Category Archives: Project 2_Research and Development

Project 2_Research and Development

MEMORIES OF SOUND: Where I Grew up

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Unlike my other kids who spent their childhood growing up in playgrounds, playing with their friends and of course the TV, I was a little different. I grew up in my maternal grandparent’s house as my mom was often busy at the farm that the family owned. Back then, we were going through some financial difficulties, and my parents could afford to hire a nanny. So my mom bought me to the farm every holiday, to look after me. So yes. I spent a good part of my childhood (from when I was 5 to 11) darting about in the office cubical, pretending that I was invisible. (The part where they house livestock were unknown to me due to hygiene and AVA rules)

However, due to the government re-urbanization of Chua Chu Kang area, the farm had to be shut down and moved to the Kranji countryside area in 2011. Today, the place remains desolated as it awaits a new project. So I decided to go back and base the project on my memories of growing up in the place.

Unfortunately, the area was on locked and under a 24-hour surveillance by a CCTV. So I could only view the perimeters of the farm. below are some of the pictures that I took:

This was the place where my mom grew up in. When my mom was about 19, the house was undergoing some renovation. Along with her siblings, they stayed in this house for about 10ish years. Apparently, when we were there my mom told me that this was the place where mum was married off to my father.

This is the office where my mum spent most of her youth working in. This was also my “playground” when I was primary 1. I would dart in and about the cubicles, disturbing my aunts and uncle as they worked.

This is the front gate where you can still slightly see the mars and impression left behind the signboard.

Today, only the office and the little house remains. I have absolutely no idea, why didn’t the government cleared the whole land. today it just lays abandon waiting for the next project.

While we were there, I bumped into the old neighbor, the boss of Kok Fah vegetables, the leading hydroponics crop grower in Singapore. There outside in the hot sun, they had a heated discussion on the future of agriculture in Singapore. To be honest, I believe that the agriculture is doomed in Singapore. Long story short, lack of government combined with the lack of successor has made agriculture a dying trade. Undeniably, agriculture is essential for Singapore, but it is unsustainable in our pragmatic society.

Project 2_Research and Development, Project 2_Text and Image_Final Artwork

Project 2: Creating an Advertorial for Arizona Green Tea

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MY INSPIRATIONS

The object that I have received from the draw was Arizona Green Tea. The first thing that caught my eye was how they incorporated the Japanese motif into the design of the bottle; the sakura blossom on the front of the bottle. Therefore the first images I associated the tea with was the Geisha and the Maiko ( Shrine Maidens ). Traditionally, Geishas would entertain their guest with the arts including the Tea Ceremony.

Maiko during the tea ceremony

This imagery connotes the authenticity of the Japanese green tea.

in addition, i thought that green tea has a very light and refreshing taste as it doesn’t have a strong taste. So I wanted to bring the idea of a  refreshing drink. Lipton fruit teas advertisement commonly use the imagery of a fruits, mints and summery activities to bring across the idea.

Incorporating the imagery of summer activities
Incorporating the imagery of a Lime

I also research on how Japanese advertise for green tea. Most of them focus on the vibrant green colour of the powder.

Japanese advertisement for green tea

In addition, some also incorporated the minimalistic Japanese illustration into the advertisement as shown below.

Tea time japanese traditional ceremony advertisement poster vector illustration

CONCEPTUALISATION

I was very certain that I wanted to use the imagery of a Geisha in my advertisement. While scrolling through my Instagram feed, I came across this artwork by Damon Belanger.

sidewalk shadow painted by Damon Belanger

I like how the shadow connotes the idea of the true origin or form of the green tea is from the Geisha’s tea ceremony. My original plan was to feature the Arizona green tea in the middle with a silhouette of a geisha preparing the tea as the background. However, this is too ambitious of me as I was unable to manipulate the perspective of the shadow to fit the bottle. Therefore, I scraped this idea away.

The Second Idea I had was to have a foreigner and a Geisha participating in a tea ceremony. But instead of serving the foreigner from the traditional equipment used to make the tea, I wanted to serve the foreigner tea directly from the Arizona green tea bottle. This further solidifies the authenticity of the green tea. As I had a hard time finding an image of a Geisha suitable for the advertorial, I decided to illustrate the characters so as to not compromise on my design.

However, I felt that there was too much visual information in this advertisement. The illustration is very cluttered and there is a lack of emphasis on the Arizona green tea bottle. Hence, I decided to remove the foreigner so as to bring a greater emphasis on the product.

So I decided to simplify the advertisement, only including the Geisha and the product. The geisha’s intricate and bright kimono catch our attention first. Her gaze and her outreach arm lead our eyes towards the green tea bottle. This imagery connotes the idea that the taste of the Arizona green tea is so authentic that it taste exactly like the ones prepared in the Japanese tea ceremony.

AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT

I should have paid more attention to my choice of colour as some of the detailing such as the shadow of the neck have gotten lost. In addition, I should have used a more Japanese stylised illustrative approach (as in the Japanese woodblock print style) in this work to further bring out the Japaneseness of this advert.