Project 1: ALTER EGO

Fictional Characters

Phoebe, Friends
Phoebe is a character that has gone through ups and downs – her father walked out on the family when she was young, her adoptive mother killed herself, and she was left to live on the streets. She has a rough life and never experienced a normal childhood.
Instead of becoming a directionless and life-less adult, she rose above her past and became an incredibly zealous adult full of passion and optimism. She doesn’t shy away from her problems and deals with them with courage and honesty. She doesn’t back down when her principles are challenged. However, she also sees the best in people and can be naïve at times.She’s also eccentric and unpredictable, and has fun no matter what she does. To sum it up, she’s quirky, had a unique way of seeing the world, and is a very upbeat person filled with genuine love and concern for the people she holds dear to her.Throughout the seasons, Phoebe became more normal. By the end of the series, she had found and reconciled with her biological mother and father, gained a half-brother and was happily married with plans of having children. It was a vast difference to the eccentric and free-spirited hippe she was introduced as. I think the major dilemma she faced as a character was thus choosing between remaining a free-spirited and eccentric character or becoming someone she needed as a kid (stable and normal).
Chihiro/Sen, Spirited Away
Chihiro was thrown into a situation that even an adult wouldn’t know how to handle. In the spirit world where nothing made sense to her, she had to step up and learn how to be self-sufficient. This is a stark contrast to the whiney and seemingly dependent child she was before the journey.She was also optimistic and trustful of the people who helped her, treating them with respect and sincerity despite the apprehensive circumstances she was in. Her situation was certainly chaotic and she was soon stuck in the dilemma of either prioritizing the rescue of her parents vs rescuing Haku, the first person who offered her help when she accidentally entered the spirit realm. However, by the end of the movie, she has developed enough courage and wit to conquer all the presented challenges.

Dukseon, Reply 1988Dukseon is the main character in the Korean drama Reply 1988, and is the middle child of a family in debt. Despite being the victim of the middle child syndrome, she is still considerate of her parents and tries her best to be a good daughter.
Mulan, Mulan
Olive Hoover, Little Miss Sunshine

Public Figures

Jenn Im
Jenn Im is a famous youtuber. She has over 1 million subscribers on youtube, and I think the reason she is able to draw in such a huge number of followers is because of her bright personality.She is very individualistic and has a very distinct fashion style that is flexible yet unique. She is also incredibly articulate and well spoken, being well versed in all sorts of music and literature. However, she doesn’t come of as pretentious or snobbish. Instead, she gives off a very approachable vibe as someone who is more than eager to learn and share her knowledge. She is also a go-getter, and seems very focused and clear on her goals.
Hani, Part of K-Pop group EXIDAs with most K-pop idols, Hani is under a lot of pressure to be the perfect role model. The thing I appreciate the most about Hani is her candidness and slight disregard to the idea of being feminine. She is comfortable with herself, and isn’t afraid to be seen in a way that may come across as undesirable or unglamorous. She comes off as a genuine and down to earth character despite her success.However, being an idol does have its downsides. Because of how competitive the industry is, there is a lot of pressure on keeping a squeaky clean image. Most idols thus lie about dating due to the fear of loosing fans. She was recently criticized for previously stating that she wasn’t dating prior to paparazzi uncovering her relationship with another idol.I think this sort of dilemma is very relatable in everyday life – do you be true to yourself and your character, or should you play it smart and give your friends and those around you what they want to see/hear?
Emma Watsons
Jennifer Lawrence
Youngji

Shares similar traits with Hani.

People you know/have known

MotherMy mother is an extremely resilient person who always puts others before herself. Although she is quite a tough woman, she too has her limits. Despite that, she is always constantly pushing herself and always does what’s best for the family rather than what’s best for herself. She is incredibly independent and brave, becoming a waitress after 10 years of being a housewife. Despite that, she adopted very fast because of her willingness to learn, her flexibility, and her affable nature. She is always quick to familiarize herself with people, and gains the support and help of people as she is sincere towards others. However, being so nice has its downfalls too. She might sometimes stretch herself and overcommit to the idea of helping others that she fails to take care of herself. This selflessness is definitely an admirable aspect of her, but also takes a toll on her.
Stephanie
Stephanie is a close friend of mine. Similar to my mum, she is extremely resilient. She is fiercely independent and a strong worker, but can also be extremely naïve and scatter brained around friends. She is firm and resolute, and will not be pushed over by people. At the same time, she is always kind and supportive of friends, and is a great source of levelheaded judgments and encouragement.
Ericia
Ericia strong-headed and stubborn, and is never afraid to speak her mind and fight for what she thinks is best.
Jesca
Jesca is loud and bright, and is always positive no matter what the circumstances are.
Aunty Cecelia

An incredibly warm-hearted woman who was always there when you needed her.

FINAL VIDEO

Hello, my name is _____!

Typography

Qualites Expressed: Meticulous, detailed but spontaneous

Although I’m not very organised or systematic, I like to plan ahead and set down some groundwork when it comes to doing work. However, I also tend to be very indecisive and I realise the best ideas come to me while I’m already in the process of doing work. It is from there that I become more spontaneous and abandon whatever I had planned before hand to do something that may be completely different. That being said, I feel uncomfortable working without any sort of pre-set guidelines, and I like working within this sort of controlled spontaneity.

To bring this contradiction across, I started off by drawing grids on my name card. Similar to a graph paper, these grids allow me to mark the exact points of the words so that it may be connected in a neat manner. I then proceeded to fill in the lines with paint. To bring across the idea of me being spontaneous and deviating from my previous idea, I became more careless with the paint, mixing in more water so that it would seep outside of the lines.

Conceptual

Quality Expressed: Love for Food

Some people eat to live, while others live to eat.

I definitely fall under the category of those who live to eat. I love eating and have been told that I have quite a big appetite for someone my size. My friend sometimes comment on how I’m a combo breaker since I tend to eat very often and in large quantities.

This was what sparked the idea for this card. Much like a game where the goal would be to get as many points as possible, my ‘goal’ in life is to eat as much as I possibly can. To illustrate this point, I drew a simple game consisting of 3 horizontal lanes. The mouth/player would then have to move up and down to eat the burgers while avoiding the yucky green goo that is floating around as well.

I thought this was a quirky way to represent my eating habits and was a better representation of my care-free and fun personality.

Abstract

Qualities Expressed: Work-in-progress

People wear makeup for different reasons. Some people may wear it to impress others, while others wear it to empower themselves. Either way, the one thing each makeup user has in common is the desire to put forth the best version of themselves.

Much like mixing paint, there are hundreds and thousands of different shades that lipsticks can be mixed and made in. As such, it is always a challenge to find that one perfect shade that complements you perfectly. I related this quest for the perfect colour to how I have yet to find the best part of me that I can be proud of and show off to the world. I go through different phases and seasons, but I have yet to find a colour (both in life and in design) that best represents me, my strengths and my ideals. As such, I continuously imprinted and whipped away my lipstick prints. This is to signify how i’m unsatisfied with the marks I have left in my life and in others, and how I am actively experimenting and seeking for improvement.

Typography

Hi everyone, this is Jo! 🙂

I’ve always been interested in typography, but have never properly explored it. After doing a quick search on google and pinterest, I found a few that I liked:

Although 3D mediums sometimes make the type hard to decipher, I find myself leaning towards 3D and handmade typography because it comes across as thoughtful and interesting.

(delicious)

I also came across images where the surface on which the type was placed on played a key role in the overall typography. I loved how the respective artists played around and experimented with the medium/surface and used it in a way that very effectively enhanced their message.

All in all, I realised there are endless possibilities when it comes to typography. Besides the actual design of the words itself, there are a lot of additional factors such as the placement, juxtaposition, medium and surface that plays an important role in creating the overall typography as well.