[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? 
• 6 
  
  
  

  
  

[COLLAB1] IDEAS + FIRST BRAINSTORM WITH SONJA

INITIAL IDEAS 

- branding: bring together young creatives 

- train windows 

During the Christmas holiday, Sonja and I were both in Hong Kong and we talked about how I wanted to collaborate with her and this has been what we have been longing for to do since we where in high school. We thought that this would be a really good opportunity to start out our plan and work on something that we both are interested in, something personal. We briefly talked about what we wanted to do on the train journey from Leeds to Manchester when we were hading back to Hong Kong. Both of us were interested in the reflections on the window and how it could actually be portrayed as the double exposure function on film cameras. 

Train windows, double exposure as starting point. 

TRAIN WINDOWS 

common characteristics of train windows pictures: 

- 2 layered images 

- usually one still, one moving 

- two different locations, usually one indoor, one outdoor 

- one dark, one bright 

ideas that always come with train windows:

- homesick 

- loneliness

- me-time 

- unstable, unsettled 

TRAIN JOURNEYS

- long and boring 

- relaxing 

- isolating 

- suffocating 

However, due to location and time constraints, we have to communicate through WhatsApp. Both of us are really busy these days, therefore, we kept on sending exchanging mindmaps and adding notes onto each others' in order to brainstorm what was in our minds.

Both of us thought that the idea of having two different locations is a really good point to be pushed further. And how train windows reflects shadows can be interpreted as "home is where the heart is". It can also be interpreted as never being able to settle, always floating around and looking for a place where we can call "home". 

Both of us can relate to the ideas really strongly as we are  studying abroad, in a place which is half the globe away from home.  

BEST KEPT SECRETS

Han and I have chosen (left out/ isolation) as the theme of the brief. 

FEELING LEFT OUT 
http://socialpsychonline.com/2015/11/psychology-ostracism-feeling-excluded/  

• ostracized
• being excluded 
• a reduced sense of general belongingness after experiencing rejection
• achieving a sense of social belonging is a fundamental psychological need
• reduce self-esteem, a sense of control, and a sense of having a meaningful existence 

KEY WORDS

• ådead 
• fragile 
• harsh 
• glass-heart 玻璃心

MONTY KAPLAN

• subjective anthropological exploration of the world
• eclectic nature
• harsh flash 

• eclectic and prolific and unfocused

1ST ATTEMPT
I suggested to use typography and shapes to convey the idea of isolation. I feel like the diversity of shapes and typography would be both abstract and the most straight forward way to communicate the idea.

Han then added images on the background to make the designs less dull. 

OUGD503 BRIEFING

• 20 credit 
• collaboration with someone not from second year graphic design 
• collaboration of research and ideas which allows us to reach final outcome, not necessarily working tgt int he final outcome 
• work together 
• well developed and effective response 
• 3 week-long collaborative projects (with someone in class)
• dun have to be a consistent collaboration 
• have to work with someone throughout the brief (anyone) 

• is it smth that you want to do? can you see yourself doing in the future? 
• how to make it interesting to you?
• what I want to do? as a leading role 

BRIEFS

Elmwood (coming in next Monday) 

• branding future technologies 

Next Monday 

• collaboration with BA Photography 
• themes and format of fact/ fiction 

D&AD (branding)

• BBC
• nikeplus 
• penguin 
• Connect4climate 
• the Case for Her 
• Hoffmitz Milken 

ISTD (typography)

YCN (rebrand) 

• HMV
• the guardian 
• Camden Town 

Insert here__

SUBMISSION 

• sketchbooks, blogs, notebooks 
• physical outcomes  
• portfolio (digital/ printed)

--> presenting your outcomes 

--> my book (how are you gonna improve it) 

--> screen based design 

--> responses to brief of the week 

--> your main responsive projects 

• written evaluation (500 words) 

LEARNING OUTCOMES 

• research into and understanding of relevant issues and designers 
• lots of research methods (talking to ppl, visiting somewhere, watching smth)
• how you're researching? what's the most appropriate methods of research 
• ambitious, appropriate and interesting responses 
• professionalism 
• understand key problems and consider the implications of the work (analysing the briefs), generate smth that is relevant to your brief 
• understand the project's context, show good time management, self-motivation
• interpersonal skills, make a network, find people to collaborate with 

TASK
BEST KEPT SECRET 

• being left out in flat/ Leeds (cultural difference) 
• sleep paralysed 
• how UK people wash dishes are weird (dip dishes into soap water and wipe soap off with a towel = cleaned) 

HOW DO WE COMMUNICATE THE IDEA?

• colours --> red, blue
• (person being left out) --> purple (flatmates) 
• typesetting 
• photography (a person standing in front of the house with all lights on) 

--> images with background noises (partying noise) 
--> make it really creepy, horrifying = the scary feeling of being left out