A trip to Lasalle Graduation Show 2016
So today, my friends and I went to Lasalle Graduation Show to get inspired. The exhibited works are so gorgeous and impressive. There are many takeaways from this trip, it is truly a fruitful experience.
Selected Project 1
Project Title & Project Synopsis/Objective
Contemporary Chinese Typography
By Sally Poh
Mandarin is increasingly not being spoken, written or read well. It is difficult to learn and memorise using conventional methods. Few resources also discourage the appreciation and application of Mandarin. Narrating the examination of graphic design will change the young generation’s perspectives of written characters, culture and language.
How is the project proposal interesting and feasible?
First of all, it is the striking colours that first lured me over to find out more. The different colours used are all vibrant and striking which makes the chinese words stand out. It is hard to find chinese words being showcased and moreover written or shown with such colourful backgrounds. Secondly, the replacement with objects for each stroke of the chinese words make the entire layout more captivating. You would want to look further to find out how does this student replaces all kinds of words with objects, what kind of objects can be used to replace the parts of other words.
We often see chinese type as a boring, complex, traditional and outdated one. But this project is trashing this stereotype of chinese type and making it a revolutionary one. Chinese type has now transformed into something modern, fun and interesting topic to study on. To add on, I have always being very interested to discover more about chinese typography, because all along we as graphic design students have only being working with english type. Furthermore, I am more proficient in chinese language compared to english. Hence, this project genuinely appeals to me.
This project is feasible because there are so many different objects in our daily life that we can play around with to make up the different chinese words. We could also repeat similar objects and there is no restrictions or limitation in replacing the relevant strokes. The publications and printed works make use of simple lines, dots and geometric shapes and objects as their primary graphics. In terms of graphics, text and colour schemes are also adaptable to different layouts and applications. The only tedious part is to analyse word by word the meaning behind it and the graphics that are suitable for it. Other than that, this project is feasible and versatile.
What are the key elements or factors in the project development that results in the success of the project?
The modern typeface, illustrated graphics and colour chosen are the main elements that make the project so successful. The typeface used is modern and relevant to the target audience. The typography is further enhanced by the neat layout and graphics around it. These elements are responsible in making mandarin looks fun and entertaining while learning them. It brings down the idea of learning chinese language as a tough chore.
Do you have problem understanding the project just by reading the project objective or synopsis? How is it effective or ineffective? Are the deliverables or intent obvious? Is it too long/too short?
It is a little difficult to understand the project fully without reading the description given. However it is certain that after reading the project synopsis, you will be able to get the grasp of the project concept, there is no problem understanding it. As the explanation for each poster is quite small at the bottom, it seems like the synopsis is not the top priority of the posters hence the effectiveness is not at it’s top. The intent of the project is obvious as you look through each poster, brochure and process journal, the content and message conveyed are in sync and clear. It is a little long since there are quite a bit to explain in each description and process of creating the final artworks.
Selected Project 2
Project Title & Project Synopsis/Objective
Feisty Girls
By Claudia Natasha Akhsa
Feminism today is more visible in the mainstream media, especially with social media and throughout the internet. Feminism in the 21st century have a different colour than the second and first wave feminism. Every feminists today is different from one and another and yet they’re still standing together for one thing, which is gender equality. Due to the diverse kind of feminists today, it is hard to define what feminism is now. It is important to figure out what feminism today is through the females. It is one way to learn and understand more about feminism today because there’s a lot of people who still misunderstood feminism because it is not easy to understand.
How is the project proposal interesting and feasible?
This project is super interesting become it make use of less usual media and materials to convey it’s message. Fabrics, hand sewing techniques, storybooks and watercolour. Claudia combined these media and achieve a very personal yet outstanding artworks. I am extremely in love with this ‘publication’ done by hand sewing letters by letters and graphics by graphics onto the fabric that in a whole makes up a book. Titled ‘THE F WORD’, it talks about radical feminism which is all about the movement that supports female rights and equalities.
It just blew me off when I realise that the entire book is made from scratch by sewing. The amount of hard work and patience is remarkable and truly admirable. Furthermore, by using sewing, which is a more feminine act, also enhances the feminist side of the whole exhibition. The act of choosing storybooks that stereotyped the females and ‘vandalise’ the content and correcting them, is indeed a super smart move. It is new, rare and out of the norm type of idea. No others would have ever thought of doing such thing, it is unique and very original.
If it is just based on the context of Lasalle graduation show, it is feasible enough because it is meant for just an one-time showcase. However it is not so feasible because if it were to be reproduced for adaptations or other purposes such as real publications for thousands of people to read, it requires way too much manpower and time. This project is excellent for one-time exhibition or one and only kind of artwork. It is not so useful in terms of producing them in bulks for sale or commercial purposes. In such way, only people that came to visit the exhibition get to see, touch and feel with this very carefully crafted smart piece of work. Which means that the number of people viewing this project will be quite limited in that sense too. Photographs are unable to capture the touch and details of a hand crafted artwork, we have to personally visit the booth to get the full experience of reading it.
What are the key elements or factors in the project development that results in the success of the project?
They key elements that contributed to success of the project includes the media used and the graphics used. Number one, it is attention grabbing with the unique materials used. People would be intrigued to grab the books and read them to find out more. Number two, the content is easy to read and understand. With all the eye-catching graphics, infographics, big text and great hierarchy, the information provided were simple to digest. For instance, the 'storybook’s vandalism’ are replaced with big and easy to read text and appropriate graphics to come along. It is literally as easy as reading a children’s storybook but the content is just more slightly more mature.
Do you have problem understanding the project just by reading the project objective or synopsis? How is it effective or ineffective? Are the deliverables or intent obvious? Is it too long/too short?
Like I said earlier, it is easy to understand the whole project so I did not have problem understanding it. To me, the project is effective however to a certain extent only. Although it is easy to understand, however the call to action is not strong enough to urge people to start acting. It is just spreading awareness and not getting people to have some actions. However in this project, it’s intent is to spread awareness and inform a bigger crowd regarding the term radical feminism. So the project is considered successful for it’s original intention. The deliverables are not too long nor too short, it is just nice, short and sweet enough for viewers to understand and bring away something learned with them.
Provide 3 insights you have gained from the successful and not-so-successful projects you have seen today and how these insights may help you in your current or future creative projects.
1. The not-so-successful projects are so because of the content of their projects. I feel that it is okay to choose a mainstream or common topic to work on, however the content or concept of the whole artwork must be able to be so unique and creative that it stands out from the others. Most of these projects are revolving around there cliche ideas and there seem like there is nothing much for us viewers to dig out more ‘golds’ or discoveries and hence we deem them as not-so-successful. It is either the idea or the execution that is a little too boring and commonly seen and hence it is not working.
2. When an artwork makes you go like “ Hey, I have never ever thought of this before!”, congratulation, you have already won the person’s heart over for about 50%.(The other half depends on the execution.) Original and creative ideas are the most well-liked ones. When students use rare ingredients to build up their projects, or the idea behind their works are well explained and shown, people are most likely to like them. This is observed by noticing the number of name cards left on each booths. If an idea is way too abstract and hard to understand within the first few minutes, people get turned off and will naturally walk away. Or even when we get the idea but it is not captivating at all, we walk away as well. There are so many different exhibited works, hence we would not really want to waste our time on those that are less exciting ones.
3. Appearance/aesthetic is the top priority. I observed that people will tend to walk to booths that have super pretty works or something out of the norm. At one glance, people would not be able to know if an idea is good or not. However if the whole exhibition is extremely pretty or extremely ugly, it attracts people’s attention and urges them to find out more. It is important to take great notice to the aesthetic our artworks, especially when we ourselves are graphic communicators.
With these insights gathered, I have come to a conclusion on how they may help me in my future projects. All in all, when we craft our ideas or concept for our project, it is important to be original and creative, and pay much attention to the aesthetic of the final output. Avoid doing what others have already been working on and be wild and as crazy as possible, there is a higher chance of winning people’s heart than going for a safe approach.
Other exhibited works
By Siti Naquiah
'I Can Do It!', 2016
Mixed media ans white varish on clay
2 parts
I can see my reflection in this piece, hahaha!
By Alysha Rahmat Shah
Tangkak, 2016
3 lithographs
By just carving on a marble slam is able to create this super detailed painting is simply mind-blowing
By Megha Lamba
Left to right:
Layered Fragility 2, 2016
Ink on tissue paper
(Bindi), 2016
Ink on tissue paper
Much caution and precision must have been taken into consideration while creating this artwork, the resulting pattern are so enticing.
By Yap Yi Phing Debra
/////, 2016
Oil on cotton
2 parts
Each stroke and waves created are so delicate and pleasing to the eyes. Something from the artwork keeps drawing me in to look and admire it more.
By Victoria Tan
I Am All the Days that You Choose to Ignore (Series), 2015-2016
Mixed media: (a) 2 serigraphs, (b) road debris
Find this piece very thought-provoking, the title striked me with a thought that we often ignore these construction works or see them as noise and air pollution that are like 'burdens' to our life. What we did not think of are the result of the construction, which are the process of building our homes and architectures. Are we having some first-world-problems?
Political Advertising
By Sanya Aggarwal
I love the short clip showing on the screen whereby it shows the male getting a higher-priced menu than the female when they both dined in in the same restaurant. The waiter then explained that it is due to the fact that males are earning more than the females and it is as unfair as this norm in the society.
Super alluring patterns created by having fun and while exploring and experimenting different textures and colour combinations.
Hungry Ghost Festival
By Pang Si Yu
I love how Si Yu uses the mandatory objects found in the offering package for our ancestors to create the 3 chinese words. Each chosen chinese letters have great meaning behind them and are all the key words that can represent the main reason why people celebrate Hungry Ghost Festival. As a Taoist, this project is very relatable to myself. Usually, the festival is a taboo is joke around and we have to be very careful with what we do and even the choice of words when we speaking during the 'festive period'. But this project seems to knock down the usual way of looking at the festival, which is often assiociated with fear, horror and religious. Now, we can look at it as a way to commemorate our ancestors' goodwill when they were still with us. It it also a good way to remind youths that they should not forget about out roots and cultural practice that make up who we are today.
Wake & Make
By Tiffany Liang
I can totally relate to the project because I am exactly what Tiffany is studying, a designer that is not designing because she is stuck. And Tiffany went on to study why designers have these mind-blocks or stuck situations whereby we are unable to craft, think and design as and when we want to. This project is relevant to all kind of designers and so interesting to read on.
The Painted Ladies
By Devika Jajodia
Previously I have visited Philipines and find their daily commuting vehicles very colourful and eye-catching such as their jeepneys. Similarly, in India, there are a lot of colourful and vibrant vehicles that are actually hand painted. This case study is very original and fascinating to watch and read. The typography, layout and colour choices are resembles the pop art art style and is super attention seeking.
