Bending the structural rules

Xing describes the project as "type design driven by graphic thinking": a typeface with the visual impact of an image while remaining a functional writing system.

Chinese type design is increasingly developing at the intersection of culture, technology and visual experimentation.

AI tools, automated font-generation systems and variable fonts are changing production methods, but Xing believes technology alone cannot determine the lasting value of a typeface.

"Technology defines the floor, while culture defines the ceiling," Xing says.

"I hope to see more people using it, rather than limiting it to the way I use it," Xu says. For him, a typeface is complete only when it leaves the designer's hands and enters wider circulation — appearing on posters, packaging and screens, where it continues to develop new meanings in different cultural contexts.