Common Module - AY25.26 CTS A

Reflecting on WOII, this module initially gave the impression of a daunting new layer to the way I would view and create designs. While concepts like Cultural Materialism and Postmodernism seemed intimidating at first, I soon realized how relevant they were when applied to my own surroundings and past experiences. Understanding that works are material products shaped by their environment, as Raymond Williams suggested. It urges me to become more intentional with my own tools and resources.

The module has driven me to maximize the exploration phase of my design process. Whether I am deriving philosophy from the "emptiness" of Kenya Hara or experimenting with postmodern pastiche. Now i have a foundation to explore and soar in my own unique way. these theories are no longer just slides in a lecture that was given to us but they are tools for my personal creative growth throughout my studies in this school.

Postmodernism is often defined by what Jean-François Lyotard called an 'incredulity toward meta-narratives' (Lyotard xxiv). To me, this means rejecting the idea that there is only one 'right' way to create art that we all have to follow. Instead of trying to find one perfect style, postmodernism teaches more about embracing the fact that everything is fragmented and diverse.

I constantly see this in my own daily life and on social media. My feed is just a massive mix of random things all layered on top of each other. I used to think that this was just messiness but now I realize it's actually a great example of how everyone sees things differently. There's no single 'correct' meaning as it all depends on who is looking at it and what their own feed is like.

I applied this understanding in my Studio project where I took inspiration from the Japanese designer Kenya Hara. His philosophy of 'Emptiness' often tries to reach a universal aesthetic. However, as i worked on my poster and brochure designs, I realized that my take on 'emptiness' was entirely my own. I wasn't just following a universal rule but I was creating a pastiche by mixing his minimalist principles with my own personal style and the specific needs of my project.

I felt more free to experiment and understood the 'truth' of my design wasn't found in a textbook definition of minimalism but in the diverse ways people might interpret my use of space and colour.

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"Culture is ordinary: that is the first fact. Every human society has its own shape, its own purposes, its own meanings. Every human society expresses these, in situations, and in arts and learning" (Williams 4). I've come to an understanding that creative work does not exist in a vacuum but rather, it is a material product of the specific social and economic conditions of its time.

In my Photography module, I began to apply this understanding whem practicing digital manipulation. I realized that the tools i used are not just instruments to be used, but they are instead material resources that shape what I am producing. For instance, when adjusting colour grades or using layering techniques in post-production, I'm not just "fixing" a photo but I'm using specific softwares that was built for a modern and digital market.

In learning these skills, I've realized that I'm not just making something look 'cool' but I'm actually learning how to work with the specific tools and technology that define what photography is right now. By understanding the history of these digital tools, I can see how they have replaces older, physical darkroom processes, shifting the way society consumes and creates visual media.

Linking my practical work back to William's theory helped me realize my work is not just a personal expression but it is a response to the material world i live in and that even basic technical choices I make in the module are a way of shaping the culture around me.

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Design analysis challenges us to move beyond visual observation and consider how meaning is constructed through form, context and material. In Week 4 class, I realized that our curated object grouping was not just a collection of similar items but a network of conceptual relationships that strengthened one another.

During our field trip to New Bahru, I encountered a work of design that I felt connected strongly to our grouping theme of private and it was a lamp.

I found this lamp to be a meaningful addition to our previous grouping because it felt private not through physical barriers but through atmosphere. While our earlier objects may have shown privacy conceptually, this work demonstrated how lightning and medium can produce emotional separation. It reinforced my understanding that privacy in design can be subtle, constructed through scale, illumination and sensory experience rather than literal enclosure.

For Week 5, I chose the theme of 'Humour' and identified three works of design at New Bahru that demonstrated how playfulness can disrupt conventional expectations.

The first object was a provocative postcard featuring a celebratory text placed above a bold graphic composition. It's exaggerated visual metaphor transformed a potentially uncomfortable image into ironic commentary. The second object was a hyper-realistic ginger keychain that was vacuum-sealed and displayed in a miniature shopping basket. The meticulous craftsmanship contrasted humorously with the object, elevating an everyday ingredient into a novelty collectible. Lastly, a cat collar printed with the phrase "CUTE AF" used language to inject personality into a functional accessory.

"The linguistic sign unites not a thing and a name, but a concept and a sound-image...I call the combination of a concept and a sound-image a sign, but in current usage the term generally designates only a sound-image". (Saussure 120). From my research, I began to realize that meaning is not inherent in objects themselves but constructed through contrast and relational systems.

In one of my Craft Workshop sessions, Expanded Publication, I realised how Semiotics operates through clarity between signifier and signified. My initial poster used more of an illustrative direction by showing rain falling down with balloons rising upwards to suggest "falling". However, this relied on a metaphorical interpretation that felt ambiguous.

After receiving feedback, I became more aware of the importance of selecting signifiers that directly shows the intended signified. I realized that a successful design functions much like a language.

Through studying semiotics and Saussure's theory, I learned that meaning is constructed rather than inherent. This understanding will help me design more intentionally, treating every visual element as a purposeful signifier.

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Sassure, Ferdiand de. Course in General Linguistic. Translated by Wade Baskin McGraw-Hill, 1966.

"Time is not something 'out there' to be measured; it is the living flow in which consciousness continuously unfolds. Every present moment carries with it the retention of the past and the anticipation of the future, making each experience uniquely felt and inseparable from the self." - Edmund Husserl

Edmund Husserl's phenomenology emphasizes that time is lived rather than measured. He highlights how consciousness retains the past and anticipated the future, showing that each present moment is experienced subjectively, shaped by memory, attention and expectation rather than existing as an objective sequence.

In this week's class for WOII, we explored phenomenology by focusing on how we personally experience time. For the class activity, I used various images from my phone gallery that I've taken in the past as well as photos I had today to represent moments that show 'time' n my own interpretation. I looked beyond objective measures of time such as clocks or dates and instead thought about how memory, emotion and attention shapes my perception of each moment.

Husserl's idea of retention and anticipation helped me understand that the present moment is always intertwined with the past and the future, and that our consciousness actively folds these experiences together.

Learning to observe and reflect on everyday moments more consciously. This can help me in various creative projects, allowing me to capture not just visual events, but the lived experiences behind them. The class activity had actually reminded me that even ordinary moments hold temporal and emotional richness when observed phenomenologically.

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References:

"Collaboration fosters solid relationship and trust among participant, whether they are colleagues, partners or stakeholders. These relationships have the potential to lead to future opportunities for mutual support, partnership and continues collaboration." This quote by Adrianne Fekete on Forbes, teaches us that we must learn and grow with those who already have the skills we are trying to gain.

I'd like to collaborate with Creative Direction for Fashion. Using design to create stunning images for the fashion media! With the skills learnt in Design Communication, using creative Critical thinking Skills we can help to design and/or foster ideas for the fashion media. Which is why I'd also like to do a final year project on editorial design, Visual storytelling and Illustration.

Working with seniors through organization like the National Silver Academy or local community clubs, I hope to help them learn basic digital skills, such as using mobile apps or accessing online services. By guiding them through simple, user-friendly steps! I can support their confidence with technology and help bridge the digital divide in Singapore.

Overall, CTS A contributes to my career goal of becoming a UI/UX designer by strengthening my communication abilities and technical skills. These skills will help me work efficiently in a design team, create better user-centered design and continue developing professionally in the tech and design field. (311 Words)

References:

Adrianne Fekete, "Harnessing The Power of Collaborative Partnerships" (11th March 2024)

Critical Thinking Skills can be found in all the modules that we go through! No matter what we do, receiving critique and feedback is a crucial part of learning to improve and understand the modules better. Like how 2 different ingredients cna be combined into creating a completely new dish.

For example, during Formative Feedback, we were given back both negative and positive feedback alongside our grades from our Tutors. In Craft Workshop, we should be learning to try out new art styles or different mediums and not limiting ourselves to our certain comfort zones even if we aren't good at them. This can similarly be a common practice for both Digital Skills and Photography module, where the pictures we take or the designs we make doesn't have to be perfect.

In Studio, having a fixed and narrow mindset will only give you limited options when it comes to doing different tasks such as CPJ as it requires us to actually do some research with Critical Thinking.

"I heartily recommend routine failing. It means you are actually active, doing something, moving forward." - Dr Sam Collins. This quote on "Why Failure Is Essential To Success" relates back to how we have to fail in order to learn to improve ourselves and udnerstand what we did wrong in the tasks that we do!

How you view your works as will never be the same as how others view it, which is why nothing is considered perfect. By accepting feedback more positively and using them as a way to improve can ensure that we remind ourselves that failure doesnt mean it's the end of the world!

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References:

Forbes, "Why Failure Is Essential To Success", William Arruda (14th May 2015)

"Like cats, we have a variety of social rituals and behaviours that we use when we meet someone new" This article from Corps Magazine highlights the behaviours of how us humans are similar to cats! Thus, this raises the question; In what ways does teamwork in humans works similar to teamwork in cats?

During the Studio module, Data Space Project, as a course we all broguht over more than 10 personal random items each! We first did this project with our own classes and after lunch we worked together with the entire course, which was a success! This shows that though we don't really know each other, in order to have a successful procject everyone willingly collaborated together and it relates back to how we humans are similar to teamwork skills in cats.

My favourite sessions for CTS A would be the last 3 weeks of group activity! It's because I got to work together with my friends and brainstorm with them! The last 3 weeks required us to put on our thinking caps on and write down our experience(s) and also our thought on various things through creativity! Thinking about how we should explain and draw out our thoughts as a team together was a memorable experience for me.

The value of working in a group is to have a shared understanding of a problem and planning how to solve it as a team. Whenever I work with a group, I love to see how everyone has a different way of thinking! Motivating one another to keep pushing for new ideas. However, having the chance to group up with other people in the class is something I would wish more of even though we usually just choose our regular clique of friends to group up with for CTS A

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References:

"What a Hissing Cat Teaches Us About Teamwork", Corp Magazine (21st September 2016)

"If you tuned out of your emotions, you will be poor at reading them in other people." This quote by Daniel Goleman connects to today's activities, especially the relationship between "Empathy" and "Self-Awareness".

I've always felt that "Empathy" is my strongest aspect as I naturally pay attention to how those around me feel and try my best to create an environment comfortable enough for them. However, it also made me realise that "Self-Awareness" is something that i should try to improve on. During today's CTS A activity, Teng Hong asked us a question: "Is respect earned or given?". Without any hesitation, I immediately answered that respect is always earned.

When i looked back at the moment that i answered the question, it highlighted something important about my emotional intelligence. I've realised that I often respond quickly based on what i think is right at the moment. This links back to my weakness in "Self-Awareness". Some of my classmates had shared more insightful views, and upon hearing their explanations it showed me how being aware of your own emotions and values can lead to more thoughtful responses.

During Photography class on Friday, a few of my classmates were struggling with how to shoot certain images. Without any hesitation, I offered help and advice, focusing on supporting them without any judgement because we all have to start from not knowing anything right? Experiences such as this has shown me that empathy is not just about understanding other's feelings, but also actively helping in a way that fosters respect and inclusivity. This has shown me both my strength in offering help and my weakness in hesitation, reminding myself to keep practicing empathy.

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References:

Daniel Goleman, Emotional Intelligence (1995)

"Collaboration is all about individuals acting together to achieve a common purpose. But too often, it feels less like a group activity and more like a game of tennis." This sentence from an article on "obstacles to collaboration" represents how it is to collaborate with others.

I often naturally trust my teammates and i think that is one of my strengths as a collaborator. I'll always believe that everyone brings something unique to the group when working together. So even though ibecome the leader of the group, I never feel the need to control or direct everything which makes it easier to split tasks and work comfortable with one another. However, a weakness i noticed about myself is that i tend to hold back from voicing out my ideas especially when I'm in a new environment or surrounded by classmates I'm not really close to. This causes me to stay quiet even when I do have ideas to contribute to the group.

For example, during today's activity where we had to build a mini-monument, I was grouped with classmates who I haven't spoken to yet so when we sat together, we didn't really discuss much. I felt reluctant to share my ideas but as time went on, we did naturally star a conversation with one another and eventually started giving each other our ideas which led to our final design for our group's monument!

If i was given more time and paired with an unlimited budget to redesign and rebuild the monument, I;d start with redesigning the way the hearts are displayed. I would also change the way the messages are show by making only 1 heart that is a giant screen. With this screen, the public would be able to interact with monument by adding their won messages to it!

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Reference:

Tom May, 'Five Obstacles to collaborate on design projects, and how to overcome them' (26th November 2021)

Collaborative Skills (Youtube with captions) - Melissa Quek (12th August 2021)

“It was curating what we didn’t do, saying no and refusing certain things. Being busy doesn’t make us successful. Making money isn’t the definition of success.” - Simon Dixon. To me, this quote represents Critical Thinking. The courage to pause, reflect, and choose meaning over busyness or profit.

During the first CTS A lecture, we were shown a series of videos on what Critical Thinking is and from those videos I’ve learnt that Critical Thinking is identifying the key points, analyzing the sources of information, weighing up different types of evidence and putting them all together into your own thought of view. For example, when a lecturer gives me feedback and critiques on my work instead of dismissing them as insults, I should instead perceive them as stepping blocks to achieve better results!

On Wednesday, when we went for our first class outing for Studio 1, I was surprised that we were told to go to FUNAN Mall by ourselves via MRT. At this point in time, nobody knew each other in the class but yet we decided to go as a whole group and use this opportunity to bond and get to know one another. We didn’t stay ‘introverted’ due to a new environment and that was a really eventful moment! By the end of the day, we knew each other’s name and even ages haha!

Mindfulness can help me improve the quality of my learning and my life by teaching me to slow down and live in the moment, being fully present in what I'm doing. In my creative work, it allows me to stay calm, think clearly and find inspiration more naturally instead of forcing them.

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Reference:

Film - What is Critical Thinking? (2nd February 2016)

Tom May, 'Thinking Differently is a Superpower' : Simon Dixon on how DixonBaxi was built (6th August 2025)