Intercultural Design
Name: ALYSSA AISYAH BINTI 'ARIEF NASRAN (0364017)
Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media
Intercultural Design (GCD61304) / Section 1
Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media
Intercultural Design (GCD61304) / Section 1
INSTRUCTIONS
PROJECT 1
Proposal
For the continuous assessment of Intercultural Design, we have been broken
up into groups to study a chosen cultural phenomenon, or a particular
subculture that is perceived as ‘sensitive’, and “frame” our study within
the chosen theme. The general theme is “Cultural Sensitivity in
Design”
In the first phase of this continuous assessment (Project 1), we must come
up with a proposal to concretise ideas, supported by research, for a final
design revolving a given theme that reflects our understanding and
interpretation of global issues and design aesthetics.
The following requirements are as follows:
- Convey this cultural aspect without altering the actual, facts but within a presentable interpretation and adaptation that raises awareness from the viewers.
- Produce some preliminary ideas on how to visually express our interpretation using design language.
- Each idea is to be supported by a short rationale.
- Conduct visual research to help expand your idea generation.
Process
To start, our group first started discussing on the topic of cultural
sensitivity in general, such as the definition of cultural sensitivity, what
is considered culturally sensitive in different contexts, cultures, and
countries, and what it means to be culturally sensitive. Some time during the
discussion, our group had unanimously decided to do something which was
culturally sensitive in Malaysia. This led us to tossing ideas back and forth
with each other on potential culturally sensitive topics in Malaysia we could
center our proposal on, which led to 3 main ones we focused on:
- Otaku Culture in Malaysia
- The Effects of Outside Culture Intertwining with Malaysia
- Rock Culture in Malaysia
Lastly, we looked into Rock Culture as two of our group members (Ilhan and
Akif) were very familiar with the culture itself since they partake in it
themselves and thus had an in depth understanding of it. Throughout its
history, Rock Culture in Malaysia had received, and continues to receive
backlash from the general public, the government, and from religious
authorities due to several reasons, such as its alleged promotion of drug use
and other social issues, the apparent ties to the devil it was viewed to have
held, and the unruly image of Rockstar's due to their out-of-norm physical
appearances.
After deliberating over our choices, we decided to go with Rock Culture in
Malaysia since the idea offered a lot more explorative potential and because
our two group members were already familiar with it and had a wealth of
knowledge on it and somewhat of a plan on where we could take this idea for
the proposal. We then collaborated on the slides to produce our design
proposal.
Fig 1.0 Project 1 Design Proposal PDF
PROJECT 2
Field Study
Then, continuing on with the assessment, we had to conduct a data
gathering collection process about the culture we are studying with
relevance to the theme (cultural sensitivity) and our research
objectives.
The requirements are as follows:
- We are required to collect visual, oral, textual and tactile artefacts that would be part of our research materials for the ideation in Project 1 (proposal).
- All collected artefacts and materials must be recorded, kept and documented, accompanied by necessary information such as the type of artefact and material, its purpose, its symbolism, its cultural/historical background, and more, depending on the kind of artefact and material.
Some of the methods by which we were allowed to collect data
using were:
- Observation study.
- Interview of relevant stakeholders (from the lecture series, we may approach any of the guest speakers for an interview, if we deem their presentation useful for further research).
- Online and/or actual physical material* visual research of the selected culture (the
- people/arts/symbols/architecture/text/calligraphy etc.)
For this stage of the assessment, we had planned and carried out 2 methods of
data collection which were interviews and a survey.
Interviews
Our teammate Edlin was assigned with this task, and first did some research on
potential Malaysian Rock bands we could interview and landed on the following;
'Patriots' 'TingTongKetz' and 'Shh...Diam!'
Patriots: a "pop-mosh"(combination of two music genres - melodic pop and heavy
metal/rock) band
TingTongKetz: A Malaysian LGBT+ punk rock band that mainly makes music that
challenges current political issues or shows their fondness for anime, old
cartoons, and video games.
Shh...Diam!: another one of Malaysia's only few openly queer bands and considered to
be the first producing music in wide range of styles, notably pop-rock or
punk-rock. Some songs are fast paced and energetic while others have a
slower pace and kind of flow to them. A lot of their songs are inspired by
everyday happenings or items.
Then, Edlin got in contact with them through email, and luckily managed
to get a response back from all 3 which then led to her interviewing all of
them (in separate sessions) online through zoom.
Additionally, at this same time we had also planned to visit a rock
cafe/showing to interview the bands there. The places we looked into were
Merdekarya and Rumah Api, and I was tasked with contacting the places to ask
permission to do so. I then contacted both places on this request as soon as
possible, unfortunately, I got no response back, and thus we had to scrap this
idea.
Furthermore, due to an unfortunate turn of events, we had gotten news that
Rumah Api got raided by the police, and as a consequence had to be relocated. It was reportedly raided due to
permit issues and residents around the venue complaining of ‘satanic’ music.
We found this incident interesting, as it reflected the unfair treatment rock
culture gets in Malaysia, thus I had tried to contact them regarding this
incident for an interview on it as well, since it is apparently
not their first time being raided
for what they speculate to be similar reasons either. However, I unfortunately
unable to get a reply back on this request as well.
Although, because of the interviews Edlin had managed to secure with the 3
bands from before, we had sufficient data from our interview portion and
managed to fulfill the criteria.
Survey
Moving on, our next method of collecting data was surveys, and I along with
Edlin was tasked with this portion, although since she was busier with the
interviews already, I didn't mind doing most of the survey work on my own. To
put the form together, I thought of some questions relevant to our research
topic, and regarding rock culture and its sensitivity in Malaysia, trying to
include general questions everyone could answer, or phrase them in a way which
would provoke thought and reflection regarding this topic while still trying
to navigate the questions asked as respectably as possible- I wanted anyone of
any demographic to be able to answer the survey in order to get a large sample
size to collect our data from, which is part of the reason it was made
anonymous due to the sensitivity of the topic, as some may be wary of
associating themselves with it. In total, there are 28 questions.
Once the form was finished, our group spread it as much as possible. Despite
this however, we only got a minimal amount of responses back, so we did the
best we could in analysing a smaller than expected portion of data.
Fig 1.1 Project 2 Field Study (Data Collection)
PROJECT 3
Final Project & Portfolio
Upon the completion of our research, data collection, participation in
all class lectures and tutorials, presentation of a complete proposal
and research data, we are lastly to produce visual design outcomes
related to our interpretation of the given theme.
For our Final project, we decided to do two ideas which were the poster
design (Idea 1) and clothing design (Idea 3) our group has chosen these
ideas to showcase in the final project due to them having the most
significant impact in Rock Culture.
Poster Design
I was tasked with the poster design and had made 2 drafts for it-
specifically following the particular language/terms we were advised to
use 'muzik rock'
Fig 1.2
The first draft I had drawn featured a roaring Malayan tiger, the national animal of Malaysia to be the main subject and representative Malaysian feature in the poster wearing a well known symbol of rock- the 'rock glasses' with the theme of the Malaysian flag elements being used in one frame (the moon and the star) and the rest of the flag situated behind the tiger with decorative flames. I chose the Mala
However, I had scrapped this idea as I didn't get feedback from my
groupmates about it, and thought it may perpetuate or reinforce
stereotypes of rock culture being 'violent' or 'aggressive' in nature
due to the depiction of the Malayan tiger being used which happens to be
a fairly aggressive and hostile animal.
Fig 1.3
The second draft I made still featured elements of the Malaysian flag and its
colours as I considered it a defining feature of what makes the poster related
to our theme, and features a rock star with their electric guitar and their
fist up to signify the freedom of expression, and the signature rock-star
'spiky hairdo' to show non-conformity to social norms. While the star and moon
sit at the back, the stripes of the flag come out of the guitar almost like a
visual representation of 'movement' which is what I aimed for since the
culture as a whole could be described as such. Though I still wasnt satisfied
with this draft, as it was quite messy in general, especially with the word
placements, and as I did not get feedback on this either, I went back to the
drawing board again.
Fig 1.4 Final Poster Design
After my first two designs didnt get much feedback, I had went to Keaira for
advice since they seemed to be responsive towards her designs. She had
helped me with ideas and direction of the poster, and thus was able to gain
some inspiration thanks to her. I came up with an idea of doing an art-style
commonly used in vintage rock posters for a more 'authentic' feeling and
relation to the theme, with a rock star playing the guitar, passionately
singing/screaming out to show that rebellious freedom and expressiveness,
and having his foot step onto the word 'rock' as a symbolistic choice to
show how these rock artists 'stand up' or 'put their foot down' for what
they love and believe in, which is rock as a whole- while having the
Malaysian flag colours be the baseline of the design colours to represent
the 'Malaysian' aspect. I chose not to add the star and moon, as after
experimenting with them, I felt like it made the poster look unbalanced, non
harmonious, and crowded and furthermore- those elements on the flag represent the dominant muslim population in malaysia, although rock is not only for muslims, but can be appreciated by any religion. It was quite hard, producing this poster as I had
never done an art-style like this before and it was my first time, and due
to the short notice of my team assigning me with this task, I had to hussle
to get it done, though once it was completed and I presented it, they seemed
to be approving of it, thus finalizing our final poster design.
Final Project
Fig 1.5 Rock Culture in Malaysia
REFLECTION
Overall, my experience with this module was interesting but tough. It
was interesting to work in a group with different individuals who
offered many varying view points, ideas, and work styles, though this
also ended up being something that was a bit hard to navigate for me as
well since I felt as though sometimes these things didn't translate as
well practically as it did theoretically. As for the module, I found it
informative and explorative since we were free to pick on our theme so
the free reign we had over our project and its outcomes along with the
possibilities handed to us were very fun and relieving since it allowed
us to be more creative and independent in our own research and studies.
The design process was the most challenging aspect for me in work, since
I was given such a short time frame to complete it (less than 1 week) as
my other designs beforehand didn't gain as much traction, and because
was a completely new art style I had to learn and try to master in that
timeframe, though I am satisfied with the overall result of it and what
I was able to achieve in that period.
Furthermore the whole topic itself really called to attention the
amount of nuance, or specificity that culture holds, especially in
what a culture is sensitive in, so other than just teaching me
information of the culture I studied, it also made me reflect and
question on other cultures alike and how their attitudes manifest,
whether they'd have the same reactions, or how that is perceived from
one culture to the next, etc. All in all, I was glad to have completed
this module, as it offered my group and I the opportunity to challenge
stereotypes and misconceptions prevalent in society about rock
culture, and now have a better understanding of it myself.
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