Artist Illustrated 2 Extremes That Seem To Oppose Each Other, But In Reality They Need One Another To Form A Full Story

Easy Or Complex

According to Hymn Wong: “Both Sides Thinking is a project of over 300+ illustrations, plus dozens of animated GIFs. The aim of the project is to blend philosophy with minimal design, to visualize abstract concepts and ideas through plain black and white visual representations.

Social media has divided people with strong opinions further away from each other. Constant battling between who’s right, and falsifying the other. In this series, only black and white are being used. While the 2 extremes seem to oppose each other, in reality, they work as the Yin and the Yang; both sides need each other to form an image, a full story.”

More: Both Sides Thinking, Instagram h/t: boredpanda

Day And Night

“I was born and raised in The Netherlands, graduated from Willem de Kooning Academy, Communication and Multimedia Design(Hons), now working as a freelance designer for brands and agencies from Shanghai and Tokyo.

When I am not busy, I like to translate complex philosophies and ideas into simplistic visuals and invent new tools to understand life from different angles.”

Falling Apart Or Falling Into Place

“I came up with the idea to create these pictographics during my search for the meaning of life. Because it was first written in text form, I found it was only useful for me, so I decided to translate all these insights into visuals, so they can be shared with more people. While it was first showcased with texts, the words were taken out in the end because I realized that everyone has their own interpretations for each visual, and there is no need to force anybody to agree only on a single interpretation, this also explains a little bit about the concept of Both Sides Thinking.”

Wait Or Act

“Someone literally said “Hymn uses his life to draw down these visuals, it was because of Hymn’s search for meaning, he explored life in every possible way. He went to Kenya to do volunteer work, went to Australia and Japan to do organic farming, he tested his limits and finished several marathons and trailwalker, did a few pilgrimages, went to do meditations and vipassana, he went back to university to study philosophy, and had a life and death motorbike accident in Vietnam and so forth, he has always kept his notebook at his side, so that whatever pops up in his thoughts, so he could doodle them and then later re-work them into minimal visuals.”

Birthday Cake And Countdown Clock

“These visuals are like thought triggers, they can be a starter for people to discuss deep and philosophical ideas or the life topics that we all will encounter sooner or later in life. Since there is no model answer, they are free for interpretation. Everyone will get a different message by looking at one of the pictures.”

Future And Past

“In short, I am trying to create “Tools for Life Design”. During my search for life’s meaning, I found that there are no tools out there for me to understand life in an efficient way, I wished there were. Finally, I realized why not create them, so I am looking forward to creating more tools that can inspire people about life and see it from a broader perspective. Welcoming everyone to join this project if interested.”

Expectation vs. Reality

Wall Or Bridge

Emotional And Rational

Lead Or Follow

Love Or Possess

Beyond Good Or Evil

Work Together Or Against Each Other

Universe Or Youniverse

Self Love And Love Others

Look Down Or Look Up

How Are You And Who Are You

Complexity Or Simplicity

Search Inwards And Express Outwards

Comfort Zone Or Adventure

Attach Or Detach

Passion And Motivation

Comfort Zone Or Adventure

Parenthood And Childhood

Equality And Biases

Vulnerable And Eager To Connect

Ancestors And Descendants

Inward And Outward

Boss Or Leader

Passive Living Or Active Living