The visual ideas underlying this website and the accompanying book began to form almost as soon as the negatives were discovered at Harvard-Yenching Library, and by the late 1990s they had been solidly established. For this valuable envisioning, and for a large amount of committed design work, sincere thanks go to Victor Cheong of The Design Associates – and to Colin Tillyer of Graphicat.
 
Underlying the design concepts, for both the website and the book, was the intention that Hedda Morrison’s photographs, so far as possible, should be allowed to speak for themselves. Historical context was essential, but it should not dominate the images.
 
A cut-and-paste dummy, made from photocopied contact prints, started off the design. This crude document, made on A4 copying paper and divided into chapters, gave the initial sequencing of the photographs for the book’s chapters – and so for the broad divisions of this website.
 
The option of having one, two or in some cases four photographs to a book page, besides allowing the use of more images, created the development of the relationships and contrasts between images. In some measure simply a pleasing visual device, grouping images also reflected Hedda Morrison’s interest in the broader patterns of community life.
 
For polishing the photograph sequencing, book reproduction prints from Harvard were used. The image detail and aesthetic impact of these prints, far greater than those of the crude contact prints, allowed refinement of our earlier preferences. This led, gradually over some months, to the setting in place of the entire photographic content and image narrative.  
 
Victor Cheong stands squarely behind the accompanying book’s design and completion. Indeed, Hedda Morrison’s images aside, in all its visual aspects the book is largely his creation. With his intuitive eye for graphic style, Victor, assisted by Chris Wong, steered the design forward – with enthusiasm and painstaking care. Colin Tillyer designed this website. Using some aspects from the book, modified for the Internet, and devising other visually appealing templates, he integrated the best aspects of each. Thus Colin created a website with underlying clarity, ease of use, and accessible finely presented images. Arion Wong helped design and implement the live site.