INTERCULTURAL DESIGN - CONTINUOS ASSESSMENT
07.02.25 - 21.03.25 (Week 1 - Week 7)
Michelle (0373843)
Intercultural Design / Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media / Taylor's University
Michelle (0373843)
Intercultural Design / Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media / Taylor's University
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INSTRUCTIONS
LECTURES
Week 1 (07/02/25) - Intercultural Design
In our first week, we are introduced to the module which consists of:
information on the coordinators along with their contacts, learning platform,
MIB, also physical and online meeting schedule. Then, we were given a lecture
on Culture & Design, the summary are below.
Visuals are:
1. Everything that can be seen (nature is not culture unless there's
representation attached to it).
2. Everything produced/created by humans that can be seen which serves a
purpose (e.g. has functions, represent something, or tells a story).
Visual Culture: A study of
visual objects beyond textual meanings, focusing on their materiality, and
the interactions they have with people. Designs have functions, but they
also have spiritual and metaphorical meaning.
1. 1st thing the eyes see
2. Brain associates meaning
3. Purpose
1. Basic assumption (purpose)
2. Norms and values (aesthetics)
3. Artifacts and products (use)
Design Sensitivity
Cultural Sensitivity Awareness
- Symbolism & Imagery
- Color Consideration
- Typography & Language
Adressing Cultural Sensitivity
- Inclusive design
- User research
- Localization
- Cultural Awareness Training
Notes:
We are living in a visual information culture, where visuals are a
powerful persuasive medium to provide information. Visuals are processed
more quickly in our brain than texts. However, people are picky with the
information/designs.
The moment people see a design with significant culture to them, it
registers an immediate thought. The same visual could be perceived
differently by people. Audience have diverse ability to understand
visuals, which is why tests and surveys are needed to make sure a design
suits its target audience.
Which is why designers need to be aware of cultural nuances, symbolism,
and context to create inclusive designs that resonates with diverse
audience. Cultural sensitivity in design goes beyond aesthetics; it also
encompasses functionality, usability, and the overall user experience.
Week 2 (14/02/25) - Everyday Design
On our second week, we are given some extra information on our assignment to
provide clarity. Then, we have a guest speaker talking about
Everyday Design from the Kuala Lumpur Design Festival 2024. Below are
my recap on the theme.
Design: art for consumption
Design influence lifestyle. Art influences customer behavior. People collect
things that are designed to their liking. We design our identity (persona)
by what we choose. There's no right or wrong, but rather an expression (what
it means to you).
Designers should be more flexible in creating new types of work, and more
experimental in building one's identity, under the condition that the design
is well researched with good design fundamentals. Because authenticity is
significant, as it communicates an individual's ideas and thoughts. One of
our main problem today is copyright, so we need more thinking designers.
Rubbish in, rubbish out (Azlan Othman).
Notes:
- In everyday design its key to consider customs, habits, and what will be its impact on society. Good questions to ask and reflect on:
- How do design improve our life quality?
- Is design functional (for use) or just for show/display (decoration)?
- Technology will always draw society towards creativity, narratives, and experiences (Eddin Khoo). So we need to keep updated and learn how to utilize it without being replaced by it.
- We need more locals doing international work.
Week 3 (21/02/25) - Supervisor Consultation
On the third week, we're given a chance to ask questions and consult our
progress with our assigned supervisor. There's no general lecture given.
Week 4 - No Class
There is no physical class since this is the week for data collection and the
time to have a research trip (if needed).
Week 5 - Task 2 & Task 3 Further Brief
An example for task 2 submission was presented by our classmates from one
team. The lectures gave further guidance and information on our final task.
Consultation with supervisor was also done regarding the team's
progress.
Week 6 & 7 - No Class
There is no physical class, we are instructed to utilize the time to
complete the project.
PROJECT 1
Week 1
On our first week, we are assigned to create a group of six then choose a
topic for our project. So I teamed up with Chin Jia Wei (0379807), Valenz
Jycee P. (0373407), Fariha Kabir Dristy (0360960), Mubeen Sulthana
(0380328) and Florence Cory (0376075). Together we are group 29.
After the team is made, we created a group chat, listed our names in the
spreadsheet on teams, then we shcedule our first meeting to discuss our topic.
We had our first online meeting on the February 11th. There, we each spoke out
our ideas, discuss, and vote for one that we think is the best. At the end,
our chosen topic was Yuru-Chara (Japanese cultural practice) from Melaka.
On the 13th of February, we had an online session provided for consultation
with lecturers so we presented our idea to Sir Charles and got approval for
the theme.
Week 2
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This week, after class we had a physical meeting to continue our
progress. In this meeting, we split the tasks within ourselves and do
some brainstorming for the ideas. My job was to make one design for
Melaka's Mascot along with its visual references and rationale. Below
are the mascot I designed, along with it's rationale.
On 18th February, we had another online meeting to share with each other our
progress, discuss about our trip, and build our proposal document and
presentation slides. We edit and finish both the document and slides together.
Then on the 20th morning we have a zoom together too try and record our
presentation. However, after the online session in the afternoon, turns out
our proposal still needs improvement so we back up our progress and revise our
proposal and presentation.
Week 3
On February 21st we showed our document and slides with Sir Charles at class.
We gain some insights and building inputs after a wonderful conversation with
Sir Charles.
We spent the weekend revising and finishing our proposal and presentation
slides.
Then, on Sunday morning we record our presentation. It doesn't take long
since we have had a trial before.
After the recording session, we each update our blogger post (e-portofolio)
on our process in project one.
PROJECT 2
Week 4
For our data collection, we started with a physical on site visit
by going directly to Melaka. On the 25th of February 2025 we had an
online meeting to plan and divide our work in Melaka. We listed the
things we need to observe and document. Together, we also concept
the TikTok videos we'll do so we have a vivid idea on the contents we need,
since we'll need to capture that while we're in Melaka later.
On the 26th and 27th of February we determine our individual tasks via whatsapp message. I am in charge of creating the digitalized mascot for Melaka, while the rest of the team will create the merchandise design.
The next day we start packing our stuff for the trip, and plan out where to
meet each other. We decided to meet on Terminal Bersepadu Selatan before 8
am.
On The 1st of March we departed from TBS at half past 8 and arrived in
Melaka at around half past 10. We order an online transport to our
accomodation, then we start to walk around to explore Melaka.
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Depart to Melaka |
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| Melaka's Environment |
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Portuguese fortress in Melaka: A Famosa |
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Souvenir Store: Heritage Gallery |
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| Lunch: Chicken Rice Ball |
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| Religious place of worship for Christians during the Portuguese colonisation of Melaka |
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| Dutch Square |
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| Seafood Dinner |
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| Local & Peranakan Cuisine Brunch |
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| Return back home |
Week 5
The next days after our trip we spent to sketch some
new designs for our mascot, based on our findings,
observations, and direct experience. Each of us come
up with one design each. Below is the design I came up
with.
We also start to compile and summarize all the data
and documentations we gained from our trip into
presentation slides. We split the information into
categories, and split the task up. I was given
Melaka's culinary delights segment (page 9 - 19).
On the 7th we had physical class, and showed our
progress to sir Charles. He instructed us to continue
with our survey and data collection slides. After
class, we meet up to finish up our mascot sketch and
share with each other our designs. We also recorded
some contents for our TikTok page.
On Friday night we created google form survey to gain
peoples opinion on our mascot and merchandise. We
close the survey at 9 am on Sunday, and we summarize
the results into our data collection slides. My part
was to summarize the first question of the survey
(Have you been to Melaka?) and also put in all our
mascot designs along with it's description (page
62-65).
FINAL PROJECT
Week 6
On Monday, 10th of March we discussed our TikTok account's
username and finally decided on Munchy the Munchel. We also part
our tasks, I'm in charge of creating the digitalization and
finalize version of our Mascot Munchel with front, side, and back
view, while everyone else work on the merchandises. I try my best
to work fast because my mates need my design for their merch so I
finished digitalizing by early morning on Tuesday, then I shared
them with my team mates.
I ended up making Munchel with many poses and expressions to show
the flexibility of its design to be used in the merch and also
online contents. Below are my work.
Next, I move on to doing my part four our TikTok content. I'm in
charge of making a short summary of our trip in Melaka. This video
requires time and patience in finding, selecting, and compiling
all our documentations into one very short video with the timing
adjusted to the music. However since I have started working on the
video from the start of our trip, so it doesn't took me long to
finish up on Tuesday. I did some final editing after I finished my
mascot digitalization, then I shared the results to our WhatsApp
group.
Fortunately everyone approved on it directly, so I moved on to
making my second content which is to share about Melaka's culinary
by using our mascot in the delivery. The objective of this video
was to show how the mascot could be used in educational contents
promoting Melaka. This second content took me a long time because
of its many elements: summary of the foods with its details,
compilation of images and video clips of all the food we took,
Mascot's animation, the video's audio with subtitles, timing with
background music and effects. I finished the culinary content
video draft and share to the team on Thursday, 13th of March. Then
with minor revisions I finished the final one on Friday.
On March 13th, our leader (Jia Wei) created our TikTok
account and also posted our video intro. We each logged
into the account to be able to access it from our own
devices. I posted my
trip summary vlog
the next day, on March the 14th. After my team mates
have uploaded their videos on our process in developing
our mascot, on March the 17th, I post
Melaka's Culinary with Munchel
content.
Week 7
On Tuesday, 17th of March we start to work on our final presentation
slides. We create the list of contents needed then divided them amongst
the six of us. I am assigned to make the intro to our project and also
the progress to final: 1st & 2nd sketch progresses, and the
finalization of our mascot. We each did our part separately according to
our free times with constant communication through our WhatsApp group
for questions and revisions. We then harmonize and finish our slides by
Thursday. Below are our final presentation slides included with the
links to our individual blog posts and our TikTok account
@munchy_the_munchel.
Intercultural Design_G29_Task 3
On Thursday night, the 20th March, we did a zoom meeting to record our
final presentation. We also did a little brief on our tiktok posts and
final submission.
Below are our final presentation video.
FEEDBACKS
Week 1
No consultation for the first week, only physical class.
Week 2
Melaka is multicultural state. It has combinations of several cultures
(Baba Nyonya, Chitty, Malay, Chinese, Indian, Portuguese). Choose a
specific area, find out the authentic Melaka, look for what is most
known in Melaka.
Note: The focus challenge is the study, not really the product. If
decided to produce something it must be a result of the research.
Steps: Frame strong critical research questions from observations - form
our own objectives for the possible solutions (idea) - make a prototype
- talk about in in TikTok.
Week 3
- The factuality of Melaka's name inspired from a tree is doubtful.
- Kancil is over used.
- Idea for TikTok: have the Mascot talking
- Talk to people, ask people's opinion on our mascot.
- We need to have observation goals begore going to Melaka (does the mascot design have the right presentation of Melaka?, etc.)
Week 4
No consultation for data collection week.
Week 5
- Do a survey on our mascot designs, look at the respondents response in percentage, then link back the results gained to our main objectives to have a better idea on what to present.
- Make the survey balanced with qualitative and quantitative questions to provide clarity.
- We can include documentations of our data which are not included in the slides in a google drive.
Week 6 & 7
No consultation meetings are done by Sir Charles as these are the
final weeks.
REFLECTION
Experience
This whole project requires us to work in a team setting, with the same members, from start to finish. I have worked in groups before, but never for a whole course, so it's a new experience for me. I personally leans more towards working independently because I can focus on myself, so this project pushes me out of my comfort zone which I am grateful for. Through this group project, I got to immerse myself and really experience what it being in a team is really like. I feel grateful for my team, as they're really supportive and active. They've shown me that working as a team could also be fun, as long as we put ourselves in the right team with quality members who has the suiting target, vision, and value. This project also requires us to do lots of research and data collection followed with compilating, summarizing, and presenting. It's a huge relief knowing I got my mates with me to problem-solve throughout this whole project with many things to do in a short period of time.
Observation
From working in a group, I noticed that having an encouraging environment, boosts me to keep work harder and give my very best. I got to see the strengths of my team mates and let it motivate and drive me forward. Seeing other group's progressing also fuels me to ensure our team isn't behind. I found that I am a person who greatly finds motivation externally, so I need to make sure I surround myself with the right people and environment.
Findings
I learnt that working in a team should feel easy, because we all have each other's support. I realized that having a strong team from the beginning plays a huge contribution in optimizing the success of the work in the finale. In a team, everybody plays a role, so every action from every member will effect the rest, no matter big or small.
In a team setting, I practiced to push myself to be disciplined, responsible, and initiative in order to be a trustworthy member rather than a burden for the team. I learnt to support/critic, adapt, tolerate, and compromise to collaborate with others.
Lastly, this project taught me the importance of finding, collecting, and selecting data-based-information from various reliable and creditable sources in resulting a high quality outcome, as it is the base of whatever we plan to do. Making sure our work aligns with our main initial goal and problem is key.
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