Jiayi Zhang

As adults, we are often expected to outgrow our emotional dependence on objects. Yet many people continue to keep and cherish items that provide comfort, security, and a sense of familiarity. Good Night Abebe investigates these overlooked relationships through the lens of graphic design. By documenting personal comfort objects and the traces they accumulate over time, the project questions conventional ideas of maturity and explores how emotional attachment can be materialised, recorded, and visualised. Through archival methods, interviews, and experimental image-making processes, I examine the physical evidence left by long-term companionship—flattened fabrics, worn stitching, fading embroidery, and repeated touch marks. These traces become a form of emotional data, revealing stories that are often invisible yet deeply meaningful. The outcome takes the form of an emotional archive publication that documents the invisible relationship between people and their comfort objects. Rather than focusing on the objects themselves, the project visualises the traces of use, memory, and emotional dependency accumulated through years of companionship.