The Alphabet Book

An accordion-fold book with laser-cut letters that visualizes the impact of literacy on humanity.

Client: Parsons School of Design

Year: 2019

Roles: Designer

The Alphabet Book with laser-cut letters

The Alphabet Book, 2019

The Alphabet Book visualizes the impact of literacy on humanity, in the form of an accordion-fold book with laser cut letters. Each letter of the alphabet represents a country's literacy rate, which affects how big the holes are, and therefore how much light passes through.

Concept

The project uses data visualization to make literacy rates tangible and visceral. By mapping literacy data to the physical size of laser-cut holes in each letter, the book creates a literal and figurative window into global literacy disparities. The amount of light passing through each letter directly corresponds to a country's literacy rate—powerful visual metaphors for educational access.

Technical Approach

Accordion-fold book structure for continuous narrative
Laser-cut letterforms with data-driven hole sizing
Light and shadow as data visualization medium
Developed using paper.js and p5.js for computational design

Data Visualization

Each letter represents a different country's literacy rate, with the size of laser-cut holes directly proportional to the percentage of the population that can read. This creates both an abstract data visualization and a concrete artistic statement about global educational inequality.

Advisors