Design Exploration - Projects
23/08/21 - 22/11/21 (Week 1 - Week 14)
Atiqah Farzana Binti Syalleh Karimyee (0336740)
Design Exploration
Projects
Projects
LECTURE NOTES
Week 1: Module Briefing
Ms. Anis briefed us on the module and the assignments we will be doing throughout the semester.
Week 2: Visual Communications in Campaigns
In advertising, culture jamming plays to disrupt the usual unconscious thought process that takes place in most consumer's view in order to direct the message more effectively. Activists utilize this tactic to pull on the emotional strings and evoke some type of reaction in behavioral change and political action.
There are four emotions that presumably enables a social change that activists often want viewers to feel:
- Shock
- Shame
- Fear
- Anger
These particular advertisements will play with their audience's feelings, give them a strong reaction, and put them outside their comfort zone. After the shock is over, the audience is forced to take a second look at the advertisement - this time they are more adjusted and are presented with a different type of views and thus forced to think about the implications presented.
A metameme is a two-level message that punctures a specific commercial image, but does so in a way that challenges some larger aspect of the political culture of corporate domination.
We must also be careful of accidentally creating stereotypes, as images can have multiple messages and connotations, not just for the subject, but also for the viewer. This may lead to misconceptions if the image is spread around without the proper or accurate context.
Week 3: LaunchPad Project
We had a meeting with Taylor's Hostel Management and Ms. Lew Pik-Svonn, an activist and representative from UNCHR, who gave a very detailed presentation on refugees and the LaunchPad project.
Week 4: Ethics in Design
In today's lecture, we discussed ethics in design. Since we will be making the sex ed video for the refugees, we must be careful in how we convey our messages in order for them to easily understand (and not to confuse or offend them).
Design Considerations:
1. Reading habits - Make the graphic read top to bottom and use arrows to show the sequence and to direct the eye around the graphic.
2. Study artistic expectations - Test first the visual with the expected audience to see how it is perceived generally to ensure that the use symbols are not depicted offensively / miscommunicated.
3. Allow for different learning styles
Maintain neutrality - Avoid techniques that give visual a definite personality.
Design multi-use graphics - Create visuals that can be read and understood in different ways.
4. Suppress unimportant details - There is a fine line between making an image recognizable and making it culturally specific. Pick graphics and visuals that your international readers can identify but include details that enhance recognition.
Disguise national differences - Avoid techniques that give the graphic a definite personality.
Hide audience-specific details - Use a general viewpoint and not specifically targeted to a community.
Use an icon or simplified drawing - compare a realistic visual to an icon and identify which one is easier to be understood.
Omit textual labels on devices - Remove labels or recognizable text to create a general look
Show all possible instance - If it is difficult to disguise a variable features, it is safer to list all of them together.
Play it safe method, do AVOID:
Initial and punctuation marks - Minimize the use of letters, punctuation marks and other verbal symbols if you are to design for viewers whose first language is written in their native scripts as there are dangers of misinterpretation of symbols.
Puns and verbal analogies - Verbal puns rely on objects whose name sounds like that of the concept. Avoid this method as it requires a subtle knowledge of the language itself and those who read this in a second language rarely get the meaning.
Mythological and religious symbols - Out of respect and sensitivity towards different culture background and religious views, it is safer to leave the use of mythical and religious symbols out of the design content, unless it is generally viewed, understood and accepted.
Animals - By adopting an animal as a totem, we attribute the desirable characteristics of the animal to certain features like a lion for courage, a rabbit for speed or a fox for cunningness. Although this method is still widely used, the problem here lies with the fact that we all share different views on the characteristics the animal represents
National emblems - Avoid casually using national symbols and emblems like flag, currency and coat of arms as this can easily misinterpreted if the design fails to deliver.
Colors - Because the symbolic meaning of color varies from culture to culture, ignorance about this may cause miscommunications. Colors have significant role in cultural associations that come from religion, literature and graphic arts.
- Black and white first, then add color
- Use color in technical and business documents where the context does not trigger a symbolic interpretation
- Clearly define your color scheme and make color codes explicit
- Test with typical viewers and revise to remove misinterpretation
People - Avoid cultural stereotypes and overt gender roles. Body languages also played a role in delivering message, so it is best to consider the arrangement of poses and avoid using hand gestures unless the hand icon is used to demonstrate an action.
End of Lectures.
INSTRUCTION
Module information booklet:
PROJECTS
Task 1: Project Proposal
Week 1 (23/08/21) - Week 4 (12/09/21)
For this module, we will be working closely with the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) to produce a short animated video on basic sex education, to complement the pad-making video that is aimed to be produced next year.
Below is the brief given to us:
We grouped ourselves and were told to do research on sex education-related topics. Our group decided to use Miro as a sharing platform for all our work and information.
Miro board: https://miro.com/app/board/o9J_l1UAfjY=/
Week 1 (23/08/21)
Our first task was to do some research on sex education, followed by sub-topics such as the reproduction system, puberty, contraception and birth controls, intercourse, STDs & HIV, and consent. We were told to find some visual samples/related creative outputs that represent each of the topics (i.e posters, ads, infographics, etc.).
Here is what my group have gathered so far:
Week 2 (30/08/21)
We had to find examples of good and bad designs for social awareness visuals, along with the pros and cons, and our takeaways from these visuals.
Week 3 (06/09/21)
We gathered visuals for our moodboard and planned the design direction for the animation video.
During class, we had a meeting with Taylor's Hostel Management and Ms. Lew Pik-Svonn, an activist and representative from UNCHR. We were given a very detailed briefing on the situations and problems of a refugee, along with the LaunchPad project.
Our project briefing:
At the end of the briefing, each group showed our moodboards and got feedback.
The feedback we were given was to avoid using fruits to represent the body parts (penis = banana, orange/grapefruit = vagina). Although that is how the media often portrays it, we should not simply follow it as it sexualizes fruit and also gives it a negative connotation (refugees may view the fruits they eat as the body parts; refuse to eat those certain fruits). Ms. Pik said that it was very interesting how we brought up the use of fruits, however, for this project we should stick to being as realistic as possible. It is important that we show/illustrate the body parts as it is, in order to normalize it. Ms. Pik reassured us that it is okay to illustrate the private parts since it is for educational purposes.
While the other groups showed their work, we also listened to their feedback and discussed a lot of things to know our audience- the refugees- better. Opting for an illustrative/cartoon style is fine but it should be realistic enough for the refugees to understand. From previous experience, Ms. Pik noticed that the refugees could not identify icons (such as the smiley face), therefore we should avoid using iconography. Also, refugee women tend to skip images or videos that aren't so eye-friendly (i.e: an erect penis). These women also would not attend a workshop about sex ed or period talk as it is considered taboo, however, a lot more turn up for a pad-making workshop. With this in mind, we have to minimize the things that they don't want to see/hear, while still finding a way to educate them about it.
After hearing all the feedback, we decided to go with this art style:
Week 4 (12/09/21)
In today's lecture, we discussed ethics in design. Since we will be making the sex ed video for the refugees, we must be careful in how we convey our messages in order for them to easily understand (and not to confuse or offend them). We learnt all about design considerations and what to avoid for the video.
After the lecture, Ms. Madina gave a short tutorial on how to use After Effects to refresh our memories. She showed us a plugin called 'Mister Horse' which would save us a lot of time on animations and transitions. She went through each transition to demonstrate how to use them, which seemed was very useful. The ready-made transitions make it very easy and efficient for when we edit our video later on.
Week 5 (19/09/21)
Ms. Anis shared an article about Libresse Malaysia which has recently been trending on Twitter for being 'too offensive'.
Libresse released their limited edition packaging for their ‘V-Kebaya’ campaign which features the vulva flower motif. This motif was seen on their sanitary pad packaging, freebie tote bag, and was trending all over Twitter and social media.
The strong imagery of the flower vulva motif gave citizens a lot to talk about, which was mostly hate towards it.
A year ago, Libresse launched their 'Know Your V' campaign that was meant to break taboos of 'getting to know your vagina'. The ad won for 'Best Ad in Personal Care & Health' at YouTube Works, an awards platform for YouTube advertisements for the most creative, compelling and effective campaigns.
Although the ad was released last year and has since then being promoted on social media, Libresse had withdrawn the ad due to a complaint of it being an 'exploitation of women's bodies' from YADIM Muslim Women’s Council (MAYA).
After our discussion, we went through each group's storyboard together and received feedback.
The feedback our group received was that the menstrual cycle diagram was a good visual that looked like it can be understood by the refugees. We should reuse our visuals to remain consistent, not only for our efficiency but also so that the refugees remember the visuals and understand it better. Ms. Anis appreciated that we included the script in each of the storyboard boxes so that its clear exactly which part the storyboard is describing.
Next week, we will have to present our storyboard to Ms. Pik.
Week 6 (27/09/21)
Today, the whole class attended a free online sex-ed workshop hosted by SPOT via Zoom, which was open to all residents and Taylor's students.
The whole session was overall very educational and engaging, not to mention fun and interesting! The speaker, Ms. Aishah, alongside the other SPOT representatives explained everything to know about sex - from contraceptives to STIs, consent, and more. Everything they taught was very detailed and in-depth so we could understand to the fullest. There was a lot of interactivity and engagement, with quizzes and sharing sessions between everyone so we could all learn and share together.
I personally enjoyed the workshop, as it was very eye-opening and they speakers did a great job making the topics fun and engaging.
Throughout the workshop, they put the info into the Zoom chat so we can save it as notes. I then put all the notes into a document.
At the start of the session, they provided a Padlet forum where we could post our anonymous questions throughout the workshop. We were running out of time nearing the end of the workshop, so Ms. Aishah answered all of our questions in her own time and compiled them into a PDF for our convenience:
Proposal Presentation
Week 7 (04/10/21)
This week, we presented our proposal, which consists of our design direction and storyboard. Below is our presentation slides:
Since it was decided that all 3 groups will be working together to produce only one sex education animation, Ms. Anis and Ms. Madina will now choose which group's storyboard to use for the final video.
Week 8 (11/10/21)
The finalised storyboard will be group 3's storyboard, which will be used for this sex education animation project. Ms. Madina provided us with a timeline and the groups for this project:
Everyone wrote their name in a Google sheet for the task division, which consisted of the illustrators, animators, and compositors. I chose the animator role for this project.
Project Execution: Illustrators
Week 9 (18/10/21) - Week 12 (15/11/21)
For the next few weeks, the illustrators will create all the assets and necessary designs for us to animate later on. At the same time, the animatics were also being created. Everything was then placed in a Google Drive folder for easy and convenient access.
Project Execution: Animators
Week 12 (15/11/21) - Week 14 (20/11/21)
I took note of what assets I would need for my part, then went into the Illustrator files to find them. I noticed that all the illustrations were already separated into their own layers, but I did not want to import the entire AI file into After Effects as I did not need everything in the file. Instead, I exported what I needed, then put them into After Effects.
With all of the assets ready, I went ahead and started animating. Here are a few progress shots of the animation process:
Here is my final animation for the pregnancy part (scene 13 - 17):
By the end of the week, all the other animators were done with their respective parts too. All of us put our work in the Google Drive folder.
Project Execution: Compositors
Week 15 (22/11/21) - Week 16 (29/11/21)
Now that the animation is complete, the compositors will add in the background music, sound effects, and other necessary sound elements to enhance the video.
Here is the final sex-ed animation video:
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REFLECTION
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