Design Principle - Project 2

  Week 9 - 19th October 2021

Loh Shu Huan / 0349621
Design Principle / 

Bachelor of Design in Creative Media

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Lecture:

A designer's role is to solve problems with effective visual communication. The "problems" that a designer solve are aplenty, all of them are solve through creative, visual communication means, such as the application that design for individual use or the poster that is design to inform of promote to public.

The importance of observation 

Being observant means to be attentive to your surroundings, to pay attention to the details and to be analytical about them. Observation can be an effective way to get ideas for a designer. Sources of observation can stem from artefacts, daily happenings, physical surroundings, and such.

8 Ways to Improve Your Powers of Observation 

1. Know you subject.
2. Slow down and look outward.
3. Try something new.
4. Improve your concentration by cutting out distraction.
5. Challenge yourself to a mental workout.
6. Test your observation by playing a memory game.
7. Record and consider your observation.
8. Stay inquisitive!

Observing is an active act of acquiring information, through the senses, of a subject matter in its natural setting. It's important to designers as it enables them to see "problem", as well as getting ideas for solutions to those problems.

Our sense are important for us to know, feel, understand, analyse, and even plan what we want to do.

"All we have to believe is our senses: the tools we use to perceive the world, our sight, our touch, our memory. If they lie to us, then nothing can be trusted." - Neil Gaiman

Sense of Place

• Think about the place you're in now, or a place you had spend some time at previously, or, a place that had created a lasting memory in you.
• How do you express your sense of that place
• Start by documenting your observations - photographs, diary , talking to relevant people, etc.
• Creating a mind map to brainstorm the ideas.
• The medium can be collage, illustration (manual/digital), scale model.

Fig 1.1-2 Example of Sense of Place (sources: Pinterest)

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Idea Exploration:

While doing visual research, I found that there is lot of different style and different way of expression to express the feelings and the emotions of the work. The style of the design that I want to achieve is these kind of unconstrained style which I'm able to add the things that in my imagination.

Fig 1.3 - 4 Photo Reference (sources: Pinterest)

This little mind-map is to present what did I do and how I feel when I was in my little world.

Fig 1.5 Mind-map, 21 Oct.2021

This is the first place where I live by myself. This place is small but it carries a lot of my memories and emotions. Even though I haven't lived here for a long time, I can still remember the things in this place. There are not many photos of this small room, but some are occasionally taken photos and recorded videos.

Fig 1.6 - 7 Pieces of Memory, 21 Oct.2021

I want to focus at a corner in this little room which is the bed with the fairy lights.

Fig 1.8 Photo of the Bed, 21 Oct.2021

Fig 1.9 -10 Photo of the Bed, 21 Oct.2021

The reason that I selected this little corner in my room is this corner carries a lot of my emotions, I woke up and fall asleep in this place. This corner was cosy and warm which was my favourite corner in my room.

Fig 1.11 Sketch of Idea, 21 Oct.2021

Fig 1.12 Sketch of Idea, 21 Oct.2021

After receiving feedback from Ms.JinChi, I focused on a corner of the bed with the angle of sleeping in the bed. Ms. JinChi suggested me to use word and image but I found the image quality is quite low and a bit blur so I chose to use illustration to present it.

Fig 1.13 Final Outcome, 28 Oct.2021

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Final Outcome PDF:

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Reflection:

The ability of observe need a lot of practice and time. As a beginner of design, I found that having senses of things is really important, that's the way we can get more ideas. I will keep exploring and observing, no matter if I will succeed in becoming a designer in the future.