[COLLAB1] IDEAS DEVELOPMENT

Symbolism of trains:

- progression, "the only constant in life is change" (train=life, 唔等人 (夠鐘就走, constantly moving from stations to stations)

- scheduled= destiny? Your destiny is already decided for u, u just gotta go along with it/life

- a vehicle= useful, a tool for growth

MORE IDEAS

hk train windows —> darkness

uk train windows —> scenery 

- overlay uk sunset onto hk train windows to add colours —> complete double exposure effect —> complete the image 

ELASPE

look from the outside? (train moving)

look from the inside? (still scenery elapsing) 

home window?

double exposure: 

5050 opacity of 2 images/ locations 

~ 50%uk life, 50%hk life 

= one full image

trains are widely used in films, as a tool to interpret growth and leaving home (nostalgic) 

2 diff locations (reflection)

= home is where the heart is 

= never be able to settle 

= floating around, looking for a place that we can call “home” 

https://youtu.be/hZdl2FFp0eA 

• Train → new encounters 

https://medium.com/it-is-media-it-is-hong-kong/記憶像鐵軌一樣長-王家衛電影中的列車意象-bcd3ba440e81 

WHATSAPP CONVO WITH SONJA, SHARING IDEAS AND REFERENCES

Had an idea of making postcards as the final outcome as postcards are about journeys, travelling to somewhere that is away from home. It is also a memorabilia and a nostalgic way of reminding people of how they used to interact with each other through physical writing. Postcards are also something that reminds someone of someone and a way for someone to say "wish you were here" to their recipient. 

[COLLAB1] TRAIN RESEARCH

A book about train journeys was found in the library. The photographs of train windows and trains inside look really pleasant. Most of the images are taken in a very dark situation where shadows are really significant and reflections are obvious. Most of them are double exposures of a landscape image and a portrait. The overlayed images created a big contrast between spaciousness and the feeling of oppression.  

The bright light spots of the landscape images created faded effect on the portrait as the lights are too strong that the portrait is kind of washed away by the strong b&w contrast. The light spots also created a really interesting effect on the whole picture. They look like patterns printed on the portraits. Somehow, they look like printing errors and the leakage of ink while printing. They created a glitching effect on the image. 

• Bight light spots create faded effect on overlaying image 
• Light spots look like glitches and ink leaks on the images
• Significant reflections 
• overlayed images created a big contrast between spaciousness and the feeling of oppression.  

PORTFOLIO RESEARCH

https://www.creativebloq.com/features/portfolio-tips-junior-designers

4 PORTFOLIO TIPS THAT JUNIOR DESIGNERS NEED TO KNOW 
1. USE JUST ONE PROJECT
- if you don't like your work, do not include it
- you'd rather profile yourself with just one single project that you feel very strongly about
- make people see your potential

2. DO NOT RATE YOUR SKILLS
- why would people hire someone that is not a pro in terms of skills?
- might not be your strongest skill, but DO NOT highlight it

3. SHOW YOUR COMMITMENT TO YOUR DEVELOPMENT
- show your potential
- highlight creative inputs you have had into projects
- make it obvious you are a valuable part of the team

NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION

In 2019 I had experienced a lot in terms of interpersonal relationships. I realised that I have to accept the truth that not every one can go along with each other. I should not expect every one to be friends and sometimes different personalities do clash with each other.

Also, sometimes, when people just do not get along with each other, just let it be. I do not have to bear the responsibility to make people around me coping with each other. It is their own business whether or not they are friends and that I should not take these stuff too personally. Just let them be, and work on myself to become a better me. 

Therefore, I decided to do something more personal, something about what I have learnt in 2019 and something that I could have done or improved in terms of my well-being and my mindset. 

After thinking of something personal, I decided to go for the basics, my facial features. 

- eyes

- nose 

- ears 

- mouth 

- heart 

After cropping 

I'd like to start off by focusing on my own facial features and think of something that I can do with them. I then used a picture of myself and cropped out the features into small bits of zoomed in images. 

I kept the images at place without moving them to create a more original and interesting visual outcome. They look really nice to me with a black background compared to a white one as the images pop out more. The foreground and background is in a bigger contrast when black background is used.  

Illustrations added

In order to emphasise on the features, I decided to do some simple illustrations to add onto the images. I used white pen tool to make them pop out from the black background. 

After add drawings onto the images, I added text on. Sentences about the feature and about what I would like myself to achieve were then added onto the posters. I was deciding between a serif font and a sans serif font. The serif one looks visually more good looking when the text are placed next to the images. 

Postcard version

Made a postcard version with images and text centred in the middle of each art board. With the images in front and text at the back of each card, there will be a stronger sense of being struck and resonating with when audience flip the cards. 

I really like how the outcome has turned out. They look simple, yet really relatable to me. I like how the drawings worked well with the images and the contrast of the foreground and the background. I would probably be printing them out and stick them on my wall to constantly remind myself throughout the year. 

Final outcome 

Posters

Postcards 

[COLLAB] INITIAL IDEAS

THEO 

(HKU architectural conservation student) 

ONE WEEK INTENSIVE COLLAB 

- Hong Kong architecture 

- rebranding museums' marketing strategies 

SONJA 

(CSM graphic design student) 

BRANDING 

- a brand that bring together creatives in HK

SMTH MORE PERSONAL 

- train windows 

- double exposure 

Choosing housemates to collab with would be so much easier in terms of communication. All of us have a common interest - film cameras. 

[HOUSEMATE] NATALIE 

(LUU fine arts student) 

[HOUSEMATE] TEBI 

(LUU fine arts student) 

[HOUSEMATE] CHAPMAN 

(LAU graphic design Yr3 student) 

1. Photoshoot
Randomly saw this pic on Instagram and would really want to do something similar. 

I have always wanted to do something about fashion and styling. I am thinking of doing a fashion photoshoot that uses film camera. I want it to be taken place in a really remote open space. 

concept
It interests me how humans are living as tiny souls in the mundane. Each of us has our uniqueness and that we are all individuals. However, living as an individual in the crowd might somehow lead to the feeling of loneliness. Solitude is something that each of us would experience throughout our lives and that taking the photos in this remote place would definitely strengthen the sense of desolation. 

2. branding 
- bringing young creatives together 

This is what I have been wanting to do and my ultimate goal in my future career. In PPP the practitioner that I did interview on is exactly doing this and I feel like I can actually start to work out on it. However, it is going to consume a lot of time and effort. I do not think it is appropriate to do this for the task of the week. Maybe for the 10 briefs in level6, I will be definitely work it out. 

3. films inspired (colours, movements, tones) 
- wongkarwai
- wes anderson 
- film 少年的你

Wong kar wai has been my favourite film director. His films contain high quality of visual effects. The way how he makes use of the environment and camera movements to express emotions and feelings is impressive. I would really love to do something about his film aesthetics. However, this might be to make to start off as a brief. 

4. HOUSE 6 CALENDER

We talked about the calendar that my housemate is using and thought of the idea of making our own calendar. The custom made calendar for our house. I used google doc to jot down notes that we talked about. I am pretty excited about the collab cause this house has been my comfort zone and I thought that making a calendar for us would me a really warm and sweet thing to do. Especially when we have 4 art students here in the house, it would be really interesting if we do a collab.

ROOMS

1. JESSICA (international relations)
2. TEBI (fine arts)
3. CLT (fine arts)
4. CHAPMAN (graphic design)
5. ME(graphic design)

WHAT TO INCLUDE?

• Term dates 
• Holidays 
• Flight dates 

CONCEPT 

• 屋企人

• Calendar for us to plan trips easier 
• To update on each other 
• Buying list 
• Bill tracker 
• Places to go together (suggestions) 

WHY? 

• So that it is easier to plan trips 
• To strengthen bonding between each other 
• To remind each other stuff 

EXAMPLES (REMINDERS)

• Keep washing machine door open
• Lock the gates at night 
• Buy milk
• Need a rack for utensils 

THINGS IN COMMON

• All from Hong Kong 
• All speak cantonese 
• 
  

VISUAL ELEMENTS

• Chinese characters? 
• Our photos? 
• Our doors? 
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