DI 6 - SG Designer's Day

I went for a few exhibits in City Hall and Ion Orchard with my DI class a few weeks back. The exhibits featured the artworks of young aspiring artists as well as well-known designers in conjunction with the Singapore Designer's Day.

First, we went to the one at City Hall. The exhibits were held in the Supreme Courtrooms. The first room's theme was Taiwan design in pop culture. There, many young Taiwanese Designers majoring in the different areas were featured. Some were designers for popular entertainment programmes such as "Kang Xi Lai Le" , some designing the cover albums for singers such as Jolin Tsai and Jay Chou, while others were involved in abstract art, cartoon design etc. It gives us a closer look at what the young designers in Taiwan do, and also gives a a greater understanding of Taiwan's design culture and trends.

The next room was a pitch dark room, with beautifully painted drawings hanging around the wall. There was a reason for the room to be pitch dark - there were secret codes perforated on the drawings, and you'll have to shine a torchlight at it from a distance to decode it. There were also some 3-D sculpture that forms a sentence - you'll have to view it from afar to be able to see it. This room plays around with the element of perception/view. I think it's super cool. I was only able to make sense of the exhibits after "cheating" by reading the hints mounted next to the artworks :P

Then we went to another room. There, were Japanese originated artwork, as well as clay figurines each holding a small Ipod depicting cute graphic designs and not forgetting an impressive train model that has a camera in the front filming the train's route while its moving round the model!!! You can actually see the trees, animals and mountains all made from clay and recycled materials.

After that, we went to a bigger hall hosted by an organization called Qi.
There were all kinds of uniquely designed things made entirely from recycled materials. The bags sold there were made from numerous can cap, by the Brazilians. Smart! We should totally start to collect them too and make our own bags :) the were chairs and tables too, made from recycled metal. Then there were portraits and books sold, all featuring the beauty of nature in Antartica.
There was also an interesting book featuring all the products made from the body parts of the pig. I was shocked to realise that none of the parts of the pig cannot be used; the pig is used up to even its bone to make paper!!! poor pig...tsk tsk...

Anyway enjoyed it there especially my favorite rocking chair they have there. I wished I could bring that home but oh wells...

(PS: this post is getting too long so I'll continue the trip in my next post. In the meantime, here are some pictures I took :) )

*more pictures next post...no more space :S

Hais...couldn't go to school today...sprained my knee while dancing yesterday...
Went to see the chinese doctor, and after a few grueling twisting and turning and poking of needles (omg!!!), the doctor announced that it was caused by my old injury of my backbone...

now my poor right knee is being bandaged like a fat mummy...and i can't even straighten my leg now!!!

The Doctor forbids me to walk about now...(but how? there's still school and presentations going on!!! and climbing of the hill everyday!!! argh)

Pray that my knee will recover asap... I'll have to dance for Sunday's performance!!!

tata,
Sad Cam :"(

PS: Can't practice dance too at the meantime. stressed.

PPS: Thanks my dear frens (xiu wei, yin qing and jiaqi) for your care and concern!!! =D

Hope everything goes well for presentation tmr!!!

DI 5 - On Strategy and On Target

I've recently read an interesting article about advertising on target and on strategy. Had to read it twice to understand what it was saying lol...anyway, according to the article, these 2 criteria are crucial to effective and successful advertising campaign.

So, what's on target and on strategy? It means that your ad campaign must have the appropriate language used so that it's in the correct tone of voice to your target audience. For eg, if you're targeting investors, your copy should sound intelligent and serious instead of informal. It ensures that your campaign can 'connect' with your right target audience (T.A).

The message you deliver should also be intrusive and interruptive in order to make an impact - the 'punch' factor so that it captures your T.A's attention. And needless to say, having your message sound natural and convincing (something closer to the T.A's real life) helps in building up the emotional connection between your product and the T.A. For example, adding a "slice of life" factor to your ad campaign.

A good example on featuring something 'closer' to their TA's life is the 2005 Dove "Campaign for Real Beauty". It featured women of various sizes (like their T.A - real women) instead of bone-thin supermodels. It made their TA feel like they are one of them and thus the emotional connection automatically sets in. I think it's really smart as it brings the campaign into a deeper sense of worth rather than the superficial feature of supermodels that we obviously know that it's "so not referring to us". It makes us (ordinary real life women) feel that we are being understood, valued and cherished; And that they actually go all the way in making the effort to know what we actually want.

Just that sincerity alone makes us happy and more willing to buy their products. Smart. =D

Events concept Presentation

Had Events Management CA1 today too...was so nervous right b4 the presentation.

BUT surprisingly, everything went smoothly!!! yea and I think we did quite well...

woohoo YAYYYYYY!!! =D

heeheehee
hohohoho
hahahaha

PS: Jiayou mateys!!! (aka no-link group)

DI 4

Had DI again. This week we had to present our ad to our group members. Got several constructive feedback like too many different fonts and the layout of my product. And after reviewing, I realised them too. Sometimes, it's true that we won't spot our own mistakes until other people point them out to us.

Reviewed other people's ads too. Some of it were so creative. Wouldn't have thought it myself. Gotten a little embarrassed comparing my ad to others' (mine looked like it's been designed by a pre-school kid :P haha). But anyway it's ok. I'm going to improve as I practice along! =D

Then we have a new mission again...this time it's much harder!!! We have to design a print ad for design professionals in order to advocate a "Safe Design" campaign with the tagline "Practice safe design, always use a concept". And ta-dah!!! What's my concept?...grrrr have to go crack my brains now. see ya next week =D

Tata!!!

(DI 3)

Anyway, had our third Design and Illustration lesson class yesterday. Ms Nga showed us some heartwarming "Hallmark" TVCs (that I think would have brought my mother to tears - she has a softspot on all these family/children bonding thing.

I think they were very powerful, as it etches an emotion in me, which makes me remember it even though I've watched it only once. Nowadays, all we have on TV are the creative (and sometimes nonsensical) ads that just brings out a laugh in us and then we'll quickly forget them/ or the messages they were trying to bring across to us(some I couldn't even decipher). It is hard to find classic ones like these that are timeless.

Anyway Ms Nga also showed us some unique print ads that brought across a simple message in each one. She also introduced something new to us (SHRED)- Science, Huh? (Yes! it is what it is!!!), Response, Emotion and Deconstruct the Ad. We also learnt this 4 important factors to plan for : Audience, Purpose, Message and Execution.

Then we had to design our own advertisement for our products, mine's the Energy booster "Nutty/Crit Crack" Peanut Butter bar of course :D Had fun playing around with ideas as well as Photoshop,Illustrator (if you believe :P)and Paint etc...
Due next lesson.

Lessons have been fun so far...I getting to like all these designing for ads stuff now... and photoshop doesn't seem as irritating as it was last year during Design Basics. No regrets choosing this elective. (Especially after hearing what the rest were doing in the other electives heeeheee :D)

Yea, that's about it... Cya soon
Tata!!!
Cam Cam :)

(DI 1.2) - Yolk