Project 1 (Proposal)
Soo Wen Yi (0334653)
Intercultural Design _
LECTURES_
Lecture 01 _6 Jan 2020 (week 01)
We were briefed by Mr Charles today, we are introduced to our theme for this project which is 'Mythology'. Depends on the place that we are going whether its Tokyo, Japan or Bangkok, Thailand. The reason why we are going to a different country its to get a different experience. We are there to do investigation, make observations and collect things/data. Mr Charles raised the question "are we tourists?", to some extent yes, but we are more than that. We are there to investigate.
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| Fig. 1.1: Mr Charles giving the lecture |
"Why is it Japanese?" we are to keep questioning in order to find out more. We are also to use words like possible, may have, might be etc. and not yes. The design doesn't have to confined topic, it can be fashion, robotic design, product design, fine art, animation etc. Observe titles, dialogues, people. Talking to people are a way to gather data/information too.
Lecture 02 _
13 Jan 2020 (week 02)
Today's lecture is conducted by Dr Jinchi titled "Culture and Us". We started off with a painting by Michelangelo and discussed on how the myth is related in today's world. What is culture? It is the people, celebrations, food etc. things that we will experience. But those are just the visible culture. There are deeper cultures based on values, beliefs, perceptions etc.
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| Fig. 1.2: Dr Jinchi's lecture |
We learnt about the layers of culture and the significance of studying this module.
15 Jan 2020
We had an online tutorial today carried out on Facebook by Mr Charles.
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| Fig. 1.3: Facebook live, online tutorial |
No Lecture _
20 Jan 2020 (week 03)
There was no lecture, Mr Asrizal briefed us on our up coming trip. We were informed of the predicted weather and to bring/wear suitable clothing. And we are advised to bring whatever medicine we might need just for in case. We should pack our thermal and a set of clothes in our carry on to change when we landed and also in case of checked in luggage arriving late. We must also bring our student id, and a adapter if we want to.23 Jan 2020
Mr Amer who is a Taylor's alumni, gave a talk today and gave some advice on vloging and filming videos. I've learnt the difference between travel documentary and travel log is that the facts in travel documentary has to be 100% correct, and a travel log is just whatever we wish to film. And something that he said is "shoot everything, capture whatever you get", which I'm going to keep in mind of.
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| Fig. 1.4: talk by Mr Amer |
INSTRUCTIONS_
PROJECT 1_
Week 016 Jan 2020
For this project, it is fully group work. I noticed it is like Design Research Methodology as soon as Mr Charles briefed us. We were mixed up with juniors and Architecture students. Our group is consist of Jen, Mokshanna, Christy and me. We decided to do individual research first so we get a broader look and topics, and due to all of us not haven the same schedule, we decided to research, share it in our group chat and meet up on Wednesday to discuss further in person. I did a mind map of mythologies that I found out about, and I didn't merely focus on the kami/yokai, spirits/gods/demons side of mythology since those are really popular and I thought it would be too obvious. So I also looked into objects and animals.
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| Fig. 2.1: mind map that I did |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/shinto/ataglance/glance.shtml
https://mythopedia.com/japanese-mythology/gods/amaterasu/https://www.tofugu.com/japan/tengu/
https://www.japanpowered.com/japan-culture/gods-shinto-impact-japans-strange-folklore
https://www.nga.gov/features/life-of-animals-in-japanese-art.html
https://www.sarehprice.com/blog/kitsune-inari-mythology
https://www.japan-experience.com/to-know/understanding-japan/the-maneki-neko
https://blog.buddhagroove.com/koi-fish-symbolism-and-spiritual-significance/
https://koinobori-japan.jp/koinobori.html
https://www.japanpowered.com/japan-culture/gods-shinto-impact-japans-strange-folklore
https://www.nga.gov/features/life-of-animals-in-japanese-art.html
https://www.sarehprice.com/blog/kitsune-inari-mythology
https://www.japan-experience.com/to-know/understanding-japan/the-maneki-neko
https://blog.buddhagroove.com/koi-fish-symbolism-and-spiritual-significance/
https://koinobori-japan.jp/koinobori.html
Motifs (by Moks)
https://nalatanalata.com/journal/motifs-in-japanese-design/
includes, sun, moon, lotus, folding fan, chrysanthemum, gourd, plum etc. They all symbolise different things
General compilation (by Jen)
ORIGINS
- Japanese Mythology is often very much derived from its Religions and Believes specifically from 3 major sects :
• SHINTO
• BUDDHISM
• CONFUCIANISM
The effects of the religions can be seen in the formation of Japanese Mythology where by certain elements can be noticed :
-Japanese Mythology typically involves stories of Gods or Human Nature ➡ Shinto
-Japanese Mythology is the fundamental brick of Japanese Culture such as the Zen Culture ➡ Buddhism
-Japanese Mythology often denotes Respect for Nature & HARMONY Between Man and Nature where by elements of Nature such as animals and trees can often Move and Speak ➡ Shinto : exclaims that all elements of nature has KAMI (spirit)
Plus much more still need to do more research
HOW THIS AFFECTS JAPANESE DESIGN IN MODERN DAY
There are two main derivatives that can be extracted from its culture and mythology
-HARMONY BETWEEN NATURE AND MAN
◾They most often use natural materials for their architecture or there is always an element of nature such as bamboos and refined wood as major materials in its architecture.
E.g :
▪Japanese furniture as well as utensils also are often made of natural and organic materials.
-ZEN DESIGN a.k.a MINIMALISM
▪ Minimalism has taken over West and all over the world by a storm and it’s origins lie in JAPAN.
▪Brands such as MUJI speak of its minimalism as well as modern Japanese furniture and cooking appliances. Tea sets and so on.
Sake (by Christy)
https://www.nrib.go.jp/English/sake/pdf/sake_leaflet_e.pdfhttps://kurand.jp/en/19412/
The myth of sake relates to Shinto religion, and the designs of the cups are usually minimalist or nature based.
Before our group meeting, I went to the library to look at some books that might be related to the Japanese mythology.
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| Fig. 2.2: Ancient Cultures: Japanese Gods and Myths, by Judith Mileage |
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| Fig. 2.3: conclusion to the creation of myths |
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| Fig. 2.4: Arts of Asia, July-August 2019 issue, magazine cover |
There are photographs of samurai armours and Japanese lacquer. I observed that nature is quite prominent in the designs of these objects, from plants to animals to scenery. Whether it was motifs or actual forms, it is undeniable that nature had a lot of influence to the designs of these objects. Which ties back into what our group shared where harmony between nature and man is a sign of respect in Japanese mythology.
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| Fig. 2.5: examples of the nature influenced designs from the magazine |
https://eds-a-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.taylors.edu.my/eds/results?vid=0&sid=adc5c818-637a-4541-b131-6a2e6c8008f7%40sdc-v-sessmgr01&bquery=%28japanese%2BAND%2Bdesign%29&bdata=JmNsaTA9RlQxJmNsdjA9WSZ0eXBlPTAmc2VhcmNoTW9kZT1BbmQmc2l0ZT1lZHMtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl
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| Fig. 2.6: Japanese Design: Art, Aesthetics and Culture, by Patrica J. Graham, e-book cover |
notes:
Buddhism
- belief in the disinterestedness of all creation
- five elements, cube (earth), sphere (water), pyramid (fire), sempisphere (air), jewel (space or void)
- mono no aware, deep feeling of things (came before zen)
Zen
- encouraged appreciation for designs that feature vast areas of emptiness
- emphasis on mediation, with dedicated building in temples for this purpose
- minimalist Zen example is karesansui (dry landscape made up of rocks and gravel)
8 Jan 2020
Today we met up for face to face discussion in the library cafe.
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| Fig. 2.7: beginning our discussion |
We first revisit the main purpose of this project which is to find out how mythology is included/combined in current design through culture. We first discussed about Christy's idea on sake and did some research on it to further understand it. Here is a mind map I wrote of that discussion.
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| Fig. 2.8: idea 1 mindmap |
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| Fig. 2.9: idea 2 mindmap |
Consultation with the lecturers about our idea.
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| Fig. 2.10: consultation with the lecturers |
Research topic
-wabi sabi (zen) culture in Tokyo
Reseach problem
-The lack of prominent wabi sabi culture in layout design of Tokyo
And we decided to each write up a small problem statement so we can decide on which we want to include and combine.The following is my take of the problem statement draft.
Week 02
13 Jan 2020
And here are the problem statements written by my group members.
16 Jan 2020
Today we presented our slides to Ms Anis. After getting the feedback we continued to think about more possible outcome products and began appointing sketches of the products for each of us to do. I am in charge of sketching the postcards and the city model.
Week 03
20 Jan 2020
There were 2 groups who presented today.
21 Jan 2020
Our proposal presentation is pushed early to today (Tuesday), due to our group mate leaving for Chinese New Year Celebration on Wednesday. This is the slides we used to present.
23 Jan 2020
After considering the feedback that we are given, here is the final proposal slides that we submitted.
FEEDBACK_
Week 01
9 Jan 2020
While consulting the lecturers this is what Mr Charles wrote down after listening to our idea.
There are 3 possible way to go into this, 1st is the Influence of zen minimalist on the world or specifically in Japan? Secondly, is how zen influenced bauhaus, are there any sites in Tokyo that we can visit? Any lifestyle or practice that we can see? Then Mr Azizal and Ms Anis added on that Tokyo is everything but zen and it would be hard to execute it. Thirdly, zen is not reflected in Japanese web design. They mentioned instead of web design, we can look at layouts and we know there is a gap in zen minimalist and Tokyo. So we are trying to bridge the gap between minimalist and maximalist in terms of layouts in Tokyo.
Week 02
16 Jan 2020
Is there evidence here (found online) that show layout design? Assumption that zen minimalism isn't translating to layout design. Reflect again, compare against Kyoto, but there might be some zen. For the 1st research question, we know that Tokyo is a metropolitan city, is there anything sen there? For 2nd research question, applied minimalism aspect but not totally zen, it only occurs when there's space and space is premium. For the 3rd research question, if we take a look at Harajuku, Akhihabara, there's no presence of minimalism. But we will see first, because it will be hard to execute it. Ms Anis raised the question if we wanted to focus on minimalism or zen. We will go from myth to zen to minimalism. Do the rough sketches of the final products.
Week 03
21 Jan 2020
Feedback for proposal presentation. What is the difference between wabi-sabi and zen? Because we didn't state clearly the connection of wabi-sabi to zen, we are advised to remove wabi-sabi and just make it zen. On the Daruma slide, we had a picture of the Daruma dolls, after some explanation, the lecturer also advised us to remove the Daruma dolls since there's no connection to zen, only Bodhidharma has the connection. For the examples of the websites, we have to think about what kind of website it is, there's different set of design principles applied. We are also told to look into layout design of movie poster and tickets etc. Rephrase research question 1, be specific to what we are looking at as a designer. Research question 2, don't show the current examples since its just empty on the billboard, instead show billboard with minimalised designs like minimalise the logo.For the 5 ideas, what messages are we trying to say, we have to figure that out first then we can have clear ideas.
While consulting the lecturers this is what Mr Charles wrote down after listening to our idea.
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| Fig. 3.1: feedback written by Mr Charles |
Week 02
16 Jan 2020
Is there evidence here (found online) that show layout design? Assumption that zen minimalism isn't translating to layout design. Reflect again, compare against Kyoto, but there might be some zen. For the 1st research question, we know that Tokyo is a metropolitan city, is there anything sen there? For 2nd research question, applied minimalism aspect but not totally zen, it only occurs when there's space and space is premium. For the 3rd research question, if we take a look at Harajuku, Akhihabara, there's no presence of minimalism. But we will see first, because it will be hard to execute it. Ms Anis raised the question if we wanted to focus on minimalism or zen. We will go from myth to zen to minimalism. Do the rough sketches of the final products.
Week 03
21 Jan 2020
Feedback for proposal presentation. What is the difference between wabi-sabi and zen? Because we didn't state clearly the connection of wabi-sabi to zen, we are advised to remove wabi-sabi and just make it zen. On the Daruma slide, we had a picture of the Daruma dolls, after some explanation, the lecturer also advised us to remove the Daruma dolls since there's no connection to zen, only Bodhidharma has the connection. For the examples of the websites, we have to think about what kind of website it is, there's different set of design principles applied. We are also told to look into layout design of movie poster and tickets etc. Rephrase research question 1, be specific to what we are looking at as a designer. Research question 2, don't show the current examples since its just empty on the billboard, instead show billboard with minimalised designs like minimalise the logo.For the 5 ideas, what messages are we trying to say, we have to figure that out first then we can have clear ideas.
REFLECTION_
EXPERIENCES
Week 01
It was good to be back and seeing all my friends and classmates, especially my foundation friends who are our juniors since we are combined for this semester. I am really thankful for my group as we work really efficiently and did a lot of research before the Thursday consultation. Our group really understand each other and each of us made contributions when task are set. I hope this continues for the rest of the semester.
Week 02
This week is a bit rough as I think there was misunderstandings in our conversations which of course frustrated everyone. Hopefully this gets resolved and we are back to focusing on the project as best as we can.
Week 03
This week was a bit hard since it is so close to Chinese New Year everyone just wanted to enjoy the short upcoming holiday. But we still got the proposal done and handed in in time. The presentation from Mr. Amer Eizwaan was interesting and good to know some of the facts.
Week 02
This week is a bit rough as I think there was misunderstandings in our conversations which of course frustrated everyone. Hopefully this gets resolved and we are back to focusing on the project as best as we can.
Week 03
This week was a bit hard since it is so close to Chinese New Year everyone just wanted to enjoy the short upcoming holiday. But we still got the proposal done and handed in in time. The presentation from Mr. Amer Eizwaan was interesting and good to know some of the facts.
OBSERVATIONS
Week 01
It was a bit difficult to set a time to gather up and discuss face to face since all of our schedules are different. And this module seems really similar to Design Research Methodology. We did a lot of research to the point of having research that proves/answers some of our questions. And by letting each of us do our own research first, when we came together to discuss, someone will already know something about the topic that is related to what they've researched.
Week 02
The atmosphere of our group has died down a bit compared to last week which is understandable, but since we are segregating tasks, everyone has contributed their part to the proposal.
Week 03
Some of my group mates are freaking out after receiving the feedback on our proposal presentation, I was not that greatly affected by it and wanted to improve it. I think this is because I have gone through multiple rejections and suggestions during last semester in Design Research Methodology and Advance Typography. With the experience I have I wasn't scared of getting feedback of mistakes and suggestions from the lecturers.
Week 02
The atmosphere of our group has died down a bit compared to last week which is understandable, but since we are segregating tasks, everyone has contributed their part to the proposal.
Week 03
Some of my group mates are freaking out after receiving the feedback on our proposal presentation, I was not that greatly affected by it and wanted to improve it. I think this is because I have gone through multiple rejections and suggestions during last semester in Design Research Methodology and Advance Typography. With the experience I have I wasn't scared of getting feedback of mistakes and suggestions from the lecturers.
FINDINGS
Week 01
Even though our schedules are different we made sacrifices of staying on campus longer or coming on a free day to discuss. With the experience of Design Research Methodology from last semester is helpful in this module. And knowing how intensive research is and especially with this being short semester, even though its tiring, working efficiently and not slacking off is very important to completing this module to our best ability.
Week 02
It was fine to let out each of our own ideas and suggestions especially when working in a group. But with that said, I learned that we should all do some sacrifice and compromise to make everything go smoothly.
Week 03
According to Mr. Charles and Mr. Amer's words, I can see how vlogging/documenting our trip would come in handy and be an important part of not only evidence but also a documenting piece of our memory. Since I love to take photos, everyone who had been in group projects with me during foundation would know that I am also snapping pictures for process and ended up with too many photos. I would like to hope that I won't under shoot stuff during the trip.
Even though our schedules are different we made sacrifices of staying on campus longer or coming on a free day to discuss. With the experience of Design Research Methodology from last semester is helpful in this module. And knowing how intensive research is and especially with this being short semester, even though its tiring, working efficiently and not slacking off is very important to completing this module to our best ability.
Week 02
It was fine to let out each of our own ideas and suggestions especially when working in a group. But with that said, I learned that we should all do some sacrifice and compromise to make everything go smoothly.
Week 03
According to Mr. Charles and Mr. Amer's words, I can see how vlogging/documenting our trip would come in handy and be an important part of not only evidence but also a documenting piece of our memory. Since I love to take photos, everyone who had been in group projects with me during foundation would know that I am also snapping pictures for process and ended up with too many photos. I would like to hope that I won't under shoot stuff during the trip.
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