January 2016 – ziyuziyuziyu

Alter Egos

[LIST]

Five Fictional Characters

Gabriella Montez (Vanessa Hudgens in High School Musical)
In the movie, Gabriella is a person who loves to perform singing and dancing in her college days, and she is also madly in love. I felt really relatable when I watch her because I really enjoy singing and dancing and I am heavily involved in these activities in school, just like Gabriella.
Remy (Rat in Ratatouille)
Remy is an idealistic and ambitious rat in the show, feeling inspired, he wanted to become a chef so bad that he hid in the protagonist’s hat to cook. Just like me, whenever I feel inspired or have the determination to do some thing, I would give my all and become quite stubborn in a positive way!
Shen Jia Yi (Michelle Chen in You are the Apple of my Eye)
A couple’s romance – they liked each other but they didn’t confess…… ^.^”
Robin Scherbatsky (Cobie Smulders in How I Met Your Mother)
Outgoing, slightly indecisive, jump ship (career) very often
Cheon Song-Yi (Jun Ji-Hyun in You Who Came from the Stars)
She thinks that she is actually very fabulous and glam (some times she really is, because she is a celebrity), but she’s actually quite candid and spastic

Five Public Figures

Beyoncé
Everyone knows that Beyoncé is a really independent woman, and she is a feminist. The main quality that I found between the both of us is not feminism, but performing. She always characterizes herself on stage in such a way that she is as queen or a diva, which happens to me a lot on stage too!
Sylvia (NightOwl Cinematics)
Sylvia is the owner of Night Owl Cinematics (Local YouTube Channel) and the reason why I find us relatable is that I came across her vimeo doing corporate videos or wedding videos. Thus, she does film for a living and that is what I am considering. Also, she often self-direct and act at the same time, which is also what I aim to do. Thus, I really find a strange connection between the both of us.
ChaeLin (CL)

She used to be in a performing group, but now she’s exploring much more on her solo career. She is very daring at trying new styles and things and not afraid of people judging her.
Parris Goebel
Very successful dancer, tour around and danced for many international artistes. Recently directed a movie, and also assisted Justin Bieber in his new album.
Tyra Banks
Professional model and she used to have her own talk show. Now, she is just focusing on America’s Next Top Model, nurturing new talents and creating opportunities!

Five people I know/have known

Uli Chan (Fashion blogger+model)
Uli is my secondary school friend and she has since gained a lot of knowledge and skills from her past experiences. From her own hobby of collecting magazine cut-outs of fashion column, she started blogging about herself and her fashion and is now a pretty famous fashionista. She was featured in many magazines like Nylon, NuYou and I feel a connection with her because I love to do video-blogs!
Gavin (Mediacorp Artiste)
Gavin is my polytechnic friend, and through the Mediacorp Hey Gorgeous scouting, he managed to earn himself a contract and is now in the local showbiz industry! He also does a lot of music covers and that is also why I feel relatable to him.
Xavier (Dancer)

Instructor in Singapore, but travelled around and got scouted – he ended up touring with a USA instructor over in Europe, Japan, and back in Singapore too. Recently participated in Mediacorp Channel 5’s The Dance Floor and got 1st Runner Up.
Carmen (Dancer-student)

My best friend! Cliques really well and we have many things in common! Most importantly, we dance and participate in competitions together. 🙂
Aprilia (Dancer-student)

Dance mates since 2010, and we only recently realized how much things in common we actually have – life goals. And we would always get performance opportunity together, which allows us to grow together as well 🙂

[SELECTED CHARACTER]

BEYONCÉ
Whenever I have a performance regardless whether it is singing or dancing, I’ll usually remind myself that I am not Ziyu for that hour, I am Beyoncé, or Zeyoncé; so that I can get into the mood and character and portray my alter ego instead of this usual Ziyu you see everyday. Many people think I am just a girl next door, but has anyone encountered the other side of me off-stage?

[1-min VIDEO]

Password: QUEENZ

Art History // How I learn best?

Well, I wouldn’t say how do I learn best, but rather, how to keep myself focus, or how to absorb information!

I am usually really busy with commitments apart from school, and thus, my working hours on assignments are usually past midnight (like now). And I would think that it is really productive because no one will disturb or distract me, and late at night, the only thing left for me to do would be my assignment! I can’t go out and eat, I can’t chat with my friends because they will mostly be asleep, and most importantly, I’d have a sense of urgency to complete my work so that I can finally go to bed!

I recently took a Character Strength test and it’s quite accurate! I can apply point 2 for my top 3 traits to studies; as I am always curious, I’d seek solutions to my own queries and make sure I understand before moving on.

Therefore, Curiosity in me is the main catalyst as to how I learn most, and the best learning conditions would be for me to find out about things, and work on it in the wee hours!

WOW

Hello this is a post to test out the journal category 🙂

Typography research // hello card

Hi all! I’m Ziyu and below are my research on some ideas to execute typography. I focused mainly on key words and approach instead of specific artist, hence, designs and pictures are mostly from google images or pinterest:

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Hello card:

Typography –

I love places with vintage décor and objects, thus, I picked a vintage font to represent myself. I wanted to play with the positive and negative space, however, after trying out with a full solid black background, I felt like it didn’t quite show who I am because I’m usually quite an outgoing and loud person, so I used bright colours with dancing silhouettes to depict my positive personality!

Abstract Solution –

As a dancer, my footwear is really important to me and I wanted find out from the perspective of my shoes and its effect from my foot-work during my routine. The above short-video documents on my usual rehearsal – I attached the card under my heels and danced for awhile with it. The after-effect looks scratched and marred with dust, which also depicts the life of a commercial dancer; it may seem like its a glamorous job and we’d have a lot of fun and enjoyment through dancing but we may also get hurt from falling, trying stunts, having long duration of rehearsals etc, which may not be the healthiest lifestyle you could live.

Conceptual –

Many people identify me with my smile, thus I compiled and cut smiles from magazines and did a collage of it on the card. I placed “On Air” within the artwork because I secretly want to be in the media industry, hosting, acting or anything alike (don’t think it’s a secret anymore ^.^”). Not only that, I feel like whatever people say is really impactful whether it’s some thing good or bad, positive or negative, and it’s all up to oneself. Therefore, the mouth is a pretty important representation of me!