DARK PATTERNS
Create a book that highlights a social issue that is important or personally meaningful. The project should use editorial design to investigate, interpret, and communicate the issue through typography, layout, imagery, and structure. Rather than simply presenting information, the design should reinforce the concept and emotional impact of the subject matter.
The project takes the form of an accordion-style book that explores the issue of dark patterns—manipulative interface strategies used by digital platforms to influence user behavior.
The layout is deliberately glitchy and chaotic, with fragmented typography, overlapping elements, and visual interruptions. This visual approach mirrors the cognitive overload and subtle disorientation created by manipulative digital interfaces.
The title Dark Patterns is constructed from a barcode-inspired typographic form, referencing the central role of profit in the design of many digital platforms. The barcode functions as a visual metaphor for the commercialization of user attention, data extraction, and the prioritization of revenue over user autonomy.
The project focuses on the feeling of being guided, nudged, and redirected within digital systems. Elements appear, repeat, and distort to suggest how interfaces quietly shape attention, decision-making, and time spent online. As the accordion expands, the accumulating visual noise reflects the broader critique of profit-driven design systems that manipulate behavior while appearing seamless and user-friendly.