mayevanessa

[mayevanessa]

CTS WEEK 12

For our last session on CTS, we continued discussing the meaning of a manifesto. Still, with a different perspective: "We’ll be working toward answering Question 2, which requires you to discuss design in connection with your own aspirations and the themes of CTS B." "Expand your knowledge of the connections between design, social engagement, and tradition."

When I read the theme, I remembered last week's class, where we read Dieter's manifesto " What is a good designer?" and Rule 9, which talks about the environment: Rule 9: Good design is environmentally friendly!

The class was divided into 2 parts!

Part 1: "As a group, find at least 2 examples of design practices that you can relate to the topic of social engagement. Think ‘Sustainability’, ‘Inclusivity’, ‘Community’." We chose Sociable Scape (Community and Sustainability) and LITE-UP SUSTAINABILITY NIGHT.

We picked Sociable Scape because it is a project by LaSalle students from the School of Spatial & Product Design! The project is based on innovative and functional outdoor furniture made completely from recycled materials. Besides that, their furniture has been spotted at our campus, Mc Nally!

"Through such pieces, Sociable Scape promotes creative public space usage, making it an inviting addition for both locals and tourists". ​Our presentation slide explains and shows some of Sociable Scape's furniture designs.

Our second choice was LITE-UP SUSTAINABILITY NIGHT, an annual engaging event, with games, fun activities, and exhibits, focused on the theme of Carbon-life, and reducing one’s carbon footprint.

They spread awareness about sustainability through creative activities, and in that way, it is easier for the public to learn about the importance of conserving and utilizing sustainable energy sources.

An event focused on environmental awareness.

Part 2: "As a group, find at least 2 examples of design practices that demonstrate engagement with tradition/ lineages. Design not fine art!". For the second part of the class, we individually chose our own examples. When I heard about what the second part of the class was about, I immediately thought about a Brazilian clothing brand, named Farm. I already brought this brand up during my CTS posts, but I really appreciate the meaning behind this brand's clothing design.

Farm visual identity is based on Brazil's views, of animals, nature, and food. I also mentioned that, as a Brazilian, you can recognize Farm's dresses and tops in public, because of how unique their identity is!

As I listened to my friends' presents, one of them mentioned Ang Baos, the traditional Chinese New Year red envelope. I remember Edmund giving him feedback saying that he should have looked for more interesting Ang Bao designs, which I agree with! So here are some interesting-looking Ang Baos I found!

Eid Money Packet for NOKO 2023 - Kids Version

Rat Year Angpao Design | Graphic Design & Packaging

Cocorico : Lunar Year Cards 2017 (Have a lucky year!)

469 WORDS

REFERENCE LIST:

SOCIABLE SCAPE Exhibition – Marina Central. marinacentral.com.sg/event/sociable-scape.

FARM Rio. “FARM Rio and Friends.” FARM Rio, farmrio.com/pages/farm-rio-friends.

Behance. www.behance.net/gallery/166013997/Eid-Money-Packet-for-NOKO-2023-Kids-Version.

---. www.behance.net/gallery/94133569/Rat-Year-Angpao-Design.

---. www.behance.net/gallery/47420001/SunShine-LUNAR-YEAR-CARD-2017.

[mayevanessa]

CTS WEEK 11

For the eleventh week of CTS, we discussed the manifesto. Before the class, my conception of a manifesto was a book—a political book with rules, nothing else. Still, after the class introduction, I could understand better that a manifesto is a statement to publicly discuss beliefs and rules that a person a group of people stands for. " A manifesto advances a set of ideas, opinions, or views, but it can also lay out a plan of action. While it can address any topic, it most often concerns art, literature, or politics."

Can we relate a manifesto to being a designer? Dieter Rams: Ten principles for good design!

“As designers we have a great responsibility. I believe designers should eliminate the unnecessary. That means eliminating everything that is modish because this kind of thing is only short-lived.”

Dieter Rams – interview with Icon Magazine

Dieter Rams, a German industrial designer, published a manifesto in the late 70s about "What is a good designer?" The manifesto contains 10 rules :

This manifesto is well-known among designers. Here are some comments on some of the commandments:

4- Good design makes a product understandable: "It clarifies the product’s structure. Better still, it can make the product talk. At best, it is self-explanatory."

7- Good design is long-lasting: "It avoids being fashionable and therefore never appears antiquated. Unlike fashionable design, it lasts many years – even in today’s throwaway society."

Take some notes!

So each week had at least one rule!

While creating the manifesto, we took some inspiration from the examples Edmund showed us.

We included the icons in our manifesto, to make it more interactive and interesting looking.

our manifesto!

1- Social aspects influence your identity and reverse (Praxis: Creative Practice and Critical Thinking)

2- Unique experiences create a unique you (This Is How You Connect Theory and Practice)

3- Use artistic platforms to spread new perspectives (This Is How You Connect Practice with Society)

4- Analyze to remember your roots (A“noticing” walk through the National Gallery Singapore)

5- Incorporate your background to your work (This Is How You Critically Analyse Artistic Traditions and Lineages)

6- Be self-aware of strengths and flaws (Critical Self-Reflectivity: How Do I Think About My Thinking Processes?)

7- Give and receive with empathy (This Is How You Analyse Your Creative Practice)

8- Be sure of your interests and aspirations (This Is How You Craft a Statement of Artistic Vision)

At the end of the class, it was really interesting to see everybody's work and how we could all perceive our ideas differently, even though we were tasked to do the same thing.

431 WORDS

REFERENCE LIST:

Munro, André. “Manifesto | Definition, Examples, and Facts.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 1 Nov. 2012, www.britannica.com/topic/manifesto.

Q, Fabrique &. “What is ‘Good’ Design? A quick look at Dieter Rams’ Ten Principles.” Design Museum, designmuseum.org/discover-design/all-stories/what-is-good-design-a-quick-look-at-dieter-rams-ten-principles.

Borson, Bob, and Bob Borson. “Who is Dieter Rams? | Life of an Architect.” Life of an Architect -, 10 Jan. 2019, www.lifeofanarchitect.com/who-is-dieter-rams.

Good design | About us | Vitsœ. www.vitsoe.com/rw/about/good-design.

[mayevanessa]

CTS WEE 3

The theme of today's week is: This Is How You Connect Practice with Society.

The first question presented to us was Can I be a social agent if I am an artist/ designer? To me, both things can work together! You can express yourself and spread awareness of social problems through art! A big example in our modern society is Bansky.

" His works of political and social commentary have appeared on streets, walls, and bridges throughout the world."

Some of his work! We can see that his political view is the main matter of his work. With graffiti, Bansky talks about violence, war, and intolerance.

Class activity: Working in lecturer-assigned groups create a 1~1.5 minute documentary about a local issue you consider important to highlight.

Me and my group, we decided to talk about inflation and the GST increase. "Singapore will raised its Goods and Services Tax (GST) rate from 8% to 9% in 2024. This is the second rate hike since the Minister for Finance announced GST rate increase during its tabling of the national budget 2022."

Chart of the Day: Rate of Singapore GST hike over the years

And how does the increase of GST affect our lives? From what I have seen, the main thing that me and my friends complain about is the price of food. Last year, we would go out and eat with $X amount of money, nowadays, we go to the same place and eat the same food, and now we pay $X+2,50 (Salted Egg Chicken Rice shop at SimLim).

As we were filming the video, we wanted to talk about our main concern, but also, we wanted to make a funny video. So we edited it to make it more enjoyable for our friends! At the end of the class, we all sat together and watched the videos. Some friends also talked about inflation, others about public transport.

It was really interesting to see how each one of us used our creativity to create a critical and funny video at the same time!

REFERENCE LIST:

Wikipedia contributors. “Banksy.” Wikipedia, 7 Sept. 2024, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banksy.

“Banksy 班克斯 | Love is in the Air 愛在空氣中 | Contemporary Evening Auction | 2022 | Sotheby’s.” Sotheby’s, www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2022/contemporary-art-evening-sale/banksy-ban-ke-si-love-is-in-the-air-ai-zai-kong-qi?locale=en.

“10 Facts About Banksy’s Napalm.” MyArtBroker, 5 June 2023, www.myartbroker.com/artist-banksy/10-facts/10-facts-about-banksys-napalm.

HSBC Business Go. www.businessgo.hsbc.com/en/article/singapores-gst-hike-2024.

Redirect Notice. www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fsbr.com.sg%2Feconomy%2Fnews%2Fchart-day-rate-singapore-gst-hike-over-years&psig=AOvVaw2cF8RxM9wkRDpGdmQv_S2y&ust=1726568154444000&source=images&cd=vfe&opi=89978449&ved=0CBQQjRxqFwoTCPjyyd2dx4gDFQAAAAAdAAAAABAI.

[mayevanessa]

CTS WEEK 2

For our second week on CTS, we talked about identity.

"If identity is defined as your total character, and this total character is informed by your daily thoughts and actions, what is your overall ‘theory’?" When that question was asked us, it made me think for a while. Besides our thoughts and actions, our environment influences who we are and the people around us.

"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation." - Oscar Wilde

How our environment influences who we are!

Identity as a graphic designer: To me, as a designer, it is essential to have your own identity, something that makes you different from others - something special, so people can recognize your work without needing to know who made it. An example, I'm a big fan of Salvador Dali's paintings, and his style is so unique I can recognize his paintings before checking if it is his.

"If it’s something you saw on your acid trip last night, it’s Dali."

Class activity: Individually, create a digital collage of at least 5 words and 5 images in one slide that describes your self-image - How you see yourself

This was my collage!

To be honest this was a fun class! We got to know a little bit more of everybody - nationality, religion, interests... To me, my identity is a combination of many things - friends, family, food, pets, movies, music...

REFERENCE LIST:

“Unit 1: The Search for Identity.” MISS WRIGHT ENGLISH 9, misswrighteng9.weebly.com/unit-1-the-search-for-identity.html.

“Oscar Wilde Quote.” A-Z Quotes, www.azquotes.com/quote/314530?ref=identity.

Davidmorris. “Salvador Dalí’s The Persistence of Memory - The Hour Glass Official.” The Hour Glass Official, 18 Mar. 2020, www.thehourglass.com/cultural-perspectives/salvador-dali.

Justina. “How To Recognise Famous Painters According To The Internet.” Bored Panda, 16 Sept. 2016, www.boredpanda.com/how-to-recognize-painters-by-their-work.

[mayevanessa]

CTS WEEK 1

During the first week of CTS, we talked about developing awareness of yourselves as individuals and as artists/ designers in training. Developing critical thinking skills is the key to becoming a professional and having a good relationship with your coworkers.

Today's topic: Creative Practice and Critical Thinking.

Guiding question: What are the similarities between creative practice and critical thinking? In my opinion, inside the workplace atmosphere, being creative and having critical skills "walk" together. For you to be able to perform better at your work as a designer, you have to use your imagination and work on your ideas all the time, that's what being creative means. But at the same time, you are working with other people, which means dealing with different points of view and opinions, but with critical thinking skills, you know how to deal with that, and how to make responsible choices.

"There are elements that experts agree are essential for critical and creative thinking, such as being able to think independently, clearly, and rationally. It involves the ability to reflect on an idea or problem, apply reason, and make logical connections between ideas. "

Class activity: Write a short story about a social issue that is no more than a page in length.

"Hi, Mom. I wanted to send you this text for a while now… sorry for taking too long. Remember I talked about the headaches I’ve been having for the past few weeks? So, I went to the doctor and I did multiple exams and I just got the results. Everything is fine, blood pressure, sugar levels… everything is good. But I still don't feel good… I don't know why. And I’m so busy with work and Uni, I have to submit a lot of projects next week and I have meetings every day… I’m so tired, mom. And it’s like I don't have time to rest, to get better… The doctor asked if I needed to take medical leave, and honestly, I want it but if I don’t work this week I won't be able to pay the hospital fees. Ugh, they were so expensive! And yes, I did use the insurance but still, the fees are almost 2 months from my paycheck. I don't know what to do… I'm sick and I can’t rest…"

This was my story: a text from a girl to her mom about how stressed and tired she is, but she can't rest because of hospital fees and other things that she must pay at the end of the month.

REFERENCE LIST:

Auld, Sophia. “Critical and Creative Thinking: An Essential Skill for Every Student.” ACC Blog, 20 Feb. 2024, www.acc.edu.au/blog/critical-thinking-essential-skill.

Critical and Creative Thinking. www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/general-capabilities/critical-and-creative-thinking.

[mayevanessa]

WOII

WOII was definitely a very interesting module, I never thought we would study something so different and mind-opening like this module! "Creativity — that sometimes-elusive spark, the motivation to think more deeply, the chance to innovate, re-think, and renew. " (Author) We studied art differently.

One of my favorite classes was week 4, where we talked about how to analyze designs. Since that class, I have looked at clothes, mugs, bags, accessories, literally everything, in a different way. Now I'm trying to understand what the artist wanted to project with their product, how they designed it, how the process of doing the product was, how long it took them to come up with the idea... and with that, we learned how to appreciate art, especially hand-made ones. WOII was a safe space where could explore more our creativity and abilities to expand our skills. It was also exciting to work in groups, where we could share our ideas and explore more possibilities. "Many ideas grow better when transplanted into another mind than the one where they sprang up." – Oliver Wendell Holmes (Conley).

WORD COUNT: 180 WORDS

REFERENCE LIST:

Author, Workspace Digital. “30 Quotes on Creativity.” Workspace Digital, 21 Jan. 2022, workspace.digital/30-quotes-on-creativity.

Conley, Megan. 45 Quotes That Celebrate Teamwork, Hard Work, and Collaboration. 28 Mar. 2022, blog.hubspot.com/marketing/teamwork-quotes.

[mayevanessa]

WEEK 10

POSTSTRUCTURALISM

Starting in France in the late '60s, poststructuralism was a way of thinking about what is true and how it is not a fixed concept, it all depends on culture, politics, and social norms. "Like deconstruction, emphasized the instability of meaning."(“Poststructuralism | Poetry Foundation”). With Poststructuralism, one thing can have multiple meanings, like for example an animal. To person A, a dog can be a cute and funny buddy, whom they can spend some time playing with, but for person B, a dog can represent danger and discomfort. Same source, different meanings. (“Post-Structuralism: Meaning and Examples | StudySmarter”) Poststructuralism was all about rethinking the meaning of things.

It's all about context! In today's lesson, we were split into pairs and put the concept of poststructuralism into practice. Some of us went to the streets to take pictures of random objects, and others to take pictures of random words/phrases, later we would have to analyze those two and connect them somehow, giving them a new meaning.

This was me and my friend's slide. I took pictures of the objects, and he took pictures of the words. We combined them and this is how we connected them: for the "liquor control zone" we used a picture that I had of a cup with lemonade because both are about beverages. The second one is a picture of a teddy bear and the texts "Beware Opening Door" and "Solution Made in Germany". Sometimes, kids feel scared to go to sleep with the doors opened, so they feel secure when they are with their teddy bears, it is a comfort object, so it is a solution to that problem. The last one is a picture of a bicycle and the text " The kick of joy!", for most of us, cycling can be a fun activity, so it is necessary literally a kick to start the joy! This activity was very interesting, it got me and my friend to think a lot and to try to interpret things from a different point of view.

WORD COUNT: 336 WORDS

REFERENCE LIST:

“Poststructuralism | Poetry Foundation.” Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/learn/glossary-terms/poststructuralism.

“Post-Structuralism: Meaning and Examples | StudySmarter.” StudySmarter UK, www.studysmarter.co.uk/explanations/english-literature/literary-criticism-and-theory/post-structuralism.

cartoon: “Why Is the Same Thing Interpreted Differently by Different People?” Quora, www.quora.com/Why-is-the-same-thing-interpreted-differently-by-different-people.

[mayevanessa]

WEEK 11

postmodernism

For this week we talked about Postmodernism, but first, we need to understand what was modernism. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, modernism affected music, art, architecture, and literature until the end of WW II. The main focus was to reject the traditional. "Modernism often embraced grand narratives and a belief in progress, rationality, and the possibility of achieving universal truths. It aimed for purity, simplicity, and clarity in art, literature, and design." (Paniagua). Postmodernism showed up around the 1950s and it is usually seen as a reaction against the ideas and values of modernism. (“Postmodernism | Tate”). "It emphasizes diversity, fragmentation, individual subjectivity and rejects the idea of a single, universal truth or aesthetic." Visually, postmodernism is all about "being extra," strong colors, dramatic layers, and fragmentation as in :

postmodernism art! When we think about postmodernism, we think about this specific Marylin Monroe portrait. What makes this art a good example of postmodernism is that it plays a lot of bold colors and plurality. For this class, we had to create, in pairs, an advertisement for an object. Me and my friend decided to make a poster about makeup. We had to include Typography, Fragmentation, Plurality, and/or Distortion.

our poster!

We took inspiration from those famous Marylin Monroe portraits which are very colorful. So there is a lot of repetition (plurality) and the typeface we chose is very bold, giving a little bit of an editorial look!

(Bartolo)

Postmodernism is also known for making people think. it's not only about aesthetics but what message you want to give.

word count: 260 words

REFERENCE LIST:

Paniagua, Gustavo. “Modernism Vs Postmodernism - What Is the Difference?” Slidebean, 1 Sept. 2023, slidebean.com/blog/modernism-vs-postmodernism.

“Postmodernism | Tate.” Tate, www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/p/postmodernism.

cartoon: Bartolo, Luke. Post-Post-Modernism. lukebartolo.blogspot.com/2016/06/post-post-modernism.html.

Marylin Monroe: McDonald, David. David McDonald. 22 Dec. 2016, globalmillennial.org/postmodernismand21stcenturysociety.

[mayevanessa]

WEEK 4 AND 5

For Week 4 we talked about "How to analyze a work of design".

Every design object has these 5 aspects:

1- Processes & Purposes: the How and Why the designer created the object.

2- Subject matter and meanings: what the design shows and what is the meaning behind it.

3- Choice & Uses of Medium: the material used

4- Aspects of Form: the elements (color, lines, textures) and principles (Balance, Rhythm, Scale, and Proportion) present in the design.

5- Contexts of Piece: Historical, social, viewing, and the designer's context.

All those points are important to take into account while analyzing a design object since they all have meanings and purposes. One example that comes to mind when I think about design objects, is a Brazillian clothing brand called Farm. The store has been very famous among Brazilians since it reflects Brazil's culture and colors.

“About.” FARM Rio, www.farmrio.com/pages/about. Besides that, Farm also cares about the environment.

“About.” FARM Rio, www.farmrio.com/pages/about. After reading about the brand, we see the reflection of their morals within the clothing designs.

As somebody who lived in Brazil for many years, I can say that Farm represents Brazilian women's fashion, with colorful pieces and floral designs.For week 5, we went on a field trip to the museum to experiment more with the concept of "How to analyze a work of design".

The first thing that caught my eye was these porcelains. After reading the description, we understand that the couple MeiLing and Edwin, founders of Supermama, wanted to create something that represents Singapore (Processes & Purposes), without using the Merlion, so they decided to design their porcelains (Choice & Uses of Medium) with HDBs (Subject matter and meanings).

This baby crib(Choice & Uses of Medium) caught my attention while walking around. After reading the description I understood that this was a campaign made by the Singaporean government encouraging couples to start planning their families, (Subject matter and meanings) by having two kids with some years between one and the other, for good population growth (Contexts of Piece and Processes & Purposes). This exposition was composed of a baby crib and an image of two girls with the text written "Put some years between us" and " girl or boy two is enough" (Aspects of Form: ).

word count: 372 words

[mayevanessa]

WEEK 2 AESTHETICS

For this week's activity, we talked about aesthetics.

Identity, personality, style, and uniqueness come to mind when I think about the word "aesthetic.' To give your design a specific aesthetic, we need to pay attention to colors, fonts, images, compositions, and grids. Let's take a look at these menus:

(“Almamun_Cool: I Will Do an Amazing Menu Design, Food Menu, Restaurant Menu Design for $30 on fiverr.com”)

(“Premium Vector | Food Sketch Japanese Menu Template Ramen and Gyoza Vector”)

After analyzing both menus, we can see that they have different approaches. The first one is a menu for Martha's Grill. We can see the predominance of pink and red (vibrant colors), vintage fonts, and an illustration that reminds us of a typical American Diner. For the second restaurant, there is a small appearance of colors, only red, which goes well with the composition since we are looking at a ramen shop, a typical Japanese dish. So it reminds us of the flag of Japan. Also, the font they used, reminds us of Japanese characters. In conclusion, aesthetics are built depending on what message you want to give.

For the activity, we had to go out and look at restaurants and hawkers. Do we see any similarities? Do they all look the same? Which one looks more expensive? What is their aesthetic?

We took notice of all of these points and went on a walk. I ended up going to a food hawker and noticed that their aesthetic can be a little bit messy...? Usually, those food stalls don't pay much attention to their menu design, yet they want to make food more accessible to the customers by showcasing these dishes, in case they don't know what to order. With simple fonts and images, food hawkers' aesthetic can be different from our usual indie cafe

CPJ NOTES!!

word count: 304 words

[mayevanessa]

WEEK 1

For our first class of WOII we had an exciting task: choose between the words "Shadow" or "Time" and take pictures or draw how we interpreted them. I chose Time and decided to draw instead of taking pictures since I already had some ideas of what I wanted to present. My intention in this task was to portray the concept of Time differently: how time goes by and we don't notice- settle ways of time passing by. -My first drawing was a calendar. As an international student, I'm always working on my documents, and my birthday is always asked. I was born in 2003, and I need to choose the year I need to scroll a couple of times to reach the 2000's.

"It is quite funny how I need to click twice to find the year..."

-The second one is more simple: just a rotten fruit. In a matter of days, food can go bad. It is something that everybody knows but not everyone keeps track of the days, which shows that time is going by and people don't realize it.

-The last illustration is very personal to me. I have two older brothers and when I was younger they would give me their old shirts and they would look huge on me. As I grew older, their shirts started to fit me normally, and then I realized I'm not that little anymore...

Text from my cpj!

word count: 238 words