Week 1 - Week 3 : 3 Jan 2022 - 21 Jan 2022
Tan Yi Yun
0345559
Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media
Task 1 / Proposal
LECTURE
Week 1
Netnography
Netnography, an online research method originating in ethnography, is understanding social interaction in contemporary digital communications contexts. Netnography is a specific set of research practices related to data collection, analysis, research ethics, and representation, rooted in participant observation.
Ethnography
Ethnography is a type of qualitative research that involves immersing yourself in a particular community or organization to observe their behavior and interactions up close.
- first hand experience
- participatory
- face to face
- on-site
- observational
 |
| Figure 1.1, Netnography approach, Week 1 (3/1/2022) |
Inductive approach v.s. Deductive approach
Inductive approach : Have initial assumption, collect information to confirm your hypothesis
Deductive approach : Don't know much about it, start from scratch
Week 2
 |
| Figure 1.2, What is culture, Week 2 (10/1/2022) |
 |
| Figure 1.3, Visible culture & deep culture, Week 2 (10/1/2022) |
Culture
- refers to the cumulative deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion, notions of time, roles, concept of the universe, and material objects and possessions acquired by a group of people in the course of generations through individual and group striving.
- a way of life of a group of people -- the behaviours, beliefs, values, and symbols that they accept, generally without thinking about them, and that are passed along by communication and imitation from one generation to the next.
- is a symbolic communication. Some of its symbols include a group's skills, knowledge, attitudes, values, and motives. The meanings of the symbols are learned and deliberately perpetuated in a society through its institutions.
Layers of culture
The national level : associated with the nation as a whole.
The regional level : associated with ethnic, linguistic, or religious differences that exist within a nation.
The generation level : associated with the differences between grandparents and parents, parents and children.
The social class level : associated with educational opportunities and differences in occupation.
The corporate level : associated with the particular culture of an organisation. Applicable to those who are employed.
INSTRUCTIONS
TASK 1 : Proposal
Our general theme is "Purpose". We are to select a particular culture in society and brainstorm to identify an area of interest you wish to highlight on or bring awareness to that culture. Then, conduct research about that particular culture and the specific area we have identified. We will produce some preliminary ideas on how we are going to apply our knowledge and creativity in design to communicate our message to an audience. Each idea is to be supported by a short rationale. Visual research would help to expand idea generation.
Our group, Group 9 consists of 6 members —— Jia Sheng, Tressa, Athirah, Jodiann, Qian Tong and I. We had our first meeting in Zoom to discuss about the direction we are interested in. After hours of discussion, we finally made up our mind to study on drag culture.
At first I didn't know much about drag. I only thing I know about drag is through a show called "Number 1", a Singaporean comedy-drama film in 2020.
Here are some of my own findings :
Each member has contributed 1 idea. My initial idea is to create a collaborative art as the appreciation/acknowledgement to the contributions of drag performers. The details are listed down in the document below:
After the consultation, Athirah and I discussed on how to combine our ideas. Jia Sheng then joined our call and gave us some suggestions.
Then, we decided to call it "tile-based collaborative art". There are 6 main purposes of drag, which could be expressed on 6 canvases. Smaller canvases would be the listed details of each main purposes.
 |
| Figure 2.1, Composition sketch, Week 3 (17/1/2022) |
 |
| Figure 2.2, Detailed sketch of "celebration", Week 3 (18/1/2022) |
- Rainbow eyeball = symbol of LGBT community.
- Feather Pride Flag = symbol of drag community.
- Position of the "eye" = facing upwards (to show the happiness of celebrating something good)
Compilation of everyone's work :
 | |
|
Final Proposal
Final Proposal in PDF, Week 3 (21/1/2022)
FEEDBACK
Week 2
Mr. Vinod approved our chosen culture and he shared some of his experience in watching the drag show in Malaysia. He asked us to narrow down the scope and highlight the "purpose" of each idea. My idea is exciting to execute, however, I still need more "depth" in bringing the purpose of collaborative art. Consider to combine Athirah's idea and mine.
Week 3
Mr. Vinod couldn't visualise the "deep thoughts" behind our collaborative art. Our chosen idea is still at surface level. Try to convey the purpose through metaphor and reposition the thinking into the most important thing.
Week 4
Demonstrates an understanding of research methods, resourceful and has a wide scope, yet focused. Evidence of brainstorming or idea exploration is implicit via the presentation and it seems extensive. Effective written communication, clearly stating and justifying the selected theme, concept & approach of the research, supported by relevant citations. Presentation verbally was good with Jia Sheng's passion in delivery evident even though pronunciation was sometimes encumbered.
In class. Mr. Vinod mentioned Athirah's and my idea is equally good as other ideas as showed in the video presentation. We need to make sure everyone is happy with the final decision.
REFLECTION
This is indeed a challenging task, in two ways --- one is working with a group of people who has different background and experience than you (of course), another one is to express the idea directly that people can understand. There are some "legends" in my group which I always wanted to work with them. At first I felt stressful to work with them because I struggled to explain my thoughts verbally. Also, everyone has their own way to do stuff which makes it harder to put everything on the table. I believe most of us prefer to work alone because everyone knows their own strengths and weaknesses. The time when I feel "I am a part of the group" is when Athirah approached me to discuss about the possibility of combining our ideas. After the discussion, our direction became much clearer and we decided to combine them together. However, things did not go smooth all the way. Mr. Vinod pointed out some crucial weak points of our ideas that would need more time and effort to repair and amend. Taking a step back to look at the "purpose" of idea helps us escaping the maze. Everyone has contributed and completed the final piece of this map which then leads us to the next station.