ZINE | MOMENTS IN LIFE

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“What I like about photographs is that they capture a moment that’s gone forever, impossible to reproduce.”


 – Kal Lagerfeld


 

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The beginning.


Through photography, I have been gifted the freedom of sharing the stories of people’s moments with others. It is a heartening process for me. It was a process of soul-searching, something everyone is committed to, regardless of their endeavor. In each moment I photographed, I saw a small part of me inside. I came to understand, through the alchemical course of leading our everyday life, which each life is relevant, despite how insignificant it seems to offer.

Therefore, with so much meaning and significance photography can provide, I decided to base my last project on it. My recent project is titled “Zine”. It required us to share our experience and thoughts that we gained throughout our foundation year. We are supposed to showcase it through a well thought out layout design.

From my zine, I hope my readers can learn that a fascinating photograph is a complete interpretation of how one experiences about what is being photographed in the deepest feel and is, therefore, a genuine understanding of how one feels about life in its entirely.


 

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The thought and design process.


For the overall design of my zine, I decided to adopt a sketchbook style presentation method. The reason being photography is a form of documentation to me. It is about recording and appreciating the different moments in life. Therefore, I feel sketchbook style presentation can bring out the documentation essence of photography.

With that, I started designing for my zine layout by exploring and referencing from the available online and physical resources. I want to gain a better understanding of how information are presented in different sketchbook mediums.

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Some of the sketchbooks sample from difference sources. 


After researching on the different sources available, I moved on to sketch out and materialised my initial ideas for my zine layout design. Honestly, most of the sketches that I did are taking reference from existing sources. Through researching and sketching the design for my zine, I realised churning out a presentable layout is pure hard work. There are so much planning and thinking involved in putting the text and graphics in the right place for the different elements to click.

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Some of the initial ideas sketch during the design process.


With the initial ideas in place and materialized, I started designing for my zine layout. I wanted to establish a casual and informal mood for my overall zine layout design. 

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Some of the work in progress images.


 

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The final layout design.


ZINE – MOMENTS IN LIFE

For my zine, I decided to title it “Moments in Life.” I feel that there are moments in life when the entire world manoeuvre so slowly that you can sense your soul drifting, your mind tumbling. You feel that no matter what else hit you for the rest of your days on earth, you will forever recall every last detail of those moments. Those are the moments that I hope I can capture with my camera. Therefore, by titling it “Moments in Life” I wish to use it as a platform to share with my readers my joy of capturing the precious moments in my life. 

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For the cover page, I decided to go for a casual and informal look. I want to create an inviting and comfortable atmosphere for my readers reading my photography stories. I added in customized badges at both sides of the title. The badges are with titles such as “Anti-selfie Society” and “Animal Photography: No flash”. This shows my displeasure on people using their cameras for reasons that I feel are not to my liking. There are also two Polaroid photos showing images of a cat and a dog with scribbling around them. This creates humor and lightens the mood for the publication. It also hints to the readers that I love animals. I also added quotes to creates a poetic feel for my publications. And by using a handwritten font for the quotes, it makes the quotes feels more personal and close to the heart. I decided to leave a white strip at the side of the cover. This “miss print” presentation is to complement the rawness and personal nature of zine productions. For the background, I used a blurred lighting spread. It is to enhance further the overall mood and presentation for the publication cover. 

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For the content of the publication, I decided to go for a consistent sketchbook presentation. For each photo, I used different photography related graphic to frame them up. I did the same treatment to the text as well. I used different paper graphics to separate them from the photographs. This personalises each photography and text in the publication. Besides the photos and text, I also personalised the numbers used to numbered the photography. Different sizes, colours and opacity for the text to create a hierarchy. It helps to organise the content in an organised manner to allow the reader to have an easy time reading the content. Specific background graphics are also used for the different photography themes. For example, under the animal photography section, the background consists of the different animal graphic in line forms. The old paper background texture is also used to create a nostalgic feel for the publication. 


 

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Reflection.


For this foundation year, I guess one of the most important things that I learn is believing in yourself. It is easy to say but hard to be carried out. There will be times when you doubt yourself, questioning your ability and thinking about giving up. However, at the end of the day, you had to put yourself together and held the belief that you are worth something. Your awareness is derived from your perception and your capacity to be yourself, to own and to have faith in yourself, and to say things that will motivate yourself, even when nobody believes in you.

If you feel you that you need to take a different path from other people, do so, do so to generate positive changes in your life and for the good of this world. You will never regret that determination and effort in making that decision. Belief in yourself, other people will then believe in you in time. Do what you have to do to turn those ideas you have in yourself into incredible things and let them do the talking for you.

Therefore, consistently believe in yourself, genuinely. Do not be bothered by what other people might say or do. If you believe in your abilities to do things, do it. Allow your passion to grant you the motivation to your every step in your journey to success. Let your passion grant you energy when doubts and fear try to set in.


 

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“Sometimes you’re encouraged, and other times disappointed. It’s a matter of going in and precluding all that with, ‘This is what I do, not who I am.’ I need to be who I am in the process of doing what I do. I need to stay true to what it is I’m really here for. And that’s the hardest thing, the biggest challenge.”


– Craig T. Nelson


 

Project Point of View. [Prototyping and Constructing]

After the initial stage of brainstorming, I moved on to the prototyping and construction phase of the project.

“A/An encouragement from the point of view of a lost soul is the driving force to rediscover his/her passion.”

The making of the “lost soul” installation.

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To a ‘lost soul”, his heart is filled with emptiness. It is represented by the earth-liked gray surface from the model. Grey is a neutral color. It is to show that everything has come to a standstill, and his/her motivation to carry on has stopped. I used multiple colors of paint in the middle to create a fountain-liked effect. It is to show that with encouragement, a ‘lost soul” will once again find his direction. It will be like a spring of water emerging out from a piece of dry and forgotten land and turns it into an oasis.

It shows how important it was to be a believer in life. If you are keen on something, go for it and hold nothing back. Grasp it with both arms and love it. Above all, become passionate about it. Being lukewarm is never good enough. Passion is something that all of us possesses. It is napping, lingering and though unwanted, unbidden, it will open its jaws and roar. It will guide and tutor us. It will control us, and we embrace. It is the origin of our finest moments. The comfort of love, the agony of hatred or the ecstasy of heartbreak. It bleeds occasionally more that we can take. If we could survive without passion, maybe we will have peace. But our heart will be vacuumed. It will be filled with empty rooms, curtained and damped. Without passion, we will be truly dead.

“A/An encouragement from the point of view of a child is the incentive to keep on learning.”

The making of the “child” installation.

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To a child, sweet is a magical source of joy and happiness. It brings smiles to them and makes them joyful. I feel this is also what encouragement is doing them when there are in the process of learning. Encouragement to them is like sweet, pushing them to perform to the best of their ability and at the same time unleashing their full potential. Therefore, I used sweets in my model to represent encouragement for children.

I feel that the biggest mistake in our current education system is trying to teach our children anything, and by using fear as the primary motivation behind it. Fear of making mistakes, fear of failing exams, and fear of not being able to keep up with the class. Interest can inspire learning on a scope compared to fear as a nuclear blast to a firecracker.

“A/An encouragement from the point of view of an introvert is the chance to shine.”

The making of the “introvert” installation.

 

 

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To an introvert, living life is like wearing a mask. Only with the right interaction and effort, the mask will be crumbled and revealed the genuine essences hidden in it. Therefore, for the model on introvert, I constructed a broken mask with multiple colors of paint flowing out from the cracks. This helps to represent the process of an introvert opening up him or herself.

If you are an introvert, you want to be alone, find joy in purposeful connections, think before speaking up and examine before d. If you are an introvert, you flourish in the inner altar of the heart, mind, and soul, but dwindle in the external world of disarray, noise and drama.

As an introvert, you adopt to work behind the scenes, retain your strength and impact the world in silence yet compelling way. However at times in your life, you need to trust your guts and share your ideas as authoritatively as you can. If you don’t, you risk losing yourself and not fulfilling your dreams and passions.

 

“A/An encouragement from the point of view of a dreamer is the start of many possibilities.”

The making of the “dreamer” installation.

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To a dreamer, he existed on his terms. He dreams, aspires and hopes. Sure, he can get down too. But it’s not about that. It’s not those moments that define him/her. It’s those times when he is looking forward, seeing that brighter future, and acting on it. For the model, I print out a self-took photo of the sky to indicate the urge to freedom for a dreamer. The addition of wooden dragonfly (竹蜻蜓) is to show the desire for the dreams to take flight under the right encouragement.

A dreamer is different his entire life. Some called him conflicting, wild, insane, and erratic, an apostate to the regulations of the bulk. He finds purpose in the madness. He does not allow others to dictate on how he/she should act or feel. He is focused on believing that he had the capability to change perspectives and ultimately the world. He does not care if anyone says he cannot make it.

 

“A/An encouragement from the point of view of an athlete is the reason why he/she still believes.”

The making of the “athlete” installation.

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To an athlete, training is his stepping stone to success. For the model, I decided to create an abstract presentation of the hard work that an athlete go through during training. The gold paint represents the pride and honor he had inside her. The red paint represents the blood and sweat that he/she goes through every day. With active encouragement, the hours spent in training will be transformed into success.

An athlete must possess or coach himself, train himself in immense patience, which is to keep trying until it comes right. He must train himself in cutthroat intolerance. He needs to get rid of anything that is false no matter how much he might appreciate that page or that paragraph. He will know his direction until his sole option is to monopolize in what he genuinely shine in. He cultivates, utilizes in his one talent which nobody can conceivably subdue. Then, beyond the mass of criticism and rejection, the right people will recognize his gift and give him a stage to realize his talent and shine.

“A/An encouragement from the point of view of a designer is the catalyst to push on.”

The making of the “designer” installation.

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To a designer, great ideas is what define him. His whole life is about finding the right idea and executes it in the right way. There will be times when he will be overwhelmed by challenges and starts to doubt himself. This is when a timely encouragement will do him a world of good.

A designer is a collector of stuff both abstract and absolute. He collects stuff with the same enthusiasm that a little child fills his pockets with candies and chocolate bars. He takes photos, makes notes and jots down feelings on tissues or newspapers, on envelops or sketchbooks.

He will be in a situation where he feels out of place or outcast because he cannot blend in with the crowd. He will be that person that stood out which makes him unique. This is something that he should harness. Being a black sheep gives you the license to do creative things in the most irresponsible manner.

 

Project Point of View. [Research]

“A/An _________ from the point of view of _________ is _________.”


“A word of encouragement during a failure is worth more than an hour of praise after success.” – Unknown


For this 2D project, I decided to work on the idea of encouragement. I feel that this is something that is slowly becoming a rarity in our everyday life. We are all aware that nothing beats complimenting someone for all the right he or she did. Many times in our life we can be harsh on ourselves and have difficulties accepting that we are exceptional at something. That is why it is crucial to encourage and motivate the people around you.

In our modern society we are taught to take care of ourselves first, and complimenting others on their strengths is a form of showing our weakness. This is entirely untrue. It makes virtually nothing from us to compliment others on their lovely outfits, or they accomplished something that is worth celebrating. With so many people being unsure of their abilities in our current society and context it has never been more relevant for us to encourage others.  It is the time we start caring and give support for one and another. You never know, one simple act of encouragement from you could change the world.


I started the project by brainstorming on the different possibilities that encouragement means to different people. I picked the following six options from the heaps of ideas that I came up with to develop further them.

“A/An encouragement from the point of view of a lost soul is the driving force to rediscover his/her passion.”

“A/An encouragement from the point of view of a child is the incentive to keep on learning.”

“A/An encouragement from the point of view of an introvert is the chance to shine.”

“A/An encouragement from the point of view of a dreamer is the start of many possibilities.”

“A/An encouragement from the point of view of an athlete is the reason why he/she still believes.”

“A/An encouragement from the point of view of a designer is the catalyst to push on.”

 

Brainstorming sketches.

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Through brainstorming, I somewhat decided on the overall visual presentation and materials needed for the project. For the following post on my 2D project, I will be presenting and talking about my experience while prototyping and constructing my project.

 

My name is ___ and I am __. [PROJECT SUBMISSION AND REFLECTION]

“I’ve never viewed myself as particularly talented. I’ve viewed myself as…slightly above average in talent. Where I excel is with a ridiculous, sickening work ethic. While the other guy’s sleeping, I’m working. While the other guy’s eating, I’m working. While the other guy’s making pancakes, I mean, I’m making pancakes, too, but I’m working really hard at it!”

-Will Smith

*DRUM ROLL*

*DRUM ROLL*

*DRUM ROLL*

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you my final products for my 2D typography assignment. PURE last minute HARD WORK. Enjoy! 


1. My name is

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and I am factory chimney.


 

2. My name is

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and I am cracked land.


 

3. My name is

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and I am melted ice.


 

4. My name is

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and I am landfill.


 

*Reflection*

I certainly had a lot of fun rushing doing this project. Beside experiementing and learning about the different types of materials used for the project, I gained much fruitful knowledge about the environment issuses around the world. I learn that it is important to balance economic growth and the conservation of our natural environement. We should not wait until it is too late to start conserving and protecting our earth, the only place that we know can sustain life. Every small conservational contribution we give now will go a long way in the making of a better and cleaner earth, our home.

“Only when the last tree has been cut down, the last fish been caught, and the last stream poisoned, will we realize we cannot eat money.”

-Cree Indian Prophecy

My name is ___ and I am __. [DEVELOPMENT AND EXECUTION]

Finally doing the actual models after weeks of research and sketching. Finally…

The making of the factory chimney model.

I started with the construction of the factory chimney model. I use toilet rolls and masking tape to form the overall base structure of my model.

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I added in strips of wish mesh to create an overused feeling for the chimneys.

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Aluminum foil is added in to create a more industrialized feel for the overall presentation of the model.

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The structure is then sprayed black to emphasise the negative effect it has on its surrounding environment.

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Black paint and pieces of meshed wire are added to the base of the structure to signify that it is an age old problem and is corrupting the environment.

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The final product!

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The making of the cracked land model.

The second structure I did was the cracked land model.

I started with the creation of the cracked surface using linocut. Linocut is usually used for creating templates for printing. However, in my case, I used it to create the surface of cracked land.

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The linocut design with its main lines done.

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The linocut design with finer details being added in.

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Brown spray was added on to give it an earthy texture.

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Brown crayons were crushed to add a sense of realism to the overall model presentation.

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The making of the melted ice model.

The melted ice model was the next in the queue.

I first cut out the foam pieces needed for this model. The foam pieces would serve as the melting ice.
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For the base, I poured blue paint onto a piece of cut foam board to create the ocean surface.

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After the blue paint settled down on the board, I added on the foam pieces onto the paint.

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Small drops of blue paint is added onto the foam pieces to enhance the presentation of the model.

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The making of the landfill model.

The last model I did was the landfill structure.

I started the project by cutting up materials such as waste paper, old clothes and other materials that are considered trash. It would be used as the main element for this landfill model.

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After cutting up sufficient materials to be used as trash, I moved on to designing and producing my name initials.

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I applied double sided tape to my name initials structure so that it will stick to the trash materials I made.

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The name initials were put into the bag full of trash materials so they will stick to the initials.

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The initials were put into crushed charcoal to give them an ageing effect.

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Additional crushed charcoal was added to the model to further enhance the look of the structure.

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And Voilà I am done!!! 

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My name is ___ and I am __. [RESEARCH II]

MY NAME IS ZHOU YANG AND I AM A FACTORY CHIMNEY.

The first 2D typography is about building factory chimney structure to convey the seriousness of industrial pollution.

Industrial pollution affects the environment in many areas. It infects water sources, diminishes soil quality and discharges harmful substances into the atmosphere. Throughout history, many environmental mishaps were caused by industrial disasters. Some of the accidents are so serious that they are still causing harm to the environment.

Below are some information on the causes and effects industrial pollution has on the environment.  

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Causes of Industrial Pollution

1. The lack of pollution controlling policies: There is a serve lack of effective policies and poor financial and authoritative backings which gave plenty industrial institutions to ignore laws passed down by the environmental board. This would lead to uncontrollable pollutions that affected the lives of millions of ordinary people.

2. The lack of planning in industrial growth: In many industrial estates, companies neglected the rules and regulations set by the environmental board which lead to different forms of pollutions that caused serious environmental consequences.

3. The lack of vision to use up to date technologies: Many industries still use outdated technologies that produce a massive amount of unwanted waste. To ward off high expenditure, many companies continue to use outmoded methods to produce state-of-the-art merchandises.

4. The massive number of small scale industrial institutions: Hugh number of small scale industrial institutions do not have sufficient funding and require government funding to keep their businesses running are often overlook by environmental rules and regulations. This results in a massive amount of waste release into the environment without any authoritative control.

5. The lack of efficiency in waste disposal: pollution usually happened because there is a lack of efficiency in disposing of waste. Exposing to pollution over an extensive period of time will lead to many irreversible health problems.

6. Hugh consumption of natural resources: Companies need an extensive supply of raw materials in their production process. This requires a lot of minerals to be extracted. The extraction process will cause many environmental issues.

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Effects of Industrial Pollution

1. Water Pollution: Many of the industrial plants require a massive volume of water for their production process. During the process, the water will come into contact with toxic substances. When the water tainted with such toxic substances are released into the water bodies, it will cause long term damage to the eco-system.

2. Soil Pollution: It is inflicting serious damages to the agricultural sector and causing harm to local vegetation. People that are in contact with such soil over a long period of time will also develope health issues.

3. Air Pollution: It causes a sharp rise in various respiratory illnesses. It is a serious issue that affects us on a daily basis. With the rise in the number of active industrial estates, air pollution will be a persistence problem on the environment and people.

4. Wildlife Extinction: Natural rhythms and patterns are affected by industrial pollution which in turn causes severe damage to wildlife. Wildlife lost their home as their habitats are being destroyed. It becomes harder for the environment to recover from natural mishaps. Industrial accidents such as factory fire and oil spills also cause great environmental impact in a short period of time.

5. Global Warming: Industrial pollution has been a crucial factor in the sharp rise of global warming. Greenhouse gases released by factories go into the atmosphere and damaging it. It leads to the melting of glaciers in both poles which will, in turn, causes serious environmental consequences.

 

MY NAME IS ZHOU YANG AND I AM MELTED ICE.

The seriousness of global warming is the second message I want to send out through my second typography design.

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Cause of global warming

The rise in temperature over the last half-century has been due to the increased concentrations of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases are the gases that lead to the greenhouse effect.

The greenhouse effect

Sunlight is absorbed when reaches the Earth and maintain the earth’s temperature to make it suitable for living. While most of the remaining sunlight travelled back to the atmosphere, some of the longer wavelengths are absorbed by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere before they are lost into space. This process warms the atmosphere. It helps to reflect back some of the heat energy that would otherwise lose into space. This process is called the “greenhouse effect”.

Global warming causes by greenhouse effect

The increased in the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere leads to more heat energy being reflected back to Earth. It leads to consequential warming of the earth which resulted in global warming.

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Effects of global warming

The two major effects caused by global warming:

1. Increase in temperature by 3° to 5° C (5.4° to 9° Fahrenheit) by the year 2100.

2. The sea levels will rise by at least 25 metres (82 feet) by 2100.

Other Effects of global warming

Global warming leads to the change in the amounts and patterns of precipitation. It leads to the increase in regularity, span, and magnitude of extreme weather events, such as the hurricane, floods and droughts. It also causes many other global issues such as the reappearance of diseases such as malaria in areas where they have been doused.

 

MY NAME IS ZHOU YANG AND I AM CRACKED LAND.

My third message is about the damaging effects of deforestation.

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Reasons for deforestation

1. Clearing of land for urban development

2. Cutting down of tree to provide raw material for production of commercial products such as paper and furniture

3. To produce luxury consumer goods such as palm oil

4. To make room for keeping cattle

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Methods for deforestation

Burning of trees and clear cutting are conventional ways of clearing an area of the forest for industrial development.

Clear cutting: The removal of a large number of trees from an area all at once. It causes serious damage to the eco-system as many wildlife are left without a home and its environmental effects will last for over an extensive period of time.

Burning can be completed swiftly over a massive plot of land. Another more traditional method will be the slash-and-burn technique which involves cutting down patches of trees, burning them and cultivating crops over them. When the land is no longer fertile, the farmers will move to new plots of land and repeat the same process.

Effects of deforestation

The forest is a crucial environmental element that affects every living thing on the planet. When the forest is being dramatically changed, it will set off a series of damaging chain reaction to the world.

Loss of species: About seventy percent of world’s wildlife live in forests and are losing their habitats due to deforestation. It will lead to massive species extinction, damaging the eco-system. Medical research and locals will also be affected as they depend on the wildlife for various purposes.

Water cycle: Tree is crucial in the water cycle. They absorb water during rainfall period and produce water vapour which is released into the water cycle. Trees also help to keep the water bodies clean by preventing polluted runoff.

Soil erosion: Tre roots keep the soil together. Without the support of trees, the soil will be easily washed or blow off. It will cause serious consequences to the agricultural sector as the crop growth will be troubled.

Global Warming: The cutting down of trees will lead to an increased of greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases contribute to the rising of the earth temperature will lead to global warming. Global warming will lead to many environmental consequences such as rising of sea levels and the loss of species due to the unfavourable environment.

 

MY NAME IS ZHOU YANG AND I AM LANDFILL.

My last message deals with the consequence of overconsumption.

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Overconsumption

It is a situation whereby the usage of natural resources overwhelmed the pace that the environment can replace. Over time, it will lead to the downgrading of environmental spaces and causing irreversible damage.

Overconsumption is closely tied with the problem of overpopulation. With the population growing at a frightening rate, raw materials are consumed at an unhealthy level.

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Effects

Overconsumption will reduce the earth’s carrying capacity. In the long run, the ecological health of earth will be seriously affected. The natural resources on earth will be depleted to a point that it will take centuries for them to recover or never at all.

In the end, all these issues can lead to unavoidable confrontations over declining natural resources.

Solution

The most practical solution to overconsumption is to slow down the consumption rate of natural resources. However, it will lead to a negative effect on the economic growth of countries. Therefore, countries invest in alternative methods such as renewable energy and recycling technologies to smoothen the negative effects of the decrease in the usage of raw material for commercial production. Movements and lifestyle changes related to overconsumption such as green economics, freeganism and downshifting are necessary in order for reforms to take place.

 

My name is ___ and I am __. [RESEARCH]

Finally doing the most painful part of the project – writing about the blood, sweat and tears and the amount of time I procrastinated I went through doing the six four 2D typography A5 postcards. It was fun nevertheless. So enough of me bullshitting, let’s move on to how I got started with the project and how I move on from there and all the other stuff.

Lets-do-demotivational-meme1It is a project that…never mind I forgot what the brief says already. Anyway, the project is about using your name or your name initial to do some inspirational typography A5 postcards based on the sentence:

“My name is ___ and I am __.”

 

So primary school.

So basically I have to write something like – My name is Zhou Yang and I am a hero. Something along that line. You can talk about jobs you want to do or what you want the other people to know about you or some other stuff. Basically as long as the things make sense (hopefully) and it sounds cool and awesome, you are on the right track.

Initially, I wrote down things like:

My name is ____ and I am

a carpenter

awesome

a superhero

a thinker

tired of life

a hunter

addicted to books

a Digimon tamer…

Yeah, stuff like these…

seriouslyAfte writing down some of the possibilities about what I can be or what I can do, I find that they are all too common. I mean I could have written: My name is Zhou Yang and I am a policeman and someone else could have written: My name is so and so and I am a fireman. There is no much difference. No matter how you tell people why you want to be a policeman, nobody going to care. It is just another SAD ORDINARY story that never got materialised.

Therefore after much thoughts and many bowls of instant noodles, I decided to use this project to send out messages.

Okay due to my lack of efficiency in ang mo English, I shall use an example to explain.

For example:

My name is Zhou Yang and I am skipping my meals. (Ha ha. Who am I kidding?) Okay, enough of jokes. This sentence is to bring about awareness on people suffering from anorexia by drafting  a sentence saying that I am skipping my meals. Hopefully, you get an idea of what I am going to do.

Therefore, I change my focus on what kind of message I want to send out to people through my project.

After a few rounds of brainstorming with many more bowls of instant noodles sacrificed, I decided to work on the idea of environment issues. I feel that it is something happening on a global scale and is something that is closely related to our life.

So here are some development sketches I did:

20160221_11374520160221_113802

20160221_113833

20160221_113929

20160221_113936

Visual references:

deforestation

naam-ice-05

CIL working face 2a

1-Agricultural-Losses-Kept-Down-By-Spraying-OperationsYamuna-river-2

By compiling and analysing my research and sketches, I decided on the final four I am going to work on:

My name is Zhou Yang and I am factory chimney.

My name is Zhou Yang and I am melted ice.

My name is Zhou Yang and I am cracked land.

My name is Zhou Yang and I am landfill.