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Invisible Options

Chenxi Ding

Profile picture of Chenxi Ding

I'm a visual designer and researcher passionate about telling human and ecological stories through data.

With a background in visual communication and a love for narrative design, I explore themes from ancestral rituals to endangered plant species—often weaving personal memory into broader social and cultural contexts.

I work across mediums like book design, 3D modeling, AR, and creative coding, and love experimenting with tools like TouchDesigner and Blender to craft sensory visual experiences. Whether it's mapping family conversations or visualizing plant sounds, I’m fascinated by how data can carry emotion, memory, and meaning.

I'm a visual designer and researcher passionate about telling human and ecological stories throug...

This project explores how gender language in China's primary Chinese textbooks shapes women's perceptions of self, body, career, and social roles, leaving lasting imprints on their lifestyles in adulthood. It aims to reveal the subtle gender influences embedded in textbooks and to provoke a reevaluation of textbook discourse power and women's growth environments through visual means. The study adopts an exploratory approach, analyzing gender language conveyed through illustrations and texts in elementary Chinese textbooks. Combined with research methods such as questionnaire surveys and in-depth interviews, it encourages broader public reflection on the presentation of gender roles in textbooks and their social significance.

Final work

  • This piece presents part of my graduation project, which explores gender bias in Chinese primary school textbooks.
  • This piece presents part of my graduation project, which explores gender bias in Chinese primary school textbooks.
  • This piece presents part of my graduation project, which explores gender bias in Chinese primary school textbooks.
This piece presents part of my graduation project, which explores gender bias in Chinese primary school textbooks.

Invisible Options (zine version)

A simplified version combines saddle-stitch binding with fold-out pages for easier dissemination and display.

Building on previous research findings, I ultimately chose print publications as the primary format to preserve the tactile and intimate qualities of textbooks. To demonstrate the integration of multiple research methodologies and preserve interview content, I adopted an archival-style design structure that symbolizes systematic research and evidential rigor. Visual design elements were inspired by tangram puzzles and windmills in children's toys, with dominant colors of yellow and blue—neutral between gender stereotypes—to create a soft, childlike visual language that blurs gender boundaries.The geometric-based design maintains simplicity and readability in presenting complex data, aiming to facilitate understanding and discussion.

  • This piece presents part of my graduation project, which explores gender bias in Chinese primary school textbooks.
  • This piece presents part of my graduation project, which explores gender bias in Chinese primary school textbooks.
  • This piece presents part of my graduation project, which explores gender bias in Chinese primary school textbooks.

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Invisible Options

This project explores how gender language in China's primary Chinese textbooks shapes women's perceptions of self, body, career, and social roles, leaving lasting imprints on their lifestyles in adulthood. It aims to reveal the subtle gender influences embedded in textbooks an...

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