1.0 Projects Brief

 

1.1 Reflection on Critical Context Part 3 and Context for Overall Project

Based on Critical Content Part 3 that was written in Graduation Project Part 1, the designer understands that colour is one of the key elements to deliver the message through visual communication. Audiences’ emotions will be evoked through different hues. By using the right colors to tell the story, it is able to evoke specific emotions. For instance, a warm hue is able to bring happiness as it makes people feel warm and bright; while a cool hue, such as gray, can deliver a sense of depression(Rider, 2009). Besides, colour helps showing a characters’ journey. Yellowish colour is applied while the designers would like to show the characters’ memories of childhood. Colours also help communicate the story, which is also agreed by many filmmakers, such as Lewis Bond, Barbara Flueckiger and so on. They agreed that colours help further a film’s story (May, 2017). Hence, the statement of intent for the Independent and External project will be “Colourful scheme helps further the story through visual communication.”

 

1.2 Research Position

Outer space is a mysterious place where scientists have put in a lot of time and effort to study about. In 1957, the Russians carried out a project named “Sputnik 2” which aimed to prove that a living passenger could survive being launched into orbit (Gray, 1998). Laika, a stray mongrel, was selected as the first animal to be sent into space on 3 November, 1957. She died of overheating and asphyxiation shortly. In this journey, Laika was placed alone in a vehicle with a narrow space (Zak, 1999). The story of Laika being placed alone in a vehicle with a narrow space is similar to working adults that are stuck at home during the pandemic. The lack of communication and interaction between remote workers and their colleagues or friends are causing them to feel lonely (Arthur, 2021). Loneliness is one of the struggles that people are facing nowadays as well, especially adults (Blackpool, Gjøvik & Tokyo, 2018). Hence, this independent project aims to reflect on the relationship of loneliness and friendship.

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Besides, scientists believe that there was life on Mars during the past. In 1997, NASA sent the first Mars rover named Sojourner to Mars (NASA, 2021). They found that there are signs of ancient floods on Mars, and methane is found in the atmosphere(NASA, 2021). Methane is spread out from a microorganism, methanogens (Charles, 2013). Hence, scientists firmly believe that there are microbes on Mars (NASA, 2021). In 2004, a boy named Boriska shared the story about life on Mars. The boy possessed exceptionally profound knowledge, and his intellect was obviously far from a typical 7-year-old. He mentioned that he used to be one of the members on Mars. However, Mars was destroyed due to  wars (Андрей, 2004). Boriska proved that there is a high possibility that there are organisms in outer space. This story became an inspiration for an external project which aims to develop children’s creativity through a science fiction storybook.

 

1.3 Content

The deliverables for both independent and external projects will be illustration books with colourful designs. The independent design project adopted mixed media while designing the illustration book, such as dolls and photography. It makes the content look more attractive and interesting as it helps to organize richer pictures. The story will be shown in a dairy format to help strengthen the story concept where the main character inspect a planet as a diplomat. This project aims to reflect on the relationship of young adult’s loneliness and friendship. The target audience of this project is the young adults between 25 to 35 years old as they are struggling with the problem of loneliness (Blackpool, Gjøvik & Tokyo, 2018).The concept of the story is about a dog, a diplomat from a planet who receives a mission to travel to another planet alone. He tries to make friends with the residents. However, he feels lonely during the journey until he meets someone who looks similar to him, and they become friends eventually. This shows that friendship is important in reducing loneliness as friendship is able to increase the sense of belonging and boost happiness (MayoClinic,2019). 

 

The external design project will be submitted to “The 2nd Oriental Kids Picture Book Award”. The participants are encouraged to design a storybook for children who are between 0 to 10 years old with positive and healthy content. Hence, the deliverable of this project will be a science fiction storybook with a simple storyline which children can easily understand. This storybook is inspired by Mars and the story of Boriksa. Scientists believe that there is life in outer space and the storyline is created based on this belief. The concept of this storybook is about a child exploring and meeting different aliens on a planet where he had not been before. The storybook aims to enhance the children's creativity as imagination and science fiction storybooks help to develop children’s creativity (Jones, 2020). 

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1.4 Research method

Both independent and external independent projects adopt a mixed method of primary and secondary research. For the independent project, questionnaires surveyed in this project serve as the main source of data, aiming to collect information in a broader range. The target audiences of questionnaire surveys are Generation Y who are between 25 to 35 years old as this group of people are the largest percentage at the workplace (Mahidin, 2021). The survey form consists of three sections. The first section is about the responder’s basic demographic characteristics, such as age and gender. The second section aims to collect data on the responder's level of loneliness, followed by the last section which aims to collect data on the importance of friendships in reducing the feeling of loneliness. Reading journal articles and news that are related to loneliness and outer space helps in developing design ideas and concepts. For the external project, primary research includes interviewing with parents who have children between 0 to 10 years old, and it aims to collect information about children's lifestyle. Interviews help to investigate and understand the children’s lifestyle where an illustration book is a way to develop and enhance creativity. Furthermore, reading and observing illustration book on outer space such as “Let's Go: Into Space” and “无名外星人” help in developing the storyline in this project. Besides, reading journal articles and news that are related to Mars and children's growth development helps in developing design ideas and concepts.

 

2.0 Data Analysis, Observation and Case Studies

 

2.1 Data Analysis for Independent Project

Both independent and external independent projects adopt a mixed method of primary and secondary research. Questionnaires survey had been conducted for independent projects, serving as the main source of data. The target audience for this survey is Generation Y who are between 25 to 35 years old as this group of people are the largest percentage at the workplace (Mahidin, 2021). This survey consists of three sections. The first section is about the responder’s basic demographic characteristics, such as age and gender. The second section aims to collect data on the responder's level of loneliness, followed by the last section which aims to collect data on the importance of friendships in reducing the feeling of loneliness. There were a total of 22 respondents who answered this survey. Based on the survey, it showed that 59.1% of people feel lonely due to the long working hours as they could not have social activities with friends and family. Besides, 54.4% of the respondents agree that remote working is one of the reasons causing people to feel lonely. There are 13.6% of respondents always feeling lonely, 31.8% often feeling lonely, 45.5% of respondents feel lonely sometimes, and 9.1% of respondents rarely feel lonely. Not only that, up to 50% of working adults rate their lonely level at 4 out of 5. 77.3% of respondents agree that friendship is important, and 54.4% of them hope that their friend could be around them when they are facing difficulty. Moreover, 68.2% of the respondents will hang out with friends when they feel lonely. According to the survey, 68.2% of respondents believed that friendship helps in reducing the feeling of loneliness. Through the survey, it showed that working adults who are between age 25 to 35 are struggling with the problems of loneliness due to long working hours and remote working. The majority of them feel lonely while they believe that friendship is able to decrease the feeling of loneliness. Hence, the story concept of the independent project focuses on the relationship between loneliness and friendship, and the target audiences of the illustration book will be working adults between 25 to 35 years old.

 

2.2 Data Analysis for External Project

Qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted for external projects, aiming to collect information in a broader range. The interview consists of three sections. The first section is about the responder’s basic demographic characteristics, such as age and gender. The second section aims to collect information about children's reading habits, followed by the last section which aims to collect information on the children’s interest in reading books regarding science fiction topics. There were a total of 5 interviews that had been done for this project, and the target audiences for the interviews were parents who have children between the ages of 0 to 10. Based on the interviews, 4 interviewees agree that reading books is beneficial for children as they believe that children are able to learn new knowledge and develop positive habits through reading. Besides, all interviewees will not limit the books’ categories for their children to read, and most of their children start reading books from 1 or 2 years old. They believe that children will be influenced by reading books as books consist of different knowledge and information. The interviewees believe that books related to science fiction topics help develop children’s creativity and imagination. Some of the children will use their imagination and creativity after reading the book that is related to science fiction, such as imagining that they are a superhero with superpowers while playing games, asking questions which are related to outer space or science fiction topics, etc. According to the interviews, it shows that the majority of children possess high interest in reading books that are related to science fiction topics, and they will be more delighted while reading these books. Therefore, an illustration book regarding science fiction topics was designed for an external project, aiming to develop the creativity and imagination of the children when they are young.

 

2.3 Storybooks Observation

Observing the illustration book is also another research method for external project, such as  “Let's Go: Into Space” by Petr Horáček and “无名外星人” by 奥利弗 · 阿维尔 which help in developing the storyline in this project. The story of “Let's Go: Into Space” is about a boy who went to outer space by a rocket, and the boy brought a star back home at the end of the story. The storyline of this illustration book is simple and straightforward which helps children to understand easily. There are some holes on the pages which serve as a ‘mini window”, and children are able to imagine the scenes on the coming pages through looking into the holes . This illustration book helps in developing storyline for external projects, and the storyline is simple and straightforward. This concept was applied in an external project where the storyline is simple as a boy went to a planet and saw different monsters and aliens there. A straightforward and simple storyline is able to make sure that children can understand the story easily. “无名外星人” is an illustration about an anonymous exploring outer space. He saw many aliens and went to different planets during the journey. He found that there are different sizes of aliens in the universe  and planets with different average temperatures in outer space.The concept of having different styles and sizes of aliens in the universe had applied in the external project’s storyline development. The monster or aliens in the illustration book for external projects will be designed and drawn in different sizes as well as different characteristics. Through observing the illustration book, the storyline and monster/aliens design have been developed deeper in order to increase the interest of children to reading this illustration book.

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3.0 Design Outcomes & Rationale

 

3.1 Design Outcome for Independent Project

The deliverable for the independent project is a mix-media illustration book, named “10 days in Monstina”. “Monstina” is a word that is inspired by “Monster” and “Alien”. This book aims to reflect on the relationship between loneliness and friendship.

 

The illustration book is designed in A5 size with a dairy format as it helps to strengthen the story concept where the main character inspect a planet as a diplomat. Hence, the text will be handwritten, and some journal elements, like tape, sticker note and calendar are applied while designing the content. The story of this book is about the main character, Momo inspecting a planet, Montina, for 10 days. He met many residents with different body characteristics there. He found that the residents of Monstina look lonely. Hence, he tries to make friends with them and he wants to find out the reason why they feel lonely. However, no one answered his question until he met Bobo. Bobo is a resident who has the same body characteristics as Momo, and they have become friends eventually. This brings out  that people will meet someone who may have the same interest and be easy to be friends with.

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Mixed media, such as dolls, photography and digital drawing are the medium for independent projects. A total of five dolls are created to represent different characters, and all of them have different body characteristics, such as having a pair of long hands, long hair, three eyes and so on. This helps to deliver a message that people have different characteristics. Socks, cotton and iron wire are the main materials of the dolls. Cotton and iron wires are used to support the dolls’ bodies so that the doll can stay in the posture while taking photos.

 

Photography is the main visual communication tool for the independent project. The dolls are placed at different places, such as under the shower, by the fish pond, etc. Instead of just placing the doll at different places, creating an unusual space for the dolls by using different materials, like cotton and flowers also help in strengthening the concept of the character living on an unusual planet. Besides, lighting and angle are extremely important while taking photos. Plastic bags and spotlights help in generating different colours of light, which help to show that the character lives in a dark and cool place. Other than that, the dolls are placed separately in order to deliver a scene showing the characters being sad and lonely. Some photos will be taken from long distances as well so that the whole picture can look more empty and lonely.

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Moreover, adding illustrations and editing photos enable the visual looks to be more attractive. The idea of adding illustration in the photos is inspired by a designer, Natalia Chorna. She has drawn some characters in the photos which help the photos look more interesting and unique (Chorne, 2021).  Flowers with unique designs are illustrated in the photos, and some of the flowers have their own meaning in conveying a message of loneliness. For instance, one of the flowers is drawn upside down, which represents that people bow their heads when feeling sad and lonely. Editing the photos’ colour in cool hues can evoke the audience's feeling. For instance, the photos are edited into a grey tone when the main character, Momo, felt sad and lonely on the journey. Readers’ feelings of sadness and loneliness are able to evoke through looking at grey tone photos, as cold hues can deliver a sense of depression.

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3.2 Design Outcome for External Project

The deliverables for the external project is an illustration book, named “A Banquet with New Friends”. It will be submitted to The 2nd Oriental Kids Picture Book Award. The target audience for this book is children between the ages of 0 to 10 years old, aiming to develop their creativity through a book that is related to science fiction topics (Jones, 2020). The book is designed in 20 x 20 cm, 36 pages are included in it.  

 

This book is designed with colourful schemes in order to attract children's attention. Red and pink is the main colour tone for this book, which is inspired by the Mars appearance. A boy named Sean is created as the main character. The story starts with Sean playing with toys in the room and a toy starts glowing. A little monster come out from the toy and invited him to join a banquet on another planet. Then, Sean is sucked into the toy and arrived on another unknown planet. 

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A toy named “The Tower of Sun” is designed as a bridge to send Sean to another planet. The appearance of the toy is inspired by a building from NASA’s 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge and a modeling from a game, Arena Of Valor. The name of the toy is inspired by a cosmic phenomenon, where the Sun is placed in the middle of all planets. Hence, the toy has powerful energy, just like the sun, to send Sean to another planet. 

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Sketching some monsters with colour pencils are being done everyday in order to have more ideas on monster designs. Total 32 pages of sketches related to monster designs and 4 pages of character design have been done before starting the digital drawing. However, just some of the sketches will be selected and put into the final outcome. All the monsters that have been selected and drawn into the illustration book have different characteristics, such as having a pair of long hands, long legs, long hair, being hairy, and so on. The main character, Sean, will meet different monsters in the banquet. All these monsters with different body characteristics aim to develop the children's creativity as children will not see these monsters in real life. 

 

The food in the banquet is designed in liquid state, which is inspired by the first generation food for astronauts. In the early 1960s, the space food was based on Army survival rations and consisted of mud-like food filled in aluminum tubes and sucked out through straws (National Air and Space Museum, n.d). Some foods in the illustration book are designed in a flight status, which is inspired by the weightless environment in space. 

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The ending of this story book is designed in an open ending format where the toy, the Tower of Sun glows again and the main character, Sean is sucked into the toy. The last scene of the book will return to Sean’s room with yellow light. The purpose of designing an open ending in this book is to let the children imagine the ending for themselves, aiming to develop the children’s creativity and imagination after reading the book.

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4.0 Reflections & Conclusion

 

4.1 Reflection & Conclusion

Throughout the independent and external project, the designer found that visual storytelling should not be limited to drawing, but it can also be a different medium as the visual communication, such as doll, photography and other designs. Besides, the designer believes that illustration can be applied to many designs, such as packaging, posters and so on. There are many styles of illustration that can be found in the design industry, like 2D and 3D illustration. However,  the designer is interested in children’s illustration, which includes many details and texture while drawing the illustration. She believes that texture and details help to improve the completion of the entire illustration. Moreover, using a guide while doing layout is important when doing design. For instance, the designer uses a guide to arrange the text when designing the external project, and this action ensures a smoother reading flow. Hence, the designer believes that an illustrator or designer should focus on detail while doing design, as every detail makes the entire design look more perfect.

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Reference List

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Андрей, M. (2004, March 12). Boriska—boy from Mars. Pravda. Retrieved from https://english.pravda.ru/science/5051-martian/ 

 

Arthur,C.B. (2021, April 1). The Hidden Toll of Remote Work. The Atlantic. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2021/04/zoom-remote-work-loneliness-happiness/618473/

 

Blackpool, Gjøvik, and Tokyo. (2018, September 1). Loneliness is a serious public-health problem. The Economist. Retrieved from https://www.economist.com/international/2018/09/01/loneliness-is-a-serious-public-health-problem 

 

Charles,Q.C. (2017, January 18). Microbes Could Survive Thin Air of Mars. Astrobiology at NASA. Retrieved from https://astrobiology.nasa.gov/news/microbes-could-survive-thin-air-of-mars/ 

 

Chrona, N. (2021, May 4). Photo & Illustration. Behance. Retrieved from https://www.behance.net/gallery/118831027/photo-illustration?tracking_source=search_projects_null
 

Gray,T. (1998). A Brief History of Animals in Space. NASA. Retrieved from https://history.nasa.gov/animals.html 

 

Jones,E. (2020, May 15). How Reading Science Fiction Can Build Resilience in Kids. Breather Good Magazine. Retrieved from https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_reading_science_fiction_can_build_resilience_in_kids 

 

Mahidin,M.U. (2021, April 22). Labour Force Survey Report, Malaysia, 2020. Department Of Statistics, Malaysia. Retrieved from https://www.dosm.gov.my/v1/index.php?r=column/cthemeByCat&cat=126&bul_id=dTF2dkJpcUFYUWRrczhqUHVpcDRGQT09&menu_id=Tm8zcnRjdVRNWWlpWjRlbmtlaDk1UT09

 

MayoClinic. (2019, August 24). Friendships: Enrich your life and improve your health. Retrieved from https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/in-depth/friendships/art-20044860

 

May, K.T. (2017, April 5). How color helps a movie tell its story. TED. Retrieved from https://ideas.ted.com/how-color-helps-a-movie-tell-its-story/

 

National Air and Space Museum. (n.d). FOOD IN SPACE. Retrieved from https://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/apollo-to-the-moon/online/astronaut-life/food-in-space.cfm

 

NASA. (2021, March 23). The Mars rovers. NASA Space Place. Retrieved from https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/mars-rovers/en/ 

 

NASA. (2021, September 1). All About Mars. NASA Space Place. Retrieved from https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/all-about-mars/en/ 

 

Rider, R. (2009). Color Psychology and Graphic Design Applications. Honors Program Liberty University. Retrived from https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1118&context=honors

 

Zak,A. (1999, November 3). The 'True' Story of Laika the Space Dog. Red Square. Retrieved from https://thepeoplescube.com/laika/the-true-story-of-laika-the-space-dog-t49.html