Designer · Systems · Visual storytelling
I’m Ruoyu Yan, a designer working across research, spatial strategy, visual identity and content. I build systems — then shape the stories that make them understandable and felt.
Explore six case studies ↘
Research · Systems · Story · Experience
My work begins with research, becomes a system, and ends as a story people can enter.
Selected projects · Complete case studies
Across every project, the medium changes but the method stays consistent: understand the context, find the central idea, build a clear system and give it a distinctive visual voice.
Turning watershed research into a legible living system
A layered design system translates hydrology, agriculture and public life into one clear story: a floodplain that stores water, supports production and becomes part of the city’s everyday experience.
Building a regional story from heritage, movement and place
Historical watermills become anchors in a connected experience. Mapping, narrative and spatial strategy work together to turn scattered heritage into a coherent journey through the valley.
A cultural idea developed as identity, space and content
One memorable visual device — the red thread — becomes a flexible identity system. It carries textile memory through graphics, structures and shared spaces, giving a fragmented street a recognizable voice.
Making ecological complexity visible and participatory
A strategic narrative makes blue-carbon restoration understandable: ecological repair, productive landscapes and public participation are organized into a single experience people can see and follow.
Connecting research, cultivation and campus life
A water channel becomes an information and activity spine. The proposal links isolated fields, agricultural surplus and learning moments into a coherent service journey across the campus.
Observation as a tool for visual thinking
Garden studies and field drawings reveal how I look: framing views, noticing sequences and turning small observations into visual stories with atmosphere, rhythm and intent.
Profile
I work across scales and formats — from research maps and strategic frameworks to identities, narratives and experiences. I care about finding the idea that holds everything together, then expressing it with clarity and character.