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Illustration / Research / Publication · 2026

Meeting Points

Between Melbourne and Shanghai

Overlay / Melbourne — the cup and storefront as a point of arrival.
Overlay / Melbourne — the cup and storefront as a point of arrival.
3½ / Shanghai — warm light and a moment of pause.
3½ / Shanghai — warm light and a moment of pause.

Two cities, four meeting places

Meeting Points explores how cafés become places of arrival, recognition and belonging. Focusing on Overlay and Regulars in Melbourne, and 3½ and Captain George in Shanghai, I developed an illustration series and printed publication around the ways people find, enter and experience these everyday meeting spaces.

Project
RMIT · Illustration Major Project · 2026
Role
Independent research / Illustration / Publication design
Outcome
Illustration series and printed publication

01

Giving each place a voice

Each café offered a different starting point: the threshold at Overlay, a quiet pause at 3½, the signs at Regulars, and the vintage objects at Captain George. A shared palette of cream, olive, rust and brown connects their distinct atmospheres.

Regulars / Melbourne — signs, menus and everyday recognition.
Regulars / Melbourne — signs, menus and everyday recognition.
Captain George / Shanghai — objects, atmosphere and memory.
Captain George / Shanghai — objects, atmosphere and memory.

02

From city maps to meeting places

The project began with maps, bilingual type and wayfinding, before narrowing to four cafés. Layered lines and fragments of signage became a visual language for movement and connection, carried into the book’s chapter openings.

Overlay — layered lines and typography developed for the publication.
Overlay — layered lines and typography developed for the publication.

03

Bringing the series into print

The publication brings the illustrations, mapping experiments and written reflections together. Detailed scenes alternate with more open compositions, while chapter titles and page furniture give the sequence a consistent structure.

Cover — Meeting Points: Between Melbourne and Shanghai.
Cover — Meeting Points: Between Melbourne and Shanghai.
Regulars spread — linework extends across the fold.
Regulars spread — linework extends across the fold.
Four café cups brought together, alongside the accompanying reflection.
Four café cups brought together, alongside the accompanying reflection.
Between — two cups, two cities, one continuous line.
Between — two cups, two cities, one continuous line.

04 / Connection

A line between two cities

The final illustration reduces the idea to two cups and a connecting line. Melbourne and Shanghai landmarks sit within familiar everyday objects, expressing the possibility of connection across distance.

Independent student project. Research, illustration and publication design by Xiyuan Bai. Café names, logos and existing identity elements, including the Regulars wolf, belong to their respective owners.