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# Project Description Shifting Text Ownership: Author, Reader, Designer Monong Li Summary Final work College Central Saint Martins Course MA Graphic Communication Design Graduation year 2025 When text is no longer just a vessel for language but a material practice shaped by authors, readers, and designers, how is meaning made? This project builds four evolving publications using AI-generated imitations of news, poetry, social media, and fiction. These publications challenge the traditional one-way model of "author → text → reader" by embedding meaning in the visual and structural features of typography. Combining Python scripts, AI text models, and typographic design systems, the project introduces intentional glitches and shifts within the text layout. Each book starts by mimicking familiar genre forms, then gradually breaks them apart—through changing font density, type size, page structure, and visual rhythm—until the text becomes pure form. This process reveals how typography doesn’t just present meaning, but actively reshapes how we read. It highlights how designers, as co-authors, can redirect attention, reframe interpretation, and expose the physical presence of text itself. Final work In this process, designers shift from mere typesetters to active co-authors, shaping the form and meaning of the text. At the same time, readers are no longer passive recipients but become participants who interpret and reassemble the logic of the text. Text becomes a dynamic space—where the intentions of the author, the visual decisions of the designer, and the engagement of the reader intersect. Meaning emerges not from one direction, but through their ongoing negotiation. View Gallery View Gallery View Gallery View Gallery View Gallery View Gallery Designer? Reader? Author? In this project, the designer’s manual mimicry and AI-driven rewriting are not about copying forms, but about revealing hidden systems—how authorship blurs, how control is embedded, and how readers reclaim interpretive power. Here, design is not a decorative layer, but a tool for testing and disrupting language itself. As Barthes argued in The Death of the Author , meaning lies with the reader, not the writer. Foucault’s idea of the “author function” similarly frames authorship as a form of institutional power. On digital platforms, these theories feel newly urgent: language is no longer owned by writers alone, but shaped and restricted by platforms, laws, algorithms, and visual systems. Designers who stay neutral in this structure risk reinforcing these asymmetries—silently preserving unequal access to meaning. Research and process TEXT A video essay about the text. Who owns Words? While language is humanity’s shared heritage, its control is shaped by power structures, technological shifts, and legal frameworks that transcend time and space. These structural mechanisms not only influence how language is disseminated and encoded but also profoundly shape imaginaries and practices of "textual ownership." More information... Share this project When text is no longer just a vessel for language but a material practice shaped by authors, readers, and designers, how is meaning made?This project builds four evolving publications using AI-generated imitations of news, poetry, social media, and fiction. These public... A link to this page has been added to your clipboard Browse related work Identity Data BookBinding DesignThinking GraphicDesign PrintDesign Publication Text AI Data
# Links ## Official page - https://ualshowcase.arts.ac.uk/project/636526/cover ## External - https://www.instagram.com/mono__lee - tel:07436281821 - mailto:limonong238@outlook.com - https://forms.arts.ac.uk/client-enquiry-form/ - https://gcd.studio/pages/who-owns-words - https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fualshowcase.arts.ac.uk%2Fproject%2F636526%2Fcover&text=Shifting+Text+Ownership%3A+Author%2C+Reader%2C+Designer - https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fualshowcase.arts.ac.uk%2Fproject%2F636526%2Fcover&media=https%3A%2F%2Fportfolio-tools.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2025%2F06%2F03223523%2F2-32.png&description=Shifting+Text+Ownership%3A+Author%2C+Reader%2C+Designer