Project EGO.

THE FINAL 2D ASSIGNMENT!!!

SOON IT WILL BE HOLIDAY!!!

 

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Anyway first thing first, for our final assignment, we were told to work on the theme ‘Ego’. Basically this is a project that allow us to express ourselves using mathematical formulas in a more abstract and artistic manner. There is a total of four equations. The four equations will defining ‘me’, ‘a better me’, ‘an ideal me’ and ‘me in five years’ respectively.

For me, I feel that all these “Ego” stuff about me are ideas, thoughts, mindsets and many other things that are recorded in our memories through different stages and events in our life. These experiences and feelings overtime make us who we are as a person and also are the reasons behind on who we want to become and what we want to do in the future. They define who we are as a person and who we are in the future.

Before I begin to go into researching and experimenting on the presentation and aesthetic area of my design, I first have to settle on the definitions of ‘me’, ‘a better me’, ‘an idea me’ and ‘me in five years’.

After some time spent scribbling on my notebook, I finally decided on my definitions:

 

1.  Me

Adventure  +  Good food and drinks = Life enjoying expert

2.  A better me

Jack of all trades, master of all  X  Achieving immunity against bullshit aka drama = A winner in life

3.  An ideal me

Appreciating the finer things in life – Procrastination = A man of wisdom

4.  Me in five years

The curiosity for wildlife + The longing for freedom = Explorer in Africa

 

It was actually quite fun and entertaining trying to think back of things and memories that defines you as who you are as a person. But putting those thoughts into definitions and into words was quite a challenge for me. But of course I did the impossible.

After reflecting on who I am as a person, I feel that all these are part and parcel of a growing process concerning the mental and spiritual aspects of my life. Therefore, after much thoughts and brainstorming I decided to work on the idea of growth. Basically, I will be using brains to represent seeds which are in the process of growing into trees.

Brainstorming sketches:

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The idea here is to show that all these experiences and feelings are like the nutrients for my brain which grow into the characteristics and visions that I possesses as a person now.

And I decided to showcase this growing process in an abstract collage manner. I feel that collage allows me more freedom and opportunities to express myself better through its lax style of presentation.

Abstract collages research and analysis:

3d collage

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From here, I moved on to experimenting and sketching out ideas on how I want to use collage to express myself in a way that I feel is the best.

Ideation sketches:

 

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From hand sketches, I moved onto using Illustrator and Photoshop to realize my designs.

Work in progress:

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TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

 

And after hours of last minute hard work, I am finally done!!!

PRESENTING MY 2D ASSIGNMENT!!!

 

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YEAH FINALLY DONE!!!

 

1.  Me

Adventure  +  Good food and drinks = Life enjoying expert

FIRST Adventure

+

PrintGood food and drinks

=

THIRDLife enjoying expert

Adventure

I am a very adventurous person. I always try to look for new things to try and new excitement to experience. But in our realist modern there is no such things as saving the princess from the dragon or having a group of people traveling to Mount Doom and throw the ring into the lava to save middle earth. Therefore, the best alternative way to have an adventure is to travel.

By traveling, I get to have the excitement of experiencing new people and new places. Those are things that you have to be there yourself to understand how it feels like. Even with the advance in technology which allows you to view things from the comfort of your room, it is still best to be there and be involved personally. It is something that I will continue to do as I find that it enriching. It helps me grow as a person as I get to understand the whole around me better through the exposures I gained during all these overseas trips.

Good food and drinks

I love good food and drinks. Nothing is better than having something to eat and drink after a long day of doing nothing school work. The fragrant of deep fried chicken wings and the sizzling sound of coca cola will make you forget about all the stress and worries regarding your work and even your life. And of course, good food and drink will taste better when share with friends. Nothing beats chit chatting over a table filled with good food and drinks. And with just a bunch of old friends and talking about all the good old times. Ah this is life man~

Life enjoying expert

I believe that with both my brain and stomach stuffed with all the good stuff it will makes me a better person in the long run both mentally and physically. All the traveling will exposed my mind to sorts of interesting experiences which will allow me to appreciate what I have now and look forward to what the world had to offer.  Good food and drinks allows me to free myself from all the problems from life and work. Though it is only temporary but I think is good enough. And it serves as a perfect platform to gather friends and talk about life. Great experience, great food and drinks and great company. What else can you ask for? This is me. This is my life.

 

2.  A better me

Jack of all trades, master of all  X  Achieving immunity against bullshit aka drama = A winner in life

SEVENTHJack of all trades, master of all 

X

11THAchieving immunity against bullshit aka drama

=

NINETHA winner in life

Jack of all trades, master of all

I see myself as someone that pick up skills pretty fast. I also find myself to have the ability to find ways to solve problems rather quickly. All these skills and abilities make me as someone that is not afraid of challenges in work and even in life. I feel that it is important to constantly equipped ourselves with skills and knowledge to stay relevant in this ever changing technological world. It is not just technical skills that are importunate. People skills are equally important. With globalization, it is more and more important to connect with people. We need to know what the rest are doing so that we can learn from them and improve ourselves.

Achieving immunity against bullshit aka drama

I feel that as we grow older, the world becomes a much more complicated place for us. I think it is mainly because we start to see the world differently due to all the knowledge and experiences we accumulated over the years. People start to do different things and say different stuff to express themselves. And when they do it in a negatively expressive manner, that when drama happens. When there is people, there will be drama. So true. So true.

Therefore, it is important to be immune to all these bullshit that people are creating and focus on the more important things in life. We should ask ourselves just how much time we have wasted when we get involved in all these drama. At the end of the day, we only find ourselves drained from all these nonsense and gained nothing out of it. Thus, it is important that we stay clear of all these bullshit and focus on what we really want to do and achieve.

A winner in life

Being able to take on the world with the necessary skills and knowledge and able to correctly prioritize our life by avoiding all the potential bullshit, we have the perfect combo in achieving life success. No more dramas, no more bullshit, just time spend in doing what we believe are important. Every moment of our life will be fulfilling as we invest our time in the relevant areas. It will allow us to push our potential and having the ability to stand against the tough challenges ahead. With all these efforts being put in to be better, how to not be successful?

 

3.  An ideal me

Appreciating the finer things in life – Procrastination = A man of wisdom

TENTHAppreciating the finer things in life

EIGHTHProcrastination

=

12THA man of wisdom

Appreciating the finer things in life

It is only after we get all the shit thrown at ourselves in life then we start to really see the world around us. We realize that no matter how much money we earn in work or how many As we get in school, it can never beat the feeling when we realize we don’t have to wake up early the next day. I seriously feel that it is the small little things that matters more in life. Our whole life, we spent chasing good grades and good jobs. At the end of the day, we ask ourselves what’s the point? I mean those things are important but not that important. The society and the medias have influenced us to the point that we feel those are the things that make up our life. It is not true. Those things are part of our life but not our life as whole.

Sometimes, we should seriously get away from our work and take sometime off to recharge ourselves with non-work related stuff. What is the point of working when we neglect all the other people and things that are important to us. We will lose them if we continue to lose ourselves in the vicious cycle of work eat sleep cycle. Get away from work, maybe even for a few minutes if you are really that busy. Do something that makes you human again. Go for a walk or think about some non-work related stuff over a cup of coffee. Just do something else that does not relate to work. Learn to appreciate life, that is what make us human.

Procrastination

Procrastination is a common problem for many people. When was the last time you wanted to do some exercise but decided to delay it to the point that it only happened weeks after. Or when was the last time you wanted to learn some new skills but decided to only do it after a long time. It is not laziness. If it is laziness, you will not do it at all.

For me, procrastination is about wanting to do something but couldn’t find the drive or motivation to do it at the moment. The feeling of looking forward to doing it is so much stronger than actually doing it. At that point in time, you will find doing other things so much more fun other than doing the thing you should be doing. Excuses will start to surface and you find yourself pushing it till the very late. It is a very bad habit for me. Most of the time, I will only do things at the very last minute. The feeling of rushing through work is not very pleasant. All those late nights staying up could have being avoided if I had done my work earlier. However, I just keep on doing the same thing again and again. It is something that affects me quite a bit and I want to quit doing it.

A man of wisdom

When we start to appreciate the finer aspects of our life and stop delaying on the important things we need to do, we will start to viewing our life differently. Gone are the days when we wake up in the morning and not knowing what to do with our life. Everyday become a struggle in finding our purpose and role in this world. Instead, we begin to be aware of our priorities and start to take up responsibility in fulfilling them. We start to understand how our actions and thoughts can impact on the world around us. Life becomes a journey of building ourselves up as a person rather than just going through the motion. It becomes purposeful as we start to see the bigger picture rather than focus on the non relevant problems. We will start to be in control of our own life knowing the things we do will benefit us in the long run. In the process wiser decisions will be made in deciding what to do with our life and what we kind of legacy we want to leave behind.

 

4.  Me in five years

The curiosity for wildlife + The longing for freedom = Explorer in Africa

FOURTHThe curiosity for wildlife

+

FIFTHThe longing for freedom

=

SIXTHExplorer in Africa

The curiosity for wildlife

I always have a soft spot for wildlife. I feel that they are interesting creations be it by God or evolution. They make the world a more meaningful place to live in. Being surrounded by concrete forest on Singapore, the only alternative to see such creatures is by going to Singapore Zoo, River Safari or Night Safari. It is refreshing to look at them enjoying their life at those places. However, after a while it gets really boring. I mean shouldn’t a cheetah be chasing its prey on the grass plain instead of sleeping behind glass panels. I know the relevant organizations are trying their best to create the animals’ natural habitats to the closest they can get. However, everything just feel so artificial. We don’t have a choice in Singapore. Due to our land constraints, we cannot keep large pieces of land for wildlife to roam around.

Therefore, I really would love to go overseas, go to the native homes of those wildlife. I really want to experience how is it like to be part of them and part of nature. What Singapore had to offer in terms of wildlife experience is really too limited.

The longing for freedom

Living in an Asian society, or at least in a Singapore society, there are just too many restrictions that limit your own potential. We are being modeled into what the society want us to be instead of who we we really want to be. The whole study hard, get good grades, get a stable job and retire in the end cycle is just plain boring. If everyone is doing it, what makes us different from robots?

I feel that we should break away from this cycle as it neutralized our personalities and make us all the same. We should fight for our freedom in choosing what we want for ourselves and not let anyone else takes over. What is the point of achieving something just for the sake of fulfilling social expectations. We should all be fighting for what we really believe in and be proud of it. After all this is our life and we should be responsible for ourselves. We should all make this desire for freedom a habit and be determine in achieving what we want in our life.

Explorer in Africa

I always wanted to explore Africa, the oldest continent in the world and the place of origin for mankind. To me it is a land of mystery as it is not yet filled with human finger prints as compared to other parts of the world. Much of the land remain undeveloped and it is still in its most natural state without any human intervention. I really want to explore Africa and go to places that few had step foot on and to experience how is it like to really explore nature other than going on a hike at Bukit Timah hill.
I seriously feel that after spending so much time living in a safe and comfortable environment in Singapore, it will be a great opportunity for me to step out of my comfort zone. I want to go places and be personally there to feel those places instead of viewing them from behind the screen. The comfort of technology is slowly but surely killing the urge for us to step out of our room and be physically exploring the world around us. This is one of the main motivation for me to be an explorer in Africa. I want to step into the unknown and be involve in the potential discoveries ahead.

Conclusion

Through this project I feel that I learn a bit more about myself. I think mainly is because the project provides me with the opportunity to challenge myself in creating artworks that show who am I as a person. It makes me look deeper into myself and to discover qualities that define me. In the process, I start to understand myself more and appreciate the uniqueness I have that separates me from the rest of the people. It is about knowing who you truly are and stay true to it.

 

 

 

Color scheme

Colors have tremendous power if used in the right way. The color combination that you come out with may bring consistency to the design or it may wreck it. The colors tailor made for the design form a color scheme. Their purpose is to establish style and characteristic or to convey a type of mood. The most primitive color scheme may be built using just two colors that look engaging together.

Color is one of the most crucial things in the creative industry. Finding good colors for palettes is a challenge task as it requires plenty of experimentation. Planning a successful color combination has to be backed by a solid understanding of color relationships.

The color wheel and color schemes

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To figure out the ideas behind color schemes, we first have to appreciate the color wheel. It is a circular color diagram invented by Sir Isaac Newton in 1666. It is a visual portray of color hues arranged in a circular manner according to their chromatic relationship.

Color wheel is a starting point for combination of colors. Color schemes are just logical combinations made with knowledge of the color wheel. It is an simple method to visualize the relationships between colors.

Types of color schemes

Monochromatic color scheme

This scheme is composed of different tints, shades of tones of the same color. These color schemes are relatively easy to use and comprehend.

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Analogous color scheme

These are colors that are next to each other on the color wheel. They usually match quite well.

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Complementary color scheme

Colors located across from each other on a color wheel, for example: blue and orange, yellow and purple. They usually create a vibrant look due to high contrast between them.

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Split-Complementary color scheme

It is composed of the base color and two colors adjacent to its complement. That gives it strong visual contrast but without the tension of the complementary color scheme.

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Triadic color scheme

This scheme is made of colors that are evenly spaced along the color wheel. A vibrant palette is produced.

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Tetradic color scheme

This scheme is composed of four colors comprising of two complementary pairs.

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Colours! 颜色!

“The purest and most thoughtful minds are those which love color the most.”
― John Ruskin, The Stones of Venic

To me, colours is more than just light of different wavelengths and frequencies. Each of them is unique in their own ways. Each of them have their own emotional story. And it is our job as designers or artists to uncover such stories and present them to the rest of the world.

Before we look into the different colours and the emotions they represent, here are some general knowledge on colours.

Colour Wheel

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A color wheel is an illustrative grouping of color hues in a circle that displays relationships between colours.

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Primary colours are sets of colors that can be combined to make a useful range of colors.

Secondary colours are colours made by mixing two primary colors in a given colour space.

Tertiary colours are colours made by mixing either one primary colour with one secondary colour, or two secondary colours, in a given color space.

Now, let’s look at some of the different kinds of colours and the emotions behind each of them.

RED. Physical
Positive: Physical courage, strength, warmth, energy, basic survival, ‘fight or flight’, stimulation, masculinity, excitement.
Negative: Defiance, aggression, visual impact, strain.

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BLUE. Intellectual.
Positive: Intelligence, communication, trust, efficiency, serenity, duty, logic, coolness, reflection, calm.
Negative: Coldness, aloofness, lack of emotion, unfriendliness.

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YELLOW. Emotional
Positive: Optimism, confidence, self-esteem, extraversion, emotional strength, friendliness, creativity.
Negative: Irrationality, fear, emotional fragility, depression, anxiety, suicide.

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GREEN. Balance
Positive: Harmony, balance, refreshment, universal love, rest, restoration, reassurance, environmental awareness, equilibrium, peace.
Negative: Boredom, stagnation, blandness, enervation.

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VIOLET. Spiritual
Positive: Spiritual awareness, containment, vision, luxury, authenticity, truth, quality.
Negative: Introversion, decadence, suppression, inferiority.

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ORANGE.
Positive: Physical comfort, food, warmth, security, sensuality, passion, abundance, fun.
Negative: Deprivation, frustration, frivolity, immaturity.

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PINK.
Positive: Physical tranquillity, nurture, warmth, femininity, love, sexuality, survival of the species.
Negative: Inhibition, emotional claustrophobia, emasculation, physical weakness.

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GREY.
Positive: Psychological neutrality.
Negative: Lack of confidence, dampness, depression, hibernation, lack of energy.

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BLACK.
Positive: Sophistication, glamour, security, emotional safety, efficiency, substance.
Negative: Oppression, coldness, menace, heaviness.

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The rhymes project.

For this project, I read up on the principles of design to prepare myself beforehand as it requires me to experiment with different compositions using various graphic elements from a variety of rhymes.

Principles of Design basically means the ways that artists use the elements of art in a work of art.

Here is the list of the different definitions of the various design principles and their visual representations.

Balance

It is the distribution of the visual weight of objects, colors, texture, and space. If the design was a scale, these elements should be balanced to make a design feel stable. In symmetrical balance, the elements used on one side of the design are similar to those on the other side; in asymmetrical balance, the sides are different but still look balanced. In radial balance, the elements are arranged around a central point and may be similar.

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Emphasis

It is the part of the design that catches the viewer’s attention. Usually the artist will make one area stand out by contrasting it with other areas. The area could be different in size, color, texture, shape, etc.

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Movement

It is the path the viewer’s eye takes through the work of art, often to focal areas. Such movement can be directed along lines, edges, shape, and color within the work of art.

3.movement

Pattern

It is the repeating of an object or symbol all over the work of art.

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Repetition

It works with pattern to make the work of art seem active. The repetition of elements of design creates unity within the work of art.

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Proportion

It is the feeling of unity created when all parts (sizes, amounts, or number) relate well with each other. When drawing the human figure, proportion can refer to the size of the head compared to the rest of the body.

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Rhythm

It is created when one or more elements of design are used repeatedly to create a feeling of organized movement. Rhythm creates a mood like music or dancing. To keep rhythm exciting and active, variety is essential.

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Variety

It is the use of several elements of design to hold the viewer’s attention and to guide the viewer’s eye through and around the work of art.

8.variety

Unity

It is the feeling of harmony between all parts of the work of art, which creates a sense of completeness.

9.unity

Once I familiarized myself with the key ideas of design principles, I looked up for the different graphic resources that are linked to Humpty Dumpty (The rhyme I was assigned.).

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After stocking up on the graphic resources, I looked into the available rhymes (Humpty Dumpty, The Old Lady Who Lived In A Shoe and Hey Diddle Diddle.) to choose potential lines from them to work with.

I chose the following lines:

  1. Hey diddle diddle the cat and the fiddle
  2. The little dog laughed to see such sport
  3. There was an old woman who lived in a shoe
  4. Whipped them all soundly and put them to bed

Visual references:

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Experimenting with the various compositions and graphic elements:

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Final compositions:

1

Hey diddle diddle the cat and the fiddle:

For this composition, I was inspired by little planet photo presentation concept. By using the cat to form a planet shape with the tails of the fiddles extruding out, it creates a dynamic and explosive visual.

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The little dog laughed to see such sport:

The idea is to amplify and enhance the way the dog is shown laughing. By creating sound waves using laughing mouths and ocean waves using pugs, it creates a stirring and humorous effect to the composition. The present of the dog wearing the Vendetta mask further intensify the overall visual presentation.

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There was an old woman who lived in a shoe:

The concept is to show the old woman as the boss of an estate empire made up of shoes with shoes raining in the background. It is to bring about a modern touch to a traditional rhyme.

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Whipped them all soundly and put them to bed:

The meaning behind this composition is to create graphical forms that are elegant which is represented by the falling flowers by using something that is brutal which is represented by the whip. The children that are involved in the composition also complement the overall composition. The irony forged in the process creates an interesting visual style.

A line is a naughty boy that refuses to go home.

For this project about line, I first went to research on the meaning for the different emotions that I am working on. I want to get a clearer picture how they are used in different situations and a deeper understanding of their meaning to get an better idea of how to express them through physical means.

At the same time, I also research on how different types of lines convey different meanings. For example, horizontal lines suggest calm and quiet, a relaxed comfort.

After grasping the meaning for the different emotions and lines, I went to look up for images related to each emotions to expose myself to the various visual references.

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From here, I started creating my emotions through experimenting different drawing mediums on different kinds of papers.

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Work in progress…

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