PORTFOLIO 2021_LIAU KE XIN by kexinsportfolio

This is a portfolio

This is not a portfolio, welcom to the brain of Liau, where thoughts are brought to life using design.

about the brain

Specimen 01

Information

Liau Ke Xin Born of 1999 Female Malaysian

A mind of a designer that thinks a lot. A designer that brainstorms in her left brain for thoughts, and highly imaginative brain activity on the right mind. Combined to be an abnormally passionate brain when it comes to art and design.

exchange thoughts with it

Contact

Based in

kexinsmail@gmail.com Tel: 012 284 1308

Selangor, Malaysia

what’s in the brain Illustrate away with... A is for ABC

I turned into Medusa!

The Art of Emotion

A Tree that resides in Memory

lockdown inspo with... Pandemic signage

Trend poster

embrace nature

with...

type

with...

Restore our Earth

Statement of Intent

Lavatory makeover

Critical Context

105

Research Inquiry

133

last as student with... Graduation identity: Meraki

Graduation identity: Untamed

INTI SOHOS identity

Illustrate away Compilation of illustration projects: A is for ABC, I turned into Medusa, A Tree that resides in Memory and The Art of Emotion. Each project are curated with love and passion towards illustration

a is for ABC / Get ready for an array of food illustrations, from A to Z.

a is for ABC A is for ABC is a self initiated illustrated alphabet book project. The project puts focus on the overall well-being of children and investigates how the mechanism of physical books helps in supporting children's learning and transfer of information to the real world and explore how illustrations act as a medium to improve children’s well-being.

A is for ABC

the problem According to Gottschalk (2019), the use of technology has been on the rise worldwide over the past decades. Children’s use of digital technology has increased rapidly, raising important questions around how time spent on digitally mediated activities may aﬀect children in positive or negative ways. How do we ensure that children could experience regular human interaction in their early years of life that would contribute to their later development?

the solution An illustrated alphabet book targeted to children 4 to 6 years old at the starting age of kindergarten. The book has local

Malaysia elements implemented in with beautiful illustrations

Gottschalk, F. (2019, February). Impacts of technology use on

to support the children in learning through physical book and

children: Exploring literature on the brain, cognition and

accquire extra life skill in knowing the local context.

well-being (195). OECD. https://doi.org/10.1787/8296464e-en

the message Aimed to help younger children to recognize alphabets while also providing them extra life skills and knowledge on the local context of Malaysian food. Sturges, F., & Sturges, F. (2020, March 2). Quentin Blake: â

Spend time with children? Good God, no’. Retrieved Novem-

ber 24, 2020, from https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/feb/29/inside-the-magical-world-of-quentin-blake

A is for ABC

the practitioner Quentin Blake serves as a big inspiration in the development of the project. As the art direction is meant to recreate sketchy and messy art as if like a kid’s drawing, Quentin’s art is looked further into to inspect the methods and insight he poured in his artwork which is fun and sketchy.

A is for ABC

reference & inspirations

Murphy, D. (2018, December 1). 15 UNIQUE ABC ALPHABET BOOKS FOR KIDS. Retrieved November 24, 2020, from https://www.hellowonderful.co/post/15-unique-abc-alphabet-books-for-kids/

Other than Quentin Blake’s work, several creative and fun alphabet and children storybooks were looked into

Spencer, S. (2015, May 14). The 12 Most Beautifully Illustrated Children’s Books. Retrieved November 24, 2020, from

and taken as reference in terms of layout, composition,

https://theculturetrip.com/europe/united-kingdom/arti-

publication and professionalism of the book.

cles/the-12-most-beautifully-illustrated-children-s-books/

the moodboard Moon Flower Bold

A BC D EFG HI J K L M N OP QR ST U VWXY Z 1. Sketchy and messy illustrations 2. Packed wih colors 3. Hand-illustrated typography (alphabets) 9

the sketches

A is for ABC

final outcome

A is for ABC

i turned into medusa / Understanding emotions through illustrations, learning lessons through stories.

i turned into medusa

the problem

I turned into Medusa is an illustrated children book project adapted from the Silent Book Contest 2020, whereby a storyook

Focusing on the issue of children’s emotional and

is produced only by the narration of using illustrated images.

social well-being, it is a crucial period for children

The book centers around the theme of anger management issues

in their developmental stage to understand the

in children. Using colorful and eye catching illustrations, the

emotions that they are feeling, espeically anger

book aims to educate the children about anger and how to deal

and the consequences of emotion outburst.

with the emotion using the story of a girl and a bear. 15

i turned into medusa

the solution

Stages of Growth Child Development - Early Childhood (Birth to Eight Years), Middle Childhood (Eight to Twelve Years). (n.d.-a). Retrieved October 23, 2020, from https://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1826/Child-Development-Stages-Growth.html#:%7E:text=There%20are%20three %20broad%20stages,of%20these%20stages%20are%20malleable.

An illustrated storybook targeted to children 9 to 12 years old at the stage for important social and emotional development,

Pietro, S. (2020, July 22). Angry Kids: Dealing With Explosive

using colorful illustrations. Vibrant colors are used in the story

Behavior. Retrieved November 23, 2020, from https://child-

to represent the emotional changes of the characters while

mind.org/article/angry-kids-dealing-with-explo-

providing an insight to the consequences of anger outbursts.

sive-behavior/

the message

the practitioner

Aimed to educate children about the issue of anger

David Sierra Liston inspired in many ways that leads to the birth of

management and the consequences that come with

this storybook, one of it is the colorful illustrations that brought the

it, along with lesson to be learned which is to

characters to life and the big and round eye of the characters that

apologize and manage their emotion well.

communicates the emotion of the character with the audiences.

i turned into medusa

the illustrations The use of colors in David’s work perfectly blends into the visual hierarchy and the layout of his works along with the extra textures that added more ﬂavor to his works. This serves as inspiration in this storybook as colors act as an important element to signal the storytelling part from the exposition to climax and to the resolution. Furthermore, the whimsical element included in the storybook is also inspired by David’s fantasy themed illustrations to implement surprises and insight in the story.

Barnes, S. (2019, March 20). Fantastically Fun Character Illustrations by David Sierra Liston. Retrieved November 23, 2020, from https://www.brwnpaperbag.com/2019/03/20/david-sierra-liston-character-illustrations/

the moodboard Greenbean Thin

AB CDE F GH I JKL M N OPQRST UVWXYZ 1. Fantasy and whimsical elements 2. Colorful illustrations

i turned into medusa

the sketches

final outcome 21

i turned into medusa

the art of emotion / Ugly? Emotional? How about both in one small zine?

the art of emotion The Art of Emotion is a zine compiles of 12 memorable emotions encountered by designers in their design practice, portrayed by the designer using a new style of illustration. The project is set out to explore and express the emotion of designers encountered in their practice (no matter positive or negative) with new approaches of visual style in order to liberate designers and the industry from the dogma of design. 25

The art of emotion

the message The zine serves to liberate designers emotionally and practically from the dogma of design, as it focuses on exploring emotions and to make a visual breakthrough in the mainstream visual culture. The project challenges designers to express their emotion encountered in their practice no matter good or bad while being under the dogma of design and explore using new visual approaches, which also serves as a way to liberate design, design thinking and introducing new voices and ideas that might stimulate and revive the practice of design for designer’s professional aspiration in future.

the art of emotion

research & practitioner Primary research is done using survey to collect responses from designers on what emotion have they encountered in their design practice.

the art of emotion

research & practitioner

target audience

Secondary research such as looking into the context of the

Geared towards designers and illustrators aged 20 to 25 years

topic, emotion and also studying on practitioners and art

old, this target audience are generally young and potential

movements are carried out.

designers which will journey out into the industry.

Practitioner such as Frida Kahlo and Ragnar Persson are

The project sets out to inspire and give the target audience a new

looked into for their expressive works that communicates

way of looking into design and ways of expressing themselves

emotion, with the style of illustration that is symbolic and not

through art, which could also be a way to communicate messages

conformed to the mainstream visual culture.

through visual, other than the methods and styles that are well accepted in mainstream visual culture.

Art movement such as Expressionism is also looked into, as well as "ugly art" to understand the technique and how artists portray emotions through their unconventional works that seems odd in the mainstream visual culture.

sketches & tryouts 12 memorable emotions were chosen from the survey to be illustrated. The process of sketching was intuitive in visualizing each emotion by sketching the ﬁrst impression that the response of the survey gave. Some emotions were relatable, while some needed little help of creativity to visualize.

the art of emotion

design process The digitizing process was carried out which focuses on embracing the imperfections in the illustrations, improvising and also making visual breakthroughs. Each emotion were given a color palette to bring out the essence within.

the art of emotion

final outcome The designs were put into mockup of a book as well as adapted into diﬀerent kinds of deliverables to expand the potential of the project in real life.

the art of emotion

a tree that resides in memory Prompted from Golden Pinwheel Young Illustrators competition, the project is a compilation of 9 illustrations that focuses on the theme “memory” which is dedicated to my late grandfather. Though the competition only requires 5 illustrations, 9 illustrations were created for this project to expand the ﬂuidity and smoothness of the ﬂow of the story.

A tree that resides in memory

The message The project illustrates the precious moments I had with my grandfather from my young age, till the time he fought with sicknesses and until the moment of his last breath. Indirectly, the project encourage audiences to treasure the time with loved ones and to keep memories of their loved ones close to their hearts.

the practitioner Korean illustrator, Jamsan inspired in many ways that lead to the birth

The initial visualization of the ﬁnal outcome is a combination of

of this project idea, one of it being the illustrator also creates art that is

textured illustrations using color pencil that brings a sense of nostalgia

based oﬀ his memory and experiences. The illustrator’s fantasy and

along with hearty titles for each illustrations in a handwritten font to

unique style of illustrations inspired me to visualize my memories

bring out the essence of the project, which is a memory and a sense of

into scenes that are ﬁlled with bright color with texture.

longing to my late grandfather.

A tree that resides in memory

inspiration board The inspiration board is ﬁlled with illustrations that portrays the style of illustration that I am going for, with visible textures and bright colors.

design process The project starts with brainstorming on the storyline for the illustrations, which consist of the times that he is with me when I was young, until the moments when he was sick and his last moments. Researches were done on how metaphors could be used and visualized as part of illustrations to make the story interesting and has depthness to it. For example, I used the metaphor of how a tree is silent yet great as it’s existence brings goodness to the surrounding and human as the symbol of my grandfather, who was also silent but caring to the family members. The storyline was separated into 3 parts which are the Beginning, Climax and Ending and woul each be branched out into illustrations.

A tree that resides in memory

sketches & tryouts 9 illustrations were born from sketches that visualize the storyline and metaphors to test the readability and composition of the work. The ﬁrst 3 illustrations are the Beginning part of the story.

The ﬁrst scene illustrates the scene of grandfather as

The second scene illustrates the moments of how

The third scene illustrates how grandfather

a tree with all his beloved belongings. The metaphor

grandfather played and cared for me from young.

watched over me as I grow. Though he was a quiet

used here is to bring out the symbolism of the tree

The symbolism of a swinging tree is used to bring

man, he was there for us. This symbolizes how the

with my grandfather, and also a scenic view of leisure

out the nostalgic memory of grandfather playing

trees also watches over human, providing us clean

to how my grandfather used to spend his time

with me.

air and protecting us.

sketches & tryouts The next 3 illustrations reaches the climax of the story, with metaphors that run through each to bring out the storyline more vividly.

As the storyline ﬂows, the fourth scene represents a

The ﬁfth scene takes audience to the pre-climax of

The sixth scene illustrates a symbolism of the tree

more direct metaphor of grandfather growing old as

grandfather getting ill due to liver cancer, where tree saps

sap ﬂowing out and unstoppable as his condition

the tree ring grows, and time is slipping away.

bursted out from tree branches to mimic the condition of

worsen. The tree saps are shaped into gem like

the illness. An interesting note of myth is implemented in

shapes to mimic gems of their preciousness, also to

this scene, where the myth tells of a bird that cries when a

indicate how his life is ﬂowing out.

person is coming to an end of his or her life. As true as it sound, the incident did happened though it was doubtful of its trueness.

A tree that resides in memory

sketches & tryouts The last 3 illustrations portrays the last moment of the memory with grandfather, illustrate in a softer and warmer manner to add a delicate touch to the illustrations.

The seventh scene brings a heavy note to the

The eighth scene adds a soft touch to the story,

The nineth scene puts a warm note to the end of the

storyline, illustrating a tree sap stucked within layers

illustrating how family members are with him to his

story, by having hands of each family member

of tree barks, to symbolize how the liver cancer and

last breath. Chrysanthemum ﬂowers are added around

surrounding a glass globe, where a seed is kept and

tumors within grandfather is taking his life away.

the scene to symbolize the last moment with him.

protected in it. The scene is illustrate in a way to bring out the meaning of keeping what’s left behind, which is memory close to the heart.

sketches visualization The illustrations are then tested out with color pencils to try out color palette that ﬁts each illustrations.

A tree that resides in memory

A Tree that resides in Memory

It’s a Swinging Tree

final outcome The ﬁnal illustrations were illustrated on paper using color pencils to achieve a texture that is unable to achieve through using digital means.

Silently, Greatly

Ring of Time

A Tree that bleeds

Unstoppable

final outcome The illustrations are then scanned and then enhanced in adobe Photoshop to achieve a better outcome.

A tree that resides in memory

Count down

The last touch

final outcome Each illustrations were also given a title that beﬁts the illustration and to also bring out the meaning of the illustration.

Seed of remembrance

lockdown inspo Projects inspired by the lockdown scenario that is happening around the world.

pandemic signage / A boost of fun and creativity in a dire situation.

pandemic signage

pandemic signage The Pandemic Signages is a small project to produce a 3 series of pandemic signage to spread the awareness of the outbreak of Covid-19. The signages are tied together by pokemon theme that serves as a public service announcement.

trend poster / A look into the correaltion between art and the context in life.

trend poster

trend poster The Trend Poster reflects onto the trend of cartoon illustration, which is timeless, diverse and versatile for designers to express and make connections in different context and platforms. The life context reflected out with using the trend is the Covid-19 pandemic and Graphic design in connecting people with design, while spreading awareness.

embrace nature Projects that are inspired by nature and are curated to put nature as the focus in order to spread the awareness of protecting mother nature.

restore our earth / Spreading love to mother nature using creativity and design.

restore our earth Restore our earth is a collaborative poster design competition between Fahrenheit 88 and INTI International College Subang. Using paper bags does not solve the issue of recycling or reduce the issues surround the devastating of our earth. "Bring your bag" won the honorable mention of the competition that revolves around the issue of reducing paper carbon footprint by encouraging shoppers to bring their own bag while shopping. Small images of shopping bags and trees in diﬀerent ratio are laid out in a uniform order to bring out the contrast of the issue.

restore our earth

restore our earth "Tag your bags" is also a poster designed revolving the issue of reducing paper carbon footprint by encouraging shoppers to bring their own bag to shopping with a reward system. The poster is designed in a way that delivers the message and could be tore and used as a ticket for customers to get their reward by bringing their own shopping bag. Information of how the tickets work are printed on both side of posters, along with QR code for the reward system.

lavatory makeover / A refreshing makeover of lavatory with a fun yet educative pun.

lavatory makeover Damen's lavatory makeover project is a client based project on refurbishing the mall's lavatory in order to attract a younger target audience to visit the mall. The design proposal feature's a nature inspired cosmetic makeover for the lavatory, as a play on the pun of "Nature's calling" with a double meaning where mother nature calls for help for humans to notice the issue happening in nature. The idea also integrates a relaxing and immersive space for the user's. 69

lavatory makeover

the idea Inspired by the phrase “Nature’s calling/ Mother nature calls”which is an idiomatic way of expressing the need to use the bathroom, the design proposal features a nature-inspired lavatory cosmetic makeover. But on a deeper context, the phrase “Nature’s calling” is also used to point out that nature is being negatively aﬀected, particularly focusing on the topic of endangered animals in Malaysia.

the concept The concept is to provide a refresh and relaxing space using greens and plants yet also a fun and informative experience to the audience to gain some knowledge and insights to the endangered animals in Malaysia, by having endangered animals that “peeps” through nature elements. This adds a sense of mischievous and playfulness to the experience.

the research A contextual research is carried out to understand the context of endangered species animal in Malaysia, by looking into what kind of animals are facing this threat, the reason behind, the current population of these animals and the action to be taken to protect them. After the research, 8 endangered animals of Malaysia are chosen to be each featured in the toilets along with their datas and facts that have been researched. The 8 animals are Malayan Tiger, Black Shrew, Borneo Pygmy Elephant, Proboscis Monkey, Malayan Tapir, Orang Utan, Sumatran Rhinoceros and Sunda Pangolin.

lavatory makeover

inspiration board The inspiration board shows elements like greenery, plants and color palette that will be used to support the design style of the proposal and help with the visualization of the draft. 73

lavatory makeover

sketches & plannings Some sketches are done to plan and visualize the idea and concept.

development process The idea is also sketched onto the picture of the toilet and hallway to visualize the idea, while the taglines and endangered animals are digitalize as tryouts to see how it would look like.

lavatory makeover

draft visualization The tagline “Nature’s calling, do you hear it’s cry?” with a concept introduction is integrated in the mural illustrations to catch the attention of the audience and allow the audience to understand the concept with its deeper context better. The sketches are digitalized into mural illustrations of animals peeping through forests and how the data is shown along the way, and also how all 8 animals would look like. 77

mural visualization The mural illustrations are applied onto the pictures of the hallway to visualize the whole look and feel of the idea.

lavatory makeover

toilet elevations The toilet elevations show the visualization of the nature-inspired idea with green elements.

additional installations Some additional ideas such as installations of warm lighting and fake plants among the murals, wood elements to compliment the nature themed and also audio of endangered animal species blending with sound of jungle are proposed to give the audience a much more immersive experience while using the toilet or being on the way to the toilet.

lavatory makeover

last as student Compilation of projects as a student, ﬁlled with memories, passion and nostalgia.

graduation identity:

meraki / Soulful, lovely and creative, an identity for graduates doing what they do best.

graduation identity: meraki Inspired by the word "Meraki", which means to do something with soul, creativity or love, ICAD Persona: Shout it out, Meraki! is a graduation showcase identity where the graduants embody the meaning and core value of the word "meraki", and brings it to the world. The identity also represents diﬀerent graduants with diﬀerent passion in design coming together as one to share their own "meraki" to the world.

graduation identity: meraki

graduation identity:

untamed / Wild, unconformed and fresh, an identity for graduates that are transitioning into fresh designers.

graduation identity: untamed " 肆意生长 sì yì shēng zhǎng " usually brings the meaning of uncontrolled and wild growth in plants and life in a deserted manner. Yet, graduating in the midst of pandemic and worldwide turmoil, the word UNTAMED seems ﬁt to mark as the vision and identity of graduation showcase, where young and fresh designers grow wildly with unconformity, in order to bring vitality and life into the world and industry. 71

graduation identity: untamed

inti sohos identity / Professional and diverse, an identity curated for the hospitality.

inti sohos identity The branding project proposes a logo design to represent INTI International College Subang's School of Hospitality, giving it a professional yet diverse logo that can adapt to diﬀerent sectors design in the hospitality ﬁeld. The logo is presented in a board to show its elements along with applying on mockup to see the potential in real life.

inti sohos identity

INTI

S O S HO SCHOOL OF HOSPITALITY SUBANG Simple and minimal logo to represent the professionality of the field. Red “S” of the logo gives the audience a sense of difference to the vast sector of the hospitality field.

inti sohos identity

COLOR PALETTE

FONT FAMILY

FUTURA MED BT #e52f2c

#333333

Red brings energy and passion to capture the hospitality sense of welcoming and empowering and also a significant color of INTI, Dark charcoal brings a sense of professional and luxury to express the elegance of the field.

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 0123456789!@#$%^&* ()_+-=,./’;[]<>?”:{} A clean font is used to give a sense of classic and elegance of the field, while portraying the professionalism in a clean manner to ensure a sense of protection and formal.

TAGLINE

LOGO COLOR VARIATIONS INTI

BRIDGING LIVES THROUGH HOSPITALITY

INTI

S O H OS

COLORED

GREYSCALE

inti sohos identity

LOGO VARIATIONS

INTI

S O S HO

INTI

S O S HO

INTI

S O S HO

SCHOOL OF HOSPITALITY SUBANG

CULINARY ARTS

HOTEL OPERATIONS

FOOD AND BEVERAGES SERVICES

Different elements representing fields in the hospitality sector can be inserted into logo to diversify the dynamics of the logo usage and expand the logo’s adaptability.

typing something... A compilation of writing assignments that underpins my approach and aspirations as a designer.

statement of intent / Aspirations and intent as a young and fresh designer.

statement of intent The statement of intent is derived into 2 parts, where the first statement of intent declares my intent and agenda as a designer, accompanied by 10 annotated bibliography to support the ideas and interests within. The second statement of intent shows the position I have come to as a designer, while also reflecting on my future professional aspirations, supported with a manifesto that sums up both core value of first and second statement of intent. 91

1st statement

of intent

To design is a designer’s passion, but to tell stories through design should be the core of this passion. As a critical practitioner, one should strive to be a designer that is engaged with life and live a designer life. Being a designer in life, design should be a passion to be carried on instead of just a tool to make life better. To be engaged with life is to be inspired from everyday life (Gates, 2020) just as the great film maker of all time, Hayao Miyazaki quoted that “I get inspired by everyday life”, and the influence of his life can be seen through out his works, and how his works had brought on influence to the lives of other people. As a designer, it is my vision and mission to express from within and to creatively deliver the ideas in life to the world (Ong, 2018) and gain the strength to bring good influence on others using designs, just like my design hero, Hayao Miyazaki. Design is a universal language that can be used to make the world a better place and provide solutions to problems in different context, hence I aspire to be like my design hero in carrying out and portray the beliefs and values I hold onto through my works, and channel out my uniqueness to the world.

10 annotated

bibliographies

The 10 annotated bibliographies supoorts and address the ideas in the staement of intent, relevant to the interest mentioned, formatted in the APA style referencing.

statement of intent

1. CUTOUT magazine. (2019, May 6). JUST A BUNCH OF MULTI-TALENTED ILLUSTRATORS Going behind the scenes of Book of Lai’s illustration studio 06 May 2019 – CUTOUT Magazine. CUTOUT Magazine. Retrieved from http://cutoutmagazine.com The interview reveals an interview with the founder of Studio behind 90s, a studio specialising in illustration and motion graphic and goes behind the scene of how the founder founded the studio and the value he carries.

2. Gates, J. (2020, April 29). The Real-Life Locations That Inspired Studio Ghibli. Retrieved September 10, 2020, from https://theculturetrip.com/asia/japan/articles/the-real-life-locations-that-inspired-studio-ghibli/ The article reveals the locations in real-life that Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli visited and inspired from to create some of their famous fantasy ﬁlms. It also provides an insight to how ﬁlm creators take inspiration from life in order to create.

Hudson, M. (2016, April 26). Illustrator Kerby Rosanes On The Art Of Doodling [Press release]. Retrieved September 13, 2020, from https://theculturetrip.com/europe/united-kingdom/england/london/articles/illustrator-kerby-rosanes-on-the-art-of-doodling/ The press release introduces Kerby Rosanes, a Filipino doodle artist on his journey in starting his path down his passion in doodling and to achieving success.

Kahlo, F. (1932). Henry Ford Hospital [“Kahlo became probably the ﬁrst artist to represent a miscarriage” (Gilbert). It was her own miscarriage. Due to a tragic accident in her youth, Kahlo was unable to bear children.]. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/search?q=frida+kahlo+miscarriage+painting&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwja_Lv5v-brAhWXzXMBHV5vCmEQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=frida+kahlo+misc arriage+painting&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzoECCMQJzoECAAQQzoFCAAQsQM6AggAOgcIABCxAxBDOgcI IxDqAhAnOgQIABAeOgYIABAIEB46BAgAEBhQ0L4DWLWiBGCfowRoAnAAeACAAYsBiAGVEZIBBDM zLjGYAQCgAQGqAQtnd3Mtd2l6LWltZ7ABCsABAQ&sclient=img&ei=x0FeX5p9l5vPuw_e3qmIBg&bih=7 22&biw=1536#imgrc=5HWxO9Y5Q4TB8M Painter Frida Kahlo depicted her miscarriage through painting which serves as a feminist icon. The painter has brought a legacy of female strength challenging the status quo of female public existence and bringing inﬂuence to the future. 83

statement of intent

Motivation, A. (2020, May 20). 42+ Of The Greatest Hayao Miyazaki Quotes About Life &... Retrieved September 10, 2020, from https://animemotivation.com/hayao-miyazaki-quotes/ This article compiles of some of the greatest quotes by Hayao Miyazaki which serves as inspirations for people in life and also creation of anime.

Ong, J. (2018, October 10). It’s hard to think of an artist whose association with mental health is as great as Yayoi Kusama’s. Retrieved September 10, 2020, from https://www.itsnicethat.com/features/yayoi-kusama-world-mental-health-day-2018-exhibitions-101018#:%7E:text=Traumatised %20by%20the%20desperate%20surroundings,obsessive%2Dcom pulsive%20behaviour%20and%20hallucinations. The article features Yayoi Kusama as the subject of matter and discusses about the artist’s life and work. The author also reveal to readers how the artist’s life has inﬂuenced in her work and how the artist’s repetitive and seemingly therapeutic work has been perceived by the public that subconsciously relates back to the artist’s experience in her early traumatic childhood.

8. The Futur. (2019, November 23). How To Find And Do Work That You Love (Ikigai) [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2Sqq jRn_c0 The video explains what Ikigai is about and how one should find theirs. The video also provides exercises on finding one’s Ikigai and demonstrates how it could be applied to people.

7. Sagmeister, S., Nabors, B., & Curtis, H. (Directors). (2016). The Happy Film [Video file]. 661 backers. Retrieved September 13, 2020, from https://www.thehappyfilm.org/ The director and maker of the film, Stefan Sagmeister takes himself as a design project in redesigning his personality to become a better person and to see if his mind can be trained to be happier. In the documentation, the designer himself pursued three controlled experiments on meditation, therapy, and drugs while grading himself along the way. In the process, real life creeps in confounds the process. The film documents journey that has brought the designer closer to himself than ever intended.

statement of intent

The Science Museum. (2010). Who Am I? [Exhibition catalogue]. London, United Kingdom: Exhibition Science Museum. The Science Museum exhibition is dedicated to genetics, identity and brain science. The exhibition invites its audience to explore the science of who they are through intriguing objects and installations, provocative artworks and hands-on exhibits.

10.

Shaughnessy, A., & Sagmeister, S. (2005). How To Be a Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul [PDF] (1st ed., Vol. 1). Retrieved from https://learn-ap-southeast-1-prod-fleet02-xythos.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/5ddfa3943a653/3740746?response-cache-control=private%2C%20max-age%3D21600&response-content-dispo sition=inline%3B%20filename%2A%3DUTF-8%27%27How%2520to%2520Be%2520a%2520Graphic%2520Designer%2520Without%2520 Losing%2520Your%2520Soul%2520by%2520Adrian%2520Shaughnessy%2520%2528z-lib.org%2529%2520%25281%2529.pdf&responsecontent-type=application%2Fpdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Date=20200914T000000Z&X-Amz-Signed Headers=host&X-Amz-Expires=21600&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAZH6WM4PL2RCDY4NT%2F20200914%2Fap-southeast-1%2Fs3%2F aws4_request&X-Amz-Signature=bd416e813b604d411aa8f5025ff564a7f505426f4d78d23d69f4f6e2380ec91a The author Shaughnessy, A. & Sagmeister, S. addresses some concerns of young designers who wants to earn a living in doing meaningful and works that they are passionate about while avoiding working on soulless and hired drone working projects. The book also covers some of the professional skills, design thinking and global trends with a series of interviews with leading designers.

2nd statement

of intent

Reﬂecting upon the journey of learning to be a designer, this statement of intent paves a path for growing designers. To design is a designer’s passion, but to tell stories through design should be the core of this passion consistently. As a designer, one should always be rooted in life and in the passion of the profession. Strive to be a designer that is engaged with life and live a designer life. Nevertheless, to be engaged with life is also to be inspired from everyday life (Gates, 2020), and designers then should shoulder the responsibility of inspiring others, as quoted from Bruce Mao “As designers, we don’t have the authority to force change. Nonetheless, we have the power to inspire it.” (2020) Consequently, designers should then carry out their practice, where design acts as a tool and a universal language to make the world a better place. In this time of constant change, a designer will need to strive for constant designs that carry exponential rate of changes as “The real design is the metadesign for a platform of continuous design development.” (2020) With great aspirations comes great steps to take, as a designer, one should not be stagnated by him or herself, but always carry forth the initial intention of being a designer that lives life in their future path.

E. (2020, September 20). Principles To Change Everything, with Bruce Mau | Echos. Echos | School of Design Thinking. https://schoolofdesignthinking.echos.cc/blog/2020/09/principles-to-change-everything-with-bruce-mau/ Gates, J. (2020, April 29). The Real-Life Locations That Inspired Studio Ghibli. Retrieved September 10, 2020, from https://theculturetrip.com/asia/japan/articles/thereal-life-locations-that-inspired-studio-ghibli/

Statement of Intent Liau Ke Xin

statement of intent The statement of intent is then translated into visuals, that each delivers core values of the statement.

ROOTED “Be a deisgner that is engaged with life and live a designer life.”

101

statement of intent

INSPIRED

Statement of Intent Liau Ke Xin

“Design is a universal language that can be used to make the world a better place.”

“To be engaged with life is to be inspired from everyday life.”

Statement of Intent Liau Ke Xin

102

PRACTICE

critical context / Writings that establish my ﬁrst part of academic course.

critical context Separated into 3 parts, critical context underpins my approach as a designer through the first part of the academic course. The first part includes 5 examples from the initial 10 annotated bibliographies, explaining my understanding of the material selected and concludes what this combination of references indicates about my position as a practitioner. Stage 2 develops my critical thinking in a further iteration, addressing issues raised and will be challenged in the project. Stage 2 will also address the contexts in which my practice operates and the content and concepts I have researched for the project. Stage 3 of the critical context address the issues raised and reflect upon what I have learnt and produced, as well as corrections and ammendments along the process of developing the project. This would also further demonstrate what I have learnt about my own critical practice as a designer.

105

critical context

stage 1

5 chosen critical context that is derived from 10 initial Annotated bibliography explores how critical perspectives on graphic design and illustrations and their social, cultural, political, aesthetic contexts informs a designer’s practice.

The article centres around Yayoi Kusama’s legacy and gave readers a deeper insight into the artist’s life and works. Being brought up in a harsh and disapproving environment of a post-war Japan and family violence

Critical context - Yayoi Kusama

(Gotthardt, 2018), Kusama has experienced severe mental health issues and yet she turned it into a mean as an expression of her life experience. By deconstructing her fear and hallucinations, the artist was able to induce the repetitive and intuitive elements in her art and at the same time curing her mental illness. This has proved to the statement that art and design could be used as a universal language in addressing problems and providing solutions in

Bibliography

diﬀerent contexts (Ong, 2018), and inspire artists and designers to follow their own creativity and pain inherent in artists. While art and design can be an external expression for one to express and explore, it can also be a

Gotthardt, A. (2018, June 21). 6 Works That Explain Yayoi Kusama’s Rise to Art World Stardom. Retrieved September 23, 2020, from https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-6-works-explain-yayoi-kusamas-rise-ar

means for people to further understand themselves according to Kusama.

t-stardom

(Gotthardt, 2018) This supports the point for one to continue to express

Ong, J. (2018, October 10). It’s hard to think of an artist whose association with mental

from within and reﬂect further in his or her practice in art and design, to identify the role of a designer in the context of life and gain the strength to bring inﬂuences to it.

health is as great as Yayoi Kusama’s. Retrieved September 10, 2020, from https://www.itsnicethat.com/features/yayoi-kusama-world-mental-health-day-201 8-exhibitions-101018#:%7E:text=Traumatised%20by%20the%20desperate%20s urroundings,obsessive%2Dcompulsive%20behaviour%20and%20hallucinations.

McCool, A. (2017, February 16). This Yayoi Kusama/Louise Bourgeois Show Is Basically Like Going to Therapy. Retrieved September 23, 2020, from https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/pgxy5m/yayoi-kusama-louise-bourgeois-sothe bys-show

107

critical context

An artist with physical disability and an emotional challenging life was Frida Kahlo, and yet she was remembered as a feminist icon. The reason behind was none other than how the artist depicted herself in her life and Critical context - Frida Kahlo

in her paintings where one can see evidence in her self-portrayal paintings. (Ganeriwal, 2018) Even though Kahlo did not fit into the society standard of “acceptable”, she followed her heart and mind in living out as a unique individual. In research from Ganeriwal (2018) the artist’s life testament serves as a great inspiration to the statement of intent in gaining strength to influence others, and in this context, influencing the social and cultural context even till today. According to Millner, Moore, and Cole (2015) feminists artists have helped forge the transition from modernist to post-modernist cultural strategies. This can be seen in Kahlo, who used art as a mechanism and medium in bringing out underlying issues in the women’s society, which further supports the statement that art can bring prominent influence and forms even theory in the future’s cultural and feminism context.

108

Bibliography Ganeriwal, Y. (2018, July 5). Frida Kahlo – The Woman, The Artist, The Feminist. Retrieved September 23, 2020, from https://feminisminindia.com/2018/07/06/frida-kahlo-essay/

Millner, J., Moore, C., & Cole, G. (2015, November 5). Art and Feminism: Twenty-First Century Perspectives. Retrieved September 24, 2020, from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14434318.2015.1089816?scroll=top &needAccess=true

The Happy ﬁlm experiments and reveals a humane view of a designer’s life is Critical context - The Happy Film

in an art form. Throughout this film, Stefan Sagmeister had taken himself as the one who experiments and the one who is experimented to see if his mind can be trained to be happier. Throughout the film, there was no evidence if using design to solve a personal problem can bring influence to people. Yet it shows the interrelation between art and life, and how one can definitely be inspired by life and portrays it, in this case, in a creative art form. (Palvus, 2018) The evidence from within that supports one to be engaged with life and be inspired by it are the beautiful transitions throughout the film, which are typographical designs inspired by everyday life and objects by Sagmeister. The film sets out to be an inspiration and something experimental for the designer to look about, yet it turned into “a big pain in the ass” as said by Sagmeister himself. (natacha oliveira, 2020) However the journey and process has made the designer’s life fuller, and encouraged designers to be engaged with their life and inspired by life.

Bibliography natacha oliveira. (2020, July 13). The Happy Film review: about happiness and everything else. Retrieved September 24, 2020, from https://www.melted.design/happy-ﬁlm-review-about-happiness/

Pavlus, J. (2018, July 9). Stefan Sagmeister On Co-Directing His First Documentary, “The Happy Film.” Retrieved September 24, 2020, from https://www.fastcompany.com/1664738/stefan-sagmeister-on-co-directing-his-ﬁrst-documentary-the-happy-ﬁlm-2

109

critical context

Critical context - How to ﬁnd and do work you like (Ikigai)

Originated from Japan, the work “Ikigai” means one’s reason for being, which in principle is the convergence of one’s personal passions, beliefs, values, and vocation. (“Ikigai,” 2020) Unlike the west where passion is taken into account of what people love to do, Ikigai puts more emphasis on a group and fulfilling a role that benefits that group as a whole. (SkilledatLife, n.d.) For example, in research from SkilledatLife (n.d.), an Ikigai of a fisherman might be to hone his craft so that he can help successfully feed his family, his moai, or the town, village, or city. Ikigai differs for every individual and yet what makes it important for one to find their Ikigai is that it helps individuals to see the bigger picture in life and make even mundane tasks more meaningful. (SkilledatLife, n.d.)

SkilledatLife. (n.d.). What Is Ikigai and Why It’s Important You Know. Retrieved

Nevertheless, the Ikigai of a designer is different for every designer, yet it plays a prominent role in helping designers to self-position themselves in their life and the world. By looking for their Ikigai, it pushes designers to reflect and examine their inner selves, which ultimately prompts them to express from within and to produce creative output to benefit the world by doing what they are good and passionate at.

110

Bibliography October 1, 2020, from https://www.skilledatlife.com/what-is-ikigai-and-why-its-important-you-know/

Ikigai. (2020). In Dictionary.Com. Retrieved from https://www.dictionary.com/browse/ikigai

Critical context - How To Be a Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul

As the field of design expanded and became a wider discipline, graphic design became more difficult as there are new emphasis on how design is reviewed and critiqued. (Shaughnessy & Sagmeister, 2005, pp. 1–3) Hence, it is important for designers to be willing to be engaged with the world out there and to work their way out in the world. The book How To Be a Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul stresses on cultural awareness, communication and integrity as three main components to help designers in getting equipped to deal with life as a designer. As according to Shaughnessy and Sagmeister (2005, pp. 1–3), to be culturally aware, designers will need to be attuned with everything around them and to go the extra mile by being aware of their audiences at all times. By doing so, communication comes in and is tied directly to cultural awareness in order to achieve designer/ client harmony. The final part that Shaughnessy discusses is integrity as of what strong moral principles have to do with being a successful designer. He stated “ If we

Bibliography Shaughnessy, A., & Sagmeister, S. (2005). How To Be a Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul [PDF] (1st ed., Vol. 1). Retrieved from https://learn-ap-southeast-1-prod-ﬂeet02-xythos.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/5ddfa3943a653/3740746?response-cache-control=private%2C% 20max-age%3D21600&response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20ﬁlename%2A%3D

believe in nothing, then our clients will have no reason to believe in us.”

UTF-8%27%27How%2520to%2520Be%2520a%2520Graphic%2520Designer%2520Witho

(Good, 2018) Hence, it is crucial for designers to live out and portray the

ut%2520Losing%2520Your%2520Soul%2520by%2520Adrian%2520Shaughnessy%2520%

values and belief that they carry not only to be a successful designer but to lead a passionate and meaningful designer life.

2528z-lib.org%2529%2520%25281%2529.pdf&response-content-type=application%2Fp df&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Date=20200914T000000Z& X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=21600&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAZH6 WM4PL2RCDY4NT%2F20200914%2Fap-southeast-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-AmzSignature=bd416e813b604d411aa8f5025ﬀ564a7f505426f4d78d23d69f4f6e2380ec91a

Good, M. (2018, August 1). How to be a Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul – A Review. Retrieved October 1, 2020, from https://isynergy.io/graphic-designer-without-losing-soul-review/

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critical context

stage 2

The second stage of critical context address issues raised and will be challenged in project along with the context in which the practices operates and the content and concept to research for the project. This would also further develope the position as a designer.

Introduction As the field of design expanded throughout the years and became a wider discipline, graphic design became more difficult for people to define (Shaughnessy & Sagmeister, 2005, pp. 1–3). Design is no longer seen as just to make things pretty, as there is a broader understanding in the industry that design as a tool to make the people’s interaction with the environment more natural and complete (2017). Similarly the role of a designer plays a huge part in the society as they not only do they produce products and images, but designers also produce and reproduce cultural meanings through those products and images with new interpretations (GRANT & FOX, 1992, p. 78).

Only by understanding fully the social and cultural context can designers comprehend fully their role and position in society (GRANT & FOX, 1992, p. 78). Hence, it is prominent for designers to be aware of their responsibility and critical position in their practice and the influences they might bring. According to Tharp and Tharp in The 4 Fields of Industrial Design, the field of design is categorized into four primary fields: Commercial Design,

It is up to individuals to choose and to do their practice in relevant ﬁelds of their interest, but it is important for designers to reﬂect upon the works that have been produced to improve their design process and understand design activity and ultimately its potential ( Jr, 2009).

Upon reflection, when designers recognize the range of design work that he or she has been producing, one will be able to rally forces and drive the projects into full potential ( Jr, 2009). Hence, the critical context stage two discusses the position as a designer in the project brought out later while also looking into the development of critical thinking to build a clear objective perception about different situations that designers face in the development of projects (Elmansy, 2017). What is expected to be reflected in the project would be how the designer understands the context of the project and reproduces the meanings and context of the project in a new and different way.

Responsible Design, Experimental Design, and Discursive Design ( Jr, 2009).

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critical context

the importance of

design research

According to Freach (2011), designers tend to thrive when they

In order for a good concept to be developed and formed,

have a working concept that makes people tick, a context that will

designers shouldn’t rush into creating beautiful layouts and

allow them to shape their ideas by considering what people desire,

discussing colour palettes and forms as there will be plenty of

and somewhere to direct their creative energy. For this reason,

time for this later on in the process of designing and developing

design research can provide the fuel for new ideas. By proposing a

the project. Ultimately, designers should put their focus in

project, designers will need to look at various aspects such as the

coming up with a solid design, as good design is ﬁrst and fore-

context of the issue, target audience, deliverables, and the resourc-

most a focus on how the product should work. This is the stage

es to develop and deliver the project and drive the project to its

at which many questions will arise and doing proper design

full potential ( Jr, 2009). Thus, design research comes in and plays

research will help designers answer those questions (Mosiichuk,

an important role in helping designers to understand the critical

2020) As doing design research is not “science” or necessarily

context of the issues and turn it into actionable insights for

“scientiﬁc”, it gives designers and the audience a better under-

designers to improve their design (Esposito, 2018). The beginning

standing on what the project is about, and provides knowledge

working stage of a project is always the crucial part as it is when an

in addressing some fundamental questions designers faced

initial idea is developed and formed into a workable solution for

throughout the process (Freach, 2011).

an issue.

114

understanding

the context

In research from Freach (2011) context serves as an important role in a designer’s research. By researching into the context of an issue, it helps designers to identify touch points, which are the decisive moments where an audience and the issue intersect -- which is an important part of defining context (Freach, 2011). The context of the proposed project centers around the relationship between digital era and well-being of children. In The State of the World’s Children 2017, it discusses an extraordinary subject that increasingly affects almost every aspect of life for millions of children around the world and, indeed, for every individual: digital technology (UNICEF, 2017). As the influence of digital technology – and especially the internet – has increased, the debate about its impact has grown louder: Is technology beneficial to humankind, offering unlimited opportunity for communication and commerce, learning and free expression? Or is it a threat to humankind’s way of life, undermining the social fabric, even the political order, and threatening mankind’s well-being (UNICEF, 2017)?

According to Gottschalk (2019), the use of technology has been on the rise worldwide over the past decades. Children’s use of digital technology has increased rapidly, raising important questions around how time spent on digitally mediated activities may affect children in positive or negative ways. Without a doubt, digital technology has already changed the world – and as more and more children go online around the world, it is increasingly changing childhood (UNICEF, 2017). Even though adults are also using digital technology to a great extent, concerns raised tend to center on children’s use of digital technology because of the many aspects that might shape their characteristics (Kardefelt Winther,2007). Children goes through a critical growth development such as foundational skills in all areas of development (“Stages of Growth Child Development - Early Childhood (Birth to Eight Years), Middle Childhood (Eight to Twelve Years),” n.d.), Elkind (Staff, 2003) states that digital children might evidence worrisome traits growing up in this technological culture as it might bring influence to the language and concepts that children learn, and shapes their perceptions of reality.

115

critical context

Putting it in the local context of Malaysia, it is mentioned by Dr Hilwa Abdullah of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia that an over dependence on technology may aﬀect the development of a child’s social skills. She added

The

problem

on that the overdependence might cause problems such as making eye contact, making friends, learning to take instructions, as well as conversing, which can be problematic once the child steps into school (Augustin, 2020). Other than that, Malaysian Medical Association president Dr N Ganabaskaran supports the statement by saying that there are a number of studies that indicate that the overuse of digital devices at an early age can aﬀect a child’s brain development (Augustin, 2020).

102

The

solution

As a matter of fact, adult’s lives have been dominated by digital technologies and

A is for ABC is an illustrated alphabet book featuring food

even the youngest children are seen exhibiting similar traits (2018a). Research

of the local context of Malaysia represented by alphabets.

even suggests that preschoolers become familiar with digital devices before being

The book is illustrated in a fun and interesting way for

introduced to books (Gottschalk, 2019). However, the earlier years of life play an

children to explore and learn as books with illustrations

important role in a child’s later development and it is especially important during

are an important source of new language, concepts, and

these years for a child to experience regular human interaction. And one of the

lessons for young children (Strouse, Nyhout, & Ganea,

factors to achieve this is for a child to read (2018a). While digital tools can be

2018, p. 1).

beneﬁcial in early learning of children where they transfer lessons to real life (2018a), studies shows that young children between the ages of three and ﬁve had

Given the above, by developing the project into a workable

lower comprehension of the story when their parents read to them from an

solution to the issue, it is important to also research into

e-book as opposed to a print book (MentalFloss, 2018).

the target audience as the focus should be on who is going to be beneﬁtted from the solution (Mosiichuk, 2020).

Hence, the project is set out to investigate how the mechanism of physical books helps in supporting children's learning and transfer of information to the real world and explore how illustrations act as a medium to improve children’s well-being.

117

critical context

The

target audience As part of the design process, it is important to deﬁne the target audience as it is the foundation of building a designer’s focus working group (Moss, 2020). The target audience is geared towards children at the starting age for kindergarten (4 to 6 years old) as it is the age where they start to recognize letters (Drinks, 2020). The key solution is to help them in developing imagination and improve learning capabilities in early learning, especially in recognizing the alphabets (“Stages of Growth Child Development - Early Childhood (Birth to Eight Years), Middle Childhood (Eight to Twelve Years),” n.d.-a).

Moreover, with the added value of local Malaysian context featured in the book in the form of illustrations, it helps children with the transformation of information to the real world. On the other hand, the book could also serve as a tool for parents to spend time with their child while enhancing their child’s learning experience and improving the children’s well-being (Study Finds, 2019).

118

Design Development:

art direction

As a responsible and independent designer, designers should also look into the best fitted art direction that can bring out a project’s clarity and definition, as it crucially helps to convey the message within the work to the target audience. According to Mall (2010), an art direction is all about evoking the right emotion and creating the connection to what the target audience is seeing and experiencing. As the types of illustration for children's books differ, it is important for designers to identify the best fitted style that caters to the target audience (Ferreira, 2020). The overall art direction of the project is inspired by the colorful and sketchy nature of children’s artwork.

First of all, color plays an important role in the book as visual colors help in learning for younger children. Vivid colors are used in the design to catch children’s attention, stimulating their mind and providing a powerful way for them to learn about the world (2016b). Correspondingly, typography is equally important in the book as it is the source for the child in recognizing the letters. The typography in the book is personalized and hand drawn, catered to diﬀerent illustrations in the book to go along with the overall art direction and enhance the diﬀerentiation of the product from the ones in market.

105

critical context

Design Development:

practitioners

The research into other designers and illustrators also plays a major role in completing a project as it provides designers inspiration and a better understanding on the overall art direction for their project. Quentin Blake is researched into and looked closely along the development of the illustration book as the illustrator's working methodology serves as great guidelines in designing the composition and style of the illustrations. For example, Blake’s personal style of illustrating plays a major role in his personalization of the storybooks he produced, for its scrappy and colorfulness. Hence inspired by the illustrator and also artwork of children, the illustrations in the book are produced in a sketchy manner with irregular strokes of lines and also wide spectrum of colors to match the art direction of the book.

Design Development:

ﬁnal outcome

The ﬁnal outcome of the book is delivered in a digital format of width 20cm x 20cm per page due to the limitations of submission. However if provided with the chance of publishing in a physical book format, the book will take on the form of a hard cover binding for the professionalism and readiness of the product. By doing a hardcover, it gives children a better grip onto the book and provides better support when the book is spread out in the measurement of width 40cm x length 20cm. Textured papers will be used as the material for printing to enhance the experience of reading of a child.

120

To summarise, the project has given designers an opportunity to include local elements of Malaysia into the context of the book, which diﬀerentiates the book from the ones in the market greatly. While enhancing the child’s well-being through reading, perhaps the book will also help in educating and

Conclusion

providing children a cultural knowledge and life skills in knowing the context of Malaysia through staple dishes illustrations in the book as they grow and mature. The design research has also provided a deeper insight into looking at the correlation between design and target audience, and serves as a great reminder for designers to prioritize in rationalizing the project and its purpose. Along with the design process and execution, every element in the book plays an important role in delivering a clear intention of the project. Given the above, the project serves as a milestone for the designer in critical thinking and creating creative outputs.

107

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Stages of Growth Child Development - Early Childhood (Birth to Eight Years), Middle Childhood (Eight to Twelve Years). (n.d.). Retrieved October 23, 2020, from

Shaughnessy, A., & Sagmeister, S. (2005). How To Be a Graphic Designer Without Losing

https://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1826/Child-Devel-

Your Soul [PDF] (1st ed., Vol. 1). Retrieved from https://learn-ap-southeast-1-prod-ﬂeet02-

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s%20are%20malleable.

600&response-contentdisposition=inline%3B%20ﬁlename%2A%3DUTF8%27%27How%2520to %2520Be%2520a%2520Graphic%2520Designer%2520Without%25

Strouse, G. A., Nyhout, A., & Ganea, P. A. (2018). The Role of Book Features in Young

Critical context (Stage 2)

Children’s Transfer of Information from Picture Books to Real-World Contexts. Frontiers in

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critical context

stage 3

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The third stage of critical context reﬂects upon what I have learnt about my own critical practice as a designer which lead to key decision making upon the understanding for the projects.

importance of

reﬂection

In the critical context stage 2, the approach a designer takes in starting a project is explored and discussed to be further reflected on. The overall reflection throughout the execution of the project can be summarised as follows: Admittedly, design research plays an important role as it helps designers to acquire the knowledge needed to understand the context of the issue focused by the designer (Esposito, 2018), and also on the various aspects that affect the development of a project. However, the act of reflecting from time to time is also important for designers to undertake, as it is proven to help designers in improving (The Design Society, 2002). Given the above, designers should reflect on their design process as it helps in answering essential questions such as: “Is the design process appropriate for the issue focused on?”, “Is the essential problems focused on instead of other sub-optimisation of the project?”, “Does the result come out to be satisfactory or does it need further iteration?” The reflection on a design process is thus important to be carried out for designers to plan and improve in future design processes (The Design Society, 2002).

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decision

making

Granting that reflection is important, it also helps in informing the decisions made along the progress of development of the design research and the progress of development of the project. More importantly, a structured reflection greatly helps designers to not stray away from the design goal in noticing and correcting the necessary deviations during the process (The Design Society, 2002). For example, in the early progress of design research, the target audience of the issue was initially geared towards two different categories of audiences which were working adults ranging from mid 20s to 40s and children ages of 4 to 6 years old, as the project started out as a storybook with alphabets wordplay. However through constant reflection and rationalizing on the project and its essential issue focused on, the target audience and the purpose of the issue is further amended and changed to make sense of the project and focus on only one category of target audience to maximize the potential of the solution.

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reflecting on

the progress

Along the development for the illustrated book, A is for ABC,

For example, the local element of Malaysian food has been implemented

the outcome proves to be well visualised and executed, though

into the project to diﬀerentiate the book from the generic ones in the

changes and amendments were made in the middle of the

market as it adds a cultural context and meaningful value to the product.

process. By reﬂecting on the progress, the insight to the

With this, the book comes with an extra perk of providing additional life

relationship between the eﬀectiveness and the essentialness of

skills context to younger children other than the educational function of

the solution to the issue is reiterated consistently and key

recognizing alphabets and also subconsciously providing younger

decisions have been made based upon new understandings of

children a cultural knowledge that could serve as an important life skill as

the context working in.

they grow older.

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reflecting on

the research Likewise, research also appears to be an important factor and practice that a critical designer needs to undertake while working on a design. This is because through reading and in depth research, literature in related disciplines researched by designers offers new insight to the process of developing a project, which also helps in developing concrete theories to support the rationalization of the project (The Design Society, 2002). Regardless of the “designerly way of thinking” a designer may hold in starting and developing a project, designs should be based on facts and not assumptions (Mosiichuk, 2020). In the same way, referencing and looking into other practitioners' practice and works also contributes to a better understanding in the midst of developing a project as it provides different perspectives and methodologies of producing a project, which diversifies the exploration and provides more opportunities of experimentation in developing a project.

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Conclusion Ultimately, the critical practice that a designer undertakes affects the growth of a designer in becoming a mature critical art practitioner. Hence, through reflecting, it can be summarized that research and reflection are both crucial acts for designers to undertake in his or her future practice as it contributes to a steeper learning curve for designers, a holistic and smoother design process and improves the product designed (The Design Society, 2002). Similarly, it is also important for designers to always refer back to his or her intention in carrying out a design activity, as it is prominent for designers to be aware of their responsibility and critical position in their practice and the influences they might bring. It can be seen that through this project, a designer’s roots of background has inspired a significant implementation of local context into the project. With a strong belief and values carried in a designer’s practice, the works produced will also produce significant results and influences.

Hence, the core of the statement of intent of a designer should be further held onto and practiced by each designer in their future practice and reflected through the works produced. Specifically, rooted, inspired and practice are 3 keywords that can be reflected through the process and work produced in the project of A is for ABC.

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Esposito, E. (2018, October 22). 4 types of research methods all designers should know | Inside Design Blog. Retrieved October 28, 2020, from https://www.invisionapp.com/inside-design/research-methods-designers/ Mosiichuk, Y. (2020, October 7). Why design research is important for successful product development. Retrieved November 7, 2020, from https://steelkiwi.com/blog/why-design-research-important-successful-product/#:%7E:text=It%20is%20one%20of%20the, design%20process%20is%20considerably%20reduced. The Design Society. (2002). Structured Reﬂection for Improving Design Processes. Retrieved November 11, 2020, from https://www.designsociety.org/publication/29668/Structured+Reﬂection+for+Improving+Design+Processes

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research inquiry / A research proposal that establish the ﬁnal semester project The Art of Emotion.

research inquiry A research proposal that underpins the practices of research and reflection, methodologies, relevant method of analysis and critical focus of the final semester project, particularly on the project The Art of Emotion. The research inquiry looks at what I have research on for the second part of the academic course. It further develops on why the idea looked into is important to be considered, findings on the proposition, how the research and practice has developed through critical reflection and finally how this position myself as a designer.

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research inquiry

The Art of Emotion

Research Inquiry

The Concept

The Intention

According to research, reflection has been proven to be a significant factor in improving learning processes. (The Design Society, 2002) As important as reflection is to anyone, it is so to designers too. Through reflecting and pondering on past design practices, it is clear that being stagnant in the design industry or even in one’s own design practice could be considered as bad as being dead (Lisefski, 2019) as it could lead to consequences such as emotional burnout in designers. (Wojnarowska, 2020) Undoubtedly, the judgemental nature of the design professions that leaves certain points of view in the field, which left unchallenged, could gradually turn into “rules” could be one of the reasons that lead the industry into a pool of stagnant. ( Jr, 2008)

In order to evoke change and to be creative, designers should act on their emotions, opinions and desires, and turn them into something that can help to express or communicate their ideas. (ico-D, 2018) And as designers design or make art, they are making deep connections by combining their own emotions and conceptual associations with one’s technical knowledge. (Pencil Kings, 2021) In this case, the design research of the project aims to explore and express the emotion of designers encountered in their practice, no matter positive or negative, with new approaches of visual style in order to liberate designers and the industry from the dogma of design. The intention of the research stretches back to the correlation between emotion and art. It is suggested that most people’s responses to art are more than a single emotion, as people experience what some researchers called “meta emotions” when they are connected with certain creative work. And such emotions are triggered when a piece of work manages to convey both technical and complexity skills. (Pencil Kings, 2021) And through looking at diﬀerent kind of style and methodologies of producing art no matter the complexity within, the design research of the project looks into “ugly art”, or in other words, unconventional, bold, never before approach in art to liberate designers from the stagnancy in the ﬁeld.

Through constructive and insightful reﬂection, the process has informed on a speciﬁc question that prompted the birth of the project, “What needs to be changed in order to evoke change?”. According to Darius Ou, graphic design can only progress if designers or practitioners continue to look for unconventional ways to approach a brief or challenging aesthetics that are not conformed to the society’s standards, as he says “it is always change that will evoke change.” (Zhuang, 2019)

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The Proposition Change could be evoke in many ways, however in this case, the project takes the approach of “ugly or unorthodox design” as the proposition that could be the key to addressing to the issue and intention of the project, proven by some of the practitioners in the ﬁeld such as Darius Ou and his project Autotypography (Zhuang, 2019), and John of Arderne’s Mirror of Phlebotomy & Practice of Surgery (Burgess, 2017)

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Research Inquiry

research inquiry

The Proposition

Autotypography In the project Autotypography, Ou experimented by playing between “good design”, from stretching the typefaces to blending amorphous forms. However throughout the process, the project eventually turned into an inquiry into the visual culture as it helped the designer into becoming one of the foremost proponents of “new ugly” in Singapore. (Zhuang, 2019) At some point, the meaning behind “ugly design” has changed, as the designer takes his approach on this project as a means of questioning the “rules” that were taught in design school. Ou also said that: “If we always follow the rules set by designers who lived in the 20th century—but we live in the 21st century—then what are we following? Are we blindly following?” (Zhuang, 2019), which serves as a signiﬁcant judgement taken into structuring this project.

Image by Studio Darius Ou via http://dariusou.work/autotypography.html

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Research Inquiry

The Proposition

Mirror of Phlebotomy & Practice of Surgery While in John of Arderne’s Mirror of Phlebotomy & Practice of Surgery, a medieval manuscript produced by John Arderne who is also known as “Father of English Surgery”, one can know that though the manuscript was designed in a way that the medical text are used for practicals, yet it is the illustrations and images across the margins of the manuscripts that leaves the readers in awe. Looking into the illustrations that the author and the late readers have left on the manuscript, it gives an insight to what kind of encounter or interactions the people had with the book. (Burgess, 2017) Consequently, this proposition helps in structuring the concept of this project which is to consider the outcome of the project, where intimacy and relationship of the outcome with its audience should be taken into account, where audience and the mainstream visual culture can be liberated by the unorthodox approach of the project.

Image by Atlas Obscura via https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/medieval-marginalia-books-doodles

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Research Inquiry

The Research The project dives into looking back at the correlation between art and emotion of the maker. In order to evoke change and break the irony of dogma in design, designers should act on their emotions, opinions and desires, and turn them into something that can help to express or communicate their ideas. (ico-D, 2018) As art and emotion have always had an unbreakable link to each other (Pencil Kings, 2021), the project looks into areas that challenges designers to express their emotion encountered in their practice no matter good or bad while being under the dogma of design. In doing so, designers are practically calling onto their subconscious or intuitive parts of their mind when making the decisions in composition, subject matter and the colors they use in order to make deep connections. (Pencil Kings, 2021) The project sets out to explore new visual approaches that are suited to address the issue of the project in order to liberate design, design thinking and introduce new voices and ideas that might stimulate and revive the practice of design for designer’s professional aspiration in future. ( Jr, 2008) While looking into “ugly art” as the approach taken in this project, the concept of expressionism is researched into, as it is an art movement where the image of reality is distorted and expressed in an expressive way of the artist’s inner feelings and emotional experience more. (Tate, n.d.) The artwork could be a record of what the maker was feeling at the time of making it and brings about emotional reactions in the viewer. (n.d.)

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Research Inquiry

The Research

research inquiry

Practitioners Other than that, practitioners were looked closely in order to give the designs of the project a solid reference and reflect the outcomes that are applicable in the project. Stockholm-based artist, Ragnar Persson, the artist behind the 2019 folk horror film Midsommar was researched for the artwork that is produced within the movie, to look at how the artist reflects metaphor and real life existing elements in the artwork. According to Yalcinkaya (2020), the artist took inspiration from the existing cultural work in order to create and portray the artwork that reflects the storyline of the movie. The style that the artist worked on was different from his usual style, which implements the importance of breaking through and adapting to the needs and requirements as an artist or designer. Other than that, the artist has also wisely manipulated motifs as a means to bring out the concept of the movie in the artwork (Yalcinkaya, 2020), which serves as a good reminder for this project to use design elements ingeniously to bring out the concept of the project. Consequently, Frida Kahlo is also one of the practitioners that is researched during the development of the project to look at how the artist expresses and depicts herself through art. In research from Fulleylove (n.d.), Kahlo’s artwork has acted as a tool of expression, a way to visually translate her memories and the complex ideas that ran through her mind. Her works that are laden with hidden details and rich symbolism serve as a good case study to look into for the project to mimic the use of symbolism in expressing emotions.

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Throughout the concepts and content that has been researched, one can see that the relation between art and emotion is well established in the outcome of no matter from the practitioner, designer or artists through decades. From Frida Kahlo’s art that depicts emotion with a groundbreaking style that is not conformed to that period of time to the much more modern art movement of Expressionism in expressing the emotions that the maker is experiencing without following the needed “rules” in the ﬁeld of art, both concept strengthens the bond between “ugly art” and emotion as it depicts the raw emotional experience physically and mentally to the audience without the restriction from the underlying dogma in design. This serves as a breakpoint in the mainstream visual culture to diverge its path set by the dogma and propels it into a future where contemporary design and culture is freed and liberated, while also giving the project a solid purpose into making.

Research Inquiry

The Research

Why do it now? The context of the project and its relevant practice operates in the field within the design industry, that looks into the current state of the industry. Through research, one can know that design is understood as a peculiar activity as it is a process that subscribes to and reinforces certain restrictive attitudes. ( Jr, 2008) As true as it sounds, the profession could be rigid and self-restricting as it earns a living by discerning what is good or bad. Ultimately the judgmental nature of the profession leaves certain points of view in the field, which left unchallenged, gradually turn into “dogma”. ( Jr, 2008) Dogma, while put in the modern context, appears to be intense and very rigid thinking. While designers are creative people with passion and drive, not only do they strive to make amazing things, it is also suggested that most of the time designers would probably end up fixating rigidly on what they believe will help them to achieve their goals. Creative though designers may be, unfortunately this group of people are not immune to the universal laws of irony. (Bruni, 2019) Ultimately, a dogma is held on in order to protect one from uncertainty and unknown, which regrettably results in stagnation. It is inevitable that communities, cultures, ideas and industries that don't evolve or make a change will eventually die. (Bruni, 2019

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Research Inquiry

The Research

Methods used Methodologies that are used in this project includes primary research such as survey and secondary research such as drawing data from journal articles, published academic papers, and data available on the internet. Through primary research, the ﬁrst hand data of respondents that correlate to the outcome of the project can be analyzed and implemented throughout the project as it serves as the core concept of the project and addresses the issues the project focuses on. While on the other hand, secondary research provides necessary information, research and data to back the project up with solid evidence to the nature of the project, the issues, importance, process and outcome of the project. The data obtained also act as an element that can be included in the outcome of the project which gives context of the project that will account to the legibility of the project.

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Research Inquiry

Critical Reflection Findings Throughout the process of researching, the findings that one would be awe with would be the actual connection between “ugly art” and emotion. While research into individual practitioners and art movements gives an understanding to the relationship between art and its maker, by comparing and relating the similarities within, the distinctiveness and correlation of “ugly art” and emotion is amplified which gives the project a solid structure and context that it needs to operate and establish in. Nevertheless, this has also given the project opportunities to consider the medium in which the concept and issue of the project to be brought out with. Different kinds of outcomes were looked into and through research, zine serves as the best outcome to lay out the concept of the project to the audience. From the point of view of culture and history, zine serves as a powerful output for content that is considered to be too niche or out of the zone, in terms of traditional forms of publication. (The Bindery, n.d.) The outlet provides a safe and independent platform for expressions of underrepresented and voiced out opinions. Made up of a mash-up of art, letters, story and emotion, zine is considered the best outlet to deliver the project into the hands of the audience for the intimacy and individualism it carries. The free spirit of zine allows the project to amplify the context it carries by using the approach of “ugly art” which adds on to the value of the final outcome. In conjunction, different layout and style of design can be experimented and played to deliver the message and emotional experience of designers through the outlet of using zine.

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Research Inquiry

Critical Reﬂection

Understanding & the process The idea of taking “ugly art” as an approach to express a designer's emotion in order to liberate designers from dogma of design has manifested through the development and production of the project. While designers do carry similar emotions being in the same field of practice, not all emotional experiences were identical as each were different for different individuals. Though the expression of the emotions through words may be similar and sometimes overlapped, it is the intention and interpretation of visuals that serves as the breakpoint to the understanding of the initial idea of dogma in design, and how by breaking away from it delivers the designer from the stagnated style and restriction from the mainstream visual culture. Instead of putting in the saying of amendments, additional actions were taken in order to expand the possibility of the project into a broader spectrum of outcome, one of it being product design. The metaphor of emotion is applied into product design of designing emotion as different candies that are consumable by the audience under different emotions the audience is having, in order to add value to the project and the experience for the audience. Other than that, part of the visuals were also suggested to be branded into a series of visuals that can appear on collectibles to expand the possibility of the project. Through reflection, the practice that is carried out in the project has been critical as it challenges the designer to not be accustomed to her previous design practice, but to strive for a visual breakthrough in order to achieve in delivering the message of the project to the audience.

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Critical Reﬂection

Repositioning Lastly, the project has helped in renewing the designer’s mindset on the relevance and the correlation of life and her profession, as both are closely related just as how the emotions experienced in life can be seen in the projection through art and design. This has also helped the designer to reposition herself to always stretch the boundaries of her practice and thinking and to not be conformed to what the culture or community has set the path to be. Nevertheless, the usage of primary research and secondary research throughout the project has reminded the designer to be a designer that is life-centered, to always relate to the audience, projecting the idea by using design as a tool to make the world and people better. Cohesively, the project helped the designer to always tie back to the initial intention of starting a project and to carry on the passion and drive in achieving breakthroughs in the profession.

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kexinsmail@gmail.com Portfolio // 2021