Category Archives: My Work

The Age of Information

Leave a reply

In the first reading, we have renowned designer Massimo Vignelli engage the readers with his philosophies of graphic design and what he felt the term ‘graphic designer’ entails. I enjoy his understanding of a graphic designer to be one in which engineers and structures information, giving our work both form and function. This ideal ties in well with Modernism ideals, whereby form should follow function, as similar to our actions, our designs should have a purpose as well.

We can see that his designs are extremely functional and timeless, which many graphic designers fail to see the importance of. Sure, a visually pleasing design is able to capture attention, but if it fails to convey a message, is the purpose of the design lost? As what Massimo Vignelli said, “the most effective design is positioned in the centre between progressiveness and conservatism.” I would consider timeless designs to be the ultimate goal of a designer as it would mean that as an individual, they have managed to create something with lasting form and function for the masses.

Beyond leaving a legacy I feel that Massimo Vignelli truly a humbled individual as he does not see himself as a revolutionary, instead, he seeks to push the design community as a whole, striving for a healthier culture of design, one that is imbued with passion, curiosity and meaning. More than often, due to how much the market is determining what designers are producing, such as campaign ads and advertisement posters, our sense of aesthetics and purpose is slowly being diluted and we are losing the aspect of having a visual identity.

Industrial Revolution

Leave a reply

 

This collaged art stood out strongly as I have always found surrealistic art to be visually intriguing and highly abstracted. This is one huge contributing factor that made me pick this piece. Hausmann, the artist, expressed his disapproving views through a photomontage which strongly reflected the properties of DADA movement.

Unorganized forms of photographs and prints were positioned in a perceptibly chaotic fashion successfully expressed his attempt to challenge the idea of what “Fine Art” means. It was said that Hausmann supported “new and different forms of art” and he “did not like the bias of critics toward the traditional styles”.

With an aim to prove that the socially and culturally accepted forms of art aren’t the only style artists should be susceptible to, he advocates the idea of a “non-conformist” through the use of this photomontage. The idea behind his oddly clashing colours used in the background clearly enhanced his point.

Also, the physically disproportionate being with an oversize head undermined the common perception of human anatomy. The entirety of this piece wholesomely reflected the extremely satirical and nonsensical aspect of DADA movement. Decoding a DADA art piece allow users to put themselves into the artist’s shoe and think – regardless if it is on subject matter or symbols. These are used to create meaning in their work. DADA ROCKS. THE AMBIGUITY IS LOVED.

ZINE: Book Cover Development

1 Reply

Hi guys! This post will be featuring my design process for the cover page.

 Artist/Layout Inspiration:

For the cover, I was aiming to create something that is wholly simplistic, one that can perfectly speak to my target audience – The Millennials. I was looking through Behance & Pinterest for an interesting looking design, the kind of design that is worth stopping by and picking up while we’re on the go.

Since my zine primarily consists of blue as one of the main colour, the best possible way for the book cover to translate the idea/theme is for it to be blue too.  I came across a few interesting typeface arrangements which are unlike the typical layout > 

A quick draft of how my overall layout should look like –

Making use of Pattern and Repetition to create a sense of rhythm across all 6 pages (excluding cover and back page)

Moodboard: Layout, Typeface, Color palette 

An overview of the sense of design direction I am heading towards > Monochromatic (blue), Sans Serif Typeface, an old-school yet modern layout

Notice how the type arrangement gave the layout so much more character? I love it! I decided to give it a shot and see how it will progress and these are my attempts:

this one lacked something I can’t describe. perhaps it is too dead centre? will try to spice it up in my next layout!

It has more dimension now, but it looks like an eatbook instead, so no go for sure 🙁

went to consult this layout with Mimi and she raised an interesting point: are there too many ‘Tiong Bahru” all over? so I decidedd that I would amend the logo from Tiong Bahru to a name that represents a magazine series

 

Overall, I want to keep the cover’s type and colour design to a minimum as the content of my magazine are pretty visual heavy, so a simple cover (front and back) can better balance out the visual weight!

Not forgetting to mention, the magazine series (top typography) is read as Zhou Chu, which means ‘In the Initial’ and ‘Picturesquesly, Tiong Bahru’ is the volume’s title (with it still being Volume 1 at this point).

I imagine having a series of location documentation in the ‘Zhou Chu’ series, with the exact format of a magazine series like 8 Days & Teenage magazine. So there will be Vol.2, Vol.3 and so on in future – This is the possible prospect for my Zine series.

 

 

 

 

Final layout for Zine! I left the textures out since the papers I’d gotten from RJ is off-white.

Fitting in the elements:

Logo Design & Exploration for my Zine series:

Here are a few of my tries on the creation of a logo for my zine series. These Chinese characters represent my publication’s name. The different character shows my experimentation with different shapes and forms and how they look when they are pieced together.

Then off to RJ Paper!!!!

Got a couple of samples and variety for my print, might want to keep a couple of booklets for myself! The type of textures I have in mind is – Munken Pure Rough, Wudii,  and a few others I can’t recall. I love that natural off-white colour and speckled dust effect from some of the 160gsm paper.

These are some of the A3 sized papers I got. Ranging from pure white to yellowish white – That is to see how it will turn out in print! The pure white one didn’t really work out eventually, so I stuck with the off-white coloured ones. Per print was $4 and it was the colour payoff was on point too! Really recommend ‘Colour De Something’… I really cannot recall at this moment!!! Will get back to it later.

 

Up next: Content Design Process

See you there!

 

 

ZINE: Content Research (Tiong Bahru)

Leave a reply

In the ‘Zine’ – Tiong Bahru edition, I will be dividing the 8 pages into 3 main sections

1 – On birds singing tradition

2 – What’s a must try in Tiong Bahru

3 – Wall of fame for CATS

I will now present my research on the above 3 topics I have narrowed down to focus on.

Tiong Bahru Bird Singing

https://ourbigexpatadventure.wordpress.com/2014/03/12/tiong-bahru-bird-corner/

Yes, there are indeed many places locally where you can find bird singing corners. Some examples are Serangoon North Avenue 1, Tanglin Halt, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10 and Bukit Purmei. Lo and behold, Tiong Bahru is the OG (original gangster) of this trade. It is the oldest and the first ever “Bird Arena” in Singapore.

In the past couple of years, many bird-lovers would gather at this spot bright and early, to admire all the exotic, beautiful birds sitting in their antique cages. One interesting fact is that it all started from an owner of a Kopitiam (coffee shop), with all intention to attract more business. But it led to more than just a business antic, it becomes a tradition worth preserving.

Credit: The Straits Time

Tiong Bahru bird corner was noticed by a Dutch reporter, who wrote about it in the late eighties. It was when this corner gained recognition, attracting even more tourists and reporters far and wide! Eventually, Dutch sponsor numbered hooks to facilitate more birds singing competition in the area. I find it relatively interesting since these are areas I would never have noticed even if I happen to pass by. The failure to realise its significance would truly be a waste! So glad I managed to dig out some of the forgotten treasures of Tiong Bahru.

 

Interesting Food Finds (TOP 3)

What’s good in Tiong Bahru, you ask? Come, let me show you!

Pastries and Coffees? They have Tiong Bahru Bakery.

I was a huge sceptic of this place initially. I thought it would just be another cafe that is totally overhyped since it is always buzzing with people and the cafe always seem to be on full house. I had my first try on their original croissant, accompanied by a warm cup cappuccino – Boy was I wrong to assume it would just taste like flour and sugar. It was on a whole new level of mind-blowingness!

I knew I had to feature this in my Eatbook spread! Light, buttery crisp on the outside, warm and soft on the inside – An excellent balance of sweet and savoury.

Next!

For a main, if you’re tight on a budget, fret not for there is Tiong Bahru Food Centre. For this section, there are a couple of recommendations –

Like Jian Bo Chwee Kueh, 238 Coffee, Ru Yi Vegetarian Bee Hoon and Tiong Bahru Teochew Kuehs. I’ll insert some pictures below!

Credits: Danielfooddiary

 

Wall of Fame for Cats –

YES! You heard it right, its Cats we’re talking about. Hmm, what about stray cats right? They are everywhere, isn’t it? Well, let me introduce you to the hidden gems of Tiong Bahru – It’s their cats.

The name star of today’s research is Bob the stray. He even has his very own Facebook page! (Click to find out more okay! I promise he is super chubby and cute) The page is still very much active now, and the latest update was made on March 25, 2018! You can see how much love he is showered with.

And this is the backstory of Bob: Click Here

Besides Bob the star, there are a couple of extraordinary places where we find traces of cats. One example is Books Actually. This is a local bookshop WITH FELINES.

http://evonnz.com/exploring-tiong-bahru-cupcakes-at-plain-vanilla-strangelets-books-actually/

https://www.booksactuallyshop.com/blogs/chowing-fat/interviewing-the-cats-of-booksactually

How often do you come across bookstores with cats? Here’s the funny thing. Sometimes when the shopkeepers are out, they leave their cats to tend the store. How amusing. I bet they keep out little mousey thieves!

Read their interview Here!

Another super funky fact: They even did casting calls for the cutest cats in Singapore, and one of our fellow Tiong Bahru residence made it! Here’s a video I found:

A Purrrfect Singapore Audition

It's not just people that paint the colours of Singapore, but also our many neighbourhood felines. Which kitty will emerge as the most legendary of them all? #YourSingapore #Cat

Posted by VisitSingapore on Wednesday, 13 January 2016

These will be my area of focus for the content of Zine, bringing very relatable and closer to hearts topics to you as a producer of my first location magazine spread! Thank you for reading!

Next up: Research on Layout Style 😉

Ciaos.

 

Citations:

http://joyloh.com/blog/?p=5916

Bird Singing Corners in Singapore

http://landscapeinthebox.blogspot.sg/2013/04/tiong-bahru-fading-history-forgotten.html?view=magazine

Tiong Bahru Bird Singing Corner

https://www.facebook.com/thestoryofbob/

http://tiongbahruestate.blogspot.sg/2011/03/bob-street-cat-that-glued-community.html

https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2016/01/14/stb-auditioning-for-the-trendiest-cat-in-tiong-bahru/

DIWO – Research Critique Summary

3 Replies

 

“Expanded from the original term known as D.I.Y. (Do It Yourself). D.I.W.O ‘Do It With Others’. Is more representative of contemporary, collaborative – art practice which explores through the creative process of using networks, in a collective manner.” – Garrett

Do-It-With-Others, also known as DIWO in short, is a terminology created in 2006 by Furtherfield. The history of Furtherfield was inspired by punk movement in the late 70s and early 80s. The main objective is to represent and reflect its involvement in a series of grassroots explorations. The application of DIWO allows a sense of openness which facilitates a good mix of sources to achieve a hybrid experience. This action renegotiates the boundaries and roles of both the artist and the curator. This would allow collaboration to take place, either for individuals or businesses. One example we can draw is from the idea of crowdsourcing – an action that aggregates people with similar interests.

Likewise, DIWO is achieved through an online platform/portal where users showcase the project that they are working on concurrently. Ranging from research to software development or a new innovation. In this case, many people would come together and work on the said project to facilitate crowdsourcing.

(According to Marc Garrett) Essentially, its DIWO if…

Back to the practice of DIWO, some of the real-time activities that we, students of Prof. Randall, experienced include Telestroll, Social Broadcast, Exquisite Glitch and the concept of Hole and Space. The whole idea of these exercises is to stimulate peer to peer engagement, as well as to kindle communication and allow for more connections to take place.

Motivated by curiosity and activism, people can collaborate and create controversies in both the physical world and the third space.  Furthermore, the Social Broadcast done via Adobe Connect brings about the idea of a collaborative framework. In this scenario, we would come together and attempt to perform a task via the online webcam. Given that a third space was formed, everyone was able to connect virtually from the comfort of their home, or any part of the world.

In retrospect, people who were initially bounded by time and space limitations (e.g. time zone differences, distance) can now interact and meet others through this space. This form of engagement brings about the communal interaction between people from all over the world.

“The process is as important as the outcome, forming relationally aware peer enactments. It is a living art, exploiting contemporary forms of digital and physical networks as a mode of open praxis, as in the Greek word for doing, and as in, doing it with others.” – Garrett

In the live conference with Marc, the issue of the internet and social media was brought to light. He discussed the importance to make the line between marketing and social utopia fades, the strategies big companies did to eliminate local characteristics, so as to bring their platform to even the remote places o the earth. Project Networking the Unseen served as an important opportunity to put a spotlight on resolving the issue of cultural differences, and that we can use technology to communicate no matter our locations.

My Name Is – Final Four

1 Reply

Hi everyone!

Welcome to my final post of this assignment. It will consist a set of 4 design, that carries an overarching theme. The name of the following series is called:

Circle of Life featuring, The Organic Symmetry

As mentioned in my previous post, some keywords I have in mind while designing my layout consist of:

LINES  |  CIRCLE  |  SYMMETRY  |  FOREGROUND, MIDDLE & BACK  |  NATURE  | PAINTERLY

I wanted my design to look like a set of 4, curated with the intention of delivering a consistent message. An idea that they are produced in the hands of the same designer. Ensuring consistency means careful attention throughout the conceptualization and design phase of your site. I have grouped all these occupations under the theme of “Nature“.

–

Design 01 of 04 

The Scuba Diver

The nature of this occupation is usually done out of leisure, especially over the holiday. Some of the key sightings any diver will notice are Fishes and Corals. Aside from these elements, every diver is equipped with an oxygen tank and a flipper good for paddling underwater. These are what stood out for me, particularly for this job.

When I was a lot younger, I have always dreamt of what lived beneath the ocean. Was there a whole new world out there for me to venture? Would it be more exciting to live under the surface of water instead of the land? All these were questions that bugged me the most, and I would imagine having mermaids as friends, and swimming with them in cute bikinis hahaha. That would be perfect, isn’t it? A world as surreal as this.

Hence, I thought, why not do the occupation of a diver? And that was how the other 3 nature related jobs came into my mind.

In this very first concept, I designed with a clear intention of having a foreground, middle ground and background. I thought this would provide more depth and perspective to the layout, hence I layered images by images so that it would avoid turning out flat-looking. Also, the colour blue seems like the perfect visual representation of ocean, yes. But I challenged myself to be less literal and went with the colour pink that hints no oceanic vibe. Okay apart from that, bubbles were added, so that the typography pops, making it looks more 3-dimensional.

Additionally, I adore the painterly style, as a result, I decided to incorporate this element into my final layout. I processed and re-done some of these images in Photoshop, to achieve the harmony among all the elements. With that, all components of this piece will tie in together.

 

Design 02 of 04

Bird Whisperer

Dimension. As mentioned in the rationale above, I was seeking for depth from the viewpoint of my audience. To ensure consistency, I maintained the painterly technique and employed this edit on my second layout – The Bird Whisperer.

Staying in the Nature theme, the bird whisperer is someone who is in love with birds, and have the sheer ability to tame any forms of difficult birds that existed. Well, in my case, I am always the victim of bird’s shit. They like pooping on me. Not sure if I am a poop whisperer or what, but I guess bird sounds a lot nicer huh? I created a complimentary watercolour technique background that contained within the circle. I feel like it helps to carry the typography, and makes it stands out more.

The colour scheme I had in mind for this is an analogous combination. I wanted the layout to give off a serene and light atmosphere, bringing my viewer one step closer to nature. Apart from that, the chosen blue is of a soft hue, which falls under the pastel family.

 

Design 03 of 04

Fruit Harvester

My uncle owns a fruit/vegetable farm located in Lim Chu Kang area. Since young, I would often hitch a ride over and learn some planting from him. This is mainly one of the primary reason why I chose Fruit Harvester. I tweaked it a little since I will also be doing a florist, and to avoid overlapping of elements, I narrowed it down to fruits category instead.

The typography is supposed to give off the feeling of an eruption from a fruit. I stuck with the analogous colour scheme for this as well, so as to portray colour harmony and maintain visual consistency. The wooden tree bark texture behind the main typography acts as a filler to hold up the weight of the text, hence strengthening it’s visual weight, ensuring that it still stands out amongst all the colourful fruits.

It was a challenge for me as well, because it seems like the fruits are way too vibrant and that it might overshadow my main typography. I struggled with finding the right colour combination for the font and the background. Decisions… Decisions… Eventually, I chose to go with pale yellow, coral orange and some neutral browns to help even out everything.

 

Design 04 of 04

The Florist

Leaf, Flowers, Spray, and Scissors are what I associate with a Florist. The overall colour falls with green being the primary and most striking shade, and a few accent colours here and there to give the visual a lift.

For the leafy typography, I masked out the leaf layer by layer. To give it more depth, as though the leaf is really growing out from the font itself, I gave the letters an additional shading so it looked less flat. Flower textures are also added to give it a more artsy look (its opacity level is 20%) (can you see it?)

Maintaining the overall pastel and painterly technique, I altered and added Photoshop filters to these vector images so they look consistent when placed together. Lastly, one of the unchanging element that you may have noticed by now will be the directional geometric line art that occurs in every background. I like how it gives off energy and it’s subtleness. Even though the line is super fine, it helped in filling up the empty space, giving these layouts an illusion of a fuller look.

 

–

Overall, this concludes the first project of the semester! Yay! Thanks for reading!

Ciaos

My Name Is – Research

1 Reply

My name is Felicia, and I’m a…

You’ll find out soon!

This project aims at creating typographic portraits using the letters in our name. Typography, according to online definition goes about the technique of

“Arranging type to make written language legible, readable, and appealing when displayed.”

There are some designs I found to be really inspiring, and here are some of my findings:

Loving the designer’s chic and minimalist attempt on this set of work. I am also adoring its clean colour palette. I was so inspired to create a piece of work that speaks volume despite the lack of crazy, flamboyant illustrations. We’ll see how it goes! But as of now, I’m loving this work so much.

The next design inspiration I want to share has a somewhat similar concept.

By the Makers & Co, I love how the concept stands out so much, and the colour works so well together! The designer threw in neutrals with a few pop of bright, attention-grabbing colours to captivate the consumers’ eyes. As opposed to the previous use of the monochromatic colour scheme, this palette has much more to offer in terms of the diversity of colours and layering behind each and every element. This is very close to how I imaged by design to look and feel.

Typography Manipulation:

A style I have been wanting to try out for the longest time!!

Can’t wait to see how it will turn out eventually. More to come!

Project EGO: Outcome

1 Reply

Hi! Welcome to my final project of the sem – EGO.

For the upcoming panels, the chosen medium is Illustrative Digital-Collage, and the theme is Pop Art, with the improvisation of Painterly Technique that I employed in my design. In my opinion, I prefer processed images in comparison to realistic images as they lacked a touch of customisation. 

Inspired by the famous Andy Warhol pop art culture, I decided to reference his work and work out a concept that bears similar feel as to his art style.

 

To kickstart everything, let’s bring on the 4 equations!

PANEL 1: Analogous

This group of colors is soothing to the eyes and pleasing to look at! They sit side by side on the color wheel.

Rationale: In this scenario, it illustrates my love for chilli and how I absolutely cannot do without it in my daily meals. I am not even exaggerating. I would put a few spoonful of chilli padi into my soup, all the time okay. Since there is this pop art concept going on, all of the selected images will have to look like it comes straight out from an illustration/comic book so it ties in together seamlessly. Color plays a huge part in this as well. Instead of the typical loud colors that illustrators generally employ, I decided to go for muted tones – the dusty effect.

PANEL 2: Tetrad — a combination of four colors

A scheme that includes one primary and two complementary colors

Rationale: Fast Food restaurants are usually my go-to place when I am unsure of what to have for dinner. Mainly because its quick, convenient and it opens for 24 hours (Macs). This sequence represents my enthusiasm and love for burgers, especially when I am on an empty stomach. Similarly, the colors are all muted and the layers are texturized.

PANEL 3: Complimentary Colors

Opposite colors on the color wheel.

Rationale: Being the only child at home, I often find myself shut away in my room. At times, when I feel like I needed a listening ear, or at the very least, any form of comfort, I seek nature. Nature is my remedy, it takes away my trouble as I immerse the environment – so carefree and light. Most important, time slows down. Any form of urgency, deadlines seem to melt away as I fully surrender to comfort and control to my thoughts. How I wish nature was easily accessible, like having it right in front of my doorstep. In the current era, forested areas are limited and no longer as easily accessible as it used to.

PANEL 4: Complimentary Colors

Using blue and muted orange (dull brown) to create a tranquil impression

Rationale: I am almost always on my phone, whether if its social media or what’s app. I feel like I grew so overly reliant on my phone that I constantly find the need to keep up with what’s happening online. Hence, whenever my (problematic) phone gets buggy or malfunctions, a part of me dies. Like… What am I going to do now??? How can I avoid people whom I do not wish to strike a conversation with?? (I always pretend to be busy on my phone HAHA) This explains why I created this sequence.

3 Characteristic you’d notice:

  • Muted colours
  • Canvas texture overlay
  • Constant stroke outline on each of the images

 

Building a Systematic and Consistent Pattern:

All the First panel: Very minimal elements, reduced down to a single vectored image and a color fill background. The main idea is to be straightforward as possible. The first panel will be the simplest among the 3 panels. (so as to balance everything out visually)

All the Second panel: This panel depicts scenarios/locations. It should look the most complex among the 3 panels. On top of that, a filtered illustration of myself will also appear recurringly across the equation.

All the Third panel: To balance out the visual weight for each of the equation, my last panel features yet another minimal approach so that there is ample amount of space to support the design. In this last concluding panel to the equation, I decided to inject some humour into this space. By adding an illustration of myself, it provides a more personal touch. (I feel. hehe) In the initial phase, my panels weren’t consistent. After my second consultation with Mimi, she encouraged that it is better if my panels have a uniform style across all given equations. I thought it made sense. (this is how I eventually settled with the design)

DECISION-MAKING:

Some consideration in terms of suitability of the frame. In order for a smoother flow, I checked to ensure that my design scheme is consistent throughout all the equations. As for the panels below, I actually prefer the top set better. However, in terms of keeping the theme in check, the second set works a lot better. So that it shall be!

Bettering my concept to suit the theme: initially, the consistency of my panels was not quite right. the first design also appeared to be a little cliche. One of my classmates suggested illustrating a burger as though I am wearing it. Thought that was super cool and went ahead with the execution.

How the photographs are processed: From realistic to painterly (gif)

My (very unorganized) working file:

Presentation Day! (The actual color of the artwork will be recorded on this OSS post! )

Oh and I swear Andy is my hamburger soulmate 🙂

 

 If you have come this far, I’d like to thank you for reading!!!

Will catch you soon! Ciaos.

Project EGO: Layout Development

Leave a reply

Hello Errrabadi. It’s week 13!!

This post will feature a series of failed attempts, of wasted nights and aching neck. The very first concept I had in mind revolves around the use of geometric illustrations and bold colours against my design.

Turned out pretty bad because I found myself stuck in the development of my panels. It kinda looked like this >

The colour scheme I had in mind was: Blue Yellow Red (Primary colours).

The second attempt I had was a Vintage/Retro Pinup themed (with surrealistic aspect). I wanted an illustrative style across all of my panels and because of that, it got really hard for me to source for suitable images that fits my theme. I spent hours searching for just the right image that compliments the style of my concept, but halfway through, I found myself losing the momentum. So I decided to put this on the KIV-list!

Monochromatic

Triadic

(…Still contemplating…)

These are my panels so far. As you can tell, I am not satisfied with what I have so far. Hence I went on to do more research and I came across a reallllyyy interesting idea but the execution was seemingly difficult. I shall document it down anyway. The theme for this fully revolves around the use of Pantone Strips to create elements.

Like so: (that’s a hamburger btw)

The colour schemes are analogous & monochromatic.

Since the Ego project focuses on colours, I thought this would be an interesting take. However, as I progressed on, the elements that are possible for creation appears to be really limited. For example, the Pantone strips are very geometric in shape. This means that the element that I want to re-create should be in angular shape as well otherwise the design wouldn’t quite compliment. As much as I adore this concept, I had to be aware of the existing limitations and the amount of time I have on hands. Furthermore, it feels like I have to restrict my creativity just to work this concept 🙁 So this is a no go either.

With that in mind, I decided to restart my canvas and plan for a more feasible concept.

This leads me to my final set of designs! The Illustrative Photo-Collage.

 

Will talk more about it in my next post – The Final Outcome. Stay tuned!!!

Ciaossss