"Little Ant & Robot: A Nomad Café" Visual Design

Summary

After producing visuals for A Million Miles Away in 2019, JL DESIGN was once again commissioned by choreographer Huang Yi to create visual identity for his Little Ant & Robot: A Nomad Café. Following the core idea of the performance – “previewing the future life” – we adopted a new perspective to look at companionship in relationships and delicately portray the healing power of this special café. We expected to touch the heart of audiences and convey to them the warmth delivered by technology and art.

Mission

Huang looked forward to breaking the boundary between dance and theatrical performance with his work, Little Ant & Robot: A Nomad Café. With the warmth of the café, he tried to link together stories and technology, and through the immersive experience he created by co-running the café along with robot Kooka, he invited his audiences to be parts of the performance. JL DESIGN created key visuals for the show using different design concepts than that of other performances, shortening the distance between performance arts and audiences in order to attract more people to come and enjoy the show. Using pictures to deliver meanings behind the story, we produced a series of identity designs that allowed the artist and his audiences to share a piece of warm memory together.

Solution

Focusing on the three features of this work, “dancing together”, “borderless”, and “warmth”, as well as the idea that a robot and a human co-manage a café, JL DESIGN used perfect straight lines to symbolise robots and creative, warm strokes to represent humans in the key visuals. Combining Japanese painter Nasuko’s delicate characters with organic, uncertain, and versatile lines, which speak of different paths people take in their life, we conveyed the warmth produced by the key elements of the work – light and flames.

Impact

“People with different backgrounds and stories meet here and light the flame of mutual understanding at the moment when they meet.” JL DESIGN adopted different perspectives to interpret the companionship between robots and humans, delicately portraying the healing power of this special café as we aimed to touch the heart of the audiences, light the flame in their minds, and accompany them as they move forward.