile the lines around the eyes I drew in the shape of glasses. The blue part of its body I also drew as a shirt, trying to convey an academic style.
I added extra wings in the shape of book pages on this character's back, again reinforcing its status as an expert in a certain field.
Dreamer
I name people who are addicted to the online life Dreamers. These dreamers can find their own comfortable space in the world of the internet just like having a nice dream.
I was thinking of the image of a contemplative person who is practising meditation when I created this character, so I associated it with the demeanour of a Buddha statue. Based on this, I made the character's eyes close to symbolise its resistance to reality.
I then introduced a concept in Buddhism: the dream upside-down.
As the word implies, tthe dream upside-down means the chaos of the world. In Buddhism, the original meaning of the phrase is to turn away from upside-down dreams (desires) in order to achieve true freedom.
So I have incorporated this concept into my image. I inverted the character's head, adding wings to imply that it is immersed in a world of upside down madness, trapped in an online life. Although it seems peaceful, it actually cannot escape from this dream.
Forum Administrator
This role is The Forum Administrator. I added many eyes to its body to convey that it has been monitoring a platform. At first I wanted to draw these shapes like shells as clothes or tongues. While thinking about how to give meaning to the character, I realised that the shape could also be a seashell, representing a small, relatively enclosed environment. Also its outstretched tentacles represent a sense of control.
Web Celebrity
The character has an elegant colour scheme, so it became The Web Celebrity. The purple curls are a symbol of glamour. And I painted its green arms with scales and made a gesture of hiding behind its hair, trying to express that this ‘unattractive’ is the character's true self. Internet celebrities try to hide their true personalities in order to please others.
Follower
This character is The Follower. It looks to be crawling and looking left and right with confusion in its stance. Also, I painted it with a confused expression.
In online life, we can easily be influenced by other people's opinions and thus blindly follow the trend. That's the meaning behind this identity.