INTERCULTURAL DESIGN - PROJECT 1 (Proposal)

6/1/2020 - 20/2/2020 (Week 1 - Week 3)

See Zi Yi (0340094)

Intercultural Design
Project 1 (Proposal)

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Week 1(7/1/2020): Introduction to Intercultural Design

Since today's first lesson, we were briefed about this module according to the Module Information Booklet and our assignments throughout this semester. In conjunction with the assignments, we were then assigned into groups of 4/5 with group members from different semesters/programs. 

As for our lecture, Mr. Charles briefed us about our group assignment, with "mythology" as the theme for this year's study trip, and explained the execution process clearly to everyone. We were advised to be observant, ask questions, and analyze anything related to our study case critically throughout our trip to Japan. For a better understanding of the final product, he showed us some pictures of the final outcome created by our seniors which varies from all types of art, ranging from art installations, games, architecture work, so on and so forth.

Fig. 1.1 Lecture slides #1

Before the class ends, we were assigned to brainstorm about ideas for our case study and bring forward to our next class, which is on this Thursday.

With the effort contributed by everyone, we compiled our preliminary ideas and research into a document which is shown below.

Fig. 1.2 Preliminary research and ideas

Week 1(9/1/2020): Consultation #1

This week, we summarize our points, transferred the content to Google Slides and presented it to the lecturers for consultation.

Fig. 1.3 Proposal 1.0

Feedback
Regardless of the wide topic coverage presented in the slides, the research we conducted was too superficial, as we didn't delve in-depth to investigate about the mythology and its influences in Modern Japan. The lecturers advised us to first interpret the meaning of mythology in general, study about the mythologies chosen thoroughly, and relate it with their influences, be it tangible or intangible, without thinking about the final outcome. For instance, Ms Anis questioned us about the mythology of Koi fish, which made us recall how Koi fish urges people to "never give up and keep swimming", and its impact on the Japanese, where they always strive for the best which mold them into perfectionists.

We were told to study 3 mythologies and consult Mr Azrizal on the upcoming tutorial.

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Week 2 (13/1/2020): Culture and Us

In today's class, we were lectured on the topic of Culture by Dr Jinchi. We had a short discussion and sharing session on cultural jokes/traditions as well.

Week 2 (16/1/2020): Consultation #2

Despite advised to work on 3 mythologies, we thought it would be better to research 6 mythologies instead to provide more options for our Project 1 (Proposal). The mythologies our group picked are as follows:

1. Koi
2. Torii
3. Wabi-Sabi
4. Jizo
5. Hinamatsuri
6. Origami

In our proposal, we have to include:

1. Working Title
2. Background of Study and Problem statement
3. Research questions
4. Data collection
5. Presentation of Findings
6. Citations and references

We delegated our work and presented our improvised version of Google Slides embed below to Mr. Asrizal.

Fig. 1.5 Proposal 2.0

Feedback
After presenting all 6 topics, we were advised to narrow down to 3 topics and proceed with more in-depth research. Instead of merely stating the obvious influences of the mythology, Mr. Asrizal wants us to find out more about the intangible and indirect influence it has on the Japanese society. For instance, how can the spirit of Koi fish be presented in other forms? How can the influences of mythology be translated into something else? A total of 5 indirect tangible/intangible influences are to be included in our final proposal slides.

Besides, we were told to work on our data collection method as well, which explains how we are planning to collect data to support our idea.

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Week 3 (20/1/2020): Amendments of slides

Then, our group came up with another version of our presentation slides with amendments after consulting the lecturers. For this version of slides, I am responsible for working on "Jizo", from pg. 39 to pg. 54, and pg. 58 to pg. 63.

Fig. 1.6 Proposal 3.0

Feedback

Still very unsure of our findings for Project 1, Cerene and I consulted Ms. Anis for more clarification on the requirement of the items to be included in the slides. Out of the 3 myths, she commented that our group should approach the Koi fish and Tori myth just like how we approached the Jizo myth. Which is to research on the indirect translation of the essence of the myth on modern Japanese designs. Ms. Anis also suggested us to find a common core value of the 3 myths, with one as the main myth, and 2 as the supportive myths. 

Hence, we as a group decided to focus on the virtue of compassion, which is Omoiyari in Japanese, as our core value, as well as the direction we are going to work on later during our trip.

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Week 3 (23/1/2020): Presentation of Project 1

Today, we presented our Project 1 Proposal to the lecturers and classmates. Below is the slide. 

Fig. 1.7 Proposal 4.0

Feedback

The lecturers commented that we did a great job overall and are satisfied with our outcome.

Week 3 (23/1/2020): Submission of Project 1

I made some final amendments, such as rearranging the sequence of our slides and making sure everything can be well-comprehended before uploading to the Google Classroom. Below is the final submission of our slides.

Fig. 1.8 Final Proposal