Project 2(I): Neighbourhood Explorer

Before I embarked on my exploration of Queenstown, this was pretty much all I knew about the neighbourhood:

  • old
  • IKEA
  • Queensway shopping centre has chio and cheap sport shoes with nice laksa and muah chee
  • Anchorpoint shopping centre, one of the best place for outlet shopping

YEP. Soooo I asked my friend whose boyfriend stays there and this was what she suggested:

” you can go visit the 2 new HDB blocks damn nice, skyville and skyterrace. Or queenstown library, that place freaking old sia. All those historical sites tear down to build condo already. Queenstown not much to see but the new hdb damn nice.”

Actually prior to visiting, I considered doing a heritage trail sort of thing considering how Queenstown was famous for being one of the oldest estates in Singapore. However, most of the old heritage sites were gone and doing a infographic on nice condos in Queenstown wasn’t exactly that appealing.

I also had my consultation with Joy before going down to Queenstown and these were a few of her suggestions of areas I should look into:

  •  old amenities in the area
  • new buildings vs old buildings – what was previously in the area and what is there now

After which, I decided on doing a map of amenities, food and entertainment in the area, sort of like a guide for newcomers who may be planning on moving into Queenstown. With a rough idea of what to look out for, I set off to explore Queenstown!

I wanted to get an idea of the neighbourhood from residences so I did a list of survey questions.

  1. How long have you been living here?
  2. What are some of the places you usually go to eat, shop or for entertainment?
  3. What do you like about these area?
  4. What are some places that have been around for a long time? (old amenities, etc.)

Here are a few videos of interviews I did with a few of the residences. Disclaimer: Pardon my awkwardness and HORRIBLE mandarin thanks!

Resident 1 ( stayed here for 40 years) 

 

Key takeaways:

  • 50-60 years old
  • Good food at Mei Ling Street Market ( only wet market here)
  • Tanglin Hock Market( not in the zone tho)
  • ” Da Zhong” market for groceries
  • not much entertainment in the area
  • most of the old shops have moved away
  • used to go to the swimming complex when she was younger
  • Pasar Malam in the 1960s/1970s were popular
  • There used to be a prison behind the library and a bowling alley which were both demolished

Resident 2 ( stayed here for 2-3 years) 

Key takeaways:

  • 20-30 years old, from Mauritius
  • Shopping at Queensway Centre
  • Queenstown has 2 McDonalds (lol)
  • IKEA
  • Dawson Food Court
  • Alexandra Food Court
  • Suggested a Salute Cafe behind Alexandra food court

Resident 3 ( stayed here for 3-4 years )

Key takeaways:

  • 18 years old, PR
  • Mei Ling Street – nice dessert, chicken rice, char kway Teow, Lor Mee
  • Queensway Shopping Centre
  • ABC market
  • AnchorPoint Shopping Centre

Resident 4 ( stayed here for 40 over years )

Key takeaways:

  • 70 years old
  • ABC market at Alexandra- nice fish soup and herbal soup
  • Queensway Shopping Centre
  • not much entertainment

After interviewing the residences, I got pretty much the same responses and decided to check some of these places out.


Queenstown Sports Complex

Singapore’s first neighbourhood sports complex. It comprises of 5 swimming pools and one of which is a 50-metre Olympic-size pool. The first thing I noticed about the stadium would be how retro the colours and infrastructure were. It was different from the typical stadiums we see in other neighbourhoods with its pastel paint and vibrate striking red, blue and yellow. I really love the colour scheme of the entire area. I wanted to take more pictures of the old swimming pool but got caught by the life guard for invasion of privacy.

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I also found these “Heritage Trail” boards put at certain sites in Queenstown.

Mei Ling Market& Food Centre

This was another common suggested place for the best food and the only(?) wet market left in Queenstown. The most suggested food to try was the duck noodle/rice, dessert, chicken rice, char kway Teow, Lor Mee. However, sadly the chicken rice stall as well as a few others have moved to Holland V and other places.

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Queensway Shopping Centre

I have been to Queensway shopping centre on several occasions to buy shoes so this wasn’t anything new to me. But it surprised me to find out this mall was one of the first multi-purpose complex in Singapore alongside Golden Mile and Katong. Fun fact, Singapore’s first public escalators were also installed in this very mall! I know Queensway is famous for their Katong Laksa and really nice muah chee as well as other Pasar Malam food. This mall is definitely filled with a lot of history and not just a place to get great bargains.

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Alexandra Village Food Centre

I have eaten here a couple of times but never really took the time to explore this part of the neighbourhood. Asides from the food centre, I also found many interesting old shops.dsc02450

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Queenstown sure love their duck rice haha

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Also found some really old school bakeries and confectionery stalls in the area. They sell traditional cakes, egg tarts, pastries etc.

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I also found a really interesting shop that sells rattan furniture. The kind that my grandparents used to use.

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While exploring, I also chanced upon this handmade Ang Ku Kway stall that one of my interviewees mentioned as well. I went to take a look and was surprised at the variety of flavours they offered asides from just the traditional ones. Judging from the long queues it must be really good.

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Princess House

Princess house was one of the few lasting historical sites. It was previously used as the headquarters for HDB. Many renowned dignitaries such as Prince Philip and Duke of Edinburg have visited Princess house to learn more about Singapore’s housing programmes. Even though the exterior of Princess house doesn’t look like much, the conservation of the building serves as a lasting reminder of Queenstown’s history.

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Former Venus and Golden City theatres

I also chanced upon the place that used to be the former venus and golden city theatres which were Queenstown’s first two cinemas. However, they have both been demolished and they are now building some condo in it’s place.

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Former Queenstown Polyclinic

There is also the former Queenstown polyclinic, which was Singapore’s first polyclinic to provide subsidised healthcare to residences.  However, it has since been converted into a dormitory.

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Queenstown Public Library

Queenstown public library is Singapore’s first public library. Lee Kuan Yew saw it as a step towards improving our standard of living by providing access to books which most people could not afford to buy. It has now become an identity marker of Queenstown which holds fond memories for past and present residences.

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The “Butterfly” block

Block 168A is Queensway’s first curved HBD block and it’s unique facade was what earned it it’s name. Back then, HDBs were mainly built for function with simple slab blocks and point blocks. With its aesthetic facade, the “butterfly” block was an effort to encourage more innovative designs and character in public housing. The curves and colours of the buildings were definitely a sight to look at.

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This pretty much concludes my visit at queenstown!

Post Exploration Thoughts

After visiting, I realise that my initial idea of a guide of Queenstown may not be that great. Firstly, most of the old amenities have shifted, most of the food places have shifted as well to commonwealth and Holland V area and to be honest, there isn’t much in terms of entertainment asides from shopping at Queensway, IKEA or anchorpoint. Furthermore, these are all pretty common and truth be told, you don’t need a guide for it when many people already know of these places. Therefore, I decided to play on the heritage and history of Queenstown. I scrapped the idea of a heritage trail since it has already been done. Throughout my research, I realise that Queenstown was actually the first for loads of things. The first polyclinic was built here, the first technical school, first library etc. Hence, I thought why not do an infographic for the lists of things that Queenstown was first for?

And this concludes my post!! Took me forever but thanks for reading!! 🙂

Project 2(I) : Pre-exploration Research

Sooo it’s time to get started on the second project of the semester! We were each given a neighbourhood to explore and find out about what makes that neighbourhood unique as well as interesting features in that area.

The place that i got was QUEENSTOWN! But before I went down to explore the neighbourhood, here are some secondary research I did on the neighbourhood as well as some research into infographics.

Your site/neighbourhood – some history/background/what is it known for?

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“butterfly block” unique curvature of the first curved HDB
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Queensway shopping centre- one of the first multi-purpose shopping centre
  • first Satellite new town to be proposed in Singapore
  • named in commemoration of Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953.
  • pioneer of many firsts in public housing history in Singapore
  • underwent major development from 1960 to 1965 as part of HDB’s first Five Year Building Programme.
  • first estate to Launch “Home Ownership Scheme” in 1964
  • First 14-storey (Forfar house) and 16-storey public housing blocks (Block 81, Commonwealth Close)
  • First Blocks by Housing and Development Board (HDB) 45, 48 and 49 Stirling Road.
  • Block 168A, Stirling Road was the First aesthetic Block constructed in the year 1973. This block is also known as butterfly block
  • remains as one of the 2 HDB estates to have double storey terrace flats at was built by SIT in the 1950s to attract the well to do.
  • total of 5 neighbourhoods were initially planned for Queenstown, namely Princess Estate (present day Dawson & Strathmore estates), Duchess Estate (where Blk 6C and the Terrace Typology HDB flats are located), Tanglin Halt Estate (next to Commonwealth MRT Station), Commonwealth Estate and Queens’ Close Estate (comprising of present day Alexandra hospital)
  • place where many social institutions were established
  • 1956, Queenstown Secondary Technical School was the first technical school
  • 1963, Singapore’s first polyclinic was built along Margaret Drive
  • 1970, Queenstown Community Library, the first branch library in Singapore
  • 1980s, Queenstown estate was becoming stagnant without much new developments.
  • 1994, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) issued a Development Guide Plan for Queenstown
  • proposals for a new sub-regional centre in Buona Vista, new infrastructure to link tertiary educational institutions and business parks, and good, high-density housing.
  • rejuvenated in the form of the Selective Enbloc Redevelopment Scheme, whereby older flats were demolished to make way for new ones
  • construction of new private residential housing, the opening of Swiss furniture giant IKEA’s flagship store, and the launch of The Anchorage, a condominium-cum-shopping complex.

History

  • formally a swampy valley with two hills named Hong Lim and Hong Yin.
  • Hong Lim hill was a cemetery for over 100,000 Chinese graves,
  • Hong Yin hill was covered with orchards and rubber plantations.
  • was formerly a A village called Bo Beh Kang, literally “No Tail River” in Hokkien, was settled by mainly Hokkien, Teochew and Hakka dialect groups.
  • area also housed a British military camp, known as Buller Camp
  • swamp, cemeteries, farm land and camp site were eventually cleared to make way for the development of Queenstown housing estate

In the 1990s and 2000s, many iconic landmarks in Queenstown, such as Tah Chung Emporium, Queenstown Remand Prison and Margaret Drive Hawker Centre, were torn down to make way for re-development.10 In 2013, three buildings in Queenstown, namely Queenstown Library, the former Commonwealth Avenue Wet Market and Alexandra Hospital, were announced to be gazetted for conservation under the URA 2014 Master Plan.11

What is ethnography and participant-observation? What are some ways collecting data?

Ethnography – the systematic study of people and cultures.

Participant-observation – one type of data collection method typically used in qualitative research such as interviewing, observation, and document analysis. Or the process of learning through exposure to or involvement in the day-to-day or routine activities of participants in the researcher setting

Data collection can involve active looking, improving memory, informal interviewing, writing detailed field notes, checklists, questionnaires

What is qualitative and quantitative data? What is the difference between primary and secondary sources of data? How would you go about collecting the two?

Qualitative Research

gathers information that is not in numerical form.  For example, diary accounts, open-ended questionnaires, unstructured interviews and unstructured observations. Qualitative data is typically descriptive data and as such is harder to analyze than quantitative data.

Quantitative research

gathers data in numerical form which can be put into categories, or in rank order, or measured in units of measurement.  This type of data can be used to construct graphs and tables of raw data.

Primary data is collected by the researcher him/herself in response to a specific question with a specific objective whereas secondary data is not collected by the researcher him/herself  but rather reliant on the survey results, interview recordings or experimental outcomes collected by others.

Primary data would be more tailored to the study, easier to control and accurate compared to secondary data that can be vague or outdated.

Primary data- observation, interview, questionnaire,

Secondary data – letters, diaries, biographies, historical journals, internet

What are infographics and how are they used to effectively communicate data? What other ways can we visually represent data?

  • An infographic is data-rich visualisation of a story or thesis, a tool to educate and inform.
  • are more likely to be read compared to text articles.
  • express complex messages to viewers in a way that enhances their comprehension.
  • convey a self-contained message or principle.
  • compress and display this information in a visually pleasing way so that drivers don’t miss the message.
  • communicate complex data quickly and clearly

ways to visually represent data:

  • indicators
  • line chart
  • column chart
  • bar chart
  • pie chart
  • area chart
  • pivot table
  • scatter chart
  • area map
  • tree map

Project 1: The Gift

For the first project of the sem, we were required to make a gift for our client based on their interests, hobbies etc. Initially, I found it hard to come up with an idea for the project while incorporating all the interests of our client. My client, Li Ling was an avid collector of the Japanese gundam toy, loves drinking coffee and the outdoors, loves working with children and tries to keep up a healthy eating lifestyle by packing her own meals.  In the end, I was given 3 key topics to research on for my gift idea.

Gundam, Coffee, Healthy Eating

In the end by some miracle and help from our prof peter, I came up with the idea of a mini healthy eating toy set inspired by the Japanese toy, Gundam.

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The trademark for any gundam toy was that it came in these little plastic frames with parts that you were suppose to assemble together using an instruction menu.

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I decided to replace these plastic toy parts with miniature food which I made using clay.

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Because I wasn’t able to find a plastic frame, I had to go out to buy a gundam toy set and removed the toy parts for the frame. img_8984

I hand painted each “food” using acrylic paint.

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And here are the finished products!! I made a combination of fruits, vegetables, protein and wholemeal bread, all the food you need for a healthy balanced diet.

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Project 1: Que Sera Sera Final

So here are my final 4 compositions!

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Reflection:

This project really taught me a lot and gave me the chance to experiment with different mediums. It has also taught me to improvise a lot and to be more open minded when things don’t always go according to plan. This project has also been rather frustrating at times when ideas I had in mind didn’t always go according to plan or turn out the way I envisioned it to be. I learned more about expressing ideas visually through typography especially after looking at my friend’s works, I learned more about the different techniques they used and improvements I could make for future projects. Overall, this project has been rather fulfilling and I’m pretty satisfied with how my designs turned out  😀

 

 

Project 1: Que Sera Sera Process

To start off this project, I first listed out a few jobs I had in mind and what type of characteristics these jobs entailed.

In the end, I narrowed it down to these few

  • Designer
  • Architect
  • Tattooist
  • Marine Biologist

I was able to come up with a few ideas fairly quickly but it was the execution that would become the problem. After my first consultation, Joy also suggested that I have an over arching theme amongst all of my jobs to bring about a deeper meaning into my designs. I went with the idea of stereotypes of each occupation which I will elaborate on further in this post.

These are a few shots of my initial ideas:

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Developments

Marine Biologist

What do they do?

  • study all types of sea creatures
  • learning and research field, work with other universities and educational institutes
  • compiling research data, publish journals

workplace:

  • oceanography centres, travelling to interesting places
  • tide pool, swamp, mangrove, coral reef
  • out at sea for an extended period of time, diving

stereotypes:

  • dangerous
  • no social life, lack social or practical skills

I was inspired by these works by Sophia Collier and Kate Jackling as mentioned in my previous post.

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Work by Sophia Collier
Work by Sophia Collier

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I got the idea to use acrylic pieces in the shape of my initials and warp it to give it that water shadow effect which I felt fits my occupation as a marine biologist constantly out at sea and studying marine life.

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Using the scroll saw from the 3D room, I was able to cut the acrylic pieces into the desired shapes. However, cutting along the lines proved to be very difficult because the blade was hard to control and turn. After cutting the pieces, I used a hot gun to melt the plastic and warp the letters.

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Using 2 bamboo poles and an ironing board for leverage, I tried to suspend the acrylic pieces using nylon strings to cast a shadow on a plain surface.

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Image of shadow casted when a light source is shone on it.

I also tried to play around with red light to bring the element of “danger” in my design ( a common stereotype of marine biologists ).

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However, the desired effect was difficult to achieve and the red light ended up washing off most of the blue shadow. Hence, I decided to photoshop in the “blood” instead.

This was the original picture taken before edit.

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Photoshopping away the background from the original picture proved to be very difficult without losing some of the reflectiveness of the letters as seen from the picture above. The clean white background also made the letters look flat and the edges sharp.

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After consultation and advice from my peers, I decided to retain as much of the original picture as possible by keeping the grey ish background and adding a bit of a drop shadow to make the letters stand out more. I also adjusted the blue to bring out as much of the light details as possible. Using a brush tool, I brushed on some blood to illustrate the danger element in my design as a Marine Biologist is often considered a dangerous occupation with long hours out at sea.

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Designers

Stereotypes:

  • messy
  • hard to succeed in Singapore, unappreciated
  • open-minded, “carefree”
  • easier compared to other occupations such engineers

The stereotype I decided to go with was how designers are often misunderstood as being an “easy” and “simple” job, that they do not have it as hard as other occupations. As an art student, I often hear remarks that my course was fun and easier compared to my peers who were in business or engineering because of the lighter workload and the fact that we don’t have much written assignments or a final exam. However, they fail to see the effort behind each design we come up with. All the research and process put in to convey a message through visuals. I believe that design isn’t just about the aesthetics and looking good, it is delivering a message or story well. A successful aesthetic design is one that delivers the message well while utilising good principles of design.

I was inspired by this installation by Inès Esna with the use of geometric shapes.

installation by Inès Esna
installation by Inès Esna

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I also looked into the Suprematism movement and their use of geometry in the compositions. I wanted a clean minimal look in my design to bring across the idea of simplicity using basic shapes and primary colours.

Image result for suprematism     Related image

Using the scroll saw, I started cutting up the acrylic sheet into different shapes of different colours.

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After which, I individually buffed the edges of the pieces using sand paper to smoothen out the edges.

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Initially, I wanted to suspend the acrylic pieces in a box along with other shapes in the background as seen in Inès Esna’s installation but decided against it. Firstly, I was afraid the font would get lost in the shapes as other shapes could be mistaken as other letters and I did not want my name to end up ambiguous. Secondly, suspending the shapes proved to be really challenging in getting the lighting right as well as photographing it without the acrylic pieces moving about.

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I tried hanging it in a box against a white background.

In the end, I decided to hang the pieces against a white wall and photograph it instead.

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After which, I tried to play around with the different colour combinations using Lightroom.

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Architect

As the stereotypes for architects and designers are closely linked, I’m not going to make a list of stereotypes but rather talk about the stereotype I chose for architects in our local context. Considering Singapore’s growing economy and population with our limited land space, most of our old heritage buildings often get demolished to make space for new modern buildings. This is one stereotype I feel that people have of architects in Singapore, that they are constantly building new condominiums and shopping malls to replace our old buildings. However, I feel that this is not always true and that certain heritage buildings are still well preserved and appreciated. One example would be our shophouses. Shophouses are still widely seen around Singapore at places such as haji lane or duxton hill. They are integrated into our modern buildings and these places are often transformed into bars, cafes or hipster shops.

I got inspired to create letterforms from buildings using my name from some images I found online and I thought it would create quite an interesting composition.

pink:       Färgen:   Matthias Heiderich the-tree-mag-systems-layers-by-matthias-heiderich-110.jpg:   Pastels.:

This is a really interesting type of typography made up of photographs that look like letters. Sometimes they can be hard to read, but I think they're really cool and unique.:

Hence, I went around Singapore to photograph some shophouses to create letterforms of my name using the structures of these buildings.

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I tried making use of the negative spaces to form the letters ( as seen from the example shown above) but that proved to be really hard and I decided on cropping parts of the building to form the letters instead.

This was the first draft I made but after consultation, feedback given was that the letterforms were ambiguous and hard to decipher.

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I felt like most of the problems were in the “C” hence I changed the design but it was still too ambiguous to be seen.

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It was suggested that I used a combination of sketch and photography to distinguish the letterforms and after several revisions, this was what I came up with.

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Tattooist

stereotypes:

  •  sign of rebellion& irresponsibility
  • unprofessional
  • only people of lower class get tattoos / tattoos to determine social status/class

Tattoo placement:

  • Lower back:  promiscuous, “tramp stamp”
  • Chest:  symbol of love/ affection, image is close to the person’s heart, loved ones
  • Finger: middle finger: blood vessel that is directly connected to the heart
  • Forearm: toughness/strength, depends on the imagery (skulls/ anchor shows the person is strong on the outside and inside, flowers, etc shows that the person is tough on the outside, soft on the inside )
  • Neck: risky/daring, makes bold choices
  • Back: mysterious/ shy, symbolise ending of a phase in their lives/ relationship, put their past behind them

I think that taboos surrounding tattoos are a thing of the past and there is a large shift in the demographics and people’s perceptions of tattoos. There is an increase in the number of people getting tattoos and it can sometimes serve as an important symbols for a person’s religious beliefs, commemorate achievements and mark rites of passage. From the society’s point of view, some employers are starting to see it as a sign of individuality and they value that as an assert of their company.

However, there is still a form of struggle for people with tattoos, especially in our more conservative society. The struggle of hiding their tattoos and choosing when is the “appropriate” time to show them. Hence, I chose the forearm as the placement to depict my design as I felt that it emphasises this internal struggle the strongest. Since the forearm is such a prominent place, it is hard to cover up and the person would feel the strongest sense of judgement from people.

Initially, I wanted to use henna to draw on my design but decided on a black gel pen instead as it turned out looking more realistic and it brought out the details better. However, since I already DIY-ed my own henna, I thought I would just include the process in and it can be quite educational as well if anyone out there is thinking of making their own henna haha.

Step 1: 20g of fresh Henna

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Step 2: 1/4 of fresh lemon juice

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Step 3: Stir the henna and lemon juice until they are completely mixed together and no lumps of dry powder remain.

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Step 4: Add 1.5 teaspoons of sugar and 1.5 teaspoons of essential oil

Step 5: Cover the paste with plastic wrap. Press the plastic wrap against the surface of the paste expelling any air pockets.

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Step 6: Let the paste set for 24 hours and it’s ready for use!

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I referenced some floral images online for my tattoo designs.

Floral tattoo:    Floral Bouquet 8.5 x 11 Botanical Floral Pen and by emiliebelle:

Flower style:     The shading and cluster size and outline is PERFECT. LOVE:

 

My designs:

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To better bring across my message, I thought of photoshopping cuts on my arm to show signs of distress and struggle of hiding the tattoos. However, I felt like the cuts were too random and was not as impactful as I wanted it to be.

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After consulting a few of my friends, I thought of making the cut surround the petal of the flower to show the act of carving the tattoo off of the skin as an act of distress. I really think this created the impact that I wanted much better.

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Thanks for reading this super lengthy post! Next will be my final compositions 🙂

 

4D II Project 1: Alter Ego

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password: buckets

Storyline:

A frustrated girl is seen doing her work in her room when she chances upon a bucket list that she wrote a long time ago. She then starts to have visions of various scenarios written in the list, of her trekking up mountains or travelling the world. The visions end with an empty, unchecked list and she realises that it’s all in her head.

Theme:

about regrets and having the courage to take chances in life.

Process/ Research/ Inspiration:

After writing down and analysing my character traits, I found that a common theme of affinity amongst all of them is the idea of courage. The courage to stand up for oneself, seize opportunities and to be confident in ones abilities. I idolise strong female characters that break out of society’s stereotype of them. Hence with this recurring theme in mind i start to draft out my story and what I wanted to portray.

Out of all of the characters, I decided on Walter Mitty because he embodied the idea of someone stuck in his fantasies to escape reality. I wanted to do a self confessional letter type of video with an essence of regret and remorse for ones own reality of life. After consultation, it was suggested that I could do a self confessional bucket list.  I then listed down a few of the things that I have always wanted to do into the bucket list.

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While researching, I got inspired by Vodafone commercial titled bucket list ( how apt). I love the cinematography which was like handheld and shaky with the cuts of scene in between her travelling and her video calling her grandpa as she travels around the world completing her bucket list. I thought the song used ( Tom Odell – Can’t Pretend ) also really played up the mood portrayed in the video. I thought this was also a perfect way of portraying Walter Mitty since most of his “ travels” were in his head, so I could do like a reality vs expectations kind of thing.   

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Storyboard: 

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Challenges:

One of the first challenge was definitely how am I going to show the “travelling” portion considering time and budget constraint. Then I had the idea of using my past travel GoPro footages. Of course because of the difference in frame size, I had to scale the GoPro inserts to fit the larger frame which resulted in a slightly lower resolution. It was also hard fitting the appropriate visuals to those listed in the bucket list because of lack of resources, so I just had to tweak the list to fit the visuals instead. 

Another challenge would be inserting the monologue portion. I was a little unsure of how to insert it without it feeling too forced. It was also hard emulating the emotion through the monologue ( poor acting skills on my part). In the end, I decided to keep the monologue short and sweet.

“ Dear future self, I hope that you are well and that you’re out there, seeing the world, conquering mountains, and chasing your dreams. Love, Your past”

The last challenge would be color grading the video to differentiate between “reality” and “fantasy”. It was my first time really color grading and after many tutorials later, I used cooler tones for the “reality” portion and brighter, more vibrancy in the “fantasy” portion. I was also afraid that my message wouldn’t come through but after asking a few people they seem to be able to get the gist of the story so hopefully the message did come through.

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Reflection:

Filming has never been my forte and I struggled with the technical camera aspect a little as well as coming up with the storyline while keeping my constraints in mind. But I did have fun in the end color grading the film and stitching the clips together was more enjoyable than expected. Moving on I hope to learn from this experience and improve myself for future projects. 🙂

4D II Project 1 : Alter Ego characters

Our first project of the semester required us to list characters from fiction, public and personal and selecting the top 2 from each list to include a detailed description of they attributes and our affinity towards them.

Characters

  • The Secret Life of Walter Mitty: Walter Mitty
  • Suits: Mike Ross
  • Suits: Donna Paulsen
  • Confessions of a shopaholic: Rebecca Bloomwood
  • Game of Thrones: Arya Stark

Public Figures

  • Jenn Im – Youtuber
  • Ellen Degeneres – talkshow host
  • Bernie Sanders – Politican
  • Amy Lee – Youtuber
  • Emma Watson – Actress

Family/Friends

  • Lim Chee Wee – dad
  • Emily Lim – mom
  • Zoe Kwek – the roomie
  • Mandy Wong – the best friend
  • Jinson Yap – the boyfriend

Characters from literature or fiction

Walter Mitty  ( The secret life of walter mitty)

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Walter Mitty is a introverted guy who works at LIFE magazine and is constantly thinking of adventures and what ifs. In real life, he is constantly getting bossed around, forgetful and getting laughed at for making blunders. To compensate for his failings in real life, Mitty creates an entire “secret life” for himself: a series of fantasies in which he is decisive, powerful and everything he is not in reality.

Character Profiling:

Exterior:

  • Unfocused and constantly in a dream-like state, oftenly drifting off into his own world even in the middle of having a conversation with someone
  • Introverted, rarely speaks up for himself and a push-over
  • Shy and meek ( he seek professional advice on how to approach a colleague he fancied at work )
  • Inefficient at his job ( he was thought to have misplaced the final cover picture for LIFE magazine which was what led Mitty to travel all over the world to look for the photography of the photo)

Interior:

  • passionate, his passion for the company was unquestionable and he always strive to deliver the best
  • his love for his mother and sister was seen throughout the movie, always standing up as a male figurehead of the family after his father passed
  • despite being perceived as meek and introverted, Walter Mitty is secretly an adventurous extrovert that was seen breaking out from his “fantasies” and actually taking on challenges and adventures that he used to only dream of doing.

Affinity:

Much like Walter, I often dream of getting out of here. Away from the mundanity of life and to backpack across Asia to seek new adventures. However, I never had the courage or time or money to do so. (yet) I want to be a person who is fearlessly adventurous and meet new people, taste new cuisines and find new places.  I am also a person who wants to try everything and learn as many things as possible.

I think essentially what draws me to Mitty is the idea of courage. The courage to step out  to take up new challenges or to stand up for ones own ideas and beliefs.

Mike Ross ( Suits )

USA CORPORATE -- "USA Network Upfront 2013 Talent Portraits" -- Pictured: Patrick J. Adams from Suits -- (Photo by: Jill Greenberg/USA Network)

Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams) was blessed with a brilliant mind and a good heart, but some bad luck and worse choices derailed his plan to go into law. However, a chance meeting with Harvey Specter brought Mike’s considerable gifts to one of the top law firms in New York, and gave him a second chance to get his life on track.

character profiling:

exterior:

  • a younger protege with an incredible power to remember everything he has ever read and often the guy that saves the day with his intelligence and wit.
  • fits the usual stereotype of “the guy that chases the girl” and “the joker”, never failing to lighten the mood and get the girl

interior:

  • passionate about his work, often working long hours and going the extra mile to win a case
  • compassionate, Mike often took on pro bono cases with no monetary benefits to help out those who were unjustly prosecuted
  • loving towards his grandmother and would do anything for her. Mike’s soft spot would be his grandmother, often seeking words of advice from her in times of trouble

affinity:

Mike Ross’s intelligence and wit is often the highlight of the show and I love how driven and passionate he is about his work, something I aspire to be in the future. To work in a job I’m passionate about and also the ability to help those in need.

Donna Paulsen ( Suits )

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One major character that is seen to break away from the social gender stereotypes is Donna Paulsen. Donna is an incredibly brilliant, intuitive, hilarious, and gorgeous secretary that is considered to be Harvey’s other half. Without Donna, most of the characters, especially Harvey, would not be able to function because she is the one that always manages to be at the right place at the right time. She is “Harvey’s lifeline, Mike’s adviser, Rachel’s confidante, Louis’ weak point [and the only person willing] to stand up to Jessica. Her witty comebacks, bravery and intelligence is something i really admire and look up to. She is the type of strong independent female character that i aspire to be.

Rebecca Bloomwood ( Confessions of a shopaholic )

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Rebecca Bloomwood is a girl that loves to shop, so much so that she found herself drowning in debt and on the run to escape from it. She dreams of working at the city’s top fashion company but lands a job as an advice columnist for a financial magazine owned by the same company. She is witty, funny, smart, outgoing and not afraid to take up a challenge.

I resonate with her as I do find myself shopping excessively and end up broke even before the end of the month. But beyond just that, I love how she sees the best out of every situation and never fails to remain optimistic and bring joy to all those around her.

Arya Stark ( Game of Thrones )

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Arya Stark is the 3rd oldest in the Stark family and is totally different from a typical female character from the show in that era. She is a complete tomboy, who would rather play with a sword than marry a knight. She’s also brave enough to go after what she wants (sword-fighting lessons) rather than what other people think she should do because she’s a girl (sewing lessons). She’s smart, independent and friendly with people of lower social status ( which was often frowned upon on ).

Public Figures 

Jenn Im ( Youtuber )

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I’ve been watching her channel for about 4 years now and her videos always makes me feel like I’m talking to a friend. I really admire her work and passion for what she does like starting a youtube channel, her own jewelry and makeup line and the passion for making creative content. She always seems so happy and cheery in her videos and she is always so optimistic. Her knowledge of literature and take on life is always so interesting to hear and i really admire youtubers who speak their minds and create content that goes beyond just superficial fashion and beauty kind of videos.

exterior:

  • perceived to have the “perfect” life, a stable and successful career, great friends and family, a loving boyfriend
  • well loved by most of her viewers and often looked up to for her great sense of style and “realness”

Interior:

  • despite working as a youtuber, her work is actually busier then it seems with tight schedules and deadlines.
  • isn’t afraid to voice her opinions , e.g. in a vlog she posted, she confessed how she regretted not taking the recent elections seriously after Trump’s win
  • down to earth. despite being famous, she’ll always make time to meet her viewers and doesnt let the money and fame get to her

Ellen Degeneres ( Talk show host )

From Warner Bros The Ellen Degeneres Show on ITV2 Pictured: Ellen Degeneres. This photograph is (C) Warner Bros and can only be reproduced for editorial purposes directly in connection with the programme or event mentioned above, or ITV plc. Once made available by ITV plc Picture Desk, this photograph can be reproduced once only up until the transmission [TX] date and no reproduction fee will be charged. Any subsequent usage may incur a fee. This photograph must not be manipulated [excluding basic cropping] in a manner which alters the visual appearance of the person photographed deemed detrimental or inappropriate by ITV plc Picture Desk. This photograph must not be syndicated to any other company, publication or website, or permanently archived, without the express written permission of ITV Plc Picture Desk. Full Terms and conditions are available on the website www.itvpictures.com For further information please contact: james.hilder@itv.com / 0207 157 3052

Ellen Degeneres is always such an entertainment to watch and her witty remarks never fail to lighten up the mood. I have been watching her show since i was probably in secondary school and she never fails to bring a smile to my face from the wacky games she makes her guests play to pranks she pulls on unsuspecting strangers. I also love how she stands up for what she believes in like LGBT rights and isn’t afraid to let her opinions be made known, such as the recent episode where she mocked President Trump’s executive order of building the wall as she explained the plot of “Finding Dory”.

exterior:

  • funny, witty, loveable, a comedian
  • confident, unafraid to voice her opinions
  • passionate about causes she believe in
  • compassionate, often giving large sums of money to disadvantaged families

interior: ( tBH not much is known, she is a v private person )

  • really loves her wife, a family person

Bernie Sanders ( Politician )

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Bernie Sanders was one of the candidates for the recent elections. One of the reasons why i chose him was because of how compassionate and underrated he was out of all of the candidates. There was an incident in one of his rallies where a BLM (black lives matter) activist caused a commotion and instead of putting him down like most politicians would, Bernie actually took the time to listen to what he had to say and both of them managed to come to a mutual conclusion. The other would be when Mr. Sanders unexpectedly bumped into Ms. Geneva Reed-Veal (mother) and Shante (sister), the family of SANDRA BLAND (an African American wrongfully murdered at the hands of police) in a restaurant. When Ms Geneva asked to take a picture with him, instead of turning it into a publicity stunt to promote his campaign, he let the sacred moment pass without trying to gain anything from it. After which, Sanders went on to honor Sandra Bland’s memory, mentioning her by name before the 15 million viewers of Thursday’s debate, and calling for action to prevent it happening to others like Sandra, Eric, Freddie, Tamir…

I really respect politicians like these that are down to earth and willing to step out of their “facade” to be more “human”, a willingness to express their sincere empathy for another person without asking for anything in return.

Amy Lee ( Youtuber )

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Amy aka “vagabond youth” on youtube is someone that I’ve been watching for about a year now. What sets her apart for me compared to other youtubers would be how real she is as a person and gave me a whole different perspective of the life of a youtube. In one of her videos, she confessed how she was losing inspiration for content making and she felt like she wasn’t satisfied with the content she had been putting up on youtube. This made me realise how being a youtuber isn’t always as glamorous as it sounds and artists do lose inspiration and motivation sometimes, something i can really relate to as a student taking up design.

Emma Watson ( Actress )

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Emma Watson is someone that I admire for the fact that despite her fame, she is still down to earth and cares for social causes. In September 2009, Watson announced that she was working with People Tree, a fashion label that promotes fair trade. She is also committed to her education where she enrolled in Brown university, a place she felt that she could get the anonymity she wanted. Despite juggling her busy work schedule and studies, she was dedicated on completing her English degree. She was also appointed a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador where she continues to speak out for women’s rights and equality. Her passion, dedication and courage to stand up for what she believe in is something that I really look up to.

People I know/ have known:

Emily Lim

exterior:

My mom is one of the strongest person I know, never taking shit from anyone and isn’t afraid to speak her mind. She is also really meticulous and often the planner of the family, from planning our family trips to managing finances at my dad’s company. She is also the typical “auntie” that can be straightforward, stands up for what she believes in ( or to say it simply complain ) and sometimes a little “kiasu” but all these traits is what makes her my mom. She is also often people’s confidante, always willing to lend a listening ear to any problem.

interior:

Away from the public’s eye, my mom can be pretty childish at times often complaining about doing the chores and making fun of my dad and I. My mom is an avid news reader and would often keep me up to date on current affairs and sometimes celebrity gossips. Her love for me and my dad can seen through the small acts such as buying me supplies that I’ve run out of, helping me out with school assignments whenever i need assistance, staying home to look after me when I’m sick and so on. Her compassion is also something I really admire, often helping those in need without asking for anything in return.

Lim Chee Wee

exterior:

My dad started his own company after barely having completed his education and built his company from the bottom up. I really admire his trade of work and his skills with basically anything mechanical or electrical from fixing my iPhone screen to repairing cars. He is also really passionate and knowledgable in his field of work in automobile. I like to think that I get my creativity from him ( and my mom) as he can come up with innovative solutions to any problem. In his past time, he used to golf and its often a great sport for old men to chitchat while exercising ( kind of). He is often the “joker” in any social event, cracking jokes and telling stories, making him a well liked person amongst friends and family.

interior:

His dedication to this family is unquestionable, sometimes even working on weekends when its required. Whenever i need to run an errand for a school project, going back to hall or even going to the airport at 6am, my dad is always willing to drive me wherever regardless of the time. Like my mom, he too can be pretty childish at times but it never fails to bring laughter to the family.

Zoe Kwek

Zoe ( who is also my current roommate) and I have been friends for about 7 years now and we have been through so much together. From failing our A levels to where we are now. Zoe is a fun, free-spirited and care-free person and is known amongst peers for her crazy personality. With her around, there is never a dull moment in hall. Unlike most people, she takes things as they come and is often perceived to be always happy. However, this makes her a huge procrastinator often leaving work till the very last minute but somehow still coming up fine in the end. Despite her crazy personality, she is dedicated when it comes to pursuing her interest in music and often performs at public or school events.

Mandy Wong

One of my closest friend, Mandy has been with me through all the phases in my life, the good and bad times. She is very driven and never fails to give it her best in whatever task she sets out to do like how she managed to pull up for GPA from a 2.0 to 3.7 in just one semester. She is extroverted and extremely sociable which may have impacted me in some ways to open up more, to be less introverted compared to the person I was in the past. She is the type of person that would never judge me for what I do but rather offer words of encouragement and advice, steering me in the right direction when I felt lost and unsure of myself. Though we can sometimes be each other’s enablers and make bad decisions together, the lesson after is what made us grow together to be closer and stronger together.

Jinson Yap

Though I’ve only met him this year when I entered university, I feel like I’ve already known him for much longer. He is unlike any person I’ve met. He is the most multi-talented person I know from being a national swimmer, naval diver, lifesaving and swimming coach, attaining not only a driver’s license but a pilot license as well. His strong leadership skills and extroverted personality was what made him the swimming captain for Temasek Poly and current captain for Hall 10 swimming team. However, his strong personality can often be a double edge sword. He stands up for his principles and beliefs when wrongly accused of or when he sees someone in need. He also stands up to take charge when the occasion calls for it and doesn’t hesitant or give in to self doubt. His strong personality is something I admire as not everyone will be willing to step up to the challenge when needed without asking for anything in return. He is also highly driven to excel in anything from studies to sports and aspires to be a teacher someday. However, a strong personality like his is often misjudged for being arrogant and a “suck up” to gain recognition from his superiors. His confidence and lack of self-doubt really motivates me to be less doubtful of myself and to have confidence in my own abilities, that i do not need other people’s approval to pursue what I’m passionate in.