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# Project Description A Networked Metaphor of Numbers Xiaoyi Ni Summary Final work College Central Saint Martins Course MA Graphic Communication Design Graduation year 2025 This project consists of a series of publications, each focusing on a specific function of numbers: Volume 1 as a counting tool, Volume 2 as an indexing tool, and Volume 3 as a measuring tool. Each volume contains two interwoven parts: the first uses the publication’s structure to visually represent how the numerical system operates; the second constructs visual metaphors by juxtaposing images related to that function. The two parts are interlaced and vary in size, guiding readers to experience how numbers are perceived, organised, and understood visually. Through visual uniformity and semantic diversity, numbers across volumes form an interconnected metaphorical network, in which the implicit narrative of numerical systems emerges and unfolds. Final work Networked visual metaphor of number Networked： A decentralised state of information sharing. Visual： relating to seeing Metaphor： A cognitive model that creates new understanding through conceptual blending. Number 1: A symbolic figure composed of the digits 0 through 9 Number 2: A representation of various abstract systems, such as time, value. This project explores how visual metaphors can restore the non-linear cognitive structure often lost in language. While linguistic metaphors tend to flatten meaning into “A is B,” visual metaphors can hold multiple directions of association simultaneously. By constructing a networked metaphor system —where no single concept is the center and each node shapes and is shaped by others— this project investigates metaphor as a decentralised cognitive tool. Numbers become the medium: visually uniform yet semantically diverse, they bridge abstract systems like time, value, and ranking. Through them, networked visual metaphors emerge not as inventions, but as hidden functions already embedded in how we perceive and structure the world. Volume 1 – Number as Counting Tool Numbers accumulate presence by converting appearances into countable units. From then on, time became a sequence of units—minutes, seconds, countdowns. Our lives turned into cycles of numbers, ultimately reduced to two dates on a gravestone: a beginning and an end. Volume 2 – Number as Indexing Tool Numbers assign positions to entities within an ordered and referential structure. We began to search for things as if flipping through a dictionary: which number means wealth, which means poverty, which number is lucky, which is not. One number marks your address, another marks mine; one is you, another is me. Numbers differentiate and homogenise— and in the end, they help us forget the complex systems behind them. Volume 3 – Number as Measuring Tool Numbers enable standardised abstraction by transforming qualities into measurable units. From then on, everything could be measured— value with money, intelligence with scores. We began to apply the same ruler to things that were never meant to be compared. Research and process Share this project This project consists of a series of publications, each focusing on a specific function of numbers: Volume 1 as a counting tool, Volume 2 as an indexing tool, and Volume 3 as a measuring tool. Each volume contains two interwoven parts: the first uses the publication’s structur... A link to this page has been added to your clipboard Browse related work Language Realities Materiality VisualCommunication GraphicDesign Language Systems
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