TwoSuns Storytelling Puzzle

Press Kit

Unique Properties

TwoSuns is a visual communication design work of a constructed language based on visual forms to narrate a story. The symbols are created logically by their figure and divided into nouns and verbs. This work is unique because it demonstrates the diverse use of media and techniques, such as wood, laser-cutting, and fabric. The use of wood represents the tribe's location, and the use of laser-cut means the drought and burn caused by the suns. Also, Bunun is famous for its textile and weave, which the dictionary to decode the message is printed on fabric.

Dimensions & Packaging

Puzzle dimension: 8 x 8 x 1.5
Outside box dimension: 8.375 x 8.125 x 1.75
Fabric dictionary: 8 x 41

Tags

Visual language, Puzzle, Laser-cutting, fabric, Wooden pieces

Production Technology

The use of wood represents the Bunun tribe's location in the mountain in Taiwan. The laser-cut indicates the drought and burn caused by the two suns. TwoSuns combines the wooden plates with the puzzles to propose that this ancient story has been passed down hundreds of years by indigenous people generationally. Since the Bunun is famous for its textile and weave, the fabric delivers the symbols' decoding message and instructions as it stands for people spreading the story.

Design Challenge

The biggest challenge is to simplify the forms instead of crafting. That is, minimizing the puzzle's shape and the symbols for the users to understand and play is more beneficial since it contains multiple items and materials. Hence, the puzzle requires to reach more intuitive and obvious to complete. For example, there were adjectives and prepositions, along with nouns and verbs. The puzzle's shape wasn't square but more triangular, and the hint for each plate was unaesthetic and more confused.

Project Duration

The project was created from October 2018 to November 2018.

Operation Flow

When users open the box, they will see the puzzle pieces on the top and the dictionary at the bottom. Each part of the puzzle has its associate plate, and the sequence is easy to figure out without guidance due to the blocks behind. There are two small blocks with different distances and angles behind the symbol surface. After completing the puzzle, users can understand the symbols by decoding them with the dictionary's help, expecting users to explore the spiritual Bunun story.

Research

I used the essential elements such as circle, square, and lines to design the symbols because these are the iconic elements that the Bunun practice on their fabrics in cloths and tattoos. After creating this work, I interviewed people who don't acknowledge the story for feedback. The expected results were that they found attractive puzzling and worked hard on figuring out the symbol's meaning with and without checking the dictionary. Thus, this work is successful in sharing and worth expanding.

Inspiration

TwoSuns is inspired by the story of Retrospection Of The Sun from the Taiwanese indigenous tribe, Bunun. The story depicts how a father and a son from the tribe went on a long trudge for decades to destroy one of the two suns to the moon to save the earth from drought and high temperature. Moreover, Bunun is located in the central mountain in Taiwan with a distinct culture and language of their own. Hence, the idea of delivering the story with visualized symbols on the puzzles is to demonstrate the importance of preserving and passing on this fascinating ancient story.

Image Credits

Image #1: Photographer ChihYuan Chang, Overlook, 2018.
Image #2: Photographer ChihYuan Chang, Box, 2018.
Image #3: Photographer ChihYuan Chang, Puzzling, 2018.
Image #4: Photographer ChihYuan Chang, Blocks, 2018.
Image #5: Photographer ChihYuan Chang, Dictionary, 2018.

Colors of TwoSuns Storytelling Puzzle