Intercultural Design | PROJECT 1 : PROPOSAL
07.02.2025 - 23.02.2025 Week 01 - Week 03
PAN RUINING (0378138)
Intercultural Design / Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media
PROJECT 1 : PROPOSAL
CONTENT LIST
·
LECTURES
·
FEEDBACK
INSTRUCTIONS
MIB BOOKLET :
MODULES INTRODUCTION :
LECTURES
· LECTURES 1 ( WEEK 1
- Culture and Design )
- In the first week, Ms. Anis gave us an overview of the module,
focusing on its key aspects: Culture and Design.
- Culture and design are insperable, and as future designers,
you need to be able to understand and express both as part of
your creative skills development.
- We live in a visual information culture. Visuals are powerful
persuasive medium to provide most of our information about the
world. Based on the information from wearecomet.com, Visuals
gave 40% of people more impacts than a text.
Fig 1.1 Proof that Visuals are Powerful in General Data Week 1
07/02/2025
- Visuals are :
· Everything that can be seen : wide,
all-inclusive, including nature.
· Everything produced or created by humans that can be seen.
· Example : Logo, Tattoos (Japanese).
- Designers need to be aware of cultural nuances, symbolism,
and context to create designs that are inclusive and resonate
with diverse audiences.
Design Significance & System
- By understanding the significance of the graphics in it's
cultural studies, philosophy, sociology and origin history. You
are able to identify the social, cultural & political sphere
where the design elements reside.
Fig 1.2 Design Significance and It's Example Week 1
07/02/2025
Fig 1.3 Design System and It's Example Week 1
07/02/2025
- Cultural sensitivity in design goes beyond aesthethics, it
also encompasses functionality, usability, and the overall user
experience.
Design Sensitivity
Cultural Sensitivity Awareness contents of :
· Symbolism and Imagery : Certain symbols and images
may carry different meanings in different cultures. Should be
mindful for Designers.
· Color Considerations : Colors can have cultural
significance, and their meanings may vary across different
societies.
· Typography and Languange : Choosing fonts and text
styles that are culturally appropriate is important.
Addressing Cultural Sensitivity contents of :
· Inclusive Design : Designers should strive to create
products and experiences that are accessible and inclusive for
people from various cultural backgrounds.
· User Research : Conducting thorough user research,
including etnographic studies, and user testing across diverse
groups.
· Localization : Adapting designs to specific cultural
contexts through localization can enhance the relevance and
acceptance of a product or service.
· Cultural Awareness Training : Design teams may
benefit from cultural awareness, traning to develop a deeper
understanding of diverse perspectives and sensitivities.
PROJECT 1
Proposal:
On this task, we were instructed to form a group of 6 people
and create a proposal to concretise ideas, supported by
research, for a final design revolving a given theme that
reflects students’ understanding and interpretation of global
issues and design aesthetics.
Requirements :
· The general theme is “Everyday Design”
· Everyday design refers to the
observation and analysis of design elements that are
seamlessly integrated into daily life.
These designs may not be iconic or extravagant but play a
crucial role in shaping the cultural and functional aspects
of society. For your project, students can explore how
design influences and reflects culture, behaviour, and
identity through commonly encountered objects, environments,
and systems.
· Produce some preliminary ideas on how to
visually express your interpretation using design language.
Each idea is to be supported by a short rationale. Conduct
visual research to help expand your idea generation.
1. Ideation
On week 1, we were instructed to form a group consist of 6
members. In class we tried to find a different number of
group as instructed and here are the list of the members :
· Tang Lilin [0376668] - Group Leader
· Gao Yiming [0360273]
· Tracy Angeline Tio [0362222]
· Jessie Eileen [0367269]
· Sun Jiayue [0376224]
· Pan Ruining [0378138]
We created a WhatsApp group in class to exchange our
ideas. Later, Tracy provided us with reference materials
from previous students to help us understand the general
theme of our assignment. Although the topics were
different, we gained insight into the workflow of these
modules.
To make us easier for gave an preliminary ideas for the
task, Tracy made a Figjam board to discuss together in
online.
Fig 3.1 Idea Discussion in Figma Board Week 01
08/02/2025
On the first week, we firstly started to find the country
and their culture to be researched later. First ideas was
to make the Hairpin combined in China, Japan and Indonesia
Culture by Lilin and Yiming. Tracy also had added another
ideas which are the Make Up tradition in China, and the
Street Art / Mural in Malaysia Streets.
Before the next class on week 2, we have a physical meeting to discuss and finalized ideas we want to show. We decided to go with the Hairpin but since there's not much information regarding on Hairpin in Indonesia, we only focusing into China and Japan country.
On February 13-14, we consulted our lecturer about our idea. Hairpins were a good choice, but they might be difficult to incorporate into Everyday Design as the designs were not modern enough. To solve this issue, I suggested presenting our cultural research through phone cases. Since phone cases are a suitable medium for Everyday Design, the idea was quickly approved. Our next focus was to find a suitable theme for the phone case design.
Fig 3.2 Phone Case References (China Culture) Look Week 02
13/02/2025
Since we were researching hairpin culture, we found that there wasn’t much information on hairpins in Indonesia, while Malaysia has a more documented hairpin culture, making it easier for on-site research. Also, since none of our group members are from Malaysia, this makes our study more international. So in the end, we decided to focus only on Chinese and Malaysian culture.
Our group leader decided to focus on Malaysia’s well-known culture,
the Baba Nyonya culture. However, since our goal was to study multiple
cultures, we tried to incorporate the hairpin culture of Quanzhou,
Fujian Minnan in China and began with general research.
2. Research and Planning
As our topic was finalized yet and we got the Supervisor already,
we started to divide each part to be assigned by each members. My
part was Citations from relevant research as supporting evidence.
Following our supervisor’s advice, we focused on studying Nyonya
culture and Chinese hairpin culture in depth and explaining why we
chose phone cases as our medium. So, I researched the background of
Nyonya and hairpin culture, Gen Z’s connection to Nyonya culture,
and looked into why phone cases were a suitable medium, using the
well-known brand CASETiFY as a reference.
Fig 3.3 Research for the background of Nyonya and hairpin culture
Week 03 19/02/2025
Fig 3.4 Research for Gen Z’s connection to Nyonya culture Week
03 19/02/2025
Fig 3.5 Research for Why we choose phone case Week 03
19/02/2025
Fig 3.6 Meeting in Discussion Room for Presentation Slides
Week 03 19/02/2025
At week 3, we meet everyday starting from 19/02 until 22/02 to
finish our proposal quickly. Since peranakan culture
characteristic is quite wide, we specific it for only focusing
on it's accessories (Nyonya Hairpin) and Textiles Pattern
(Kebaya or in Porcelain).
Fig 3.7 Working on Presentation Week 03 20/02/2025
After spending around 3 days to work with, we finally finished
our proposal and the presentation slides. On saturday (22/02),
we meet again to discuss about the presentation and also the
trip to Malacca for the next task.
At the submission day, finally we able to finish our first task!
These past few days have been busy but fulfilling. Every team
member has fully dedicated themselves to the group discussion.
FINAL OUTCOMES PROJECT 1 : PROPOSAL
Final Proposal Document
Fig 3.8 Final Proposal Document Week 03 22/02/2025
Final Proposal Slides
Fig 3.9 Final Proposal Slides Week 03 22/02/2025
Final Presentation Video
Fig 3.8 Final Presentation Video Week 03 23/02/2025
FEEDBACK
Week 1:
In the first week, no feedback given since there's no tutorial and
practical class.
Week 2:
Our idea of researching hairpins was approved, but we needed to consider
whether hairpins could be related to Everyday Design (based on feedback
from Dr. Charles and Mr. Asrizal). We decided to shift our focus from
Chinese and Japanese culture to Malaysian Peranakan culture, while also
incorporating elements of Chinese Minnan culture. To present these two
cultures, we chose phone cases as the design medium, and Mr. Zeon also
approved our idea. However, we need to first focus on gathering more
detailed research materials.
Week 3:
- The research material and topic about Peranakan culture is fascinating
and appropriate, But make sure you tried to summarized this part into 200
words of overview regarding on the culture topic and the everyday design
you plan on.
- Tried to focus on Hairpin and Phone case ideas, you don't need to think
about new product idea again.
- Address more the chosen everyday objects in your overview.
- For the new ideas, you can try to think about how you can combine these
2 objects into 1 object.
- A little bit missing gap regarding on Hairpin culture in Minnan
research. You need to do a little research about it too.
Next day After Tutorial Class Feedback (21/02/2025):
- Good job for the proposal slides. All the information were fine, but
on the preliminary ideas part, you can add 1 more slides to explain what
are the elements on your design and the meaning of it.
- Find more references on Peranakan patterns since your topic more
focusing on it after the hairpin and phone case references.
- The proposal of your pages is a bit too much, you need to reduces the
page from 25 pages to 8 pages and just highlight an Important part.
- Everyone must have a part in Presentation videos, and your faces must
be there in video.
On 23/02/2025:
- All submission was good and can proceed to submit it.
REFLECTIONS
Experiences:
At first, I was concerned about working with people from different
semesters, worrying that communication might be challenging. When we had
to choose a research direction, I felt overwhelmed and uncertain. By
Week 3, we realized that our topic was too broad and lacked depth,
making it difficult to develop a strong focus. However, our team leader
actively sought advice from our lecturer, which helped us refine our
approach. From that point on, we started meeting offline more
frequently, and everyone contributed by dividing tasks efficiently.
Through teamwork and collaboration, we gradually overcame the challenges
and strengthened our research.
Observations:
I observed that all the tasks are linked to the final project. Without a
clear research direction, completing the final task would be challenging.
The tasks are not just about product design but also require a deeper
understanding of the culture.
Findings:
Since the origins of Malaysian Peranakan culture trace back to China,
I often found myself captivated by its stories during my research. I
learned a lot about Peranakan traditions, their history, and the
unique features of their clothing and hair accessories. As a Chinese,
I used to admire hairpins simply for their beauty and take photos
without truly understanding their historical significance. This
research has been especially interesting and meaningful, allowing me
to explore the deeper cultural context behind these traditions.
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