My Work

There are 6 posts filed in My Work (this is page 1 of 1).

FINAL YEAR PROJECT

FYP Topics of Exploration:

  • Waste Management
  • Culture in the Modern World

Author’s Reflection: The topic of Waste Management is inspired by the author’s last trip to Pulau Semakau, pre-Covid days and upon research, there are a lot of people who are unaware of how limited lifespan our only landfill has left. In 2035, Singapore’s only landfill will be fully filled to the brim, unless we practice the 3Rs – Reduce, Reuse & Recycle. Before Covid-19, the author had the opportunity to begin my #trashtag journey where she would travel to Singapore’s beach, East Coast Park, to pick up trash. The purpose? It was as simple as wanting to give back and partake in the challenge of clearing trash. Along the way, it made her realise the huge impact the community has towards how fast the landfill would be filled. The purpose of embarking on this journey was to highlight and emphasise on the impact we leave towards our own community, no matter how small we are in this universe.

The topic of culture has always been a part and parcel of the author’s life. She is a Malay-Filipino, and she has always held close to her own culture to stay rooted with her self-identity. In this fast-paced modernised world, there are certain aspects of culture and tradition that has been lost fighting against the battle of time. The author would like to explore culture in this modernised world and hopefully shine light onto the traditions and its purpose.

The final topic that has been chosen is MALAY CULTURE.

Malay Culture consists of a variety of areas to touch from arts, music, wedding, language, food, motifs & colours, attire, superstitions and plenty of others. Over time, there has been plenty of researches done in DR-NTU, of Malays seeking identity of their Malay Culture through language and linguistics. The idea of Malay individuals losing their identity over time because of their inability to be fluent in their Mother Tongue language.

“Tak akan Melayu hilang di dunia.” – Hang Tuah

This quote is widely known in the Malay community through the legend of Hang Tuah in 1908. The quote loosely translates to the fact that Malay(s) will never disappear in this world. 

Food for thought: Will Malays live with their culture, customs, traditions, heritage, history and names in pride in the next 40 years? 

Author’s Perspective: Malay individuals will definitely not cease to exist therefore the quote may be somewhat right. However, what may disappear would perhaps be the sincerity and pride of being a Malay. Surely, there are plenty of factors as to why individuals are slowly losing sight of their own culture, and one of the major factor is globalisation.

Globalisation is an inevitable process that has struck the world and has given birth to the conciliation and hybridity of the modern world with the traditional aspects. The question is whether it is a negative change, or a positive change? Is there a balance to this? How far can we go along with globalisation and what do we change or retain? Even in Malay Music & Arts like Malay Dance, there has been drastic changes over the past 20 years.

Malay weddings are the embodiment of the Malay Culture – it embraces modernisation whilst retaining culture, all seen in a-day-or-two event. 

 

Changes seen in a Malay wedding over the years

[ will edit & replace with visual chart for presentation]

Points to note in future research:

  • Final research framework: about/into/through design?
  • Explore either directions according to frameworks:
    • Modernised artefacts
    • Malay culture through wedding
    • Malay-Muslim aspect
  • How to be inclusive of the other races in Singapore?

Keywords: 

  1. Modernisation
  2. Embodiment
  3. Integration
  4. Symbols
  5. Representation
  6. Metaphor
  7. Amalgamation
  8. Disintegration
  9. Preservation
  10. Adaptation

Final Direction: The role of bringing up the topic of the Malay Culture as a designer is to highlight an appreciation for Malay aesthetics in Malay weddings, alongside its cultural richness, significance and relevance. Hopefully through the project, the artist will be able to bring forth a new perspective that uniquely presents itself to our Malay community itself and others in Singapore. 

Research Framework: Research through Design – through studies of the Malay weddings and its product, tradition and cultural context, the author aims investigate and understand the dying tradition of certain elements in a Malay wedding and bring it back in this modernised world. 

A preliminary survey was sent out to the Malay community of ages 16 and above, to understand the general consensus of what they may be feeling towards Malay Weddings & Culture.

 

The majority of participants 62.4% are aged between 21-25, whilst the second biggest group are 41 years old and above.

The majority of participants are not married, while the second highest participants are married. Having married participants for this preliminary survey is beneficial to the findings of this project.

1: No idea at all

5: Know everything about it

34 out of 85 individuals (40%) are aware of Malay weddings, with 11 (12.9%) who are extremely knowledgeable of it. Whilst 35 out of 85 individuals are somewhat knowledgeable of Malay weddings.

1: Unimportant 

5: Very Important

35 out of 85 individuals (41.2%) believe that it is indeed important to infuse traditions at their wedding.

The question asked is in relation to how traditions and cultures are affected by the people who are planning the wedding itself. 

1: Strongly Disagree

5: Strongly Agree

72 out of 85 individuals agree that these services mentioned above affect wedding traditions and customs practiced.

1: Strongly Disagree

5: Strongly Agree

72 out of 85 individuals also agree that relatives influence the wedding customs / traditions.

1: Tradition

5: Modern

47 out of 85 individuals (55.3%) would love to hold a wedding that is a mix between traditional and modern.

The next segment in this survey aims to discover the individual’s preference in their ideal wedding. Images shown are of traditional representations versus modern objects that are practiced now.

      

Conclusion: Via this preliminary survey, it has been inferred that majority of the participants believe that traditional aspects ought to be infused with the modern customs in this day and age, aligning  with the idea of moving forward with the time, instead of against it.

Amongst this 85 participants of whom made up majority of millennials and elders above 45 in the second most participants, it is not a biased standpoint from a group of generation thus proven the general consensus in achieving a traditionally modern wedding.

Through this research, the attention would be directed towards the losing tradition in Malay Culture, one of which is the element of pulut kuning, bunga mangga as well as hantaran, whereby the modern overpowers the traditional by a huge difference.

Moving forward, researches will be conducted to further understand why the results are as such and the reason majority of the people lean vastly towards the modern areas, especially in the aesthetics of food-related items, with the exception of the outfit.

Hence, the next step would be to continue researching on available product packaging in the market that has taken a forward leap in terms of contemporary designs while being inspired by traditional motifs, and possibly redesign branding and packaging for the various items mentioned above. 

Visual Analysis / References:  

lebaran1.jpg

Nero Atelier’s modern design for Hari Raya’s packaging – a yearly celebration for the Malay-Muslim community in Singapore. The packaging is inspired by the formation of ketupat’s (a dish made from rice, wrapped in coconut leaves) texture and patterns. 

A Christmas packaging for L’Artisan Parfumeur that was inspired by The Winter Circus.

Singapore Airlines Mooncake packaging.

 

Editorial photograph

Sugar Pavillion x Andaz Xiamen product packaging

 

Works Cited:

https://www.behance.net/gallery/84018641/Mooncake-gift-box-2019 

https://www.superadrianme.com/food-and-beverage/singapore-airlines-mooncakes/ 

https://www.behance.net/gallery/119404361/Eid-Mubarak-Festival 

https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19830502-1.2.139.8.1

http://csmt.uchicago.edu/glossary2004/metaphormetonym.htm

https://www.tatlerasia.com/the-scene/weddings/nazrul-nazaruddin-nas-great-idea-malay-wedding-tradition

https://www.mariefranceasia.com/wedding-special/guests-and-bridesmaids/malay-weddings-key-traditions-meanings-112794.html

Tunku Aminah’s Wedding, A Timely Reminder To Preserve Malay Traditions

https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_73_2005-01-25.html 

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341919418_The_Evolution_of_Malay_Bride’s_Traditional_Wedding_Attire_in_Peninsular_Malaysia

 

 

Final – Project 3

Title of Theme: Quantum Universe (Expanding Universe, General Relativity)

Short Description: According to the quantum theory “expanding universe, general relativity”, it states that the universe is constantly expanding. And as it expands, the distance between each planets/galaxies expand too. The common misconception that people have is that the universe expands so far out that it explodes. However, the fact is that whilst the universe expands, the space expands as well. Applying this into figure-of-speech, a common analogy would involve a balloon with specks of dots surrounding it. As the balloon inflates, the distance between the specks of dots increases as well. This is a wrong analogy as the galaxies do not expand like the dots do when a balloon expands. The distance between galaxies grow. 

Hence, I came up with this idea of representing the universe as a whole pancake where galaxies are symbolised by humans and the different in sizes of space are visualised through different-sized pans. With the use of figure-of-speech like analogies and allegories, I represented the Quantum Theory “Expanding Universe, General Relativity” through juxtapositions and a quirky simplistic style. 

Digital:

Cover (Front)

Inside (Back)

 

Invite: 

 

Chosen Paper: Ice Germund Silk 250 gsm (for cover) & Ice Board Silk 125 gsm for Pancakes (inside)

Type used: Futura

Final Photo with Poster: 

Click for Project 1 Research , Project 1 Final & Project 2

Project 02 – Research, Process, Final

From the previous Project One’s idea of pancakes layering over each other, I decided to bring it over to Project 2 to explore more for my poster and utilise the same concept of Quantum’s Expanding Universe, General Relativity. I have already decided over the top of my head that I wanted to keep the simplicity and style of the previous mark created. The quantum theory was still kept the same with the idea of analogy, and figure-of-speech used as a representation for my project instead of going the abstract way. The analogy was that the pancakes would represent the universe and the elements on the pancakes would represent the galaxies. When the pancakes expand, the galaxies ie. blueberries do not expand but the distance between each blueberries do. Another element I knew I wanted to add back in this poster was the pan. The pan would represent the space. A general misconception that people have with this quantum theory is that the universe expands in a pre-existing space, which would mean that one day we will explode. However, that is not the case. The space is also expanding outwards together with the galaxies and universe. With this quantum in mind, I went back to the previous mind-map where I have already decided on some nouns and verbs to incorporate into my poster.

Previous Mind-map:

I derived some key terms from my previous mind map and further explored nouns and verbs that could be useful through the Ellen Lupton’s method. With this technique, I quickly realised that I wanted the elements represented on the pancakes to be doing the verbs through the poster. For instance, if my noun was a person, and verb was sticky, I wanted these terms to work through the direction of where my audience can read the poster. I wanted the noun chosen to do the verb and guide the eyes of the audience through wherever it should be. 

  

I really wanted to explore with verbs that could be used by the elements in the poster so ie. bouncing, there is an element bouncing it in. I made use with a bunch of verbs that were rather essential in my poster ie. dripping, jumping, climbing. Each actions used should be purposeful, instead of just being there for the sake of being there. With that said, I explored further into my moodboard.

Moodboard:

I quickly looked at variations of pancakes to get inspirations on how I wanted the pancakes to look like ie. thick, stacked, dripping, broken, full, perfect, lopsided, coloured etc. Moving forward, I looked for other inspirations and references to get my ideation started and through Skillshare, I saw some elements that really intrigued me and I wanted to explore that in my work – use of gradient, simplicity and the stretched texts effect.

Most of the inspirations I got were illustration-based and very quirky and simplistic in style. As per my last inspiration, Francesco Ciccollela, I really wanted to use his style for my poster. Hence, most of the style and references made are quite similar. The final moodboard above was going to be some of my colour style for the posters. Below, there is a back-up style, for the print to be more abstract and not so representational. In case, my direction was not going well.

Ina approved of the quirky style and simplistic, representational style, so I went ahead with that. I relied heavily on the sketches beforehand to see which layout I should go for because I knew once I started digitising, that would most possibly be my final one. I showed a bunch of sketches to infuse the different techniques taught in the skillshare, mainly; a) activating diagonals, b) simplicity c) overlapping d) cutting image.

According to the sequence, the first one on the top left is of three pans stacking up against each other with maple syrup leaking down to the next pans. The second sketch had a huge jug pouring maple syrup and the humans onto a stacked pancake with people below it. The third sketch were three pancakes overlapped against each other to create a bigger negative space above it. As for the fourth sketch, I cut it down to two pancakes with a ladder for the human to climb up or down with ingredients to make pancakes floating around in the background.

Sketches:

The next sketch had a rather static and calmer feeling with the three pancakes being diagonal and parallel to each other. The 6th sketch would show a bouncing person on a souffle pancake and keep to the minimalistic style. The 7th sketch was more different than the rest as it is a top-down shot of three pancakes. And the final sketch consisted of three pancakes with two pancakes broken to create a sense of action throughout the pancakes.

I ended up choosing the first sketch to develop further.

For the first draft, I began by digitising them and choosing colours for the backdrop first because it’ll be easier for me to work when I have my colour palette down. As for the pans, I wanted to have it in pink so that the colour would not run too far off from the pancakes and I would have to use only a few colours to keep to its simplistic style.

Although I really liked the look of the simplistic solid backdrop, I decided to add gradients to incorporate some texture into the overall poster. It instantly created more dynamic and a sense of depth especially with the different sized pans from top to bottom. 

I then infused in the various elements into the poster to see if it would work or if it might get too cluttered.

 

From then, I chose a gradient background and darken it to bring out the pancakes more. Adding in the elements and exploring more with the various layout to see which variation or layout would work better in the overall poster.

Finally, I decided that overlapping the pancakes would work the best as it would create more negative space and allowed for the type to be incorporated without cluttering the poster. I added in all the elements fully and moved onto adding the type onto the poster.

From there, I went ahead and try out the different type that could be incorporated into the poster but nothing seemed to work as it would make the poster look too messy considering the elements are already rather spaced out. I also added in the style shared on Skillshare of the stretch being pulled to see if it would work, however it looked too stretched out and would steal the spotlight from the pancakes.

The text was tricky because I wanted to keep its simplicity but also infuse in the stretched-text effect somewhere. Ultimately, I chose the one with the text smacked right in the center and Ina suggested to remove the red and blue shadows to keep it simple so I did. 

Final Poster:

From the get-go, I already knew I wanted to keep it very simple like the references I have shown ie. Francesco Cicollela. With the initial pans quite spread apart but I overlapped them so that there is depth created within the 2D space. By tilting each pan and making it expand, as the eyes go lower, it subconsciously created a sense of balance as well as activate the diagonals. The eyes are led from the smallest pan to the biggest pan at the bottom. Together with the actions of the elements, the eyes will flow in its direction.

For instance, the man is slipping down the honey or maple syrup towards the next pan where the lady jumps down, people skateboards or slide down and are digging a hole to go to the next pancake, the bigger “universe”. And finally at the third pancake, we see people resting and jogging around, staying at their position. We also see a person climbing up possibly from another smaller universe to join the expansion. I felt that incorporating the sense of actions through the literal actions of the elements of the poster brought out the quirkiness of the poster even more. 

The overall colours that were use were mostly triadic; red, blue and yellow and the complementary outfit colours of red & blue for the people make them stand out against the backdrop. 

Digitisations of other sketches:

 

Final Poster:

Mockups:

Layout by Graphic Burger, Behance, Freepik – Antoniooli

research // project one

Kickstarting this project proved to be a true hurdle for me as I had no idea where to begin. Furthermore, I was not proficient in any scientific aspects. I decided to push myself to find the meaning of every quantum concepts that were provided to us. As it was rather difficult for me trying to understand terms in its most technical terms, I realised that I could better comprehend them when they were represented by images or photos.

After contemplating on the quantum concepts, I was attracted to “antimatter” as well as “expanding universe, general relativity”.

However, knowing that I would be inclined to doing the concept of good & evil if I were to choose antimatter, I decided that I would push myself out of my boundaries and go ahead with the concept of expanding universe and general relativity.

Going through my process of trying to comprehend the technical aspect of these scientific terms through images, I decided that my way of approaching the logo would be representational and analogical or metaphorical, by using figure of speech, allegories, analogies or similes.

 

The meaning that I acquired after researching into the quantum concept of expanding universe and general relativity is that when you imagine a balloon with dots on it, being blown out. The bigger it grows, the further the distance between each dots. However, this theory was shot down by plenty of researchers as it confuses people into thinking that the universe has a centre or has a core.

Thus, when I thought of balloon expanding, I spread out my thoughts to keywords such as spring, stretch, cheese, rubber, bubblegum, squeezing, syringe, dilate.

 

—

The style that I am approaching for this project would be either very heavy on the line arts like the first two artist references, or very heavy on being illustrative, which would be the next two artist references. The common thing that I chose for my artwork would be that the concept is represented in a quirky way, yet bring out a message or question, much like the artists’ artworks represented below. The overall response I want to get by everyone through my logo design signifying the quantum concept is a confused “What? Why?” followed by “Oh, I get it now.”

The problem now then is to minimalise any graphic or image references I choose so that it may fit into my logo.