elizabethmelissaong

[elizabethmelissaong]

CRITICAL THINKING B

Week 12 : Question 2 Tradition / Lineages

Yes, I think my artistic vision statements are well thought out. It relates to my future goals and it is quite realistic. I really enjoyed the week 10 activity because it was really lovely to read my classmate's visions as well as write to them and getting back encouraging motivating comments was really sweet. Handwritten notes brings communication to another level to me the thoughts flow to your heart more and it is easier to express yourself in writing than in spoken words at times.

The reason why I chose this design work was because I really love the colors, patterns, and brand guide. The packaging design is in one box filled with four sections of yummy traditional snacks. The design really harmonizes modern and traditional India's rangoli patterns there is color contrast, positive and negative, different diverse patterns 5 by 5 speaking about the traditional foods from their origin, symmetrical balance, and constant layouts.

It is functional because once you open it there is a description about each snack and a welcoming Diwali candle in the background giving a sense of invitation to try the snacks which i feel if you have this in your house for celebrations guests would love the packaging as it's for sharing.

The product photography is really clean and direct. It brings out the delicious snacks and small background elements of flowers and gold cloth enhancing the space. In my artistic statement that I want to be a freelance photographer, I would like to try to do different projects to expand my knowledge and enjoy photographing in different genres be it creative portraits, products, events, weddings, fashion, or landscapes. When there are opportunities like that I would just go do it and try so that I gain experience, to know which I like to do or least.

Willem Verbeek is one of my favourite photographers who does landscape and portrait photography. He is based in Los Angeles, California. He has worked with major clients like Porsche, LA Times, The New Yorker, Push Magazine, Kodak, New Balance, Rolling Stone.

Which In my dreams, I hope to work with Kodak, Female, New balance, and many more.

After Willem's Porsche main collaboration project, he was surprised with a Porsche sports car for a road trip around Europe. In exchange he needed to photograph the car for them and the landscapes he found himself in, so it became like a secondary photography project.

Here are some of my favourite images he took of the car. The concept he did was a combination of scenic landscapes mixed with the car immersed in the landscape, Which tells the story of the road trip in this car.

Porsche is a brand filled with history, starting from 1948 till now. The evolution of their car designs especially the 911 has become an iconography which the name first appeared initially as the 901.

Willem's YouTube videos always impact and inspire me because I would feel in awe of his passion, motivation, and creative direction.

Word count: 500

References (MLA STYLE):

" My artistic vision statement " - date ... Elizabeth and classmates.

" Swaad Anusar - Diwali Box packaging design " - 7 Sept 2023 Riddhi A. Palande and Tushar Son

" Photographs from video : Porsche Gave me a Car... " - 13 Oct 2023 Willem Verbeek

[elizabethmelissaong]

CRITICAL THINKING B

Week 11 : Question 1 Discuss your CTS B manifesto.

My group’s manifesto was split into different aspects of values, questions, and aspirations on layout in a paper scroll. Values were highlighted in keywords with sub text to express them. Questions were frequently asked about ourselves. Aspirations were about our goals and what we would want to work to achieve.

Overall it could be more specific because it seems quite generic.

For aspirations, we could elaborate on the brands we would want to work with or company on career goals or achievements as a designer like how to better our skills by attending workshops or short courses. collaborating with other designers for different mediums like products or fashion. Combining design skills like how we are working on our project with a partner in our studio module. Values could be explained with a more personal touch and statement like " Growth - I want to keep evolving after every project to challenge myself like 30 days of design, every day with a design prompt to complete in a few hours but not take the whole day". Questions are alright.

I have an alternative manifesto that I created with a dairy vibe. It is about what I believe in myself, the values I stand for, and what I tell myself.

The 1st three-pointers are basic reminders when starting on projects. 4th pointer is a reminder to go to exhibitions or events that I am interested in to make time for them because it's only specially open on limited dates and times. To also socialize and talk about exhibitions or meet new people. Hoping that one day my work gets showcase in exhibitions. The 5th to 7th pointer is mainly reminders I tell myself to not always work independently. The 8th pointer is when people talk shit comparing designers' and artists' salaries or that we won't be as successful. Proving them wrong when they talk down on your passions and dreams. The 9th and 10th pointers are about important aspects of life I believe that experiences and perspective give you inspiration, connecting to people, places, and culture. Knowing your market value to understand how you price to clients is important so that you are paid fairly for your hard work, experience, time, and deliverables. This connects to critical self-reflectivity and how I analyze my creative practices.

A kind of manifesto that I do is usually every first of January I create personal, career, and financial goals in numbers of my age. As I grow older there will be more that I want to achieve or how I can push myself to have different goals each year similar or new ones.

I would always include improving my design skills, reading more books in different genres, creating more digital or non-digital works, taking care of my mental health, starting my own home studio, doing freelance paid projects, something that I won't usually do, and want to try, get new photography equipment and enter competitions.

Word count: 487

References (MLA STYLE):

"CTS manifesto by Emma , Ava , Elizabeth , Caylen" - 24 oct 2023

" Elizabeth's manifesto " - 12 Nov 2023 created by me

[elizabethmelissaong]

CRITICAL THINKING B

Week 4+5: Field Trip and Analyse Artistic Traditions and Lineages

The role of the museum is to showcase arts and artists in diverse mediums and experiences. Curation of exhibits from different artists internationally and locally. Bringing a Community that is interested in the arts or friends and family to enjoy a calming day appreciating arts. As it can be poetic in our everyday lives or understanding of culture and history. The museum preserves traditional art and Knowledge. It is quiet and inspirational. Displaying archives in time.

Liu Kuo-sung: Experimentation as Method exhibition really caught my attention It was really surreal that his works were painted with Chinese ink. His inspiration was travel landscapes in China. It was really calming seeing all his works as the line work, compositions and brush strokes are all so precise. "In the midst of a beautiful spring" painting is really poetic as it is an abstraction of spring and looks like reflections on water. Especially with the "Snowscapes reaching beyond the clouds" black and white painting it looked like a photograph split in four. The canvases are really big too it felt like I could teleport in there. 

Ed Ruscha / Now then an exhibition in MoMA ( Museum of Modern Art ) shows the history of photography documentation and different mediums in prints or film of Los Angeles city from 1974-2010 as well as typography. Starting in 1966 Ed Ruscha mounted his camera in the back of a pickup truck and photographed ( in street level perspective ) every building in the sunset strip returning to the place again and again and also other streets. His archives of the city are a good resource on the city's history of how the places evolved, the design of typography, logos, and music. From visual types to visual places.

Word count: 287

References (MLA STYLE):

"National Gallery Singapore pictures" - taken by me in 2019 and 2020.

"National Language Class" 1959 -Chua Mia Tee oil on canvas

"In the midst of a beautiful spring" 2008 - Luo Kuo Sung

Ink and colour on paper

"Snowscapes reaching beyond the clouds" 2020- Luo Kuo sung

Ink and colour on paper

https://www.nationalgallery.sg/

"Ed Ruscha / Now then website picture" - 14 Nov 2023 MoMa

"LA Stories: Urbanism, Music, and AI in Ed Ruscha’s Archive" - 14 Sept 2023 Getty Research Institute

[elizabethmelissaong]

CRITICAL THINKING B

Week 2 : This Is How You Connect Theory and Practice

Personal discoveries I found were that my outlook and glimpse of my personality show qualities of who I am. When my classmate Aisyah did the word-image collage of me it was accurately true to how I view myself to be.

Identity connects to my design practices because, music and movies inspire me about different characters and the moods of music. How music can add elements to our designs as well as movie scenes, and how moving images can be summarised and communicated in a movie poster and story. We can enhance art styles to add our own personal touch as well something that relates.

Like how branding is an identity, Jacquemus has been a brand that I look up to because of its marketing campaigns. Their concepts mainly involve foods, sceneries, and seasons. A mix of realistic and surrealistic fictional ads. They have strong consistency in promoting their fashion products and design principles.

Identity is important because it makes us who we are, how our personality is like, and our values. Without identity, everyone won't have much meaning in their lives. Because there is purpose through identity, it makes everyone different. Sometimes it takes years to understand ourselves, and our identity. As it can change when we grow up because we realize things that identify us uniquely. It changes when we push our boundaries trying something out of our ordinary and when we grow or outgrow things. Just like an iconic style, we have like why I wear this specific piece of jewelry every day, or a hairstyle or an aesthetic, and even art styles that identify us.

Word count: 267

References (MLA style):

"My self-image in pictures and words" - Elizabeth ong , 22 August 2023

Glass Onion: "A Knives Out Mystery - Rian Johnson" https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/81458416 , 23 December 2023

"Jacquemus bags as buses" - Ian Padgaham , April 6 2023

"A table!" Campaign visuals - Lauren Bamford , 15 September 2023

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by JACQUEMUS (@jacquemus)

https://www.instagram.com/jacquemus/

" Ghost in the machine" - SZA , Phoebe Bridges 2022

"Word-image collage of Elizabeth" - Aisyah , 22 Aug 2023

[elizabethmelissaong]

CRITICAL THINKING B

Week 1 : Creative Practice and Critical Thinking

Illustrator Ofelia Botella uses creative practice in her work consistently. She has a design service called Designed in a Day where she creates wedding stationery between 9am-5pm on the same day.

She has a 30-minute meeting with clients before their design day as well as questionnaires for clients to fill up about details and inspirations. For it to work smoothly client and designer communication has to be efficient in speedy replies or quick calls.

Then a mood board and draft would be sent to the client to review before 1pm. After the chosen direction, designs will be polished and shared for two feedback rounds and finalizing.

Ten different templates would be created that clients can use across all stationery items and a shared guide on how to edit the text using canva and some printing tips. Since the final process takes some time, the step would be finished after the design day.

This design service really intrigued me because it's quite rare and I have worked on a wedding invitation project before and it took more than a day. So it was awe-inspiring how she illustrated in a few hours to complete cards by 5pm. I really love her unique watercolor art style as well as it is hand-painted with a sense of personal touch. The system of the service Ofelia created is really efficient because projects get done faster.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Ofelia Botella (@ofeliabotella)

Here's the critical thinking side of things. My short story and the article linked were noteworthy as it has good highlights on why the prices are so high now, how it affected the system, and what can be changed.

Word Count: 268

" My short story " - 15 aug 2023 Elizabeth Ong

" Heart of the matter : What would car industry experts change about the COE system " - Channel News Asia 24 Jul 2022

" Designed in a day for Ellie and Tim's wedding invitation " - Ofelia Botella 23 Aug 2023

" Ofelia's Nancy Meyers inspired Instagram video " - Ofelia Botella 9 Nov 2023