Lights Out

Book Design, Storytelling, Research, Posters, Identity
Full Version of the Book
Photography by
Chia-Yu Liu
Design by
Shengjie Wu
Lights Out is a book about the impact of light pollution on humans from the perspective of history, daily life, and behavior.

I always feel relaxed when I see the stars in the endless night. But in the city, due to light pollution, I have no chance to see the stars. I can only see the concrete forest, the gray sky, and the bright street lights. Sleep quality is also often ruined by the light that shines into a room, causing me to always feel helpless and stressed. This led me to design a book to help people become aware of the negative effects of light pollution.
Cover Design

The main purpose of the cover is to bring a chaotic visual experience to the audience. I overlapped the sources of light pollution and added a dark purple gradient on top of the pictures to create the feeling of chaos caused by light pollution at night. Finally, I spray-painted dark purple on the side of the book to make the entire book a black night sky.

Interior Page Photography

This book mainly uses pictures to tell stories. The story tells what light pollution is, what negative effects it has on people, what role the stars have played in the history of human civilization, which artworks are related to the stars, and a series of methods that can solve the problem of light pollution.

Intro Spread

The introductory section takes readers into the book in the form of space, from the starry sky to the city, and from the city to the street lights.

Look & Feel

Throughout the book, the concept of light is used, using type as texture to create the twinkling stars in the night sky. Light is coming out from the various edges of the book, with yellow light shining through to form the background for the citations and titles.

The deep blue light and starry sky emitted from the gutter form a unique visual system in the book.

Images play an important role in telling stories. Using images at different scales can improve audience’s reading experience. It can also bring visual depth to books, creating a great narrative flow.

Outro Spread

Like the intro page, the book ends with the concept of space. The outro section takes readers out of the book in the form of space, from the street lights to the starry sky, and from the starry sky to outer space.

Campaign

Lights Out is not only a book about light pollution, but also an activity that takes the audience to a place without light pollution to experience an environment without light resources.