WEEK 5---Wheeee! My state of progress

Now its week 5 already...more than half the term over, YAY! Haha.. just a Little more, a little more to go =) jia you!

This week’s check in was to draw out our ‘State of Art and Progress’ Map, or SOAP. So cute lah, the name Soap! I even drew out(or tried to) a piece of soap at the top! Okay I know I’m pretty lame, but that’s me=p Its like a map of the status of all our projects in VDS, IA, DS, HTI...and as you can see, it is either I have too little confidence in myself, or there’s alot more work I need to do, or Maybe, both. Hee. Oh ya, I decided to use not too much colours this time, make it look somewhat neater, and erm, more ‘sophisticated’.

IA-This is my most dreaded nightmare man! Muahahaha...(see the pic beside with all the stickman pulling my eyeball apart!)...its killing me slowly... ok ok, probably not so jialat lah, I’m exaggerating. Still, it is really hard for me to get the hang of how to use the flash software. REALLY hard. It is just like when I started learning illustrator and photoshop, except Worse, cos its animated. Geesh. Maybe I need to attend ‘Adobe Flash for kids’ or something. And I probably won’t be able to catch up in that class either =p But I’m trying Hard...I hope Something will get into my head after all those class exercises, and I’ve been asking the lecturer loads of questions-I hope she won’t get fed up! LOL For illustrator, I’m still not very good at it, but I do understand the basic stuff. So I hope it’ll be like that for Flash too=) Must stay positive! =) As for the assignment, the e-card thingy, I’ll start simple, create a character, and then lots of consultation so that I won’t get too stuck. ^.^

DS- This one is like an extreme rollercoaster, like the pic. All the way up sometimes, and all the way Down at other time. Because it’s quite unpredictable if I’m going to draw something nice or something totally ‘Bleah’(disastrous!). For me, drawing well comes with inspiration, and inspiration only comes Sometimes, the times when I’m not worrying what others may think . And I realise that my sub-conscious can draw better than my conscious mind. Meaning, If I keep concentrating so hard and worrying that my piece won’t come out well, it will Not turn out nice. But if I just relax and do it like, without stress, it’ll turn out fab! Music helps too, it relaxes me, and distracts me from thinking negative thoughts. Talking on the phone while drawing is also not bad, hehe!

For the DS illustration assignment, I have a theme in mind already, and now I’m in the research cum incubation stage. Have been Googling, finding inspiration. I’m thinking about how to make my piece Unique. Like, not what everyone can think of immediately, but something that can provoke a deeper thought, something with Meaning.

VDS-Okay, maybe you can’t really see what’s the picture about. Its actually a stickman(me)-Oh ya you must be wondering why I only draw stickman...cos I’m terrible at drawing real ppl thats why, aack! =p- running towards a trophy...and there’s a really loooong road to it. The pair of eyes represent that I can see my goal, but Its so Far away! And Its so hard to get to it, I’m Panting as I run. Interpreting it, it shows that for my VDS font assignment, I’ve got It, the idea, the method, the design. But there’s still so much to do to achieve it! And I’m getting tired and quite stressed too, cos the deadline is coming soon.. But perseverance is the Key! And I’m gonna run till I get there!

HTI-I drew this pic before I handed up the Essay 1a, so the burden is less heavy now. But still, as in the pic, I feel squashed by all the work. Its kind of my fault lah, cos I let the journal writing pile up. Last term was still okay, I wrote each journal on time and it didn’t feel so much like a mass of rocks on top of me. But this term I was so caught up with all the other projects that I got abit laid back with the journal writing. I need to catch up with the writing! Get rid of all those ‘rocks’ suffocating me!


Alrighty...I think this entry is Packed with enough words! Hehe..Hope you don’t get too bored reading it yea. I still have not done my creativity model thingy, still not so sure how. Now need to focus more on the Font project 1st...

TTFN! (Tata for now) =)

P.S. OH! Forgot to talk about the ‘half glass empty or full’ thingy, I wrote that cos I wanted to figure out my mental state, whether I think positively or negatively, I know I underline ‘empty’. I was feeling quite disappointed in myself at the time, veering towards ‘ARRRGGGG!’. But now its getting Better. Smiles* =)

Some of my stuffs...=P

Hehe..I just looked throught my blog and urgh! so boring...quite. so thought Ill just add some pics or mistakes=p I know, some not so nice, but its MISTAKES mah. Enjoy!trying out different stuff for the VDS font assignment...

and this is just a funny pic from my POEMS diary for XDM, LOL..Huge toilet sign near the library!

Week 4-----The Stress Monster Attacks!

I know i know! My blogging is late by a week =p! Last week was HECTIC.. quite a few submissions. My brain juice was sucked dry by the HTI essay assignment! Still managed to pump out something thought, hope its okay=)

So.. We were supposed to check in for the lesson with this deep doodle(oh ya, I read up on the deep doodle instructions and found it quite interesting...something i’d like to do IF I got more free time! =p) of how our emotions changes when we’re doing things we learn well, and things we don’t.

It was soo easy to think of something I didn’t learn well, but in this case, since it was school and all, I picked Illustrator. It was a HORROR when I started learning it in class last Sem! I couldn’t keep up with what the teacher was doing AT ALL...*click, click, click! They make it seem so easy when they do it. BUT, when I tried, everything just goes wrong. Maybe the com doesn’t really like me??....hmm... So I dreaded every lesson, and AFTER every lesson I was totally deflated =( This is where the negative mindsets sets in. Especially when the others(classmates) seem to get the hang of it immediately..(geniuses, they must be!). Whenever I feel disappointed in myself, the emotions will gather in my stomach...or around there. No appetite to eat then...terrible! And in my mind I’ll keep thinking about how lousy I was, not being able to do it...

Now for the happy things, things I learnt well. I thought about it, and realised that things i learnt WELL might not necessarily mean I’m really good at it, it just simply means I’m HAPPY =) while doing it. Of course, If i’m happy, i’ll naturally do better. Learning the guitar was something I really enjoyed...at first, it was rough, and I did feel quite depressed when I realised my progress was slow. But then slowly, and I didn’t even realise, it got better =) I didn’t feel stressed while learning how to play a tune, or memorise a note. It was all at my own time. And there were no high expectations, just little milestones I achieved as I go along. It is FUN =) Having a positive mindset really helped, and the encouragement from my friends too, of course! If I’m feeling positive, I’ll feel excited that I will improve, and the feeling builds up in my chest...Its like I’m BLOATED=) In a good way. Kinda like floating, feet not touching the ground.. Wheeeee!!!
I don’t really understand the creativity map thing, but is it like an analogy of how I learn? I suppose so>? I’ll try to think of that and let you know =)

My BODY Map =)

My BODY map =) I think it was soooper fun, this exercise! I begin to imagine myself having all the different kinds of emotions I usually have, and trying to figure out where in my body I’d feel them the most. Incredibly, I just knew where they all fit... Mainly, the anger, stress or anything unpleasant starts at my head, as I usually get Terrible headaches because of it. The happy feelings are centred around my chest and torso areas, especially if I’m excited! I get all bubbly in my stomach and usually lose my appetite, in a good way of course =) the being ‘blur’ part I probably would feel it all over my body, since my arms and legs won’t listen to me when I’m feeling confused. Wibble-wobble!

The other doodles are just...well, doodles! Haha. Actually hor, you know something? I read once that doodling while having lessons can help us to focus better, and absorb more too! Just a cool thing to note=)

Gotta run!..Sleepy time Zzzzz

Examples! Analogy

Now, for the examples of Analogies...it was pretty hard to find analogies online (maybe I typed the wrong keywords?) but I think I found a couple... May not be right=p I’ll just post them up.

a clock design analogy...It refers to the intricacy of the design of the clock- they say that if there is a design, then there must also be a designer. this is quite deep, and I took awhile to come up with my own interpretation. I think it represents life itself and how it came about. how we came about. It probably refers to a higher being-God?- who created us. Because if a creation (us) exist, then its creator(God) must also exist right? Using a clock to define that probably shows how we are carefully and intricately moulded and individually made by God.

This 2nd.. I'm not really sure if it counts. What I can infer from this picture is probably the most simplistic and basic analogy of emotions-colour. The colour of the smiley faces (so cuuteee!) reflects the mood that is shown on the face. Red for anger/being upset, green for 'expressionless', because green is a very calm and serene colour (think nature), and yellow for happiness (yay!) Anyone can understand what the message of this pic is immediately, I think =)

I don't really get this picture either...I suppose its sorta talking about modernity? The plug and wire symbolises electricity, which is something we in this modern society cannot live without. The bicycle thingy is something from the past, way back, and represents the old. By connecting the 'electricity' to the old bike, it shows a combination and merging of the old and the new.

My reflection on Analogy...

Okay...Now I’m trying to get down to finding the analogies. So far, what i know of analogies is that there are 2 types- Logical and Psychological. Hmmm..I still don’t really get what they mean exactly, but I’ll try to explain what I know yea.

Logical analogies consist of design and functional analogies, meaning that these analogies are obvious and easy to understand. One look and you’ll know what that picture is saying, the message it’s trying to convey.

Psychological analogies play with our perceptions, our viewpoints, our minds. It is not easy to understand what the message is all about, because such analogies usually comes from the creator’s emotions, his own thoughts and feelings. Psychological analogies are sensory, born from emotions, they are symbolic, metaphors, or even fantasy. Most abstract art are psychological analogies.

My creative process...When I first think about a problem, there’ll be many MANY ideas popping into my head at once...really they all come suddenly! But most of the ideas are really just random thoughts, and might not really work in the end, or maybe they can work, but are not good enough=( After the blizzard of ideas, I’ll find myself in a rut, and the thoughts will stop coming just as suddenly as they came . urgh. You know how that feels...or maybe you don’t, since you’re our cher =p

When I find myself stuck (!) I’ll naturally begin to look around...at other people’s ideas. Not really to copy, but yet maybe also in some sense, because as I said before, we all learn by copying. =p Sometimes, from looking around, I’ll think of new ideas or better ideas. But dunno why hor nowadays I just feel a LITTLE BIT intimidated after seeing other people’s brilliant ideas. Lol...must be of course..too STRESS LAH!!

So far...

A short post to talk about how's school for me so far, in particular DCC of course =p

Well...I supposed its an understatement to say that its been pretty stressful and busy for the only the first 3 weeks of school! But, I think most of the projects just needs consistent work, for me to be able to produce something good, or at least acceptable =p So, today I tried to sort out which assignments i need to do first, by writing them all out...and wah!!! The number of homework is indeed ALOT. O.O

Sorry cher, I didn't have the time (nor strength) to update on my week for last week's post...hehe, you must be wondering why so many of us are complaining about the workload...it must be true if everyone is saying it then! =p I'm wondering...what would design school be like if we have NO homework at all??? Chaos...or heaven? =)P
Of course, it'll never happen lah. Just a daydream..poof!

Anyway, just wanna say that this week's lecture about psychology and design was really helpful and insightful =) Its really interesting that we can in fact learn about how the human mind work, and to see that there's a similar pattern to how all of us generate thoughts. It helped alot for the HTI seminar too, especially that part where we talk about thought processes, and how having too much info but not sorting them out is not going to work. Cos you see, we had like so much, too much actually, info for the project, until it was soo messy and we just didn't know how to organise all of it. Luckily after DCC we quickly stopped looking around for info, but to start looking at what we have in our hands instead...and I think (hope) our presentation was okay in the end^.^

will post my doodle or other pics asap! =)

Visceral-Behavioural-Reflective

Think about the interplay/interaction of the Visceral, Behavioural and Reflective layers in a designed object and how they evoke emotions. Find one designed object and analyse how the 3 levels work together to create the "gestalt" effect.

Visceral design concerns itself
with appearances (and the
senses).
l Behavioral design has to do
with the pleasure and
effectiveness of use.
l Reflective design considers
the rationalization and
intellectualization of a product.
(Can I tell a story about it?
Does it appeal to my selfimage,
to my pride?)

I chose this bookshelf because it certainly looks interesting. On first glance i suppose you can’t really tell it is a bookshelf... That’s the visceral point of view, the shape and colour of the bookshelf itself intrigues the viewer, and creates an appeal through its appearance. This bookshelf will definitely win over any old bookshelf, when it is compared in looks. It is unique because it doesn’t have the usual planks/shelves that a normal bookcase would have, instead it has many little cuboids that serves the function of holding the books. Rather than just an object of pure function, it also becomes eye candy, a decorative piece of furniture in the house.

For the behavioural aspect of it, it is indeed something that’s fun and also easy to use. Children would most likely enjoy slotting the books into the bookshelf, and the colourful design is also a plus. This would be really helpful in teaching kids to put back their books after reading them, since it would be a fun experience for them.

As for the reflective design, I’m sure anyone would be proud to have such a cool and unique piece of furniture in their home, wouldn’t they? =) People would be impressed by it!
It can also tell people about the character of its owner