Getting Lost ...and also not following my routine

ok i little heads up, the images are a bit annoying as they can't rotate!

 So the lesson on Monday was about breaking the rules and also trying to change my routine for a day. I was suppose to change the way I would normally start the day to see how it would affect me. So i decided to try it.
I woke up
I forced myself to actually fold my blanket
I walked backwards to the toilet like a crazy person
I peed sitting down
I took a dump facing the front (the wall)
I showered and brushed at the same time
And I had orange juice straight after brushing my teeth. Which TASTED HORRIBLE!

Yeah so I changed my routined and too be honest, it sucked. It made me feel very uncomfortable as I would usually do the same routine everyday to get ready. And I was used to it. But changing the routine made it feel weird. I guess it did teach me a lesson about life as a creative person. Sometimes you are tasked to do things outside your comfort zones or what you believe in. It spoke to me in this way, that I would have to be in uncomfortable situations but I would still have to get the problem solved. But all in all, it was an awkward experience that I wouldn't want to recreate or actually incorporate it into my new daily routine. hahaha.

So after this little experiment, I decided it was time to "get lost". But I didn't want to do it alone. So I went to this café near my house to wait for a friend. She said she would bring me around Clementi to like hipsterish places. I was pretty reluctant as I've never been to Clementi before and I didn't really feel like travelling all the way there. Sigh, but it was the assignment. To literally go somewhere you've never been and get lost.

I had some time in the cafe so I roughly sketched the cafe.

She was kinda shy so I just took a picture of our legs on the way to the MRT station. I realised this looks really ugly but well I'm documenting my journey. So who cares.

When we arrived in Clementi, we walked pass a playground that looked pretty nostalgic. It reminded me of my days at my own playground.

So we walked a bit and we came to this little hill with a bridge

she told me to climb it with her.
"Sure, why not?"

Up the hill, there were these really old and rusty train tracks that went on for quite a bit

This was when we came to the end of the tracks, I found this spot really beautiful and scenic. So I decided since this is the end, it's going to be where I will start my sketch.

I drew the picture trying to keep it as accurate to the scenery as possible.  I chose to make the man-made and things not of nature stand out more by drawing it with a marker.

This "get lost" homework made me realise how beautiful Singapore is. You don't usually notice these kind of little spots around Singapore unless you really look for them and concentrate on looking for the beauty around you. Getting lost was really about finding something you couldn't really see.

It was an eventful and exciting day spent climbing little hills, finding random abandoned train tracks and sketching the memorable experience. Although I spent so long under the hot sun, somehow I'm glad I got this assignment. I got to go to a place I've never been before, see new things and try new things. All in one day.

Breaking the Rules, sort of :)

So I have to blog about ground breaking and rule breaking posters. However, nowadays it's so hard to find media that break the rules. Today media is very controlled and as graphic designers, your work only gets published or used if it fits in-between the rules of your client. There would be lesser shock value and  would be more tailored to how the clients want it. Plus, the art pieces have to be throughly checked out so that it does not gain the client any unwanted persecution like if the design defies racial and social norms. The images below are designs that are unique and designs that , I feel, stand out. However, i have also included some designs that have been ridiculously, ludicrously and outrageously rule breaking that it comes of as provocative and down right offensive. Sorry hahahaha.  

I liked this design by the WWF as it brings to light the message without any form of text. They made the burning forest in the shape of a toothbrush. The photo manipulation here makes the viewer immediately understand that the production of plastic toothbrushes are causing deforestations. It makes the viewer think twice about their own actions. 

This poster is about graphic design and I liked how the construction of lines created depth and contrast even though the image is simply black, white and grey. 

I really liked this design for its simplicity. It's ground breaking to me as it defies the usual designs we see everyday. We are usually bombarded with saturated colours and noisy texts and it is something refreshing to see a design so simple.The honesty and simplicity of this design attracts consumer today as more consumers are seeking out more down-to-earth and handcrafted designs.

This book cover was designed based on the haunting yet cool character. I've watched the movie that was based on this book and I realised that this book cover portrayed the character very well. The dark and gritty nature of this cover really shows the part man part devil personality of the character. 

NOW for the raunchy and "groundbreaking" designs. The designs below are offensives as they were trying to be shocking. These poster were from the past where people had more freedom to advertise their products with no regard for racial and gender inequality. 

This advertisement was to sell this jewish ordinated breakfast spread. However, they showed an african-american child enjoying the bread. They singled out a single ethnic group to show that even african americans also enjoy a jewish spread which was wrong as they targeted a whole ethnic group. The shock value was that they would actually single out this ethnic group but it was just offensive. 

I've saved the worst for last. or best for last. Well whatever, here it is. I really REALLY dislike this poster. It dehumanises the woman in the poster .Stepping on her head and making her look like some kind of wild animal is extremely sexist. The stepping of the head shows that the man treats her like a carpet and that she isn't worthy to be treated like a normal female. AND all of this sexist and gender inequality just to advertise PANTS!

Summary of Tim Brown: Tales of creativity and play

-as adults we always so sorry because we feel that our ideas and skills are not good enough.

-when we have a wild idea we are too afraid to raise the idea up

-kids are secure about their ideas

-kids don’t say sorry because are happy to voice their ideas

-create a place with security to take risks

people share ideas when they feel secure

-create a company where everyone is my best friend

-friendship is a shortcut to play

-designed to feel relaxed, comfortable.

-not so much the place but the thing.

-a toy.

-we think playfulness is important? it helps us get to better creative solutions, feel better.

-adults have a tendency to categories new things very quickly

-kids are more engaged with open possibilities.

-they ask what is it? and what can i do with it?

-stop the adult behaviours from getting in the way of their ideas

-when creating something non physical like a service. we turn play into role play

-using different tools like video can aid in your creative thinking process

-in conclusion, Tim Brown provides useful insight to linking creativity to playfulness. He associates many attributes of child like behaviours to creativities. thus, suggesting that adults should be secure in their ideas and be child liked to boost the creativity in their assignments.

Pic of the Day - Week 1

As I thought I was done with all my homework today. I reached out to grab my Playstation 4 controller to try and destress and relax. THEN it hit me. I HAVE ONE MORE HOMEWORK! The picture of the day. The controller made me realise how much of an escape playing video games are from adult responsibilities and habits. Soon after this sparked the topic of playfulness. I began to realise that I truly exercised my own creativity with the initial creativity of the game's creator. His or her creativity helped me undo the chains around my inner child and helped him have fun again. This fun resulted in me solving problems with my imagination and wits. The video game was a medium for me to express my inner child. Who's voice has been muted by adult responsibilities. The craving to play video games for endless hours goes to show that naturally we all still have our inner child deep down somewhere and it shows us who that the he wants to play. Video games gives us a way to connect with this lost friend. I soon stumbled further down the rabbit hole and realised that to continue my life in NAFA, I would need all the help I can get. Plus, whats better than getting it from the original creative who played with Legos when he was young to create weapons like guns and swords out of simple rectangular blocks? We have to make learning FUN again, to stir up the inner child and use his creativity for our projects and works. We have to incorporate a spirit of playfulness in every creative thing we set our minds to. So that we can complete our tasks with the most amount of Creativity.

Homework called "Tag"

I ran by, got the child's attention. Tagged her and she immediately understood that it was a game. I guess as a child everything truly is all fun and game.

 We meet up with Darren's group to have lunch. All of us were discussing about how to go about actually completing this scary and obnoxious homework!

 Everyone went to find their "targets" but since I had an amazing stroke of luck with finding the child. I went get hydrated after the intense chasing.

 Royson is here filming the failed attempts. We wondered the Bugis area for quite some time trying to find some people that would actually chase us back.

After school, we went to buy some art materials and try to see if we could get better shots but we didn't.

All in all, today's homework was pretty insane. But it did open my eyes to see how many Singaporeans suppress their inner child. When you look into their eyes you can see some parts of them want to actually give chase but are afraid of being seen as weird or crazy. They are so afraid of the opinions of others that they play the facade of maturity. To be terribly honest, if someone tagged me in real life I would first check my wallet to see if its still there and probably just shrug it off. But it was a relieve that we were indeed able to find the extremely small minority that were willing to have a little bit of fun. This bold homework also allowed me to get to know more about my group members. I saw that they soon loosened up and were bold enough to valiantly run and tag random strangers. It's heartwarming to know that some of us haven't entirely lost our inner child. We've started on a journey of unleashing our inner child. 

How I felt after watching the Tim Brown: Tales of creativity and play

This video blew my mind in so many ways. I'm fighting to scrap my brains off the walls. It made me realise how much I do not know about how to access my creativity and imagination. To be creative is to play. But to play, we have to defeat the adult behaviours and glorify our inner child.

The adults we are, are always apologetic about our wild ideas and our insufficient skills because we have the stigma that we aren't good enough. Thus, we are afraid to raise our ideas. This is because we are in a place of insecurity.

BUT not for a child. Children are more open to express their ideas and showcase their skills and abilities. At the prime of their innocence, they are secure in their capabilities even though it isn't extensive or (in an adult sense) worthy of praise. 

Creating a place where people can feel secure allows adults to enjoy sharing and raising their creative ideas. Many achieve this through altering the environment and the daily activities. These "conducive environment" allows one to be open to possibilities. 

After hearing about this it made me question my past, my learning journey and how my new life in NAFA would overcome this hurdle called creativity. Throughout my life, I realised that Asian families emphasise a lot about dampening the fun and increasing the practicality of our activities. To them, they feel that playfulness does not stimulate our ability to produce good grades. The way  Asian culture dictated our childhood directly affected our inability or hesitance to (re)awaken our inner child-liked creativity. The genuine raw creativity.

My learning journey was a road filled with restrictions. The planned out future of money and family has caused the Singapore education system to focus more on memorising than actual learning. They would rather teach us subjects that would "look good on paper" but not physically benefit and nourish us. They instructed us to follow the rules, fit in, think INSIDE the box. They unknowingly hindered our creativity and locked the inner child away. Don't get me wrong, people benefit from this system, but not us. The creatives. We have these unspoken rules that controls us and forces us to think minute and contain our creativity. 

This new journey in NAFA is one of rediscovery. To search deep in the dungeons of my soul. To find that inner child, hug it and reassure it that the we need him. That we still need his innocence and imagination to create. To open and expand his mind. To give him the keys to my hands and create again.

So this video really showed me how much I'm lacking in child-liked creativity. IT'S TIME! Time to free the lost inner child.