DA9012 Troubleshooting

Link to the full process: Silk Moon Process and Storyboard

Link to the final: Silk Moon Final

Link to tutorial: Tutorial

Link to the concept: Concept

 

10.2019 First Test

Test Preview on Media Art Nexus LED Wall at North Spine @NTU

Compare with the original file:

At this point, we only finished the storyboard, which means we only had still images for testing. It looked all fine for still images, except the color of the moon and golden rain seem to be too bright in the whole composition, making them the light source instead of blending in harmoniously.

 

 

11.2019 Second Test

Test Preview 2 on Media Art Nexus LED Wall at North Spine @NTU

Once we tested the video, it turned out that there are uneven areas of different colours, which could not be seen at the PC screen. I think it is because that I adjusted the hue values of the background layer, and also did it again at the outside composition layer. Although Mark said it is because of the screen, it was better after adjusting the hue value just on one layer.

Same issue here. Solved by adjusting hue values just on the layer itself instead of doing it on the composition layer.

 

Another issue is that the golden colour looks too monochrome, it looks almost like white on the LED screen. It is a colour correction issue and it should be better on a better screen, however, I still adjusted the saturation to make the colour bolder just in case.

 

DA9012 Final

Please adjust the screen to the highest brightness for the best performance.

 

Link to the full process: Silk Moon Process and Storyboard

Link to the troubleshooting: Troubleshooting

Link to tutorial: Tutorial

Link to the concept: Concept

 

Final for Elphi

 

Final for Media Art Nexus

 

Brief

Silk Moon seeks to rediscover the journey of ancient Silk Road with the guide of the moon and to retell the prosperity of Dunhuang from a modern perspective in today’s context. By doing so, the artworks explored the eternal beauty created alongside the route, and also celebrated the great achievement of cultural exchange in history.

 

Concept

This project contains two parts. The first part starts from 0 min to 1min05s, and the second part is the rest of the clip.

Part 1 is to represent the rise and invention of the silk road, the sand represents the sand of the desert environment, but also implies different cultures and merchants are scattered alongside the road. The particles gradually form the moon together signifies how the silk road brought people together despite the geological boundaries and physical obstacles. It lightens the background, which is a painting from Mogao Cave in Dunhuang, it is a symbol of the great cultural exchange. The diffusion of the moon represents the huge influence it created.

Part 2 started with the moon shining and growing, and all different sized golden rain dropped down. It revealed today’s perspective of looking into the prosperity of the ancient silk road, the going down movement symbolized how we inherit the generous legacy, and the moving background implies that there will be more change in the future. In the end, the water from both sides acts like the curtain from the theatre, implying the old marine silk road which went through Singapore and also closed the story smoothly.

 

Purpose

Making a 2-minute long video which is simple but elegant, to create a relaxing and calmming feeling for passengers on their way.

 

Main Restrictions

  • It has to be mainly monochrome due to the restriction from the Germany side. (Hence the outcome on the screen is duller than the moodboard)
  • It cannot be too bright, otherwise, it will hurt the eyes and creates distractions.
  • Every element must be in a slow speed, due to the large size of the screen.

 

Sequences

 

Main Focus

The main focus is to keep the following frame so it resonates well with the interior of Elphi. At the same time, it cannot be too much, otherwise, the golden strips will lighten up the whole space and became a light source.

 

 

Concept

DA9012 Concept

Process and Moodboard

DA9012 Process and Story Board

Troubleshooting

DA9012 Troubleshooting

 

Tutorials

DA9012-Tutorial References

 

DA9012 Concept

Key Visual Elements: 

Luminous wineglass

-Moon

-Traditional Chinese Pattern(ie. ribbon)

-The geometric pattern from Elphi.

 

Moodboard Reference:

https://www.pinterest.nz/eliu1843/dunhuang-art/

 

Architectural Reference(Interior)

Concept Development:

Dunhuang was a major stop on the ancient Silk Road and is best known for the nearby Mogao Caves, however, the prosperous Dunhuang did not flourish overnight. Wars between different regions happened due to the convenient geological advantage of Dunhuang. Thanks to those garrison soldiers, who secured the safety of Silkroad qith their time and loneliness. While they were on duty, they will drink wine under the moonlight(see Luminous wineglass, a famous jade cup from Dunhuang), missing their family. The wall painting of Dunhuang flying bodhisattvas might actually paint by them, the soft facial features and the elegant movement, the harmonious use of colours, seem to be their unique self-reflection, to express their hope for returning home and finding peace. There’s an illusional, beautiful world in their heart, in contrast with the brutal wars and bleak desert.

The main idea is to explore the relationship between war(minimal) and art, to depict my own version of imaginary life back then, and also to provide a peaceful feeling for people on their way to their destination.

Moodboard

 

Sketches

Some Scenes

 

the circle is like the painting is calling to restore the history/story, and here comes the moon, as the source of light, to reveal the story.

The wine in the glass is like a stage or mirror, showing the story.

Next Step

  1. Refined the assets
  2. Start to work on After Effects, finish the first 20 seconds. Test out the time and decide which part to be animated.

 

Music(Optional)

Technique Research

 

 

 

DV 2001 VC Project 1 Research and Moodboard

Research

 

Word Chosen-Wave-Particle Duality

Wave–particle duality is the concept in quantum mechanics that every particle or quantum entity may be partly described in terms not only of particles, but also of waves. It expresses the inability of the classical concepts “particle” or “wave” to fully describe the behavior of quantum-scale objects.

Moodboard

Moodboard 1-https://www.pinterest.nz/eliu1843/dv2001/

Moodboard 2- https://www.pinterest.nz/eliu1843/iris-harpen/

Moodboard 3- https://www.pinterest.nz/eliu1843/abstract-art/

Moodboard 4- https://www.pinterest.nz/eliu1843/abstract-fluid-painting/

Moodboard 5- https://www.pinterest.nz/eliu1843/constructivist-architecture/

Moodboard 6- https://www.pinterest.nz/eliu1843/futurism-art/

Moodboard 7- https://www.pinterest.nz/eliu1843/constructivism-art/

 

Futuristic/Cyberpunk

 

Russian Constructivism

 

Abstract Form/Use of Lines

 

Corp Circle

Artistic Reference: Eirk Nitsche

He went beyond Swiss International Style, adding humanistic and temperature to the coldness of the swiss international style, solve individual problems, plays his unique role in the history of design. Abstract, Minimal and Elegant.

 

Movement: Futurism and Constructivist architecture

Futurism (ItalianFuturismo) was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy in the early 20th century. It emphasised speed, technology, youth, violence, and objects such as the car, the airplane, and the industrial city. Its key figures were the Italians Filippo Tommaso MarinettiUmberto BoccioniCarlo CarràGino SeveriniGiacomo Balla, and Luigi Russolo. It glorified modernity and aimed to liberate Italy from the weight of its past.[1] Cubism contributed to the formation of Italian Futurism’s artistic style.[2] Important Futurist works included Marinetti’s Manifesto of Futurism, Boccioni’s sculpture Unique Forms of Continuity in Space, Balla’s painting Abstract Speed + Sound, and Russolo’s The Art of Noises.

 

Constructivist architecture was a form of modern architecture that flourished in the Soviet Union in the 1920s and early 1930s. It combined advanced technology and engineering with an avowedly Communist social purpose. Although it was divided into several competing factions, the movement produced many pioneering projects and finished buildings, before falling out of favour around 1932. It has left marked effects on later developments in architecture.

Concept

The discovery of Quantum Physics has broadened people’s horizon and stimulated human’s imagination like never before. In some ways, it influenced the futurism and constructivist architecture, although they were never built, the two art movements revealed human’s urge to explore. The double-slit experiment gave people the imaginary space to believe that time travel is possible.

Until today, the Quantum world is still controversial, the theory remains incomplete, and there is a lot of things awaiting us to explore. I want to challenge the imaginary boundary of human being, exploring many ways, perceptions about one same thing, to convey a futuristic and hopeful image of wave-particle duality.

 

 

Visual Technique Reference

 

 

Technique Exploration

 

https://vimeo.com/user89490570/review/358633091/81b2e4f389

 

18\19 S2 Project 2-Part 2-Zine Creative Process

Zine Part 1-Research

Inspirations

 

Since I want to explore the night scene of Jurong West in an illustration style, I need to have some reference for the colour scheme etc.

 

 

https://www.behance.net/gallery/71729841/Night-Cities-Vol-1

I think the pink works really well to show the high light part, and the blue is a good cooling and transition colour to show the night scene and naturalize the darker purple, I should take the reference from this scheme. The chiaroscuro on the window is the key to show the relationship between light and dark lights, and I think it is the most successful part of this scene.

 

 

https://www.pinterest.nz/pin/468022586274152958/

I found such a colour scheme can also be used to show something that is not so heavy because the contrast works well itself.

 

 

 

https://www.pinterest.nz/pin/350647520963393258/

https://www.pinterest.nz/pin/468022586274600079/

This scene is showing the night time after the sunset before the sky goes totally dark, that is why there are soft colours such as yellow and orange. The illustration style is also quite suitable for my idea. Besides, yellow and purple are complementary colours which means that they work well with each other, with other colours in between them as transition colours.

 

 

https://www.pinterest.nz/pin/445504588120439063/

 

This scene is showing the night time after the sunset before the sky goes totally dark, that is why there are soft colours such as yellow and orange. The illustration style is also quite suitable for my idea. Besides, yellow and purple are complementary colours which means that they work well with each other, with other colours in between them as transition colours.

 

 


Issun Bôshi: The One Inch Boy

This is an illustrated storybook, the primary colours harmonise well with each other, additionally, the white space for text is effective, giving readers a breathing space between the two pages.

 

Nino

This book mostly used analogous colours, which also works well. Starting from the second page, the colour scheme becomes primary, but the transition is quite smooth. Because orange and pinky purple are quite close to each other on the colour wheel, and when they are changed to primary colours, orange is in between red and yellow, pink is in between white and red.

In terms of layout, the colour or the pattern is used for the background, making the tile and the main text, which are in white colour, coming out in a very effective way. Another reason that they can come out easily is also because of the density between each character and the centralized layout from the middle line.

It is also necessary to mention that I got the inspiration from the layout from these two pages above, I think the layout will work perfectly for my design. The 70% image and 30% text is quite effective because 1) My zine is visual heavy, which does not contain a lot of text but I need a lot of space for my visual elements 2) The last scene is also depicting the night, but the proportion of colours were arranged in a harmonious way.

 

 

Creative Process

 

SITE VISITING

The rubbish bin on the road looks like it’s waiting for food.

The elevator looks like someone’s facial expression.

The pipe on the ceiling looks like a flying creature.

The top part of the Pioneer MRT sign looks like Batman with two lights behind it.

The two columns that support the Nanyang Welcomes You looks like they have two white square eyes on them, hence forming a human-like face.

Some photo that I took from Jurong West, this is my neighbourhood. Although I just came to Jurong when Uni started, but on my way, I still find a lot of unique characteristics here. For example, I think that there are a lot of objects look like some cute creatures, this how my concept of night cuties initially generated. For more photos and my research, please go to Zine Part 1-Research. 

 

 

Concept

I was thinking that when people talk about a place, normally the first image that comes to their mind is that place at day time, what if there is another world that we don’t see, just like the toys story? Sometimes when I walk past a tree or a street light, I feel that they have very human-like facial expressions, so I decided to turn my whole zine to an illustrated storybook, telling the story of those night creatures. When the night comes, everybody goes home, and the city is about to sleep, all the night cuties finished their job at the day time, now they all come out to enjoy the night of Jurong West. I also have a character for myself in this zine, too, which is a bunny, because I was born in the year of the rabbit. I think that I am the only one who thinks that a well or a building very cute, I could be like the secret friend with them in the human world, and I travel around Jurong West at night to visit them and introduce them to the readers through my zine.

 

 

Character Design

Since I really want my zine to have an illustrated fairy tale style, I want each character to be cute and unique. After doing some research, I found that the key element to be cute is to make the eyes bigger. The image underneath can clearly tells why.

(https://www.buzzfeed.com/guillermodelpalacio/big-honking-disney-eyes)

 

My other important inspiration and reference come from a game called Dumb Ways to Die (http://www.dumbwaystodie.com/).

They used very simple and minimal shapes, but each character is quite unique and interesting because of the deliberate arrangement of body parts and precise use of colours. This is also one of the reasons that I want to do my zine in Illustrated-style, because I also want to explore this style and I played this game before, such a style has a strong and profound influence on me. I really want to challenge myself to do something new and interesting, such as this one.

All the images above come from the game’s website(http://www.dumbwaystodie.com/).

 

 

Due to the reason that I mentioned earlier, I enlarged the size of the eyes for those who have eyeballs(because I want them to look to certain directions, for example, the elevator is looking down, so as the bunny). This idea is well shown in the bunny and the distribution box on the top right.

For the pipes’ eyes, it does not really matter because I don’t need them to communicate with the reader by eye contact.

I will talk about the design of each character in details in following sections.

 

SCENES

 

I need to do a lot of night scenes, the night is the key element, and it can determine the whole colour scheme of all the pages, because they are all “night” cuties and the narrative was based on the night, too.

This one is the first scene that comes to my mind, I need to have a map to start my adventure, the bunny represents me, the GPS icons show the location of the night cuties. I drew up all my scenes and characters on illustrator, it was my first time totally relied on it, so it was quite challenging.

 

For the bunny, I enlarged the size of her eyes several times to make her look cute. In addition, I also want this page to be my first two pages when readers open the zine, I think it is important to set a cute feeling at the beginning, therefore it’s easier for readers to have an idea about what to expect in terms of the style and the story.

Also, I found out that if I can make the facial parts more centralized, the cute effect will be better. The one that I put in Indesign and finally printed is the face with more centralized facial elements, the mouth and teeth of the bunny is right under the eyes with absolutely zero gaps (which is impossible in real life).

 

Evidence/Reference:

Check all the animal characters and compare those with princes and princess characters,  there are two ways of doing their faces. The human one looks like a real human but just with exaggerated big eyes, but for characters like Mickey Mouse, he does not only have big eyes but also his nose, mouth is quite close to his eyes with almost no gaps.

(All copyrights belong to Disney https://www.disney.sg/)

 

 

I drew up the map on illustrator, with the screenshot of the actual map from google map underneath. This section shows the route from NTU to Pioneer MRT. Later I added on some texture and visual elements to make the image looks more complete.

 

Another important element for both Jurong West and my zine is the HDB. I drew up different styled HDB and mixed them together in one scene.

The design of the first HDB building. Then I realized I also need to add on the key element, which is the number of the building. Otherwise, readers will just consider them as normal buildings.

The whole scene of different styled HDB.

 

For the next two pages (page 4 &5), I want to show that I am holding the map from page 2-3 to look for my night cuties friends. I drew up a smaller bunny and placed her in the night HDB scene. However, it did not work well in terms of colour and style.

1) Because I need somewhere to show the information of night cuties, but now the HDB buildings take all the place.

2) The foreground, which is the bunny, cannot be differentiated from the background, they seem to be on the same plane.

 

For page 6-7, I think it is necessary to show the context of the night cuties, especially the two pipes and the distribution box. Therefore they need to be placed indoor, and I also added some low-opacity square column to put in the text later, but I am not sure how to do the layout, it just feels like not quite right, which means that I need to do some further amendments. At this stage, I haven’t really thought about the layout yet, I just wanted to finish all the visual elements that I need for my zine.

 

 

Layout

 

These are some of my original ideas, I wanted to set my cover page as a HDB building, and readers are seeing the night cuties from the outside through the window. I also want to have the idea of perspective in my zine to create a more 3D feeling. Also, I believed that light is also a quite important part.

 

This is the initial cover page at the left, inspired by the first reference that I mentioned at the beginning. However,  I realized that I did not really incorporate the style really because most of the night cuties have different shapes and sizes, which means that I cannot put each one into each grid, one may take place for two grids or more, which would make the image looks unbalanced and irregular.

Now I changed the cover to the right, instead of making every night cutie visible, I chose to pick one of them to represent the whole group. With the starring black sky, it is clear that the story will take place at night, and the HDB at the back also shows the context of the location.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is also quite obvious that for the second version, the background and foreground were differentiated by the texture. All have the old style grained texture except the bin(but it still have a very thin layer), it feels like that the bin is coming out, and his eyes are making contact with the reader, making the cover more attracting and interesting. It is the whole function of the cover, which is attracting attention.

 

 

I also rearranged the order of my zine. For page 2-3, I replaced the map with a night street scene. I tried to contain the information block and the image at the same time, but as I mentioned, it did not work well visually, therefore I changed it to another strategy.

 

 

 

 

 

Both of the layouts did not turn out to be visually appealing.

Therefore I incorporated the idea of 70% of the image and 30% of the text from one of the references. I think it works better this way.  Now it feels like opening a storybook.

To keep the style consistent, I also added a border for the first scene to match the style of the cover. I deleted all the unnecessary elements, just left the bunny and the whole background. Again, I used the same technique to differentiate the foreground and the background. The text on the right side, near the border, also imply readers to turn to the next page.

 

 

I moved the introduction part to the middle of the zine, page 4-5. After showing the bunny’s journey, it is time to show who the night cuties are, therefore to create a flowing storyline. Inspired by one of the references, I wanted to have two pages with different but bold colours to create a strong visual contrast. However, when I put light pink and dark purple together, I felt that the dark purple was trapped by the border and the two pages look quite different.

 

 

Then I changed the two main colours to dark and light pink, the two that are in the same colour section, they turn out to be very harmonious with each other. And also I can have more space for the text part.

 

 

Later on, for page 6-7, I put all the night cuties together to take a group photo, which is like a summary for the whole zine. After doing the first two, I am now quite experienced with my colour scheme, this part is relatively easy. The same techniques still apply.

 

For the back page, I was thinking of using the unwanted original cover, then I realized that it is not very suitable. I put the map at the back page to show where people can find these night cuties, in a way it is more like an invitation to welcome people to come and visit.

 

PDF/PRINTING

 

CMYK colour mode, A3 glossy paper needed, image size A4 then folded to A5 zine.

Because my zine is quite colourful, I think it would be best to print it on glossy paper.

Printing location: Sunshine Plaza

 

Final Zine

 

 

Reflection

The experience of using Illustrator and Indesign is much more like zero for me but I still managed to do it and I think my zine turned out very well in the end. Thanks shierly for her generous help and engouragement and thanks myself for the tears and the effort. I am very proud of my zine.

 

Thank you for your time!

18\19 S2 Research Critique – Design Noir

Presentation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Essay

 

 

 

 

Afterlife

Auger Loizeau

 

 

 

 

 

Design Noir

 

Dunne & Raby

 

Afterlife is a piece of critical design work made by Auger Loizeau, which falls under the category of Design Noir, which means it is important to know the idea of Design Noir before looking into the artwork itself.

The Design Noir is the name of the book called Design Noir: The Secret Life of Electronic Objects, written by Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby, who are the pioneers, founders and leaders in the Critical Design Movement. This book offers the reader a clear image of the Critical Design Movement within the current context of rapid technology change, especially for electrical products. Anthony studied Industrial design in RCA and Fiona Raby studied Architecture there, too.

 

 

 

 

Critical Design

 

 

“Experience is more important than aesthetics”

“Concept is more important to deliverable”

 

“Let’s call it critical design, that questions the cultural, social and ethical implications of emerging technologies. A form of design that can help us to define the most desirable futures, and avoid the least desirable.”– Anthony Dunne & Fiona Raby

 

Critical design is the development of non-obvious design concepts that challenge the status quo(the current or recent state of things). This can be used to provoke new ideas for systems, products and services.

Danne and Raby state that all design is ideological and all the designs fall into two categories-affirmative and critical. Most design, especially industrial design, fall into the affirmative category, where designers design for a specific purpose to meet people’s expectation.

But nowadays, the development of parallel design activity is required to challenge industrial agendas. Because technology is developing rapidly, reflection and criticism should play an important role to explore other possibilities of the product, therefore provides a critique of the prevailing situation through designs that embody alternative social, cultural, technical or economic values.

 

Personally, I think Critical design is more of an attitude, the aim is to challenge people’s assumption of normal products, creating a different experience to provoke reflection and criticisms. It is to make the idea behind the design visible by creating the experience, here, the design became secondary, it is the medium of designer’s thought, the most important part of a successful critical design is the thinking and concept behind it.

 

 

But Why is critique so important in our technology era? To put it in a more understandable way, there is a quotation from the artists:

 

  • Anthony: I think as technologies become more complex and affect more people, they have the potential to create and also eliminate forms of social relations, possibilities for behaviour, and ultimately, what it means to be human. Therefore, we need to bring other disciplines into the process of developing new technologies. If only technologists and economists are in charge of the new developments, some profoundly human qualities might be in danger of being overlooked and thus written out of new technologies. Design can act as a catalyst here. We need alternative narratives – not just the motive of optimisation – driving technological development, and I think design can work with the humanities and liberal arts to develop these alternative visions. (from Virta Design Museum)

 

Therefore, the purpose of critical design is to

stimulate discussion and debate amongst designers industry and the public about the aesthetic quality of our electronically mediated existence(Anthony and Raby).

 

 

 

 

 

Art and the Market

What are some issues with design that has to be popular?

 

According to Thomas Frank(2001), it is believed that the market is the only reality and the “market populism” was formed, which means that the true desire of people was expressed by the marketplace. It seemed to me that if a product cannot fit in with the market, it is pretty much worthless and unreal, which would make the Critical Design Movement more difficult as it discouraged designers from doing something new, and time by time designers will be afraid to design something that is not desirable for the market.

 

In my opinion, the development of technology also helped the process of global capitalization, the role of the capital is highly valued which makes both customers and sellers focus more on the profit, which is the outcome, rather than the idea and concept behind the design. Another reason might be the problem of mass production. It is undeniable that it would take more time to do the critical design installation or art, and most of them cannot be mass produced. For most critical design, they take forms of prototypes, which makes it unsuitable for the need of the market.

 

Additionally, if the aim of the design is just to be popular and to make profits, the function may still be there but the idea, concept and communication would be vague, which in a way promoted consumerism.

 

For critical design, it does not aim for mass production or making profits, which to put it in a good way, it frees designers from the rules and restrictions from the market and sets no limitation to them, so they can create anything with their imagination.

 

Which can lead to my other two personal interpretations:

1. Designers and artists should take social responsibilities, which goes parallel with Anthony and Raby’s idea of doing non-commercial critical design to raise people’s awareness rather than simply making money.

2. In today’s context, art and science should not be considered as two separated subjects. I agree with Anthony and Rady’s understanding of the relationship between art and science. It is widely agreed that the development of human being was driven by technology, however, technology should be developed in a proper way and there are a lot of debatable scenarios about morality and humanity. For example the cloning technology. Technology can bring functional and physical improvement for human beings but its effect will only be fully expressed when collaborating with art, which takes care of the emotional and ethical aspect of life.

 

Additionally, the affirmative design is all about selling new products, without exploring and pushing the cultural and aesthetic potential and role of electronic products and services to its limits. This form of critical design is considered valueless and widely neglected by the public and the designers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Forms of Critical Design

 

 

 

 

1-Fictions

 

How the True World Finally Became a Fiction is the idea proposed by Friedrich Nietzsche that myth and storytelling are of greater influence on modern society than direct experience of reality. The idea suggests that we may doubt our senses when it conflicts with fiction.

The theory can be extended to the common business observation that the story and culture surrounding a brand can be more important than physical realities such as product durability. It can also explain the tendency for ideas in science fiction to eventually become reality.

 

 

2-Speculations

 

It’s about problem-raising rather than problem-solving.

Speculating about the future. This can involve projections based on current trends or suggesting that current trends are about to suddenly end or reverse. Speculation can also involve thought experiments such as how the future will view current designs.

 

For example-Accelerating Change

Accelerating change is the idea that technology-driven social change is exponentially increasing. The idea stems from the observation that each decade appears to change at an increased rate. According to the theory, life changed more between 2000 and 2010 than between 1900 and 1910.

A prime example of accelerating change is the doubling of computing speed every 18 months that began in the 1960s explained by Moore’s Law. This, in turn, sparked a broad range of technological change including the commercialization of the internet and leaps forward in research in areas such as biotechnology.

 

 

3-Models

 

It is basically implement something in a new method. According to Simplicable, developing theories and models that challenge design conventions. For example, suggesting a completely new method to captured holograms that would improve quality if it could be implemented. As a design concept, implementation details can be completely omitted such that the design may be impossible or have disadvantages that would become clear to implementers.

 

 

4-Prototype

 

Critical designs may be developed as prototypes that are typically designed to challenge assumptions as opposed to a typical prototype that is intended to be a potential product. For example, an interior design that challenges conventional forms and design principles.

 

 

 

 

Afterlife(2009)

 

 

It is an example of critical design, it is the design for the mind and it aims to stimulate reflection. James Auger and Jimmy Loizeau were classmates in RCA, and they started to work with each other since 2001, when the Design Noir was published. They were both did MA in Design Products at RCA.

 

In this piece of work, they associated their design with the taboo topic- death.

There are many perspectives and beliefs on what happens to us after our lives on this planet come to an end.

When faced with our own mortality or that of a loved one, notions of what the afterlife may hold; whether it be in a spirit world such as heaven or reincarnated into another body or form, spiritual faith can offer great comfort and reassurance. This scientific research has yet to offer any tangible proof of continued existence, after death.

So in terms of comfort and reassurance what then is there for the grieving atheist?

 

When someone dies, their body will go back to the natural system, he may turn into wind, rain or the soil under the flower. By turning the chemical of the dead body into electricity of a battery, Afterlife offers the family a visible expression of their loved ones, creating a feeling that they are still with them and has a function, which means that they are still participating in their lives, too.

 

 

 

Why is it a piece of Critical Design?

  1. It is strange, it behaves in the unusual way that people would expect for a battery. No one would think of that they can make a dead body into a battery.
  2. It creates a different and unique experience for participants.
  3. It provokes reflection for the participants and it raises questions for them.
  4. It generated the idea related to the future, which falls under the branch of speculative design category under the critical design, and also made use of the current technology to change chemical of the body into the electricity. It is speculative because it is not for participants to use for now, but for later, when they die or when their loved one dies. It is also a prototype because they never got a real dead body to test whether the mechanics work or not. It is more like a concept at the proposal stage rather a real product.
  5. Additionally, it is also important to mention that the participants are not just the people who will die, but also their families. They can choose what their function is as an electrical object, but the actual users can decide the frequency and scenario when they are using it.

 

 

Part two of afterlife seems unrelated to part one at all, but if we can go behind the look of the two work, we will find out they are questioning the same concept: the existence of human being. Do we really exist? Do we leave our spirit in the world after death? Do we fall in love with somebody because of their smell? Was the smell born with us and acting like a unique attracting characteristic of the individual or do we tend to cover our original smell with some perfume to make us more attractive? What are we and what is real? There are some questions for all of the participants to think about, and each one will come with different answers, too.  But it is undeniable that it also challenges our normal assumption in life, but part two is not that technically placed in the technology context. But in a way the general background is in the tech era too.

Anthony and Raby mentioned that for critical design, the little weirdness it’s the key because it needs to challenge people’s assumption of products. But it cannot go too far, if it is too strange, people may not use it at all. If it is not strange at all, people will see the product as normal. For the first part I think that most of the people would use it but for the second one, it is way too intimate and can also be irritating, which may get fewer participants compared to the first one.

In general, to me, I think afterlife is a good piece of art and design, it successfully achieved the goal of the critical design, which is to provoke and challenge assumptions of daily life electronic objects as well as giving out an opportunity to people to think about some moral issues.

 

 

18\19 S2 Final-Project Research

 

 

 

 

By Liu Yixuan(Ellie) and Lee Wende

 

 

 

 

 

Meaning of Protest, from the Cambridge Dictionary.

 

 Something Visible

 

 

Metoo Movement

https://metoomvmt.org/

 

 

What is Metoo?

 

What does Metoo do?

(note: all the information comes from the official Metoo website https://metoomvmt.org/about/)

 

The aim of the Metoo movement?

To fight against sexual violence, to strive for a more equal world.

To help, to encourage, to heal the survivors and make a more inclusive community.

Note: It started with women does not mean that the movement is all about women. Men, boys, LGBT community also suffer from sexual violence. Everyone in the world has a voice to speak out loud and ask for their rights.

 

 

 

 

How did Metoo change the world?

There were more than 3 million Tweets about the #Metoo, check on the timeline published by Twitter data.

 

How did Metoo raise people’s awareness?

https://www.salon.com/2017/12/07/metoo-is-working-new-data-shows-attitudes-on-harassment-are-changing/

 

 

Global Impact

https://www.bbc.co.uk/search?q=metoo#page=2

 

 

 

Methods of Protest

 

 

Declarations by organizations and institutions

Group or mass petitions

Slogans, caricatures, and symbols

Banners, posters, and displayed communications

Skywriting and earthwriting

Mock awards

Prayer and worship

Protest disrobings

Destruction of own property

Symbolic lights

Rude gestures

Vigils

Singing

Walk-outs

Silence

Renouncing honors

Turning one’s back

Stay-at-home

Total personal noncooperation

Collective disappearance

consumers’ boycott

Withdrawal of bank deposits

Refusal to pay debts or interest

Protest strike

Working-to-rule strike

Reporting “sick” (sick-in)

Boycott of elections

Reluctant and slow compliance

Sitdown

The fast

Sit-in

Nonviolent occupation

Guerrilla theatre

Nonviolent land seizure

Politically motivated counterfeiting

Preclusive purchasing

Alternative markets

Alternative economic institutions

Overloading of administrative systems

Seeking imprisonment

 

 

Possible Approach- a figure of a mother, when it was touched, all the lights in the setting goes down, or the diagram showing the population of the world, the light goes down.

 

 

Something You Don’t See

 

 

Mental Health Awareness

 

 

 

Alarmingly, the study found that millennials aged 18 to 34, and people who were divorced or separated, were more likely to have mood disorders such as major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder.

(https://www.businessinsider.sg/1-in-7-people-in-singapore-have-experienced-a-mental-disorder-and-some-millennials-are-more-susceptible-to-mood-and-alcohol-related-ones/)

 

The modern world has made incredible bounds towards generating social movements to support disenfranchised groups. When thinking of social movements, people tend to conjure the image of visibly alienated groups that have become vocal in order to bring attention to and eventually change the systematic neglect they experience.

The  movement (MHM), which has made notable progress over the past 50 years, only receives minimal attention from the larger society. Lipsky (1968: 1146-1147)

(http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1428/the-forgotten-illnesses-the-mental-health-movements-in-modern-america)