CSM MAGCD YEAR 2
Leaf It Behind suggests a deliberate action of leaving behind one’s burdens or concerns, symbolized by the word leaf, and encourages individuals to embrace green spaces and leave their worries behind. Enquiry: How do illustrations depict the subtle moments in parks that contribute to the natural healing of weary bodies and minds? Audience: Busy urban residents, Individuals in need of… Continue reading Unit 3: Projection 2 – Final✨
The week before the Unit 3 deadline is undoubtedly the busiest and most anxiety-inducing time. However, I took a Twenty-minute Park Break, and it was undoubtedly effective. Being surrounded by nature brought a sense of calm and stability to my mindset. I experimented extensively with iterations in my illustrations. Illustration is not my strongest discipline,… Continue reading Unit 3: Projection 2 – Week 5
I’ve been brainstorming so I’ve jumped around a bit this week and focused more on the emotional relationship between parks and childhood memories. After feedback, I realized that childhood memories of the park and twenty minutes in the park are two branches of research and I need to go back to the information I got… Continue reading Unit 3: Projection 2 – Week 4
In pursuit of diverse perspectives and insights, I crafted a survey on the ‘Twenty-Minute Park Effect,’ garnering 42 intriguing responses from individuals of various nationalities and backgrounds. These responses have underpinned my work, offering abundant inspiration for creative development.
In projection1, I mainly explored the fragility of nature, developing graphic communication design around the concepts of natural decay and time scale. After a week of reflection, I’ve decided to focus solely on the theme of time scale for projection2. The 20-minute park effect has given me some inspiration for my work. These 20 minutes… Continue reading Unit 3: Projection 2 – Week 2
Recap of projection1 What new questions arose through projection1 that need to be explored further?
Through the scale of time and the narrative of imagery, The Wheel of Nature explores an open and practical inquiry into the lifecycle of natural materials, reflecting on the profound significance of life, temporality, and transformation. This work seeks to inspire empathy toward nature within audiences by realizing the beauty and fragility of ecosystems. It is divided… Continue reading Unit 3: Projection 1 – Final✨
Recap In the first week of studio practice, I remained passionate about exploring the relationship between humans and nature. I chose to capture moments from life, narrating them through romantic-style illustrations to express my love for nature. However, I realized that despite my personal passionate for these narratives, they lacked resonance with the audience. In… Continue reading Unit 3: Projection 1 – Week 6
Line of enquiry How can natural materials be used to interpret the fragility and fading of life in a way that inspires empathy for nature? The audience People do not care about nature (or it is open to everyone) Specific plans for engaging with them 1. Engage in dialogue with the audience through the publication… Continue reading Unit 3: Projection 1 – Week 5
This week I got into the habit of collecting natural materials and embarked on a journey to Iceland. During my journey, I unexpectedly encountered shimmering ice blocks on the beach, magnificent glaciers, and fleeting auroras resembling miracles. The coexistence of these natural landscapes’ presence and disappearance left me with a profound sense of beauty and… Continue reading Unit 3: Projection 1 – Week 3&4
References This reference is a documentary introducing Andy Goldsworthy’s natural sculpture works, and I am particularly fond of his use of natural materials for artistic creation. These fleeting works come to life through nature and vanish in the natural cycle. Despite their brief existence, they beautifully capture the essential stages of life—growth, stillness and decay.… Continue reading Unit 3: Projection 1 – Week 2
Are graphic designers and communication designers really ‘translators’? In this cross-year studio, we wrote a general definition of translation, as well as the practice of graphic communication design practice.
Recap of triangulating Here we go Unit 3. In last project, I explored how graphic communication design can leverage the potential for emotional engagement and personal narrative in data-driven interactions. And the outcomes of the work include sound visualisations of asthma conditions, publication depicting patients‘ breathing and data visualisation posters illustrating the relationship between asthma… Continue reading Unit 3: Projection 1 – Week 1
This is a super fun and chill drawing workshop aimed at writing and improving manuscripts for the annual work-in-publication. While drawing it reminded me of the days when I was addicted to sketching years ago. I hope there will be more workshops like this in the course! As the MAGCD autumn term is coming to… Continue reading Unit 2: Special workshop✨
The annual symposium is finally here!!!✨I’m glad to see that I it went well, and congratulations to myself for playing it properly – no stage fright or major mistakes during the presentation. At the same time, I also saw the energetic presentations from all the Year 2 students, who were all excellent and confident, giving… Continue reading Unit 2: MAGCD Symposium
I’ve been busy lately, and I’ve been preparing for the symposium, including writing and presentation. This symposium is a valid narrative and outlook for all the work of Unit 2. Hopefully I can do well 🙂 Feedback Raise the voice of my presentation, slow down my speech, control the pace, and keep breathing.Presentation doesn’t need… Continue reading Unit 2: Positions through triangulating 3 — Week 2
This week, I have embarked on Δ 3 SYNTHESIS, a triangulation approach that has proven to be highly beneficial. Through a concise written synthesis of 500-600 words and an organized arrangement of visual and textual elements to document my past work, I have gained a clear overview of my studio practice during Unit 2. This… Continue reading Unit 2: Positions through triangulating 3 — Week 1
During these days, I made significant progress in my writing and studio work. Engaging in a dialogue with Manuel Lima’s Information Visualization Manifesto, I began to reorient my work, critically thinking from the perspective of the audience. Bell Hooks’ discussion and praise of critical thinking in Teaching Critical Thinking: Practical Wisdom also prompted me to… Continue reading Unit 2: Positions through triangulating 2 — Week 2
I have chosen Manuel Lima‘s ’Information Visualization Manifesto‘ as a reference for my Δ2 Writing project to explore the relationship between the reference and my own position, as well as the new insights I have gained. How can I further develop? For the reference, consider adding visual images or brief titles. As the essay progresses,… Continue reading Unit 2: Positions through triangulating 2 — Week 1
As a response to my work at ∆ 1 STUDIO, this week has seen me delve deeper into the intricacies of asthma‘s pathological manifestations through meticulous observation, thorough documentation, and comprehensive comparative analysis. The practice of ’thinking through making‘ has proven to be immensely beneficial, and the outcome presented will continue to be iterative. Feedback… Continue reading Unit 2: Positions through triangulating 1 – Week 3
Last week I narrowed down my extensive research on climate change to the issue of asthma triggered by air pollution, discussing and researching it in relation to the human lung. As an asthmatic, I know and have personally experienced the pain of not being able to breathe properly during an attack. This week I have… Continue reading Unit 2: Positions through triangulating 1 – Week 2
In the upcoming work, I intend to undertake a more specific and profound exploration, drawing from my personal experience as an asthma sufferer deeply affected by air pollution. My aim is to raise awareness among the public about asthma sufferers, leading to a more serious understanding of the climate crisis and behavioral changes. The climate… Continue reading Unit 2: Positions through triangulating 1 – Week 1
This summer I embarked on establishing a network of relationships closely tied to my practice by engaging in direct dialogues with a guest researcher and a designer. They brought their own research and explorations into my inquiry and responded to my work through a delightful exchange of practical advice.
In this project, I created a video essay documenting and exploring the two open-ended projects, “Positions through iterating” and “Positions through contextualising,” that I developed during Unit 2. It provides a comprehensive presentation of the thoughts, insights, and creative work I have undertaken during this research period.
I used a mind map to organize the research route of the past two weeks, which has made my thinking clearer. Last week, I conducted practical investigations on urban nature, exploring from a micro perspective and documenting three aspects in the form of a diary: natural textures, human erosion, and symbiotic relationship. As the final… Continue reading Unit 2: Positions through contextualising – Week 3
In the second week of exploration, I abandoned the introduction of artificial intelligence concepts from the previous week and instead delved deeper into the relationship between humans and nature. The uncertainty and variability of British weather always makes it a common topic of conversation when people meet, providing a good example of uncertainty in the… Continue reading Unit 2: Positions through contextualising – Week 2
In the second brief of Unit 2, I begin to use studio and writing practices to explore and articulate how my developing work relates to existing discourses, practices, projects and/or other media. In the first week I collected some references related to my developing line of enquiry and began to build my own reference library.
In the second week of the project, I expanded my exploration and research on London’s animals and plants affected by global warming, such as peach blossoms, tulips, camellias, roses, bluebells, butterflies, and swans. Through continuous iterations and design experiments, I selected and applied a color palette that complemented the unique features and symbolic meanings of… Continue reading Unit 2: Positions through iterating – Week 2
From this project, we move on to Unit 2. In this first brief, I will reflect on my Unit 1 work toidentify the positions already evident in my practice and initiate a new set of studio experiments. I will expand on, deepen, and progress a new thread or question in one of my previous projects… Continue reading Unit 2: Positions through iterating – Week 1
In the third week we delved into some critical experimentation based on the labels. This was explored iteratively in an open-ended way using weaving as a method of combining images / narratives / written experiences together. This project was a great inspiration for our group. Using ‘Photo Weavings’ Samin Ahmadzadeh shredded and wove together two… Continue reading Unit 1: Methods of contextualising – Week 3
In the second week we focused on the labels on the black trousers for experiments in a studio-based method. Based on these critical studies of the objects, we identified our individual positions.
In this brief we are going to work in a small group to consider our own position(s) within the contexts of graphic design, such as cultural, social, environmental, historical, political, disciplinary, and professional contexts (among others). In these contexts, we will develop a studio-based experiment that explores, deepens, or extends them critically. In the first… Continue reading Unit 1: Methods of contextualising – Week 1
Actually I don’t think my last week’s experiments were ideal, partly because I was too focused on completeness (result-oriented) and neglected the focus of the brief, and partly because there were not enough experiments. After the tutorial, I was surprised to find that I could think deeply from the “collection of mistakes”. Illustrator 3D is… Continue reading Unit 1: Methods of iterating – Week 3
Usually designers use Illustrator 3D to make cute icons and creative text, but hardly ever use it for animation because of its limitations. This week I developed an iterative experiment for IIlustrator 3D where I transformed its context to make it a tool/function for making animations/motion graphics (although it is nowhere near as powerful as… Continue reading Unit 1: Methods of iterating – Week 2
This project is to explore how a critical enquiry can bedrawn out from an iterative experimentation with toolsand media. The focus is on developing a critical enquirythrough rigorous, systematic, and continuous exploration.
This project is to read deeply. Engage more critically with the reading list and explore how texts can be made or re-made in order to analyse and interrogate them. This project is also a collaborative one, together with two other members. As a group we will design and produce a 16-page stapled A5 publication that… Continue reading Unit 1: Reading ↔ Making – Week 1
In this written response, I re-present Michael Rock’s ‘Fuck Content’ (Michael Rock, 2009) in the form of Conditional Design Manifest (Blauvelt, et al. 2013). In graphic design, storytelling can be very helpful and meaningful for content. As my project in method of translating, I used book form (flip book) as a translation technique to tell… Continue reading Unit 1: Methods of translating – Written Response
After last week’s tutorial, I intend to continue to develop my third experiment in depth, using the book form as a translation technique to interpret the life process of fireworks. The previous experiment was to extract elements of different shapes of fireworks and collate them in a book, with no primary or secondary relationship. This… Continue reading Unit 1: Methods of translating – Week 2
This project is to reconfigure the meaning of my material and explore how translation allows my material to cross borders of language, culture, region, time, scale and value. And it is also important to consider how translations are made with a specific purpose in mind through iteration. I was very lucky to attent the bonfire… Continue reading Unit 1: Methods of translating – Week 1
My fifth experiment was to extract the various components of the English Crime and Execution Broadside and look at their framing. In addition, I collected some of the horrific crime news of the twentieth century and the horrific murder news that is happening in the UK these days as a way to categorise, contrast and… Continue reading Unit 1: Methods of cataloguing – Week 2
This project is to identify, analyse, and manipulate the relationships between parts within a given set through different methods. The focus of this project is to consider how these methods allow me to create new patterns and change the relationships between the items in the set, and to experiment with a range of formal approaches… Continue reading Unit 1: Methods of cataloguing – Week 1
This project is to devise and apply a creative, open-ended, and systematic method of investigating some aspect of a physical site of my choosing. The emphasis of this project is on the rigorous use of methods, processes, and systems of investigation that produce a volume of critical findings rather a singular and polished outcome. After… Continue reading Unit 1: Methods of investigating — Week 1 to 3
Handsewn Bookbinding is a workshop that introduces the basics of hand binding. Through this workshop we created a multi-section sewn book block using the bookbinding kit.
This workshop introduces the basic use of Glyph 3. Creating fonts is quite fun. Here are some of the exercises I did in this practice workshop.