Ink Transfer woes (I'm getting there)

Tried to ink transfer the design on the acrylic but it didn't turn out well. As a matter of fact, I found out that laser printed papers work better with the ink-transfer pen as compared to ink-jet printers (which basically did not work at all~).

Which reminds me that I need to find the clear acrylic sheets somewhere at home over the weekend. 

Outside packaging for Totem that includes instructions and foot notes

The whole package consists of a TB (possibly split into different volumes instead of the previously mentioned chapters), a Totem  - all in a tote bag which a design I've yet to come up with.

TOTEM (sorry spelt wrongly in the image)

Decided that my object had to be cooler than just a tote bag. It's a modern day lucky charm and fortune teller to keep in the pocket at all times for good luck. I'm creating the totem out acrylic mirrors and transparent acrylic. This includes a dial to point at the answer after a question about the future is being asked.

Life skills

Futile attempt at the sewing machine. I learnt that you have to double stitch some ends, and hem to ends of the cloth to get a more finished look. Also, the type of cloth used is quite important. I used an old tshirt to sew, so you can still see the prints even from the outside.
If I'm buying cloth, the material will be slightly off white and softer than t-shirt material. Handles have to be longer too.

Dimensions of entire cloth needed: 41.5cm x 15.5cm 

I quote my dad, "Your life skills suck". No qualms about that. Spent some time figuring out how to you the sewing machine. Had to figure out how to sew a tote bag for the textbook I'm designing with the cloth I'm about to get from Spotlight.

The Origins

 Content (from previous post):

1. What is Superstition?
2. How did it come about?
3. Hungry Ghost Festival (Introduce Chinese Superstitious festival)
    - What is it, How it's celebrated, Why it's celebrated, Who celebrates it, Where is the festival being held
4. Superstitious practices
   - What you should and should not do during Hungry Ghost Festival

Before explaining what Hungry Ghost Festival is all about, I'll be explaining the Origins of Superstition. After much research, I realised that, interestingly enough, Superstition is fueled by the own human doubt to explain occurrences that aren't logical. 

On a side note, there's a different between an OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) and superstitious behavior. People with OCDs often have compulsions to do rituals over and over again, often interfering with everyday life. An example is Jack Nicholson's character in the movie As Good As It Gets, who skips cracks in the sidewalk and eats at the same table in the same restaurant every day, with an inability to cope with any change in routine. While some of the symptoms of OCD can mimic superstitious behavior (and the two aren't mutually exclusive), the most of the evidence would indicate there is no connection between the two. 

The main difference between the 2 is that Superstitions lead you to believe in your desired outcome, whereas OCDs simply are routines (Bringing us back to the topic of "Faith" or "Beliefs").

 Anyway.

Origins
Superstitions began centuries ago when our ancestors tried to explain mysterious circumstances or events as best as they could with the knowledge they had. For instance, before the development of science explained such strange things as why mirrors show our reflections or why shadows appear when it's sunny, ancient people reasoned that a shadow or reflection was part of their soul. 

If someone broke something onto which the shadow or reflection appeared, people believed that their soul was harmed. Therefore, when a person broke a mirror it was considered unlucky or harmful. 

Today we know that reflections and shadows are not part of our souls but if someone still believes it is bad luck to break a mirror they are said to be superstitious. Wanting more control or certainty is the driving force behind most superstitions. We tend to look for some kind of a rule, or an explanation for why things happen. "Sometimes the creation of a false certainty is better than no certainty at all, and that is what much of the research suggests," says Dr Vyse from Web Del Marc College. Job interviews, testing, and other situations where we want things to go well -- regardless of our own preparation or performance -- can spur superstitious thoughts. "We are often in situations in life where something really important is about to happen, we've prepared for it as best we can, but it's still uncertain; it's still unclear," Vyse says. No matter how confident or prepared you are for an event -- whether it's a football game, a wedding, or a presentation -- things can still happen beyond your control. "Superstitions provide people with the sense that they've done one more thing to try to ensure the outcome they are looking for." 

Superstitions are a sense of security we go to when we get nervous. Hence, they are a form of stress relief outlet. It's not news that expectations can be extremely powerful and suggestive. Studies regularly point to placebo effects (both positive and negative), which are entirely caused by the power of expectations or preconceptions. Yet superstitions can also play a negative role in our lives, especially when combined with a bad habit such as gambling. If you're a compulsive gambler who believes that you can get lucky, then that belief may contribute to your problem.

Pagination & Content

I hope I'm not too late for this week's post //crossed fingers//

I've been working on my pagination and content for my 1-0-1 How to Be Superstitious Textbook/Workbook this week. For this, I had to look up some old-school textbooks (i.e Pet School house TB since pri school & my room mate's Basic Malay for Undergraduates. I took some photos of that for reference. Here are some shots with notes:

CONTENTS PAGE

1. Good to title the chapters by "Lessons"

2. Labeling what will be taught (summary)

3. Not too fancy layout for students to scribble notes (if they even need to scribble notes about superstition?)

4. Page number

I noticed that the font size for the whole book was humoungous and, most importantly, very ugly. There were tables everywhere with bold Arial font (possibly) and kerning problems.  Sorry for being blunt, but really, there's no hierarchy in the spread. (Ok, maybe because the purpose of a textbook is to teach and not to look pretty. But, no, this is not my textbook is gonna look like)

I got to these 2 pages with pictures and I felt slightly relieved. For the book.

These 2 pages instantly grabbed my attention. So, yes, my book shall have illustrations, as previously mentioned. These spreads, with all the tables gave me an idea for the work book section.

Lastly, my room mate's notes that were shoved in between pages gave me an idea to insert irregular sized pages into the textbook. I decided that I should combine the textbook and the workbook together, upon looking at this textbook, possibly posing questions on the irregular sized pages. Like such: https://www.behance.net/gallery/IKEA-Booklet-Design/15061339

 Content:

1. What is Superstition?
2. How did it come about?
3. Hungry Ghost Festival (Introduce Chinese Superstitious festival)
    - What is it, How it's celebrated, Why it's celebrated, Who celebrates it, Where is the festival being held
4. Superstitious practices
   - What you should and should not do during Hungry Ghost Festival

It only occurred to me that

Google translate is currently like my best friend

Infographics

For Typo class this week, Cindy told me that I have a messy mind that enjoys to be in crowds, by the way she looks at my magazine spread designs. (I'm also not sure if I should feel scarred or wary about myself because I'm pretty much the most introverted person who hates crowds) Confused again because - On one hand, I do love organizing, but on the other, I just can't seem to achieve minimalist designs. I may no be fantastic at it, but I.DO.VERY.MUCH. LOVE. DESIGNING. INFO GRAPHICS. It's not everyday that you hear somebody professing their love for organizing data into pictorial forms, so I find it rather strange.  //Identity Crisis//

Back to the topic:
I really enjoyed this assignment because it's a breath of fresh air as compared to the publication designs we've done in the past. It's more graphic based, as compared to letters, fonts, kerning and *head explodes*. I enjoy creating vectors on illustrator and compartmentalizing them into columns. 

Challenges for me on this assignment:
1- Colour choices 
(The readings that were given said that we shouldn't use more than 3 colours for infographics. So I was a bit iffy on my colour scheme. I decided to just use them all anyway, because they looked coherent and not jarring. I needed a form of continuity because they are, afterall, my colour scheme for the product I'm working on for the final assignment.) 

2- Printing
I got my printing done really late, and I was freaking out over not being able to finish the two posters, even till the night before. Thankfully, I had the two-sense to buy my fancypaper the day before and still had printing credits in school. And, because it was the first time, ever, that I was printing in school, I didn't know you had to down the saturation of your blacks or not the printer would totally smudge. (Sorry if there are some ink smudges on the paper). The colours turned out a bit dull too, so I was a bit disappointed in that. I'm now contemplating on investing in an A3 printer and I'm not sure if that's advisable, so I'm still researching. 

3- Layout
It was quite difficult to layout because I had so much info I wanted to shove in (as you can see from my already-very-cluttered-infographic). Everything is very compact because I had so much research I wanted to put (there's more actually) but this was already the sieved-through version. I got my references from Behance, which were very useful. 

4- Precedence studies
It was genuinely tough to find studies in this aspect because not a lot of people have done campaigns based on superstition. I guess that it's really a dying tradition. The only ones I could find that were really smart was by Bold Design. They designed a sugar cubes in the form of pennies so that as you throw them into your coffee, you could make a wish. 

Reference images:

This assignment made me realise that while one lays out all the information he/she has, it's easier to see the bigger picture from beginning to end. It has given me a clearer vision of my end product because, whether I know it or not, I've made some hard decisions (i.e moodboard, colour scheme, fonts, design elements) by designing this.

Reverting.

Pardon me, I tend to be quite fickle. 

Today was the our infographic proposal pitch. I have to admit that I wasn't being very attentive because I was feeling so drowsy from medication, but I do remember some striking proposals - like Jeremy's gardening idea (I thought the infographic layout was quite fantastic, I've always admire clean cohesive layouts- something I could never achieve), Sharlene's dating scheme (so abstract and fascinating) and Bev's really pretty water coloured disposable plates.  

By the way, I also wanted to say thank you for always making us write down our thoughts (like the first day when we had to introduce ourselves) or design an infographic poster before we present, just so we know exactly what we should talk about. It helps a lot with the nerves and too-much-attention-on-the-speaker. 

Anyway, I made the decision to stick to my original proposal- which was to create a "How To Be Superstitious" working kit (instead of the idea of the lunch box + menu I mentioned). I felt that I still liked the straight-forwardness of the proposal because, ultimately, my audience are straight-forward, simple minded teenagers. And I was ultimately making things very complicated with the Food Idea. Another very unepic flaw of mine. I'm still thankful that you entertained my casual slip into exploring the area of "Food & Superstition" though, because I was able to get some reference pictures for the general look & feel that I was going for, which was published in my previous post.

But on a side note, this was my research for the latter:

Types of Superstition regarding food:

1. Chopsticks cannot be placed in the bowl. Spirits will come to haunt you.
2. Cutting an apple infront of a mirror will show you your future.
3. A clean plate of rice will give you less pimples.
4. Tangerines signify wealth and fortune.
5. A rice container cannot be empty.
6. Noodles should not be cut (longevity)
7. A family that dines together, stays together. 

Why is food so important, especially to the Chinese?

1. The importance of food in understanding human culture lies precisely in its infinite variability--variability that is not essential for species survival. 
2. Food not only affects health as a matter of general principle, the selection of the right food at any particular time must also be dependent upon one's health condition at that time. Food, therefore, is also medicine. 
3. Pride & Joy: Since ingredients are not the same everywhere, Chinese food begins to assume a local character simply by virtue of the ingredients it uses.
4. Customs, traditional recipes
5. Chinese were poor back then. Food was precious.
6. Eating is serious business, at every ceremony. 

  

Suddenly enjoying sparseness in letters

Photo credits: Supermerlion.com

JIXBOX/Sampe Sale

Correct me if I'm wrong, but extended amounts of kerning makes everything look slightly more Asian-y. I think the resemblance comes from when Chinese characters are put side by side in a sentence. Each word looks like a block to me, and the spacing in between each can be liken to each English letter of the alphabet when the kerning sky rockets. I think I'll go with this illustrative style because I'm addressing Chinese superstitions after all. It's still important to remain the authenticity of the topic even when my target audience is mainly the English speaking students because:

1. The package I'm designing serves as a form of education
2. Not having the Asian illustrative feel just proves even more that Chinese superstitions are officially lost
3. The message won't be properly conveyed because basically when you talk about Chinese superstitions, you have to bring in the Chinese aspect (duh~ lol)