Visualising Pain Experiences

The project explores how chronic pain can be expressed through visual design. Pain is an internal and subjective experience that is often difficult to translate into words. In clinical contexts, this complexity is frequently reduced to numbers, leaving important sensory and emotional qualities unexpressed.

The project proposes a visual design system that enables pain to be communicated through abstract, dynamic expression rather than verbal description alone. Through organic forms and movement, the system allows patients to externalize internal sensations and reflect on how pain feels, changes, and persists over time. These visual expressions can then serve as shared reference points in dialogue with clinicians.

Rather than aiming for measurement or diagnosis, the project positions visual expression as a way of making lived pain experiences visible. By giving form to what is usually hidden, the project seeks to support more nuanced communication and understanding in the treatment of chronic pain.