SOAS

Kagbeni Monastery, Shrine Display Guide

An accessible interpretation tool using illustration to make spatial and cultural knowledge easier to navigate across languages.

Information Design

The brief called for an accessibility-led approach: a tool that could communicate complex spatial and cultural information to any visitor, regardless of language or prior knowledge.

Tibetan in its culture, religion, and lineage, though it is physically located inside the borders of Nepal. I developed an illustrative system with a clear visual hierarchy, translating dense, layered shrine displays into flat, numbered illustrations that mirror the arrangement of each physical space. Typography, colour, and pattern were drawn directly from the monastery's own visual language: the Nepalese Buddhist flag, the shrine's palette, and a dedicated Tibetan typeface for authenticity alongside the headline and body fonts.

The result is a guide where illustration carries the primary weight of communication. Visitors can navigate and identify each figure through the visual system alone, with text supporting rather than driving the experience.

Related Work

Art Fund

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Art Fund

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