Description:

In today’s globalised world, over 50 million people of Chinese whakapapa reside outside of China. Many modern Chinese migrants navigate life across cultures, facing an increasing disconnect from their cultural foundations.That disconnection often begins with a name - changed, mispronounced, or lost altogether.

Chinese naming traditions are intentional and auspicious. A name may reflect the time of birth, moon phase, elemental balance, and the virtues parents hope their child will carry. A surname connects to generations past — ancestors, a village, a story. When this thread is frayed or lost, we lose more than a name; we lose ties to our history, heritage, and identity.

As modern life challenges the preservation of cultural practices, what emerges is a beautiful blend of identities - making it ever more important to recognise the thread that ties us to our heritage and history.

家 Jiā, meaning home, was created to invite Chinese diaspora into a culturally safe environment to reimagine and reconnect with their Chinese names - the tie to home.

家 Jiā is an interactive digital experience that invites audiences to connect to their Chinese names through generative kinetic typography. By visualising names as dynamic, living typographic forms, this approach invites audiences to digitally reimagine their name, transforming them into unique forms of artistic expression that combined with the interpretation of literary meaning.

This digital experience uses generative kinetic typography to help users reimagine their names as dynamic expressions of identity, with fully customisable motion, form, and colour.
The design merges traditional Chinese aesthetics with modern digital craft. Red, green, and blue — representing prosperity, harmony, and longevity — ground the visual language in cultural symbolism, while the interface mirrors Hanzi stroke order (top-down, left-right, outside-in), embedding cultural rhythm into the experience.

Curated fonts for traditional and simplified Chinese form the basis for kinetic typography styles inspired by space and time, evoking diasporic emotion through movement. Built with p5.js, GSAP, and HanziLookupJS, users can type or handwrite their name, explore its meaning and pinyin (romanised pronunciation), and save their animated name via QR code.

Developed with feedback from the Chinese diaspora, 家 Jiā ensures cultural authenticity while offering a visually compelling, emotionally resonant journey through identity and tradition.

家 Jiā offers a culturally safe space, made by and for Chinese diaspora. It is more than a digital experience - it’s an invitation to connect, learn and explore the rich tradition and history woven into Chinese names.

By igniting connections to the thread that ties us home, Jiā contributes to the preservation of Chinese naming traditions and encourages the younger diaspora to carry on the thread that ties them to their history and identity.

Although 家 Jiā is rooted in Chinese culture – its framework is globally scalable, a model for other diasporic communities seeking to connect to their cultural identity when challenged by modern cultural crossroads.

家 Jiā reimagines typography as a vessel for cultural revival — offering a tie towards reconnection, pride, and belonging in every name.