Intercultural Design: Final Compilation

Week 1 - Week 8
10/1/2023 - 1/3/2023
Leong Jiahui / 0353469
Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media
GCD 61304 / INTERCULTURAL DESIGN
LuckyMiao

Content

Project 1: Proposal

Project 2: Data Collection

Project 3: Final Prototype - LuckyMiao

Tokyo Study Trip Reflection 

Project 1: Proposal

WEEK 1 (10/1/2023)
In the first week, we are introduced to the module, its projects and expectations. This module felt very different from any previous modules we've done, given its open-ended nature. There was no clear direction for the project and the sky's the limit, really.
We were split into groups of 6, mixing among students from different semesters. Since we will be having our study trip to Tokyo, Japan, our cultural theme must be based on Japanese culture. 

Since this is a short semester and everything is hella compact, we wasted no time throwing out ideas. This is the long list of (partially nonsense) ideas we came up with:

After a group discussion, we decided on our 2 big ideas:
  1. Japanese Fortune (O-mikuji) culture 
  2. Japanese Summer Festival (Natsu Matsuri) culture
We are also very keen on the gashapon idea, where every single idea somehow came spiralling back to gashapon. 
However, before we jump right into sketching, we divided the workload and departed on our way to research about our selected topics. I really enjoy working with my teammates. Most of them are quirky, fun and equally enthusiastic about the project. Too opinionated and stubborn sometimes (myself included), but it's the kind of dynamic that pushes the group forward. I'm excited to work with these people. Oh, and I'm the leader, so that's going to be stressful fun. 


Research & Ideation/ Preliminary Sketches 
Off we go to the depths of google for... everything, really. We didn't limit ourselves to the scope of research done, and just scoured the web for anything we think is relevant to our ideas. 

fig 1.2.1 website idea preliminary layout (14/1/2023)
Having 2 ideas for the execution of the gashapon fortune slip, I made a quick layout of the potential website/app design. After learning that o-mikujis are often bought as an offering to the shrine, I thought it would be fun if the website was built for a particular shrine. Not sure if I'm getting off-topic, though. 

After another round of meeting and brainstorming together, here is the research and idea sketches we came up with on our first week. I think it's not a bad amount. 


Before our first consultation session, we decided to get started with the slides so we wouldn't have to rush everything last minute. 
fig 1.2.2 slides making is my passion (16/1/2023)
Here is how our first proposal slides draft turned out:
 

WEEK 3 (24/1/2023)
After considering the recent feedback by Ms Anis suggesting that we venture into the direction of focusing on student life, we modified our 1st idea, creating a gashapon with traditional Japanese objects representing luck and fortune, into one that focuses more on the fortune on all aspects of student life, be it academics, love, health or wealth. 
Next week's the presentation already. Man. 

Nearing the first submission, I started organizing our main google doc which kinda got a bit out of hand over time with the information overload. I also arranged and combined our sketches into a more comprehensive form. 
fig 1.2.3 arranging the team's sketches (27/1/2023) 

WEEK 4 (31/1/2023)
After going through Tuesday's group's proposals, we realised that we have missed out on a (kinda) major part of our presentation...That being the research objectives, questions, problems etc. How could I have forgotten the stem of my misery from DRM? Good thing our group presentation is on Thursday so we still have a bit of time to patch things up. 
fig 1.3.1 proposal presentation slides making process (1/2/2023)

I love my teammates. After some intense damage control, we managed to conjure up the missing parts with minimal changes to our original proposal. With that, we are back on course prepping for our proposal presentation on Thursday!
Here is our proposal presentation deck:

The lecturers surprisingly took interest in our idea. Perhaps gashapon was not a common topic? I don't know, but either way I'm relieved that the first hurdle is over! We were suggested to proceed with our virtual idea instead of the physical one due to the time constraints. Now off we head to Japan for our long awaited vacation data collection! 

Final Outcome



Project 2: Data Collection

WEEK 4 (31/1/2023)

fig 1.1.1 Planning stage (4/2/2023)
Here comes the most exciting part of the module - THE TRIP. We started looking up potential places to visit for data collection (and various other purposes *coughs*) and had another meeting scheduled to discuss the travel plan to maximise our time there. We had to take logistical considerations into mind so we planned it out based on our given itinerary. 

WEEK 5 (7/2/2023)
Ah yes. Back to reality we have. 


No time for post-vacation blues because Friday is the deadline for our 2nd task! Moving on with our task, we started compiling & organising all the photos we took during the trip and began our observational studies write-up, literally a day after we got home. God, please help me. However, it was nostalgic to revisit the trip, even in a stressful way.
fig 1.1.1 observational studies write-up progress (13/2/2023)
fig 1.1.2 folders of data collection photos (13/2/2023)

WEEK 6 (14/2/2023)
After feedback from Miss Anis, we continued our grind with compiling our data collection for Friday's submission, as well as get ready for our final prototype sketch. We delegated parts for our data collection slides and started our meetings to come up with our final sketch. We also had the maneki-neko red bean snack we brought back from Japan :D 
fig 1.1.3 Maneki-neko snack from Rarasand Setagaya (13/2/2023)

Final Sketch Concept Artworks

This is honestly where the real challenge begins. Designing something as a group is hard as everyone has different interpretations & opinions on different aspects. There is no one size fits all and everyone has different tastes. But at the same time, you get to be in awe of others' skills (like you HAVE to see our omikuji design, Sylvia works wonders). 
Here is the first few maneki-neko designs I was entrusted to come up with: 
fig 1.2.1 final sketch progress (16/2/2023)
Needless to say, the jury did not like it your honour. And I actually thought it was pretty cute when I made them ngl. So off I go to design a second batch. After feedback from teammates, I made the cat rounder and gave it feet. Also attempted to give it more colour. This batch got a bit more approval, but still not there yet.
fig 1.2.2 more final sketch progress (16/2/2023) 

Finally, after tweaking further from the eyes to everything else, here is what we settled for. Personally, I think it was pretty cute :D
fig 1.2.3 maneki-neko gashapon machine final draft (16/2/2023)

Because we're an ambitious bunch of people who chose a complicated execution for a seemingly simple topic, we're not one with just the outlook. We now have to design the contents of the gacha. We split our workload to work faster. I was in charge of the maneki-neko model as well as the omamori. 
fig 1.2.4 maneki-neko & omamori design (16/2/2023)
Because we're masters of multi-tasking totally not due to procrastination and post-vacation blues, we were also making simultaneously working on our data collections slides for the submission. All is well. 

Final Outcome



Project 3: Final Prototype - LuckyMiao

WEEK 6 (14/2/2023)

TLDR: We were so stressed we got a bit unhinged

I present to you, our final prototype: 

The Tokyo Maneki-neko Greeting Card Series:

fig 1.1.1 Maneki-neko greeting card (20/2/2023)
Through this series of greeting cards, we aim to greet people (specifically designed to be sent in family WhatsApp groups) and spread positive vibes (they need it). The inspiration behind this prototype is the "live laugh love" motto practised by many above the age of 50. It is motivational, to receive such a positive message in the morning and that is precisely our rationale. 
Here is our mood board: 
fig 1.1.2 mood board 1 (20/2/2023)

fig 1.1.3 mood board 2 (20/2/2023)
It is interesting to note that while the English and Chinese versions of "good morning" greeting cards are in different languages, at their core, they both have a similar vibe and their signature poor graphic design. The design was so unintentionally bad that it was almost impossible to replicate. Needless to say, it was an interesting visual language to study. Considering that it would be hard to suddenly change our topic, we decided to use the info from our data collection and make them based on the Japanese lucky symbols. Very fitting for a greeting card that spreads positive vibes, if you ask me. 
It was also good that everyone was on the same page:
fig 1.1.4 Yes, I agree (20/2/2023)

In case you're wondering, yes everything stated above was A JOKE

WEEK 7 (21/2/2023)
Anyways,
After some unhinge-ness, we got back to work. We have a lot of animation and coding to do, and I went straight to doing none of those and looked for bgm/sfx for our gashapon website.
fig 2.1 bgm & sfx for the website (22/2/2023)
I hadn't anticipated working with Ae so closely for the entire sem. There's no escape. What if I start catching feelings? Dammit.
fig 2.2.1 how sem 2.5 feels like (24/2/2023)
I need to stop wasting my time making memes and more time actually making something useful. Because we're all single mothers who work 2 jobs, now we have to step up our game and animate every other possible thing because why not? 
fig 2.2.2 animation layers in Ai (24/2/2023)

fig 2.2.3 animation process on Ae (24/2/2023)

fig 2.2.4 my villain origin story (24/2/2023)
Anyways, after some struggles, here is how it turned out: 
fig 2.2.5 background animated gif (24/2/2023)
The deadline is drawing closer and our website is only halfway done. Because only 1 person, Siew Weng, is working on the coding, we are at her beck and call whenever something needs to be reanimated or adjusted. Let's just say that happened a lot and suddenly this project didn't feel very fun anymore. But!! The glimpse of the landing page Siew Weng showed us looked very promising, so remaining optimistic we shall. 

WEEK 8 (28/2/2023)
Crap it's presentation week already. Our website is still not complete. Well, the structure is there, but look too close and you'll see that it's threading on a dangerously thin line. Our teammate is doing her absolute best so I'm doing my best to support her in every way possible. 
Our poster is also coming along great! Pei Yun was in charge of this, and she did a great job creating that vintage scrapbook newspaper feel to it! 
fig 2.2.6 Final Presentation Poster draft (26/2/2023) 

The Presentation

Finally it was presentation day! Everything went well! I think the whole experience can be summed up with this video: 
fig 3.1.1 presentation reaction video (1/3/2023)
Suddenly the weeks of hard work felt worth it again. It was awesome that everyone was a great sport about it too! Super proud of the team🥺 Also presented our "final prototype" while we're at it. The greeting cards were truly a passion project.
fig 3.1.2 did you think we were joking? (1/3/2023)

You'd think we'd be getting our well-deserved rest now, right? Wrong. We decided to go all out and make that freaking landing page for our branding because why not. 
fig 3.2.1 landing page carousel content (2/3/2023)

fig 3.1.3 landing page layout (2/3/2023)
Did a couple of slides for the landing page carousel and wrote the website intro/description. Now it's up to Siew Weng to work her magic and bring it all to life :D


Final Outcome


LuckyMiao Gashapon store compilation: 

Website Overview:

Poster: 

fig 4.1 final poster (3/3/2023)



Feedback

WEEK 2 (17/1/2023)
Ms Anis suggested that we explore on the value of gachapon for anticipation with the practice of dispensing fortune and luck. Start figuring out ways to gather data and which info would best help you create your project to be more interesting. How about focussing on life as a student? What kind of fortune and luck do you guys think would help you feel better in your studies?

WEEK 4 (2/2/2023)
-concerns with physical gashapon prototype due to time constraint, suggests to focus more on digital approaches
-suggested mechanisms: shaking in apps/games
-can focus on translating the thrill of drawing a gashapon on screen

-suggests to document our feelings & experiences of drawing gashapon during data collection in Japan  

WEEK 6 (14/2/2023)
-think hard about the rationale when writing descriptions for data collection! 
-translate your experience, thrill & excitement into the prototype 
-think about the feelings you want your prototype to evoke in others 

WEEK 8 (28/2/2023)
Ms Anis and Mr Azrizal believed that the prototype was interesting and well done, especially within the tight time frame we were given. They provided us with some feedback:
  • rearrange the poster, have more focus on the prototype visuals and cut down on lengthy text
  • lack of a landing page branding 


Reflection

After what felt like forever of hard work, we are finally done! This project is so emotionally taxing and physically draining I'm so glad we managed to pull through. For the amount of stuff we managed to pull out of our asses this definitely did not feel like 8 weeks. 

Group 

Having a module that is fully group project based was new to me, and I have to admit that group work is not entirely a preferred working mode for a lone ranger like me. However, my team members were all cooperative, fun, reliable and punctual with tasks which made the experience a nett positive. Everyone has different skills to bring to the table and yes, while some carried more than others and the task delegation can never be 100% fair, everyone did their best to make LuckyMiao possible. Sure, there were miscommunications & misunderstandings when it comes to the tasks and as always everyone will have different opinions & art directions, but what can I say? That's just part of the ✨group work experience✨

Experience 

I still couldn't wrap my mind around the fact that it's been almost a month since we've been to Japan? This might be my favourite module since starting uni, tbh. It's really different from what we have been doing all along. I think our project might've been a perfect fusion of everything we've learnt up to this point, from researching to illustrating to vlog editing to sound effects to animating to coding. I was stressed for a good part of the project trying to delegate and complete the tasks by the designated deadlines, but man,, the outcome was the most satisfying thing ever. I'm super proud of everyone for pouring their hearts into this project and making LuckuMiao possible💖 LuckyMiao will forever have a special place in my heart.

Comments