Design Principles

 Design Principle - EXERCISES

26/8/19
Yeoh Wen Jun ( 0334234 )
Design Principle
Exercises

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Final Project

Finally, this is our second and last project for this module. The title of our final project is Cultural Relationship. We were asked to visit a specific area of our own choice with the consideration of our past experiences. Culture is anything, it can be religion, language, art, civilization, archeology and more.

Me and some of my friends decided to visit Petaling street China Town to do some research for this project. Out of my expectation, there is nothing that inspired me. Since I'm a person who always likes to study Chinese culture, we went to a temple called Guan Di temple. I was thinking to do something about Chinese traditional culture but I think I should try something new. I feel really lost and do not know what to do for this project. I took some photos there but all of that doesn't relate to my final project.

Instead of doing nothing but struggling there, I sat down and started to think. I look back to the brief and stared at it, I even think back to what Dr.Jinchi told us. She told us that anything that affects our lifestyle can be a culture, even food can be a culture too as most of the Asian need rice for meals but not the Europian. Suddenly. I think of the first day I talk to my friend from Denmark, sometimes he doesn't understand what am I talking about because of my Malaysian accent. This reminds me that, the way we speak is also affected by our culture. Hence, I decided to do something about Malaysian's accent.

In these few years, Malaysian's accent/slang has become one of our culture. Slowly, we name it as Bahasa Rojak which is a "language" that only Malaysian can understand. Some people even call it non-proper English. Bahasa means language in Malay while Rojak is one of the Malay traditional food made up of mixing fruits and vegetables. We call this as Bahasa Rojak. Malaysia is a Multiracial country and we have a lot of languages.  We always like to mix up the language while speaking just like Rojak.

Fg.1.0 Example of Rojak

Hence, I started to write down all the slang and words in my notebook. I did also do some research on Google to see whether there are more words that I don't know and I found out that Singaporean has a similar slang too. 

Fg.1.1 My note about Bahasa Rojak

There is a difference between Malaysian slang and Bahasa Rojak but Malaysian slang is a very important part of Bahasa Rojak. I will explain some of the slang or words of  Bahasa Rojak that we use commonly. For Malaysian slang, we always add lah, meh, wor, lor, leh, eh at the back of our sentences. Each of the words brings out a different meaning. For example, can la, can wor, can meh? can ah? Can lah is a friendly type of can, while can wor is with the expression of more surprise. Can meh and can ah mean "can I?" in proper English, we use this for asking questions. 

Fg.1.2 Example of Malaysian slang

Bahasa Rojak:

1.  Laugh die me- very funny (make me laugh)
2. “Walao Eh” or just “Walao”  – translated stands for “My Father Eh”. It is an expression typically used to portray surprise or disappointment.
3. Bo Jio – means “You never invite”
4. Abuden – express irritation
5. Alamak – an expression of disbelief. (Like saying “Holy Shit!”) It is actually a Malay word.
6. Kiasu – way over the top; exaggerated. It is actually from Hokkien, "Kia" means scare while "su" means lose.
7. Siao – means crazy
8. Ang Moh – term for “white” race like Americans, British, etc
9. Liddat- short form of "like that" with different slang
10. Lansi- to describe someone very proud in a bad way
11. GG- it is actually from "Good Game", but we use it when something bad happens
12. Sibeh- "damn" in Teochew
13. Sap sap water- describe something that is very easy

After that, I decided to do something I don't like rather than always doing the things that I like. I wanna try something new or challenge myself. I plan to do a poster with only words which is something we did in Typography class. I don't really like typography since I'm a person who doesn't like to read or write. I always choose to draw rather than write but this time, only words in the poster. I went to Google and Pinterest to take some references and study the layout and composition. The posters below are the poster that inspired and impressed me.

Fg.1.3 Poster from Google

Fg.1.4 Poster from Google

I like the layout of the poster in Fg.1.3 and the way he creates a white frame with a rectangle. For Fg.1.4, the poster does really impressed me because it is not an easy work as he uses only words to create a house. But I don't think the concept for Fg.1.4 is suitable for my concept. After getting some references, I started to play with the words that I chose on Adobe Illustrator. The colour that I applied for the poster is the colour of Jalur Gemilang which is Malaysia National flag. (yellow, blue, red and white) And also, I use a different typeface, font size and messy alignment to show like we " mess up" the language.

Fg.1.5 Bahasa Rojak Poster (in progress)

Fg.1.6 Bahasa Rojak Poster

The outcome doesn't look like what I expect. So I went to ask for some feedback from my friends and also I did email Ms.Sherry a feedback request too. The feedback I got from my friends is I should work something with the composition. While Ms.Sherry suggest it to be more random or even add some faded images. The poster looks too orderly, the word could be not in straight lines. Last but not least, she expects something more textured.


I agree that the poster is too orderly and texture should be add on. But I don't think that I will add the images since I'm challenging myself not to use images but only words. I decided to mess up the words. For example, one word with 3 different fonts and all in different angles and sizes. And also, I was learning to warp the text in a good looking away. I also plan to add on BAHASA ROJAK in the background just for texture.

Fg.1.7 Bahasa Rojak Poster (in progress)

I redo the whole poster in Adobe illustrator and I have to admit that the feedback really helps a lot. The poster really look much better than it uses to be. Last but not least, I export the file to PSD which is Photoshop file and adds on the wrinkle paper texture.

Fg.1.8 Bahasa Rojak Poster (Final)

This is my final outcome for this project. I feel quite satisfied with this as I said I don't really like and do this kind of stuff, but I think I had done it. From this project, I have learned that sometimes we have to try something new. When you were trying to do new stuff, you might create something which surprises yourself, its like you had unlocked a new skill. Also, get feedback from others might help you to improve your work a lot. You can't just do anything by yourself without listening to others. Because you might make mistake which you can't see it but others can. Despite that, you should have your own opinion, don't just follow what people say. Do it if you think it might help you work, ignore if you don't agree with it because this is our own design but not theirs.

Here is the PDF version of Bahasa Rojak Poster:

Project 2

For Project 2, we were required to create a self-portrait. Before we start this project, we were encouraged to go somewhere which having a mixture of traditional in KL. We needed to study a culture and apply it to our self-portrait.
For this self-portrait project, we have to ask ourself the questions below:
- Who am I
- How has culture affected me?
- How do others see me?
- How do I see myself?
I decided to create something related to fate or destiny because I'm a person who always believes that everything happens with a reason and we have the change to change it. The message that I wanna bring to the audience is, our fate is on our hands, we can decide who we want to be. Hence, I started to do some sketches.

Fg.1.1 My sketches (first idea)

 Originally, I was just planning to draw a hand (my right hand) and play with texture and complementary colors. In the end, I feel like its too empty and it doesn't bring out the message. So I decided to sketch more and I plan to draw my face with split into half and drawing by one line. Suddenly, I feel like I can combine both ideas together. And then I started to create this piece.

Fg1.2 Sketch

Fg.1.3 Outline with artline pen

Fg.1.4 Paint with watercolour

Fg.1.5 Paint with acrylic

Fg.1.6 Write some message and thicker the outline

After I finished this piece, I don't feel like it is something I want. I was really upset and I decided to create another one. Back in the first step, I decided to sketch a new idea with the same concept and same message but different design.

Fg.1.7 Sketches (second idea)

I was trying to apply Buddhist culture in this design, as the pattern in the background is something like the light behind Siddhārtha Gautama. Also, I plan to paint the background which had texture and colour like ancient all painting.

Eg. Sculpture of Siddhārtha Gautama.

Eg. Ancient wall painting

After some research and plan, I started my second piece as fast as possible as I'm running out of time.

Fg.1.8 Sketch

Fg.1.9 Do masking

Fg.2.0 Paint with acrylic (first layer)

Fg.2.1 Paint with acrylic (second and third layer)

Fg.2.2 Final outcome (before cutting out)

In this design you can see there are 2 types of hand, the obvious one is like a punch and the not obvious one is like a palm. The pattern at the background represents something like a magic seal that controls/locks our fate or destiny. The palm is pushing away the seal and become a punch which means our fate is on our hand. Hold it and be what you want to be. The hand in this piece is actually my left hand as you can see there is some stroke on it, those are the scars on my left hand.

The design principles that I was trying to apply are harmony in colour, lines, patterns, repetition, texture, and contrast. As you can see, this work is full of textures as I tried to paint it with brushes, fingers, pallet knife and some random tools. Different textures will be created when you use different types of tools to paint. The main colour in this work is yellow, brown, and black which are warm colour and this means the colours are harmony. For the background, other than the textures, there is patterns created by lines and repetition. The magic seal was created by the repetition of triangles, dots, and cubes.

Week 9 (24 /10/19 ) : Ilham Gallery Visit

Week 9 (21 /10/19): Symbol, Image & Words

Symbol
A mark, sign or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, object, or relationship.

Types of Symbol:

1. Pictorial symbols- Appear as the real-world feature, although it is often in a generalized manner

2. Functional symbols-  It represents the activity that takes place at the represented feature. 

3. Conceptual symbols- It represents a concept related to the represented feature.

4. Conventional symbols- It doesn't have any intuitive relationship but is so commonly used that map readers eventually learn to recognize them.

5. Abstract/ Geometric symbols- Arbitrary shapes chosen by the cartographer to represent a certain feature.

Image
A visual representation of the external form of a person or thing in art.

Types of Image：
1. Monochrome- Monochrome is used to describe design or photographs in one color or different shades of a single color.
2. Flat- Flat design is a minimalistic approach that focuses on simplicity and usability. It tends to feature plenty of open space, crisp edges, bright colors, and two-dimensional illustrations.
3. Vector- Vector images made up of points, lines, and curves. All of the shapes within a vector are calculated using a mathematical equation which means the image can scale in size without losing any quality.
4. Knolling- The act of arranging different objects so that they are at 90-degree angles from each other, then photographing them from above. It creates a very symmetrical look that feels pleasing to the eye.
5. Skeuomorphism- Skeuomorphism is when a digital element is designed to look like a replica of the physical work.
6. Crop- When you crop an image, you’re cutting away and discarding the unnecessary portions of the image. Cropping allows you to change the emphasis or direction of an image.
7. Contrast- Contrast occurs when two elements on a page are different. For example, it could be different colors between the text and the background color or dark vs. light colors.
8. Blur- Blur makes images more unclear or less distinct. Using a blur can be a great way to make text stand out when overlaid onto an image.
9. Saturation- Saturation refers to the intensity or purity of a color. The more saturated a color is, the more vivid or brighter it appears. Whereas desaturated colors, appear a little duller.
10. Opacity- Opacity enables us to make an element of a design transparent. The lower the opacity, the more transparent an element is.

Words:
The art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable, and appealing when displayed.

How are words used in design? 
- Words are used to emphasize on a theme or message that the designer is trying to convey.
- Entices the readers to engage with the text. When it is done well, it enhances the message it presents.

For this week's exercise, we need to create something related to symbol, image or word. Definitely, I will choose image since I like to take photos. I decided to use the photo that I took before and play around with them for this exercise.

Fg.8.1 A Journey 2019

I name this photo as A Journey because as a kid growing up in an old village, we always cycle and play around with friends which is very memorable. It is very obvious that I took a one-point perspective photo. The colourful plastic wind wheel does bring out a sense of movement. The direction of the light source created the shadow of the fence and the bicycle on the ground created contrast with the ground. As the main object in this photo is the bicycle, the front part looks clearly than the behind part, this does applied blur principles.

Fg.8.2 Part of Family

There is a long story behind this photo. When I was passing the street and trying to take a photo of this aunty making noodles, a huge old dog rushed to me and bark at me. I was scared and shocked. The aunty just whispered "shhhhh... it's ok", then the dog suddenly sat down in front of the aunty. I don't know what happen and I started to think that maybe this is her dog. The aunty started to talk to me and we had a very long conversation. From our conversation, I get to know that her husband had pass away few years ago and this was his husband's dog. They grow it up since it was just a puppy. when his husband passed away and on the way to burry the dog was following the car all the way. When the dog heard someone talking something bad about her, the dog went to bite them. This is really a very touching story. When I ask the aunty either I can take a photo of her and her dog, they aunty say yes. The dog was laying on the floor and when he heard it, he immediately raised up his head. This was really surprised me. I took this photo in monochrome version to bring out the emotion (sad and touching feeling). One of the design principles that occur in this photo is contrast, the object at the front which supposed to be focus is brighter and the area at the back which is useless is darker.

Fg.8.3 Buddha Light

There is no behind story for this photo. I went to the temple in my hometown and I just want to take a photo of this because it looks very nice. I always go to this temple when I feel lost or struggling. This photo is taken from one-point perspective and it is symmetry. Left and right of the photo look the same and this shows symmetry. Also, the colours in this photo are similar and this shows harmony.

Fg.8.4 Lotus Light

This is a very simple photo. I took this photo during this year Wesak Day when I went to DongZen Temple for praying. I was trying to take some photos which show contrast in colours. As you can see, the main colour in this photo is yellow and pink which are complementary colour in colour wheel. Also, this photo does show a bit of blur effect as I was focusing at the middle part. The other design principle that applied in this photo is repetition, (the repeat of lotus light). Other than that, I can see texture too, the repeating of lotus light fills the frame and created a sense of texture for this photo.

After showing some of the photo that I took, I decided to create a new photo with other photos that I took by using Adobe Photoshop. I decided to play with monochrome and opacity. When I was choosing photo, I saw Fg.8.5 and it reminds me of when I was young my father used to bring me out early in the morning just to have breakfast.

Fg.8.5 Breakfast with father

Suddenly, I think of something that my mother always complaining about. She always complains that why the uncles (include my father) always like to eat outside even there is breakfast prepared at home. I was thinking about it but I couldn't give an answer. So I found another two photos which can apply to this concept which is Fg.8.6 and Fg8.7.

Fg.8.6 Waiting

Fg.8.7 Preparation

Fg.8.7 Preparation, this photo was taken in my mother's grandmother house. She is already 80 years old plus and nearly 90. The doctor said that she is still healthy and we are happy for her. Her house is really old as it experienced world war 2. After I got all the photos, I started to collage them in Adobe Photoshop.

Process 1

Process 2

Process 3

Fg.8.8 Uncle's Breakfast

This photo shows an Indian guy flipping Roti Canai, an uncle waiting for food and also a woman who is cooking. As I mentioned before, the concept of this photo is about the uncles in Malaysia always like to go out for breakfast/lunch even their wife had prepared food. Roti Canai is a very common Indian food that Malaysians like to eat as breakfast and I think it does really shows the situation happening nowadays.

Week 8 (14 /10/19 ): Harmony, Rhythm  & Movement

Harmony

The pleasing agreement of parts or combination of parts in a composition 

- adjacent colours

- similar shapes

- related textures

Rhythm
Continuity, recurrence or organized movement in space & time. Sequence is the experience of the rhythm. One space may have several different rhythms

- regular rhythm
- random rhythms
- alternating rhythms
- flowing rhythm
- progressive rhythm

Movement
The path the viewer's eye takes through the work of art, often to focal areas. Such movement can be directed along lines, edges, shapes, and colors within the work of art.

For this week's exercise, we were asked to collect some collage materials to do a collage artwork but we have to apply harmony, rhythm or movement into our work. I collected some newspapers and magazines for this exercise. I was flipping around the magazines and newspapers to see what I have and what I can do with it. In the end, I saw many photos of people playing sports or dancing so I decided to do something related to movement.

I saw this on google and I feel like I want to create something like this but with an additional photo of people dancing.

Fg.7.1 Cutting out the part that I want

Fg.7.2 setting up the composition

I was inspired by this poster that shown on the slide and I decided to create some small triangle pieces to add on to my design

Fg.7.3 cutting out small triangle pieces for extra design

Fg.7.4 Searching for words or alphabets that I can use

Fg.7.5 Beautiful Design and Art

For my design, I'm trying to tell that dance is not just a dance, dance is a kind of art and design. It is a design and art of movement. I use part of the paragraph to cut out the silhouette of the lady who is dancing at the center to show that dance can tell a story which also mean that art and design can tell a story.

Week 7 ( 7/10/19 ): Line, Dots, Scale and Size

This week my group is the one who going to give a lecture on the topic Line, Dots, Scale and Size. We prepared a slide as shown below:

This week's exercise is easy but also not that easy. We were required to create a piece of artwork by using lines, dots or apply scale and size principles. I was having a hard time to have an idea because I didn't prepare well before attending the class. I decided to start with some random sketch better than do nothing and waiting for the idea. 

I tried to draw my friend who sit beside me with blind contour method. Which is looking at him but try to not look at the paper and finish the drawing in 1 line. I learned this method during 2Dimensional class in Foundation.

Fg.6.1 Anders (Line)

Hence, I wanna try something more challenging which is drawing the Avengers Endgame poster in 1 line. This is not the original artwork but I just feel like I want to try.

Fg.6.2 Avengers Endgame poster (Line)

After I played with the line, I feel like I want to try on pointillism too. So, I went to borrow the paintbrush and watercolor from my friends and start to think about
what to paint.

Example of pointillism ( I was thinking to create something like this but with light colour ) 

I'm also a person who likes to make my audience to think about my artwork but not just look at them and they already know what is that. I decided to create something which can look like a horizontal piece or even a vertical piece.

Fg.6.3 Imagination (Vertical)

Fg.6.4 Imagination (Horizontal)

Why I name it as Imagination is, it does look like incomplete artwork but actually, it is completed. Normal people will just think that blue is sky, green is grass and grey is road, that's it. But there is some people who would like to imagine there is a building at the center of the artwork. In my imagination, there is a Eiffel tower, in my friend's imagination, there is a wood house. Different people will think in a different way and some people just think that this is an abstract artwork. The more creative you are, the more you can see.

Last but not least, I tried again to draw my friend Anders with lines but not in one line because it can't see my effort. This time I decided to draw something like what my group shown in the slide.

Example of artwork created by Lines.

Fg.6.5 Anders (Lines)

I tried to apply different types of lines in this piece to create different textures. Also in this piece, you can see that the lesser the space between the lines, the area looks darker and it brings out the mass and volume.

Week 6 ( 30/9/19 ): Alignment, Hierarchy, Direction & Perspective 

Alignment- 

The placement of visual elements so they line up in composition. 

- organize and group elements

- create balance

-  create structure

- create a connection between two elements

- create sharp and clear outcome

The two type of alignment:

Edge Alignment 

Center Alignment

The example of good alignment and bad alignment:

Good Alignment

Bad Alignment

Other than that, there is also mixed alignment which is applied center alignment and edge alignment at the same time.

Mixed Alignment

Simple Alignment and Complex Alignment:

- alignment can be either simple or complex 

- commonly achieved with the use of grid 

- grids can ensure accurate alignment and consistency 

Hieracrchy-

- add structure 
- create a visual organization
- create direction
- add emphasis
- help the viewer navigate and understand the information easily

Hierarchy in scale:

- The main object will be the largest or to make a certain object more outstanding.

Example of hierarchy in scale

Hierarchy in colour/contrast:

- colour can be used to detect the distance, brighter colour represents far while darker colour represent near when the background is bright. Bright colour with bright background show less contrast and the object would not show up that obvious but when darker colour with bright background, the contrast is high and the object will show up very obvious and it allows people can see clearly. 

Example of a dark object with a bright background and bright object with dark background

Hierarchy in perspective:

- with playing with scale and contrast, it allow to show perspective too 

- The bigger the object, the nearer it is; the smaller the object, the farther it is.

- The higher the contrast between the object and the background, the nearer it is; the lesser the contrast between the object and the background, the farther it is.

Example of hierarchy in perspective 

Direction-

- a basic element in design that guides the viewer's eyes from an area to another

- there are 3 types of direction which are:

1. Horizontal (to left or right, suggest calmness stability, tranquility)

2. Vertical (to up or down, show balance, formality)

3. Oblique (with a certain angle, suggest movement or angles)

Example of direction

Perspective-

- perspective indicates depth in a two-dimensional image

There are 2 types of perspective:
1. Linear perspective- method of using lines to show the illusion of depth in a picture, for example, 1 point perspective, 2 point perspective, and 3 point perspective.

Example of 3 point perspective

Example of 1 point perspective

Example of 2 point perspective

2. Nonlinear perspective- a technique of depicting volumes and spatial relationships on flat surface. there are 3 types of nonlinear perspective such as size variation, colour, and value.

For size variation, the object in the front looks bigger than the object at the back.

Example of size variation

The bright colour looks like they are closer while the neutral colours look like they are farther away.

Example of  color

Lighter values look like they are farther back and darker values look like they are closer.

Example of value

Exercise of this week, we need to collect some recycle materials to create something about alignment, hierarchy, direction, and perspective. It can be 2D or 3D as long as it is on an A4 paper. I have no idea about this exercise so I started to look at what materials I have. Then, I started to play around with the materials and I feel like I can build something 3D and play with perspective. Hence, I decided to create a "building" so I started to sketch in my notebook. I realized that I can make a building like an ancient temple.

Fg.5.1 One of the Indonesia Ancient Temple

Fg.5.2 Materials

Fg.5.3 Create texture

Fg.5.4 Cut out windows

Fg.5.5 Make Stairs

Fg.5.5 Glasses of window

Fg.5.6 Paste the window

Fg.5.7 Decoration

Fg.5.8 Final Product

Fg.5.9 Final Outcome after Photoshop

Week 5 ( 23/9/19 ): Pattern，Repetition，Texture & Surface

In this week, we were given a lecture about pattern, repetition, texture, and surface by our classmate. 

Pattern ：The repetition of anything such as shape, line, color. Pattern can be known as the repeating unit of shape or form. Compositional grids are most commonly created using vertical and horizontal lines. There are many types of pattern:

- spheres
- mosaics/ nests
- lattices
- polyhedra
- spirals
- branching
- waves
- symmetry fractals

Repetition: Repetition occur when we repeating using something again and again. Repetition can be created by repeated lines, dots, shapes and anything else. There are two types of repetition which is regular repetition and irregular repetition.

Texture: The surface quality of a 2D or 3D volume. An artwork with texture will give us a sense of touch through our vision. We can get different texture from different technic that we apply to our artwork. There are many types of texture:

- physical/ actual texture 
- simulated texture
- invented texture
- subversive texture

Exercise for this week, we have to create something about pattern with vegetables and fruits. We have to apply paint on the surface of vegetables or fruits and print it on an A4 size paper. It is something like printmaking but low budget printmaking. 

Fg. 4.1 Preparation of materials and tools

Fg. 4.2 Print with Orange slice

Fg. 4.3 Print with leaves

Fg. 4.4 Fingerprint

Fg. 4.5 The final product

For this exercise, I decided to do something very easy. I did some research about surface design on google and I got some ideas. I decided to use an orange slice and leaves to conduct this exercise. The color chosen is orange and blue. This two-color make this piece look very attractive. After I printed with leaves, I realize it was still too blank, so I use my finger to make some blueprint in the empty space.

Week 3 ( 9/9/19 ): Symmetry, Asymmetry & Balance

This week, we studied about Symmetry, Asymmetry, and Balance. For what I understand about Symmetry before this class is something with both sides are equal/same. Asymmetry is the opposite of symmetry, which is both sides are not equal/same. Before this class, I have really no idea for balance. 

There is 3 type of Symmetry:

The different of Symmetry and Asymmetry:

Due to lack of understanding of Balance, I went to google about it. This I what I found and I finally understand about it: 

 Balance is the distribution of the visual weight of objects, colors, texture, and space. If the design was a scale, these elements should be balanced to make a design feel stable

 The Example of Balance:
 

For this week exercise, we are finally allowed to play with colors. The materials that we are allowed to use is watercolor and pastel. As usual, the artwork can only be in A4 size.

Fg. 3.1 Sketch

I decided to make a symmetry poster by using watercolor. Firstly, I sketch my idea on my notebook then I camscan it and transfer to my laptop. Then I use photoshop to separate my design into half. After that, I copy-paste it and flip it and combine it to the other side.

Fg. 3.2 Print, Trace

Fg. 3.3 Paint

Fg. 3.4 Make a white Dot on the eyes, this is a very meaningful step while painting a dragon.

Fg.3.5 Spraypaint it to make protection and bring out the colors.

Fg.3.6 麒麟 (Qilin)

Why I chose to paint a symmetry Qilin portrait is because I wanted to create something like my contrast poster as it is quite symmetrical. I tried my best to apply complementary color in this poster but it doesn't look that well as I'm not good at watercolor. At the same time, I'm colorblind. I had also tried my best to keep it symmetrical but it is really hard as I said I'm not good at watercolor. The tentacle of the dragon is a bit off, probably because my paper moved when I was tracing and I didn't realize about it. I had learned a lesson which is, check your drawing properly before started to paint. Why I choose Qilin? Qilin is an ancient mythological animal. Qilin is not only a dragon, but it is the combination of moose, phoenix, turtle, and dragon. Qilin has the head of dragon, the body of moose, the tail of a cow, and horseshoe. Chinese people believe that if you see Qilin, something good is going to happen. Qilin also representing longevity and peace. I purposely paint my Qilin in a very colorful way to attract people, so that people can see it easily and something good is going to happen to them.

Week 2 ( 2/9/19 ): Gestalt

In the second class of this module, we learn about Gestalt. For what I understand about Gestalt is two or more things that we can see in one thing. For example, an artwork which shows A but we can see B and C from that A. Gestalt can be easy to read but also hard depends on what the artist wants to show.

There are 5 types of gestalt theory which are:

1. Proximity

2. Similarity

3. Closure

4. Good Continuation

5. Common Fate

For this week, of course, there is exercise. We were asked to create a gestalt poster on A4 size paper. We can only use black marker pen for this exercise. 

Fg. 2.1 Sketch

Fg. 2.2 Draw

Fg. 2.3 "paint" it with black marker

Fg. 2.4 Be Yourself

Fg. 2.4 Be Yourself is my final product for this exercise. In this poster, you can clearly see showerhead splashing out water and the water form a person at the middle of right side. You can also see the heater, a water tank on the ground, water coming out from the water tank. I apply contrast in this poster to show the wall and the ground. This poster is not really that simple, you can actually see a huge antique phone build-up by showerhead, heater and also water tank. There is a very deep meaning inside this poster. The water splashing out from the showerhead/antique phone is actually people's saliva. Sometimes we might be very lost and worry that people don't like us as some people like to comment about others. They always ask us to change this change that. But in the end, we have the right to decide who we want to be, just like water. Live like what you want it to be just like when you are showering. Why shower? Because most people usually live in their own world while showering. How I got this idea is, I was very headache and do not know what to do for this exercise. I was struggling for a few hours and I decided to take a shower first. When I was showering I look up the ceiling and talk to myself "ugh... Why is this so hard!". Suddenly I saw the showerhead and the idea slowly come to me. This is how I form this poster.

Week 1 ( 26/8/19 ): Contrast

On the first class for this module, our lecturer Ms.Sherry introduce and explain what we gonna do for this module. We can refer to MIB for materials require, lecture class's topic, exercise brief and more on TIMES. Then we had an activity which is interview and draw the person beside us. After that, we have to introduce our new friend in the class.

After everyone introduced their new friend, we started the first lecture which is contrast. We can play contrast in many ways such as colors, size, pattern, angle and so on. Ms.Sherry did show us a lot of example for contrast.

Before the class end, we were given an exercise which required us to create a paper cut black and white contrast poster on an A4 size paper. I started to sketch some ideas in my notebook. I have a lot of ideas for this exercise but I only did 3 of it due to lack of time.

Fg. 1.1 Lost in The City

Fg. 1.1 is my first piece for this exercise. Sadly, I forgot to take some photo of my process. I very enjoyed and into it. I finished this piece in 30mins since I just randomly cut out some squares and rectangles. The rectangles are representing the city or wall. I scrap some part of the black paper to bring out a sense of texture. At the middle of the right side, the is a man with YWJ on the body, holding a j. This man is actually me. I'm really lost and don't know what to do at the moment, I felt like I had messed up my whole life. So in this poster, that guy is searching for the alphabets YWJ as I want to find myself. YWJ is the short form of my name Yeoh Wen Jun. As I said, that guy is already holding a j but not J, the j can't fit into his body, which mean it's not the right j. This is to represent I thought I had found part of myself but not really.

Fg. 1.2 Sketch and Cut

Fg. 1.3 Arrange and Stick

Fg. 1.4 Junny The Husky

Fg. 1.2 to Fg. 1.4 is my second design for this exercise. I'm doing illustration on Instagram, I'm the owner of @junny_the.husky. I was thinking to do an "advertisement" while presenting this piece in the class. But at the end, I feel like this is not challenging enough so I decided to make another piece.

Fg. 1.5 Flip, Print, Trace

Fg. 1.6 Cut

Fg. 1.7 Paste connected part

Fg. 1.8 Paste unconnected part

Fg. 1.9 貔貅 (PiXiu)

Fg. 1.9 is my final piece for this exercise. I chose this piece to present in the class because this is very challenging and worth to share it to my classmate. I took at least 6hours to finish this piece and my fingers were hurt. The piece really brought me a sense of accomplishment. Why this design? Why this "monster"? Because I love Chinese culture very much and this is actually my design for printmaking class in Foundation. Contrast plays a very important role in printmaking, we must understand contrast very well to form a good artwork. This is actually a lucky beast call PiXiu, it is one of the son of Sea Dragon King. In Feng Shui, it helps people to change bad fortune to good fortune, which is very good for us. Nowadays, many people are wearing PiXiu design jade necklace because they believe PiXiu will help them change their fortune. However, I did learn a bit of Fengshui, different colour of PiXiu match different type of people and also male and female PiXiu is for different function. Female PiXiu is for dead people, to take care of their graveyard. We should not wear the stuff related to Fengshui randomly. Get advice from professionals before you get one.