Background

In 2020, Hong Kong faced the dual challenges of unprecedented social unrest and a pandemic, leading to widespread despair and a bleak outlook for the city’s future. The atmosphere remained lifeless even during Christmas time. As a skincare brand rooted in Hong Kong, Factiv wanted to uplift public spirits by gifting a special greeting card, encouraging people to proactively seek the light of hope during difficult times.

The company sought to create a card featuring a holographic diffraction sheet, prompting viewers to see city lights transformed into snowflake patterns through it. With this card, Factiv aimed to convey that future prospects can be realised through our own efforts, even in a city that rarely sees snow, by remaining hopeful and adopting new perspectives.

Challenge

This project presented the challenge of crafting a card design that was intriguing enough to motivate the audience to view through the filter sheet, relatable enough to resonate with their experiences, and impactful enough to evoke positive emotions. Achieving this required an intricate storytelling approach to intertwine all these elements within a cohesive narrative—connecting the action prompt with a deeper meaning beyond a mere visual gimmick, integrating it into a broader context, and taking the audience on an emotional journey of rediscovering hope by guiding them towards the action.

Solution

I evolved the concept of ‘seeking light,’ which initially focused only on one-way interaction with the diffraction sheet, into a two-way interaction by reimagining the die-cut window holding the sheet on the card as an actual ‘window’: viewers are encouraged not only to gaze outward to seek patterned light but also to invite light in. Envisaging this introduces an extra layer of meaning, symbolising the embrace of new possibilities and adding a more profound dimension to the narrative.

Building on this idea, I designed a card that transforms into a three-dimensional illustration scene, fully utilising the potential of the ‘window’ concept. When opened and stood up, the card becomes a miniature room with a dusky interior and a backdrop of Hong Kong’s dazzling skyscrapers—a familiar scene for many citizens during lockdown. This design replicates the experience of viewing the city at night from their confined flats, also symbolising their inner feelings of confinement. Accompanied by the subtle message, ‘Do not let your view be confined; let the light shine in and look forward through the window,’ the card encourages viewers to interact with it using a light source and invites them to peer through it, offering an exceptional spatial narrative experience that fully embodies our message.