Why Design?

Which aspects of Visual Communication are you interested in?

  • Data Visualisation
  • Information Visualisation
  • Campaign designs
  • Production
  • Publishing
  • Editorial design
  • Illustration

What are your strengths in design?

  • Comprehending information into visuals
  • Picking up on client needs and wants
  • Flexible illustration (I’m style-less)
  • Competent in Adobe CS
  • Good craftsmanship
  • I can code (high-level programming language, Processing)

What are the areas you hope to improve on in design?

  • Creating concepts
  • Data Visualisation

Is there any aspect in design that you are less familiar with but you are interested to explore?

  • More data/ info visualisation

 

Where do you imagine yourself to be in 3 years time?

Working at Google. Or working with sociologists, data vis in research, or info vis in publishing. Or doing my Masters in Sociology.

What is Visual Communication?

Visual Communication is providing visual solutions to a problem presented by a client/ society. It’s presenting the solution such that the message successfully reaches the target audience and makes an impression.

Why do you design?

I like the puzzle (or challenge) each design problem presents, and the many ways to solve it.

Which aspects of Visual Communication fascinates you?

The message. Elegant solutions, no frills. When a design solution is presented in a way that it resonates with it’s intended audience, and makes a deep impression. When campaign messages’ visuals are specific to the target audience, or book covers. I’m also very interested in presentations of big data on macro levels that allow fresh interpretations and thus new solutions. Another thing that fascinates me is “invisible” design, such as good wayfinding that makes navigating new environments effortless.

What might be some of the contemporary issues, concerns and debates surrounding the practice/ society that you are concerned with?

I am concerned about the mass commodification of “design”, where visuals are so easily generated that design is valued less. That’s why I think it’s important to produce and publish more good design, so the public are better attuned to good designs instead of making do with bad ones.

In regards to society, I’m concerned about the lack of in-depth knowledge we have about general issues we so often discuss about, politics, economics, why things are the way they are. I think it’s good that discourses be generated that include new perspectives and some deeper awareness of the many variables and factors at play.

How do you intend to use design to address the above mentioned concerns?

I’d like to work with info graphics such as those in educational or exploratory publications. Or work with research in interpreting data. Then make this information/ knowledge accessible to the public for higher awareness.

Author: Madeline Ngai

Visual Communications student at School of Art, Design and Media Nanyang Technological Unversity.

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