Tag: illustration

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Graphic Form – Zine

Ideation 

Inspirations

I was mostly inspired by retro-like illustrations with black outlines. I was also inspired by the juxtaposition of the colours in the illustrations for Honda on the top left.

 

For my zine layout, I was inspired by the wall decors on the Keong Saik Bakery, as well as the wallpapers of Xin Wang Cafe. I liked the juxtaposition of colours a lot, as well as the retro illustration-comic-collage vibes.

 

Process

Decided to use a comic-like, black-and-white illustration style, with black borders framing the illustrations.

 

Exploration of styles for illustrations representing the present. Initially tried out vectors as I wanted it to have a juxtaposition between not only the colours (B&W vs. Colours), but a juxtaposition between the style as well. However, decided to go with the last variation as it would not look too jarring when placed together with the B&W illustrations.

 

I tried to experiment around with the texts to replicate the neon-light effect.

Almost all the elements / frames in the zine are all aligned to the grid.

Final Zine

I decided to take a more narrative-like approach, using illustrations to convey the different perspectives of the different generations. It is mostly graphics, with a few Chinese characters to help to convey / depict certain messages. I decided to use mostly Chinese characters as the stallowners, hawkers, and patrons were mostly Chinese – both in the past and in the present.

The theme revolves around the change in the Beauty World area. As most of the changes occurred before the 1980s, and there were only minimal / subtle changes in the area ever since, not much of the younger generations are aware of Beauty World’s history. However, in the recent years, Beauty World started to have an influx of foreign cuisine restaurants and cafes, and the younger generations started to visit the area, or returned here for the newer additions. Hence I decided to do a zine which was split into two perspectives; the older generation and the younger generation to depict the older changes and the recent changes in Beauty World.

The zine can be flipped from either the front and from the back.

Back Cover & Front Cover – New ( Back cover ) & Old ( Front Cover )

The front cover consisted of the Uncle, who was the representation of the older generation, sitting outside an older stall while eating the “older” authentic food – which was implied by the traditional bowl and the old signboard of the stall.

Whereas on the back cover, the girl, who was the representation of the younger generation, was sitting outside a newer and more modern stall, eating more the “modern” modern food – implied by how the bowl was same as the bowl on the menu of the more modernised stall, and how the stall had a signboard consisting of only English words and neon lights.

I decided to depict a scene at the hawker centre, as Beauty World was mostly known for its food, and its hawker centres.

The colour scheme used was the same as the one in Locale, and are found onsite. The typefaces chosen are also found onsite.

First Spread – POV of the Uncle ( Representation of Older Generation )

Whenever I asked the older generations about Beauty World, they would always speak fondly about the memories of the former Beauty World, as well as how bustling Beauty World was compared to how it was now. Hence, I decided to depict more of the history of Beauty World in the first spread, and in black and white to show that it was in the past.

The spread is split into two; key changes before and during the Japanese Occupation, and the key changes after the Japanese Occupation. I included illustrations of newspapers – The Shonan Times and The Strait Times, to imply the Japanese Occupation, as well as after the Japanese Occupation.

I decided to split the pages up as I wanted the viewer to view the first page first before moving to the second page, instead of just reading the spread horizontally. The elements of the spread was also shaped into the number “70”, to symbolise 70+ years of Beauty World.

The uncle in the spread was coloured to symbolise that he is of the present.

1st Page

  • Bukit Timah Village , and market along the road.
  • Located at / near the 7th Milestone
  • During the Japanese Occupation, 大东亚( Da Dong Ya) Amusement Park was built
  • Gambling dens to curb inflation
  • The 3 signage were words commonly found at the gambling dens
  • Wayang shows were really popular there, but the stages were also used to spread propaganda

2nd Page

  • After the occupation, the place was turned into a market and was renamed 美世界 (Beauty World – the former Beauty World)
  • The former Beauty world eventually closed down (due to repeated outbreaks of fire) and was moved
  • Bukit Timah Market and Food Centre, Beauty World Plaza, Bukit Timah Shopping Centre, and Beauty World Centre was eventually built in close succession, and housed many of the stallowners from the Former Beauty World

Middle Spread – Overlapping POVs of the Older Generations & Younger Generations

The middle spread consisted of the interweaving perspectives of both generations; both generations comes to Beauty World ( occasionally for the younger generations ) for the authentic food which have been around for 30 to 70 years. Both generations are mostly also aware of the gradual change in human traffic in Beauty World; the older generation were around when Beauty World was bustling, and the younger generations frequented this area in the past with their family, when it was more crowded.

Hence, I decided to use a combination of both black and white, and coloured illustrations to depict the comparison between the past and the present. “Dates” of the “photographs” stating the year it was taken are stated on the bottom right of all the illustrations of photographs.

I decided to depict the iconic escalators of Beauty World Centre in the middle, as escalators could symbolise movement – change, and travel – how time travels, and how the escalators were placed criss-crossed resembled the idea of interweaving.

I also used the Chinese characters, “前” and “今”, which means “past” and “today”, to further help convey the idea.

Furthermore, the layout of the pages in the spread were reflected to show how certain perspectives of both generations are similar – reflected one another’s.

Last Spread – POV of the Girl ( Representation of the Younger Generation )

The last spread is the perspective of the girl, and the illustrations are all coloured to reflect the idea of the present.

On the left page, the page was primarily empty, with illustrations of the exteriors of the more well-known buildings in Beauty World, and with the single word “旧” in the middle. The page was rather empty compared to the other pages in the zine, as this page symbolises the knowledge of the younger generation have about Beauty World. Most of the younger generations felt that the place is old and rundown, and have been around for quite a while, but are unaware of its history and purpose. Hence, I decided to depict the page emptier to signify the lack of knowledge about the place, and only the exteriors of the buildings as the younger generations mostly only “sees the exterior”.

Whereas on the right, the page was filled with lots of “modern” food – food from different cuisines, ranging from Thai, Japanese, American, etc., and are primarily Korean ( I tried).  The words “又新”, which means “and new”, was in a more modernised Chinese font, and was in pink neon lights to further amplify the idea of more “modern”. This page was to symbolise how the younger generations frequently comes for these different cuisines, and some of them are only aware of the existence of Beauty World as these eateries and restaurants were located here.

 

 

   

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Graphic Form – Image Making Through Type

For our first project, we were tasked to create typographic portraits using our names to depict other careers which we would probably consider on taking. The jobs which first came up on my minds were the ones which I was interested in when I was younger, and real jobs which which I was interested in.

After jotting most of the jobs down,

 

… I guess pursuing my passion in design was a wise decision.

 

Research

Initially, I was inspired by the works of Sir Eduardo Paolozzi. The collage-like style was interesting, and was something which I have yet to try out with.

I wanted to do something similar, with the letterforms at the back and the relevant elements at the front. However, after a few attempts, I felt that the elements might overpower the letterforms, and would make them look less distinguishable.

 

I liked Charlie Davis’s style of illustrations as well, and how he was able to incorporate a letterform into each compositions without it looking out of place at all.

 

Ideation & Exploration

I decided to use my nickname “Shri” in my compositions, and initially, I wanted to choose careers which I was interested in, and starts with the letter S, H, R, and I.

  • Sewist / Sleep Specialist
  • Hotel Chef / Historian
  • Researcher / Ramen Critique
  • Inspector

But I eventually chose other “jobs”, including jobs which are fictional, as the job choices were too limited.

 

Sewist

Tried out with vectors, and was inspired by the contrasting colours and elements seen in Malika Favre’s works. A sewist is a person who creates art through embroideries, hence I tried to implement elements from the job, such as the embroidery frame, embroideries, needles and thread.

However, I decided to change my idea halfway, as it felt rather “cold” and forceful.

Sleep Specialist

Decided to try a different style, which was inspired by paper-cuts, and David Huynyh’s works.

I chose the sleep specialist career as I could probably “pass off as one“, as I knew quite a lot about what might helps us to fall asleep better. However, all of these knowledge and methods have never really worked for me, and I wanted to show how ironic and shady it would be if I were a sleep specialist; heavy eyebags, a fellow patient / roomie during the overnight-monitoring sessions at the clinic.

Decided to tweak the idea as it was rather difficult to portray the job, and the letterforms are not working out.

Farmer

“Sustainable broccoli consumption,”

I felt that I probably would not have the patience needed to be a farmer – probably harvesting the wheat impatiently ( letterform S ) and relying on irrigation without noticing that other parts of the crops were not watered ( letterform R ) . Furthermore, I would probably have finished all of the harvest before I could even sell them ( letterform H, and letterform I – the empty crates and empty truck ).

After my consultation with Joy, I decided to tweak the idea as the perspective was too flat.

yikes

 

Moving on…

 

Shipmaster

Initially, I wanted to use a capital “H”, and Joy suggested to swap the letter for the lowercase “h”, as this might look a tad bit forceful.

// finalised version & description below //

 

Final

The final 4 jobs which I ended up choosing was inspired by my own health and personal issues, and they are jobs which I probably would want to have, but I would definitely fail at.

For all 4 of my compositions, I decided to create them in the same illustration style and a similar colour scheme to make them look like a set. I ended up trying a papercut-inspired style, which has overlappings, shadows, and textures, as I wanted to try out something different. To further help the whole thing look more like a set, I decided to use the exact same alphabets; S, H, R, I, and san-serif typefaces throughout the 4 compositions, albeit with varying thickness, rigidity, cases, and forms.

 


Colour scheme

 

Final Compositions

Shipmaster

I had always been fond of the oceans, and dreams of sailing the seven seas. But it was a dream never to be fulfilled, as I could not even stay on a kayak for a few hours without feeling seasick for a week afterwards due to motion sickness. If I were to become a shipmaster, I would probably get too dizzy and nauseous, and would probably re-enact the sinking of the Titanic.

Letterforms:

I decided to use the typeface called “Hobo”, as it was thick but had no straight lines, which makes the alphabets less rigid and blocky, and I felt that it would suit this natural-like setting better.

Uppercase S – The green meandering trail of puke, which was coming out from the bridge of the ship.

Lowercase h – The iceberg – I was trying to steer the ship through the arch of the iceberg instead of sailing in the open sea, and on reverse instead of sailing forward.

Uppercase R – The penguin.

Uppercase I – The iceberg on the top right.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cow Abductor 

Developed from the farmer idea. It was inspired by how my family always suggested that I should become a farmer to sustain my broccoli addiction, and I thought, why not become a farm robber instead.  And one of the more popular “farm robbers” would be the UFOs, which was said to have “robbed and mutilated cows from farms”. But if I was one of the aliens in the UFOs, I would probably be stealing broccolis instead of the cows.

I decided to use the typeface called “Open Sans”, as I decided to play a little with perspective to make the letterforms look more natural. Open Sans was able to make the letterforms still look legitable regardless of the perspective and thickness.

Letterforms:

Uppercase S – The fence, and the broccolis being transported into my UFO.

Lowercase h – The farmhouse.

Lowercase r – The smoke coming out of the chimney.

Lowercase i – The “light” of the UFO, as well as the hemispherical glass of the UFO which suggests the lowercase form.

 

 

 

 

 

Instructor 

I have always struggled with putting things into words, which makes it rather difficult for me to teach others. This was inspired by my internship experience, where I had to teach a few of my colleagues and juniors. My poor colleagues would always sort of understand what I was trying to teach, but often could not understand it fully.

In this composition, I decided to portray myself as a swimming instructor. I fulfilled my job as the student was able to swim in the end, but the student was not swimming straight like how it was supposed to be. :’))))

Letterforms:

I decided to use Monserrat, which was rather geometric, which suits the swimming pool, and the widths of the alphabets are bigger – which makes things remain rather big and distinct despite the perspective.

Uppercase / Lowercase S – The meandering trail of the student.

Uppercase H – The walkways of the swimming pool. The uppercase form was subtly implied.

Lowercase r – The hair of the parent, or the body posture of the coach ( form was reflected ).

Uppercase I – The seats opposite.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mattress Tester 

Developed from the sleep specialist idea. A person with sleeping disorders would probably be the candidate for the job, but I felt that it might not be the case for me, as practically nothing helps me to have better and longer sleep.

The job of a mattress tester was to test mattresses, and hence in the composition, I made it look like I had been testing so many mattresses and even stacked them altogether like power cards, and yet I was still counting sheeps and was unable to fall asleep.

Letterforms:

I chose the typeface called “Oh Wonder Sans” as it was thin and less rigid, which I feel that would suit this composition and job better – less formal and blocky, and a little flowy.

Uppercase / Lowercase S – The trail of sheeps, and the patterns on the plain mattresses.

Uppercase H – The bedframe which was supporting the mattresses.

Uppercase R – The body posture of the character, with the teddy bear and the bolster.

Uppercase I – The ladder.

 

 

 

Reflection

Overall, I enjoyed this project as I was able to do something more personal. I had lots of fun trying to play around with the letterforms,  depicting my minor-but-irritating issues and the careers which I could never have, in a more lighthearted and satirical way.