2025 Galleries
The Spark Gallery pages are one of our most popular design destinations, with thousands of visitors each year. Check out some of the latest Spark entries, in the galleries below.
2025 Galleries // 2025 Spark: Graphic // Under
Under
Winner - Silver
Competition:
Spark: Graphic
Designer:
Lingfei Cao
Design Type:
Typography , Typeface design
Company / Organization / School:
CAO Designs
Team Members:
Lingfei Cao
“Under” is a self-initiated project that treats the New York City subway as an underground concert hall. Every year, more than 350 individual performers bring over 12,000 performances to commuters across the transit system. The project visualizes the rhythm, sound, and energy of these performances through typography and motion.
At the center of the design is a custom variable typeface inspired by the way sound travels through space. Referencing acoustic diagrams from Architectural Acoustics, the typeface changes shape like sound waves expanding in the subway tunnels. This dynamic lettering reflects the constant movement and variation in live performances underground.
The visual system combines this typography with the MTA’s original color palette and portraits of subway performers. Sound visualizations are used as graphic elements that bring texture and rhythm to layouts, posters, and motion pieces.
Together, the design turns an ordinary commuting environment into a collective stage. It captures how sound, space, and people interact in the subway—showing the beauty of creativity that exists beneath the city’s surface.
