Category: Project 2 Zine: Research
2D | Zine Research
Hi guys,
As a recap for my zine, I was given the location – Jalan Kayu. And from my previous research, I realised that I was really drawn to the history of Jalan Kayu. As mentioned, Jalan Kayu is rich in history, but not in the street itself, rather at both of it’s ends – Seletar Farmway West (kampong) & Seletar (colonial houses). I was debating between these two… and realised that I was much more drawn towards the kampong side of Jalan Kayu.
So! My topic will be based on Kampong, in Jalan Kayu. Not sure how I’m gonna execute it but the first thought that came into my head was “How to Kampong”? The reason why I’m touching on the old part of Singapore is because, I’ve always felt so strongly against modernity (thou it benefits), as it slowly kills our own traditions and identity. I thought that maybe, if I were to bring back some bits and pieces of the kampong life / kampong spirit, I could preserve it in some ways.
The first thing I thought of for my entire look and feel would be the old, vintage, oriental Singaporean look. Would it be cool to do various advertisements? Using the “advertising media”, to spread the message of preservation, I thought I could do that. But after consulting Shirley, she mentioned that it would be too… boring or too little if I were to just have spreads and spread of adverts, and it’s not as cohesive in a sense. But anyhow, I went forward with looking for inspo and hope that it might give me some ideas.
Design Trend
After doing the design trend research on the olden days, I realised that in the past, the colours that is mostly used would be red, followed by blue. Was it because other colours are not as developed yet or is red ink cheaper? Hmm. Anyhow I felt that the direction I was going for was more towards a oriental look hahaha (chinese girl here) But yes, besides the colour red, they also loveeee to have motifs and borders, and fanciful decorative header ribbons. So it’s kinda easy to spot them due to the colour & lots of motifs.
I was quite stress about how to go about for this kind of specific style as it’s something that I’ve never tried before. Well more sort, I’ve never gone the oriental look before but always wanted to try it!!! My graphics are more minimal and I wonder how I am gonna try to wing this oriental look without making it complicated… BUT! I am totally looking forward to it, I hope it will work out in the end. *fingers crossed*
2D | Jalan Kayu
2D | Jalan Kayu Research III
After doing the site research of Jalan Kayu and both of its ends – Seletar and Seletar West Farmway, I’ll have to do some background research isn’t it!
Here are my notes that I’ve written down with all the secondary information I could find.
After doing so much research, I guess that what I’m more inclined and interested in would be the heritage of Jalan Kayu as I felt even though it’s a street that runs for about 1.2km, it has such a rich history and has gone through many things from the past. However, as our world is evolving, the old is becoming obsolete while the modern is slowly taking over. I feel that it is important that we, preserve our heritage and our traditions as this is our identity. If we don’t do it, who else will?
I felt that talking about the heritage is quite a serious and heavy topic. Thus, I’ll most likely approach this matter in a light-hearted way, to give a fun, yet able to deliver my message of preservation. One of the ideas would be touching on the kampong part of Singapore – however this idea is still in the midst of developing. So, stay tune!
2D | Jalan Kayu Site Research II
So it’s Day 2 of Jalan Kayu site research! This time round, I went to the other end of Jalan Kayu, which is the Seletar West Farmway, the agriculture area were once held all the pig farms, but now all that’s left are simply abandoned lands, fish farms, a mushroom farm and an animal resort.
The weather wasn’t really siding me that day, thus it was pouringggg and I only managed to get a few shots with my usual partner in crime – my Dad, holding an umbrella above my head while I shot some of my pics. Thanks Dad! Heh.
I didn’t take much pictures of the route to the farmway. But it’s simply more trees and gravel roads. Everything just has a country, rural, rustic feel to it, as if I’m stepping back into the old kampong of Singapore. Here are some pictures I found on the net that shows some parts of Seletar West Farmway!
And here it is! The Animal Resort, which is known as the “kampong zoo”. However, this place opened in the 2000s, so it’s not really old. This place is really cool! There’s like random animals roaming around and best part of this place is, you don’t have to pay any entrance fee at all! You’ll just have to pay for the food to feed the animals.
Random “turkeys(?)” roaming around
Next, moving on to the fish farm area! As you can see, there’s still those old lamp post with cables hanging around that are still standing. It’s decades old!!!
Here we are at Sea View Aquarium. Apparently there are quite a number of peeps here even though the place is REALLY inaccessible. I did some research and it seems that the fishes are really cheap, as compared to other fish farms. Is $2 per fish cheap though?
All in all, I felt that even though in the modern society, Jalan Kayu still has the kampong part of it, which I really appreciate. It is something that you’ll hardly see now adays in society that keeps building and demolishing the old. The rural, rustic country side of Singapore, I hope it remains forever.