Work 01 of n • Experience Design • 2024-2025
How can superstitions move beyond belief?
shift
From passive belief to participatory experience
system
8 modular shadow-driven motion narratives (15–30s) across 6+ cultures
AI-assisted scripts with whispered narration (ElevenLabs)
Paper-cup audio delivery for intimate listening
Sound-reactive installation bridging physical and digital
impact
300+ visitors across all ages engaged at Imagine RIT
Perception shifted from skepticism to curiosity in a single interaction
Co-Created with Adobe Suite (Illustrator, Photoshop, After Effects), Figma, AI Tools (ElevenLabs, ChatGPT, Gemini)
The Story • The Why • the Opportunity •
Superstitions are culturally inherited beliefs or practices that assign meaning to symbols, rituals, or actions—often without logic or scientific basis to navigate uncertainty, seek control, or invite luck.
In today’s rational world, they are often dismissed as irrational, yet they quietly shape behavior across cultures. Their origins are overlooked, and their emotional significance is rarely explored.
The Key Challenges • The Design Decisions • The Rationale •
challenges
Design Decisions
DEMYSTIFY GLOBAL SUPERSTITIONS
Exploring cultural, psychological, and historical roots — accessibly and thought-provokingly
The Sound: A whispered story
AI-whispered audio delivered intimately through the cup.
Make the invisible forces feel-able
Experiencing fear, luck, and fate through immersive sound and visual storytelling.
The Visual: Minimal Symbolism
A slow-revealing symbolic animation that unfolds from darkness.
Foster cultural reflection
An interactive experience that makes you ask: "Am I superstitious? Why do I believe what I believe?"
The Trigger: Connected Red Cup and Web Experience
The Red Paper Cup physically triggers symbolic animations on a web-based experience.
The PROCESS • THE SOUND • The WHISPER •
Phase 01: gathering the stories
Research began with a broad scan of global superstitions, selected to represent diverse belief types (event-based, object-based, ritual). Each was traced through three guiding questions: what is it, where did it come from, and how is it undone?
This framework ensured every narrative was grounded in history and psychology, encouraging reflection over ridicule.
Phase 02: crafting the scripts
The narrative voice was defined before a single script was written. Guidelines for tone, structure, pacing, and cultural sensitivity directed AI tools (ChatGPT and Google Gemini)—not the other way around.
Through iteration, scripts evolved from 15–20 to 30–40 seconds—long enough to land, short enough to feel whispered—creating an impactful, bite-sized storytelling experience.
Phase 03: producing the whispers
Audio wasn't an afterthought — it was designed. Initial self-recordings revealed instability, so ElevenLabs was brought in for its emotionally nuanced, whisper-like output.
Voice gender was tested deliberately — a female voice was chosen for its maternal warmth, the kind that makes a whispered story feel safe rather than unsettling. Tempo was then adjusted to match the poetic rhythm of each script, and clarity refined to remain understandable across all audiences. The result was a consistent audio identity, not just a voiceover.
Narrative structure
Tone of voice
The PROCESS • THE visual • The minimal symbolism •
Phase 04: Visual Research
Research began with a broad scan of global superstitions, selected to represent diverse belief types (event-based, object-based, ritual). Each was traced through three guiding questions: what is it, where did it come from, and how is it undone?
This framework ensured every narrative was grounded in history and psychology, encouraging reflection over ridicule.
Phase 05: Storyboarding
Crucially, the storyboarding process was iterative, informed by the audio script for each superstition. The emphasis was on visual economy and impact, prioritizing universally recognizable imagery directly tied to the core of each belief.
Phase 06: Defining the Visual Style
Multiple visual directions were explored before shadow play emerged as the right fit: mysterious, restrained, and true to the nature of superstitions.
Two approaches were tested: black illustrations on a colored background, and colored illustrations on black. The latter was chosen deliberately. Superstitions don't announce themselve; they exist quietly in the dark until we choose to look. The visuals had to reflect that.
Phase 07: Production
Research, scripts, and storyboards were translated into final form across two outputs: 5 superstitions became fully animated sequences for the screen, while 3 were crafted as posters for the wall — each poster also receiving a subtle animated version for the digital experience. Two formats, one visual system.
Phase 08: planning
Bringing Whisper Wall to life required planning across two fronts: the digital experience and the physical installation. Every detail was considered to ensure a cohesive, sensory journey.
Early concepts explored tactile elements like optical illusions and raised textures to deepen engagement. Technical constraints led to flat prints instead; but those explorations remain a clear direction for future iterations, where physical interaction and visual storytelling could integrate even further.
Final set of visuals]
LogoType concept
The logotype utilizes the curly brackets to frame the title like two faces in profile, creating an intimate conversational space between them—a powerful visual metaphor for the whispered exchange of secrets and superstitions that defines the installation experience.
Logo Construction
Call to action poster 01
Call to action poster 02
Caution Boards CTA
Safety signage works because we obey it before we question it. These boards hijack that reflex — applying the visual grammar of hazard warnings to superstition.
The diamond, the bold caps, the terse phrasing are all borrowed from systems built to regulate behaviour, and redirected toward the irrational. The result primes visitors to enter the space already a little unsure of what to believe.
Warning Posters
Supersitions Print Posters
Animated Poster Version for the web experience
The PROCESS • THE trigger • Connected Red Cup and Web Experience •
ELEMENT 01: THE WEB EXPERIENCE
Whisper Wall was originally conceived for high-traffic public spaces — subway stations, bus stops, anywhere belief quietly lives alongside daily life.
Scaled for Imagine RIT, the installation was reimagined into a multi-sensory experience: posters, short animations, a web experience, and paper cups for the whispers. The constraint didn't dilute the concept. It sharpened it.
Installation at imagine RIT
ELEMENT 02: THE red paper cup
The audio was then intended to be delivered through a tangible interface that bridged the digital and physical realms.
The concept involved routing the AI-generated audio through red paper cups, with strings attached, with Bluetooth speakers discreetly embedded inside and connected to computers.
This analog-digital setup recreated the childhood ritual of whispering through string phones, infusing the experience of nostalgic warmth while also subtly referencing the focused reverence often associated with sacred rituals and oral traditions.
ELEMENT 03: Souvenir Card with QR Code
As a tangible extension of the Whisper Wall experience at Imagine RIT, a souvenir card featuring the project's visual identity and a prominent QR code was designed.
This card served as a memorable takeaway, bridging the physical exhibition with continued digital engagement and allowing visitors
to revisit and share the project's content
beyond the event.
The impact • THE feeling • people's response •
Over 300 visitors engaged with Whisper Wall at Imagine RIT (RIT's festival of innovation and creativity) spanning ages 5 to 75 and representing 12+ cultures.
The installation drew an unexpectedly diverse audience, with the strongest engagement coming from children and older adults: two groups who responded not to the concept, but to the feeling.
Visitors leaned in, paused, smiled, and began sharing superstitions from their own cultures without being prompted.
No explanation was needed. The design had done its job.
THEN
