Press Release
A' Design Award in Public Awareness, Volunteerism, and Society Design Goes to Beyond Number Social Awareness Web Platform by Lei Ye
Lei Ye recognized for public awareness, volunteerism, and society design by the international grand jury of the 2024 - 2025 A' Design Award & Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 18, 2025 /DesignNewswire/ Beyond Number Social Awareness Web Platform by Lei Ye, designed for Data For Black Lives, has been granted the A' Design Award in the Public Awareness, Volunteerism, and Society Design category, A' Design Award & Competition has announced. The result belongs to the 2024 - 2025 A' Design Award & Competition and was reached through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who assessed anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
What the A' Design Award Means
The Iron A' Design Award is awarded to good designs that meet the rigorous professional and industrial standards set by the A' Design Awards. This recognition is reserved for works that demonstrate a solid understanding of design principles and show creativity within their execution. Recipients of the Iron A' Design Award are acknowledged for their practical innovations and contributions to their respective fields, providing solutions that improve quality of life and foster positive change. These designs are a testament to the skill and dedication of their creators, showcasing their ability to address real-world challenges through thoughtful design.
Regarding Beyond Number Social Awareness Web Platform
Beyond Number is a web based interactive platform for social data storytelling. The platform turns statistics on social justice topics into visual narratives. Visitors explore curated datasets, interact with dynamic visualizations, and select the statistics they find most relevant. These choices are then transformed into a personalized digital poster that can be saved or shared. Built with HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript, the platform is responsive on desktop and mobile screens. The aim is to make abstract data tangible and to show the human impact behind numbers.
About Lei Ye
Lei Ye is a designer whose work spans digital products, data storytelling, and visual communication. With experience across enterprise systems, creative industries, and public sector initiatives, he bridges the gap between complex information and accessible user experiences. His projects have been recognized by international design organizations and exhibited globally. Through independent research and collaborative platforms, he explores the role of design in shaping technology, policy, and social narratives. His practice contributes to discussions on how design can interpret systems and support public understanding.
Award Record
With this recognition, Lei Ye is a winner of 1 A' Design Award.
About the A' Public Awareness, Volunteerism, and Society Design Award
The A' Volunteerism Design Award is an international competition recognizing good volunteerism projects by leading designers and policy institutions worldwide. It is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to public awareness campaign designers, volunteerism advocacy groups, non-profit organizations and social workers from all countries. Typical entries include fundraisers, advocacy campaigns, disaster relief efforts, community cleanups, educational programs and health screenings. The awarded volunteerism designs are published at https://dezigners.org/design-category/volunteerism
About A' Design Award & Competition
Organized annually since 2008, A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The philanthropic mission of the A' Design Award is to advance society through good design, by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Nominations are peer reviewed and evaluated anonymously by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. Eligible laureates receive the A' Design Prize, which includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, uploading a work and receiving a preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. More information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://dezigners.org/170072
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/170072
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!170072
- Laureate Profile: https://dezigners.org/d/366389
- Further Information from the Laureate: https://www.beyondno.us/#/
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- Beyond Number Social Awareness Web Platform
- Function
- Social Awareness Web Platform
- Category
- Public Awareness, Volunteerism, and Society Design
- Discipline
- Communication Design
- Industry
- Social Impact and Branding & Advertising
- Colors
- Gainsboro, Silver, Light Slate Gray, Dark Gray and Gray
- Images
- 5
- Client
- Data For Black Lives
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Lei Ye
- Country
- United States of America
- Recognition
- A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2024 - 2025
- Design ID
- #170072
Credits
- Image Credits
- All Credits To Lei Ye
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- Beyond Number is an interactive data visualization platform that transforms raw social data into compelling narratives, encouraging users to reflect on social justice issues. Unlike traditional static infographics, BeyondNO enables users to generate personalized digital posters, integrating statistics with visual storytelling. Designed for the 2024 D4BL Conference, it fosters engagement by making abstract data tangible, urging audiences to think beyond numbers and see the human impact behind data.
- Inspiration
- Beyond Number was inspired by the need to humanize data and challenge the perception that numbers alone tell the full story of social justice issues. Rooted in research on data ethics and visual storytelling, the project draws from historical social movements and interactive design principles. The goal was to create an engaging, thought-provoking experience that transforms statistics into personal reflections, enabling users to see the lived realities behind the data.
- Research
- Beyond Number was developed through qualitative and quantitative research on data ethics, visualization, and social impact. The objective was to explore how interactive design can transform raw statistics into compelling narratives that drive awareness and engagement. The methodology included literature reviews, case studies on social justice movements, and user testing. Data was collected from open-source datasets, analyzed using D3.js, and tested with diverse participants. Insights revealed that interactive storytelling enhances audience understanding and emotional connection, making complex issues more tangible.
- Challenge
- The biggest challenge in Beyond Number was balancing data accuracy with emotional impact. Social justice data is often complex, and translating it into an engaging, interactive experience required careful curation. Ensuring accessibility while maintaining depth was another hurdle, as was integrating real-time visualization without overwhelming users. Overcoming these challenges involved iterative user testing, refining interaction flows, and optimizing visual hierarchy for clarity and engagement.
- Realization and Technology
- Beyond Number was developed using a combination of front-end web technologies, including HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript, with D3.js for dynamic data visualization. The platform integrates an interactive UX framework to enable user-generated content, allowing real-time customization of digital posters. The design follows a research-driven methodology, incorporating data ethics principles and social impact storytelling to ensure accessibility, engagement, and meaningful narrative construction.
- Operation and Interaction
- Beyond Number guides users through an interactive journey of social data storytelling. Visitors explore curated datasets, interact with dynamic visualizations, and personalize their insights by selecting key statistics. The platform then transforms their choices into a unique digital poster, which can be saved or shared. This immersive experience fosters reflection, making complex social issues more tangible and engaging, encouraging users to see beyond numbers and understand human impact.
- Project Duration and Location
- The Beyond Number project started in September 2024 in Boston and was completed in November 2024. It was designed for the 2024 Data for Black Lives (D4BL) Conference and exhibited at the Pérez Art Museum Miami. The platform was developed as a digital experience to engage audiences in social justice narratives through data visualization and interactive storytelling.
- Specifications
- Beyond Number is a web-based interactive platform optimized for both desktop and mobile devices. It features a responsive design with a scalable resolution, ensuring accessibility across screen sizes. The platform is built with HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript (D3.js), and WebGL for advanced visual rendering. It supports real-time data processing, user-generated content export in PNG and SVG formats, and integrates cloud-based storage for seamless access and sharing.
- Keywords
- Social Design, Data Visualization, Interactive Storytelling, Digital Platform, Social Justice
