Bringing Emotion to Light: A Visual Storytelling Project

As part of our ICT and Material Design in ELT course, we created a short visual project titled “Lux and the Sun.” This story was designed not only to explore the emotional potential of digital tools in ELT, but also to experiment with how narrative and visuals can enhance engagement and comprehension.

The story follows Lux, a glowing 12-year-old boy, and the Sun, a mysterious faceless figure. Through a sequence of AI-generated still images, we visualized key emotional beats: admiration, rejection, heartbreak, and resilience. While the characters themselves are fictional, their emotional journey is deeply human — making them relatable for language learners and audiences alike.

We used Sora AI to generate the visuals in a consistent cartoon/hand-drawn style and CapCut to edit and compile the final video. Our aim was to blend storytelling with material design, showing how even non-animated, static visuals can evoke mood, narrative flow, and engagement.

This project demonstrates how ICT tools can support creativity, empathy, and language learning by turning abstract emotions into visual moments. Through Lux’s light, we explored how meaning can be shaped not just by words, but by atmosphere and design.

—Created by: Tufan Gürültü & Zeynep Yeşildağ