Common Module CTS B AY23.24

I like to create designs that are able to communicate, prioritising function over form. I have a deep passion for self-discovery and social inclusivity. Therefore through my designs, I aim to provoke thought and evoke emotions to help promote empathy in our society. One of my inspirations is Paul Rand. Thus my designs usually lean towards minimalism, leaving more space for thoughts and ideas. I hope that my designs will be able to impact our society positively. In my journey as a designer, I aspire to continually grow and push my boundaries in my practice through experimenting with different mediums and design styles, to become a versatile designer that can take on different briefs.

A design project I feel connects with my aspirations in impacting our society positively is a Poh Heng Jewellery photo campaign titled “A Journey of Trust”. This project is significant in the featuring of two gay couples in the campaign. Personally, I feel that Singapore has a largely conservative social environment due to the cultures and beliefs of the society. It is rare for a pioneer brand to include marginalised groups in a public campaign where the main theme surrounds relationships. The project also includes the names and relationship status of the people in the campaign, increasing the visibility of gay couples in Singapore.

While there are other projects and events such as Pink Dot, an annual event that aims to show support for inclusiveness, diversity and freedom to love in the country, I feel that “A Journey of Trust” shows how we can promote inclusivity in a method more easily seen but subtly, such as advertisements boards in public. The aspect of design in the project is also an approach that I like visually. The overall display of the photos were neat and simple with a small write up on the side about the subjects in the photos and their relationship. The minimal decorations help the viewers to focus on the people in the photos, and the subtle promotion of the jewellery. More importantly, there is meaning to the photos rather than just being an advertisement.

Another project that aims to promote inclusivity is “#WeThe15”. This campaign aims to address the struggles of disabled people to access their basic rights. The simplicity of the approach makes this identity much more impactful and focused on the aims of the campaign.

Something interesting about this project is the sonic branding which allows the hearing impaired to experience the identity of the campaign. Through prosody, the name "WeThe15" is created into a melody and adapted to be monophonic and heard across three octaves so that all users are able to hear the notes. This shows how the project embodies inclusivity even through its delivery.

Video of prosody, or word painting, to audibly display “We The Fifteen” (“#WeThe15 Sonic Identity — Story”)

Video of prosody, or word painting, adapted to be monophonic so only one ear is needed to hear the ident (“#WeThe15 Sonic Identity — Story”)

Using my skills, I hope to be able to contribute in advocating for causes that I support to create a positive impact in our society. I will continue to learn to make my designs more accessible to everyone. (494 Words)

References:

“Books Covers.” Paul Rand, https://www.paulrand.design/work/Book-Covers.html#images-2.

Monsarrat, Nicholas. “Leave Cancelled by Nicholas Monsarrat.” Goodreads, https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/24688185.

Watson, Nicola. “] | [site:name] Come on a journey of trust with Poh Heng as they celebrate their 70th anniversary;}}.” Her World Singapore, 10 July 2018, https://www.herworld.com/style/watches-jewellery/poh-heng-70th-anniversary-jewellery-diamond-gold-photo-exhibition/.

Deroose, Nicholas. “,.” , - YouTube, 8 July 2018, https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10160887275505571&set=pcb.10160887275810571.

Al-Dujaili, Dalia. “#WeThe15 sees Pentagram collaborate on a boldly minimalistic campaign for the world's largest marginalised community.” It's Nice That, 19 August 2021, https://www.itsnicethat.com/news/pentagram-wethe15-graphic-design-190821.

Our group's manifesto was a combination of what we all believed in, and how we would like to shape our practice. The phrases written larger were of more importance and emphasis, such as “communicate don’t complicate” and “design not decorate”. Smaller phrases are more personalised to each group member, including our aspirations such as “I want to create timeless designs” and “ I wanna be more expressive in my works. The visuals elements are also a reflection of some of the phrases in the manifesto.

Overall, I feel that the manifesto reflects each group members’ belief in our design practice and journey. As it was my first time working with the group members, we struggled to start the manifesto. Given more time to familiarise, I think that the manifesto could be improved and seem less fragmented through combining some ideas into one phrase, and writing everything in one direction to better reflect our beliefs visually.

I really enjoyed CTS B as there are deeper reflections from the topics that we learned about. The module also builds on what I have learned in CTS A and WOII. I like how the topics aim to explore what we are passionate about, how social and cultural engagement is important in design, and how we can incorporate them in our practice. It has also helped me to consider my intentions and objectives when approaching a brief and what impacts I can bring to the community. This has helped me to better evaluate my projects in other modules such as in Materiality where I have to think about the aims and objectives of the project.

Another aspect of CTS B that was significant for me is the reflective writing. Unlike the modules in year one, CTS B had no specific guiding questions tailored for each topic. This helped me to think more independently and learn to convey my thoughts and ideas better. This has helped massively in modules that require reflective writing such as studio and materiality, and overall conveying my ideas. The reflective writing required case studies to support my arguments which expanded my views on how communication design can be used. I found it refreshing that I was looking at examples not purely for the visuals, but also the intentions of the projects, and how they have affected the target audience or beneficiaries.

For example, Hippo Roller is a project that aims to make collecting water more accessible for rural communities in Africa, through saving time and effort. The look and materials used to create the containers are not very visually exciting nor fanciful, but there is a pragmatic reason behind the choices. The aim of the design is not for it to be aesthetically pleasing. Instead, functionality and durability are more important considerations to have.

Overall, CTS B has helped me to develop intellectually and learn how to articulate myself better in speech and writing. I also learned that design can be meaningful, and not just for “aesthetics”.

(495 words)

References:

“Hippo Roller.” hippo roller - simple ideas changing lives in the global water crisis, https://hipporoller.org/.

Critical self-reflectivity is very important as it helps us to better understand ourselves and also find ways to improve ourselves. It also helps us to be more emotionally intelligent as  we are able to “identify patterns in our behaviour, recognize triggers, and develop strategies to manage our emotions effectively.”(“Developing Emotional Intelligence through Reflective Thinking: The 'Think It, Don't Say It' Method”)

As designers, self-reflectivity is important to increase our emotional intelligence to create better designs for our audiences to more effectively communicate with them. Higher emotional intelligence also allows us to collaborate better with others and appeal to more audiences. (Libert and Tynski)

Dumb Ways to Die (DWTD) was created as a rail safety campaign for Metro Trains Melbourne. (“Dumb Ways to Die”) The unexpected funny approach of the campaign effectively conveyed the message of practising rail safety in a light hearted manner. The approach also allows for a larger range of audiences to understand about public safety.

While critical self-reflectivity can be beneficial to us, I feel that we should not be too overly critical of ourselves but be able to acknowledge our strengths. I find that the most difficult part of self reflection and being self aware is to look at ourselves positively.

In today’s class activity, I went to Sim Lim Square to find a design problem that I wanted to fix. This process was done in a group setting. With the context of self-reflectivity, I was aware of my actions and thoughts while doing the group activity and reflected on my participation in the group work. I felt that I have actively tried to participate through giving suggestions and contributing to the slides, as well as taking up a part in the presentation of our slides.

To encourage self-reflectivity, we have to write a reflection based on our performance across all modules for this formative feedback. I think that this is a very effective way to increase our self-awareness and motivate ourselves to do better as we are made to be conscious of what we think about ourselves as we reflect.

(275 Words)

References:

“Developing Emotional Intelligence through Reflective Thinking: The 'Think It, Don't Say It' Method.” Everyday Speech, https://everydayspeech.com/sel-implementation/developing-emotional-intelligence-through-reflective-thinking-the-think-it-dont-say-it-method/.

Libert, Kelsey, and Kristin Tynski. “Research: The Emotions that Make Marketing Campaigns Go Viral.” Harvard Business Review, 24 October 2013, https://hbr.org/2013/10/research-the-emotions-that-make-marketing-campaigns-go-viral.

In this week's topic, I learned how to better analyse works and connect history with context based on the content, medium, and form. Together, they help me to theorise what is the intent of the artist and the purpose of the artwork, and also the value and significance of a work.

When walking through the exhibitions, I find myself thinking about how the content is relevant to the artist’s painting style and how that gives the painting value and context. It also helps me to better understand other paintings from the same style or time.

An interesting factor that allows for deeper analysis that I learned this week is medium in regards to appropriation. Existing artworks that are reimagined in a different medium and how the change can help viewers to better understand the original. I also like the different approaches that can be used such as interactivity, which can better engage audiences and their thoughts.

As a design student, experience is an important consideration we have to make consciously. Apart from the artworks in the exhibitions, I was attracted to the order and layout that the works are placed in, and how the exhibition space is modified to enhance the immersiveness of an exhibition. The realisations allowed me to decide if the exhibition is good overall and how it can be improved.

I really enjoyed this week’s class as I could revisit the artworks that I studied in the past and learn to be critical about the exhibition as a whole and not just a specific artwork. I also thought more about how curators work and organise the exhibition, and how the decisions they make affect the experience of an exhibition.

(282 Words)

References:

“National Language Class, Chua Mia Tee, Singapore, 1959, oil on canvas.” Roots.sg, 26 September 2022, https://www.roots.gov.sg/stories-landing/stories/the-singapore-story-through-60-objects/art-historical/national-language-class/story.

“National Language Class — spell#7performance.” spell#7performance, http://www.spell7performance.org/nationallanguageclass.

Connecting Practice with Society is important to bring the community together in an increasingly divided society. Social practice allows us to create conversation about societal issues, increasing the consciousness that we have about these issues.

Another important thing that social practice brings us is the collaborative process that involves the community and the artist. This allows for our society to be more connected through creating art together and at the same time be more aware of the issues in our society.

There are many ways that I can be a social agent to bring attention and hopefully positive change to society. I can use my skills to create passion projects that highlight the different social issues just by creating with the intent of conveying a message of my choice. More importantly, I feel that our society should find ways to be more encouraging towards participating in these kinds of projects as it will increase the exposure of the project and also the society's willingness to acknowledge the social issues.

I feel that the work above is something that I can contribute to using my skills. This project is also a great example of connecting practice with society as it actively works with people, in this case female footballers.

"UnAwkward" (“UnAwkward Campaign | i'mable Initiative”), short video "aimed at raising awareness of social impediments for the differently abled in Singapore." (“SG Enable unveils campaign promoting inclusivity for the differently abled”)

Overall, I like that social practice challenges the role and function of art in society through the works created that will have a meaningful impact. This topic also made me think about how I can use my skills to bring attention to social issues to improve the quality of life of the society.

(261 Words)

References:

Drummond, Davina Marie Marsh, and Yara El-Sherbini. “✍️.” Kickstarter, 30 August 2022, https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1632828402/kick-off/description. Accessed 12 September 2023.“Ten Artists on What

Social Practice Means to Them.” Medium, 1 October 2019, https://medium.com/kickstarter/ten-artists-on-what-social-practice-means-to-them-9cae0a0f1364. Accessed 12 September 2023.

“SG Enable unveils campaign promoting inclusivity for the differently abled.” Marketing-Interactive, 21 June 2023, https://www.marketing-interactive.com/sg-enable-unveils-campaign-promoting-inclusivity-for-the-differently-abled.