Common Module - AY25.26 WOII

Reflecting on the past 12 weeks, this module has really changed the way I look at my own work. At first, lessons like Aesthetics and Semiotics felt like just more theory, but I’ve started to see them everywhere. From how I judge a good design to how I decode the hidden symbols in everyday ads. Diving into Postmodernism pushed me to stop looking for one right answer, and Phenomenology reminded me that how someone feels when they interact with my work is just as important as the work itself.

I’ve really felt these ideas clicking during my other modules too. In Craft Workshop, I’m not just focused on the physical build anymore; I’m thinking about why I am using these materials. The same goes for Photography. Instead of just snapping a photo or clicking buttons in an app, I’m using what I’ve learned about visual language to tell a better story.

Ultimately, these past few months have helped me hit my learning outcomes without even realizing it. I’ve moved past just doing and finishing the work and started thinking critically about my choices. I’ve learned how to bridge the gap between a big, messy idea and a finished project, making me feel way more confident in my creative voice.

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Reference:

I often have an intuitive grasp of principles and how to do something, but lack a true understanding of what brings these principles to life. I would try to build your declarative knowledge of design principles alongside working with them. For example, when I feel something is wrong in my work, I take the time to go through each principle and check what could be improved, such as balance and hierarchy.

Themes I would consider all 3 to be categorized together in would be, firstly, Memory. I say this because they all have a significant reminiscence respectively. Another would be Place, due to each one of them making me recall the past filled with happy memories when I was younger. Considering that, both my chosen themes and objects have some sort of unforeseen connections with each other, as by grouping them, the Place might have changed, and the Memory might fade, but these physical fragments remain, showing growth.

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A work of design I think suited my theme, Memory, was this set of colourful marker pens. Ever since I was in primary school, I had always known I liked arts and crafts. Then went on to secondary school, I took Art as my extra subject for N Level, and then to ITE College and went to the Design School up until where I am now. Personally, it serves as a visual timeline of my artistic journey, bridging the gap between my primary school roots and my design training in LASALLE. Hence, represent the sensory memories that first sparked my creativity.

I choose Identity. From what I see, I think of them as the different "layers" that build a person. It represents a collection of self-expression, where every object acts as a personal taste. For instance, the magazines signify the influences and icons that shape our aspirations, while the bonsai plants and ritualistic incense symbolize the hobbies and quiet moments that reflect our patience and personal growth. Together, these works illustrate that identity is not a single trait, but a blend of what we consume and how we dress.

(160 words)

Reference:

Often confused with the symbol itself, semiotics is the study of how certain symbols acquired their meaning, how they have come to represent information, and how the relationship between the meaning and the image affects the reception of this information.

Burger King wanted to establish themselves as the ultimate place to go for total food satisfaction, where a feeling unlike any other. In order to get their brand message noticed, they had to embed themselves into a cultural truth that would truly stand out.

When we write or say the word tree, we immediately visualise a tree with its long roots, branches, and leaves. The same basic process can be applied to Studio. The signifier is Ed Fella’s distorted, hand-drawn typography and "anti-grid" layout, while the signified is the viewer's perception of raw, human spontaneity and a rejection of corporate perfection. By intentionally breaking the letters, you shift the focus from the literal message to the artistic "noise," turning everyday information into a complex visual experience.

Signifiers are the physical forms of the signs we use to signify meanings and concepts. Linguist Ferdinand de Saussure’s scientific approach to understanding signs remains an important model for studying any media product. By identifying the dominant signifiers and appreciating how they combine to create meaning, we can develop a better understanding of the message being conveyed by anyone.

 Evidently, his core insight is that "the bond between the signifier and the signified is arbitrary" and that language exists as a system of pure differences.

(250 words)

Reference:

Charlie Penderves. (2025). Bundles Of Joy: 2025 One Show - Out Of Home.

ChatGPT. To rephrase and restructure my sentences.

Personally, when I hear ‘Aesthetics’, it is basically about the overall vibe or feeling something gives off how it looks, feels, and expresses a certain style or identity. It can show up in visual trends like minimalism showing up with a clean white on denim outfit or retro for vintage furniture surrounded by books. But it also goes deeper into how people define beauty and personal taste. People often use it to reflect themselves through things like fashion, social media, or even room decor where everything is styled to feel cohesive.

Basically, the form is shaped by the function, so all the signs use different looks but achieve the same goal in ways that match their personal vibe and setting. Just like relating it back to Crafts Workshop, I was instructed to design my own type poster with my own creation and design my own font.

Another example would be during Digital Skills, I am to redesign an app logo and 2 other supporting icons for a make-up brand.

 As visual communication becomes an intrinsic part of online communication, the exploration of how distinctions between audiences and affordances play out stylistically appears to be of particular interest, which entails calibrated aesthetics. However, this visual layer is seldom investigated closely. With that, "Design is intelligence made visible", quoted by author Alina Wheeler. It occurs to me that it is often used to emphasize that design is purposeful, strategic, and problem-solving, not just aesthetics.

Therefore, I learned that effective design balances a lot of criteria to create work that is visually appealing and able to clearly convey meaning to an audience.

(255 words)

Reference:

Maria Schreiber. (2017). Article: Audiences, Aesthetics and Affordances: Analysing Practices of Visual Communication on Social Media.

Phenomenological research is a qualitative research approach that seeks to understand and describe the universal essence of a phenomenon. In other words, lived experiences to gain deeper insights into how people understand those experiences. 

For philosopher Martin Heidegger, “time is even more fundamental in human existence and the very horizon through which we understand being itself.” Those hidden parts show up in how we feel, react, and experience in everyday life, even if we are not aware of them. Memory does not appear as a theme of phenomenological analysis but as a metaphor for phenomenological thinking itself.

Speaking of that, Photography helps me keep those memories forever through pictures and videos. This idea connects because I’m not just capturing what is physically there, but how a moment is experienced and remembered. Just like phenomenology, my photos use framing, light, and composition to translate perception into an image. Hence, the photograph itself becomes a kind of “memory” that reflects how I interpret and communicate the scene, not just what it looks like.

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ChatGPT - To rephrase my sentences.

Landridge D. (2007). Phenomenological Psychology. Harlow, UK: Pearson Education.

Hanna, R. (2014). Husserl’s crisis and our crisis. International Journal of Philosophical Studies.

Postmodernism can be seen as a reaction against the ideas and values of modernism, as well as a description of the period that followed modernism's dominance in cultural theory and practice in the early and middle decades of the twentieth century.

The reason I went with the title "Reality is Overrated" is that real life can feel repetitive, stressful, or limited compared to how much more exciting things are in my imagination. When reality doesn't match what I wish for, it’s easy to feel like the real world just isn't as interesting. Therefore, I wanted to do the total opposite to suit the overall fantasy look of the poster. 

Personally, a postmodern lifestyle is all about mixing things up and doing what feels authentic instead of following one fixed path. As author Jugnu Agarwal once said, "Nothing real is ever perfect.”

Because of that, I stay open to blend influences freely and shape my own way of living without expecting everything to fit one standard. It might mean blending different styles and letting my interests shift over time. 

Hence, connecting it back with my design training, instead of everyone producing the same outcome, it becomes a space for layered meanings and playful combinations where the process and individuality are just as important as the final piece. 

For example, the process of making a collage based on an article about how fast fashion impacts the environment for Photography. Or having to design a postcard for Studio, referencing my artist, Ed Fella. 

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Reference:

Cahoone, Lawrence. (2003). From Modernism to Postmodernism: An Anthology, 2nd Edition, London: Blackwell Publishing, Ltd.

Stacey, J. (1998). Brave new families: Stories of domestic upheaval in late-twentieth-century America. Univ of California Press.

When I am given the opportunity one day, collaborative projects I would love to do in the future would definitely be teaming up with the theater production crew. Assisting them and giving one or two ideas for their set design for their upcoming shows. For instance, with the set demeasuring and ratios might come into use. 

Secondly, working together with the fine arts students might sound intriguing too. They can keep doing what they are good at like painting a portrait or making a sculpture from scratch. I would use my knowledge in photography and take beautiful shots of their art works Then, promote them on social platforms to let others spread love and support their creativity.

My thoughts on final projects is that it would be fun to design a tea or coffee box in the shape of a tea pod for everyday drink. Morning, afternoon and night.  Designed purely homemade and with warmth, it supports ethical tea production and using sustainable materials for easy reuse and upcycling that helps reduce single-use packaging.

Communities I would like to work with would be Singapore Children's Society. Opening a 1/2-day painting workshop for disadvantaged children and youth. I would show them a step-by-step tutorial while assisting them and also let them explore their imagination with the activities planned out. Another one I would love to team up with is Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA). I would design a cute and colourful poster that promotes kindness and prevents cruelty to animals through education, advocacy, and shelter operations.

One of my professional goals I want to achieve is becoming an art director. An art director who can lead a team of artists, designers, and even photographers to translate a creative concept into a cohesive final product. CTS A has taught me the way of learning how to study the masters and make myself an overflowing fount of visual techniques and motifs, and be able to pull them out on command.

(328 words)

Reference:

Sarah Hiraki. (2019). Setting the table: Art Direction 10.

DHCBaldwin. (2022). Reasons Your Students Will Love Set Designs

Megha Malik, DesignerPeople. (2023). To Inspire Sales.

Nurul Ulfal. (2025). Neighpurrs!, The Lasalle Show. 

Sassy Mama. (2018). Singapore Children’s Society and the Walk for Our Children.

I use my judgement and logical thinking in my everyday life, in school and at home. Whatever skills I had learned in CTS A have helped me guide my way better in terms of my choices and consideration in every of my modules.

In Craft Workshop, CTS A has taught me to think outside the box and use my imagination into my craft works like my abstraction synthesis, sticker dots, pattern textures and colour palettes. It all comes down to the research, development and the implementation process at the end of the day. For example, CTS A trained me to be attentive to details and be precise with my assignments.

As for Studio 1, I use my collaboration skills by being open- minded and reliable among my classmates as it is not just about dividing the workload, but also learning and having mutual support for each other’s opinions. For example, Research Framework and Data Space are both collectively teamwork-based. Not only that, CTS A also made me realised that being understanding and sensitive in Type Sensory as well as Type and Language. I learnt that typography is not just about making words look good, but how words make people feel.

For Photography, critical thinking comes in handy when learning about the principles of composition as it allows me to try various angles and depths. Through those techniques, eventually I will tend to make mistakes and fail to capture some components but I have learned to adapt and be better in the future. CTS A has also taught me that History and the Nature of Photography is important as it helps tell the story better visually.

Lastly, in Digital Skills, CTS A helped me to develop my growth mindset with the attitude to keep pushing on and persevering my mistakes and treating it as a learning process.

(306 words)

Reference:

Jacopo Maggia. (2016). Cooper - Hewitt, National Design Museum.

From my point of view, visual metaphor is basically a pictorial representation of our ideas brainstormed into one. In my case, my groupmates and I picked a big, old apple tree to portray our thoughts. My initial idea was just a simple mind map but after thinking it through, I like the concept of a tree being our centre point and us ideating all around it together. To me, an old tree represents wisdom and connection, just like working in a team needs. On the other hand, If I were to do my own alternative visual metaphor, it would be a pool table.

Throughout all the Critical Thinking Skills lessons, I had learnt a lot of knowledge and understanding of how and when to problem-solve and think twice before making any possible solutions during any situation. If I were to pick my favourite activity, I would choose Growth Mindset. The reason I chose it was because it felt like I was a kid in kindergarten learning how to write and draw again when we were doing our re-design sketches of our chosen logo with my non-dominant hand.

 At first, it felt weird holding a pencil with my non preferred hand but as I got into my zone, I felt more confident to just do it as there is nothing to worry too much about and if I made a mistake, I could have just erased it and done it again. It was quite memorable for me because once we were all done with our sketches, we had to pick our top 2 picks among our groups. My groupmates' design sketches were so unique and rare. At that moment, I could tell they were creative with their ideas shown in their respective drafts. 

Overall, it was a short and fun classroom activity to do with my classmates especially under a time limit so there was a bit of a challenge involved.

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Reference:

What is a Growth Mindset?

A growth mindset describes a way of viewing challenges and setbacks. People who have a growth mindset believe that even if they struggle with certain skills, their abilities can improve. They think that with work, their skills can get better over time.

Difference between a Growth and a Fixed mindset?

The growth mindset focuses on learning and often seeks challenges. A fixed mindset focuses on validation and seeks certainty from others. To me, learning how to fail is key to learning as on the bright side, it is never too late to change your outlook on making mistakes.

One eventful moment that I had learnt from this class would be trying new ways and things is better than sticking to one direction of doing something. Like Jim Rohn, motivational speaker, says, "If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will have to settle for the ordinary".

I did my own logo designs with my non-dominant hand. Mostly minimalist style and playing around with the letters to see which suits best respectively. In my opinion, I think one or two of them were quite successful in terms of look-wise. If I do have more time, I would draw more bold and bigger logos so that it can attract customers even more.

Hence, a growth mindset can be the difference between simply surviving or thriving in today’s rapidly changing commercial environment. Although in some ways the work is mature, in many ways it is still in its youth because there is so much more to learn.

(261 words)

Reference:

Arlo Sanchez. (2023). From Fixed Mindset, to Growth Mindset. How I Learned to Fail.

Steve Hogarty. (2022). Growth mindset: definition, characteristics, and examples.

What are the key areas of Emotional Intelligence?

Emotional Intelligence refers to the ability to identify and manage my own emotions, as well as the emotions of others. Emotional intelligence is generally said to include a few skills, namely emotional awareness. The ability to harness those emotions and apply them to tasks like thinking and problem solving and the ability to manage emotions, which includes regulating my own emotions when necessary and helping others to do the same.

How do I cope with Emotional Intelligence?

Building emotional intelligence is not just about feeling good. It actually affects both my personal and work life. It helps me communicate better and create stronger relationships. But it can also be tough, like when I have to give negative feedback or when I end up over-empathizing.

During our week 3 class activity, I did a short acting scenario with my group. I feel that my strongest aspect would be self-awareness as I tend to put others before myself in a good way. I do want to improve on my self-management in terms of navigating challenges and achieving my goals.

Therefore, as Hannah Owens once said, “ While being book-smart might help you pass tests, emotional intelligence prepares you for the real world by being aware of the feelings of others”. To end it, emotional intelligence is a valuable asset that can benefit individuals in all aspects of their lives.

(269 words)

Reference:

Kendra Cherry, MSEd. (2025). Components of Emotional Intelligence.

Brad Brenner, Ph.D. (2025). What is Emotional Intelligence (EQ): How It Applies at Work and Life.

What are Collaborative Skills?

Collaboration skills are about working well with others and achieving a common goal. It's more than just finishing a project with a group of people. It also means building relationships with your team, resolving conflicts, and creating a work environment where everyone feels included and respected.

Why do I feel that collaborating is important?

First of all, it helps everyone work better and faster. When we work together, we can use our different skills and knowledge to tackle tough tasks and projects. One of my strengths when collaborating is communicating, while my weakness is being indecisive. As Kip Kelly, the author, explains, “Effective communication requires a substantial level of self-awareness.”

For instance, during our monument activity with my classmates, it showed great examples of bonding. My team built a replica of the Supertree Grove from Gardens By The Bay, with a hand wrapping around it.

If I had more time and budget to make a better version of my monument, I would keep it mostly the same but make the hand bigger. In my view, the bigger it is, the more value it has. The hand represents humans protecting the environment.

After doing my research and class activity, I understand collaboration is key. Giving feedback and learning from each other's successes and mistakes helps us grow. Hence, collaboration makes us feel like a team supporting each other.

(257 words)

References:

Corey Moseley. (2020). Collaboration and Why Do They Matter?

Kip Kelly. (2021). From Fragile to Agile: The Future of Learning and Development.