Reviving Lost Chinese Characters: The Stack Glyphs Project

Te-Yang Tang and Yi-Hsuan Lai's Innovative Approach to Preserving Cultural Heritage

The Stack Glyphs project is a testament to the designers' belief that characters are the carriers of culture. In Chinese culture, a special type of character, known as a Stacked Character, is formed by overlapped glyphs. These characters, which express the meaning of accumulation and mass of the word, are gradually being replaced by commonly used characters. Through Stack Glyphs, Tang and Lai have collected and reconstructed these lost characters using graphical symbols, thereby preserving a unique aspect of Chinese culture.

The project draws inspiration from the ancient Chinese script, which heavily relied on pictographs before the standardization of characters. By recreating the classic history of Chinese characters, the designers aim to provide viewers with an immersive experience and an understanding of the ancient methods of character formation. The main visual poster measures 890mm x 420mm, while the guide book package is 280mm x 215mm x 40mm. The guide book itself measures 200mm x 100mm x 7mm, and the pileup size is 25mm x 25 mm x 25mm.

The Stack Glyphs project began in June 2022, with the design production starting in October the same year. The project was first exhibited in Yunlin, Taiwan, in April 2023, followed by exhibitions at the Young Designers' Exhibition in Taipei in May, and Vision Get Wild in Kaohsiung. The project's realization was not without challenges. The designers often encountered problems of missing characters or unknown pronunciations during the sorting process. To overcome this, they extensively collected stacked characters excerpted from historical ancient books and used a design approach to reconstruct some lost stacked characters.

Through the Stack Glyphs Concept Guide Book, viewers can understand the cultural connotation of superimposed characters. Meanwhile, the interactive designed Stack Glyphs seal Pileup is an extension of the concept that allows viewers to create their own pileup characters. The designers studied these overlapping synonyms and analyzed their morphology, phonics, and cultural contexts. They integrated the results into their icon design and converted it into NFTs, hoping to preserve its cultural value.

The Stack Glyphs project has been recognized for its innovative approach to preserving cultural heritage. It was awarded Silver in A' Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design Award in 2023. This prestigious award is given to top-of-the-line, creative, and professionally remarkable designs that illustrate outstanding expertise and innovation. These designs, admired for their strong technical characteristics and splendid artistic skill, showcase a remarkable level of excellence and introduce positive feelings, amazement, and wonder.