Intercultural Design // Project 1 & 2

February 26, 2021

Intercultural Design // Project 1 & 2

04/01/21 - 10/02/21 (Week 1 - Week 6)

Caitlyn Aurelia Tjandra (0339381)/BDCM

Intercultural Design

Project 1 and 2

Instruction

Project 1: Idea Proposal (Week 1 - Week 4)

Week 1

LECTURE :

Introduction (04/01/21)

Today was our first class of this module. We were supposedly went on field research. However, because of the pandemic, we were forced to have our lesson and other activities online. We were tried on our lecturers and what we will be doing for this module.

Dr. Charles gave the first lecture today about Netnography.

GROUP PROJECT :

Group Making

For our project, we were briefed by our lecturers about what we are going to do in this module.After that, we also told to make a group of 6 people. My group member consist of Cynthia, Jocelin, Sajiya, Allysa and Marsya as our leader. We were told to think of what topic we wanted to pursue and discuss it next week.

QnA Session

We have our QnA session on Thursday, in which we have to prepare question regarding our project topic to ask our lecturers. We come up with two main question regarding the project that we're still confused of. This were all the answer to our questions from several lecturers:

Q1. Can we compare both the historical and modernized fashion? To indicate how it has enhanced through time.

Answer from Mr. Asrizal:

Take a look a the application in older times and now, how is it applied in daily lives? What is the representation before and now? Does it lean toward trend, style, or still have the same value and meaning as before? What does it carry? Status or something else? Look at the colours and design, which could have meaning behind. What message you want to convey?

Answer from Dr. Charles:

Identify discussion groups online such as community, fan base, etc.
After that, we can identify a specific area that we want to deep-dive into research

Q2. Will there be specialists, as someone who can guide us with our research?

Answer from Ms. Jinchi:

The guest lecturer will not answer your specific topic so when asking questions we need to have wider questions not specifically towards your topicAfter that, Dr. Charles suggested all of us to start mapping, as it can guide us better with our questions and what to search for.

Fig 1.0 Mapping

Week 2

Lecture :

Guest Lecture 1 (11/01/21)

Today we have our first guest lecture. We have to spokesperson which is Ms. Natasha M.H and Mr. Tintoy Chuo. Mr. Tintoy is the Founder of Fusion Wayang Kulit and he showed us some of his work, creative process behind his creation of traditional wayang kulit with fusion and modern-day star wars.

As for Ms. Natasha, she is an Arts & Crafts practitioner, she showed us her batik work and her store named Gahara. She explained the process of making her batik work.

Group Project :

Topic Proposal

For our group, we decided to choose 'revival' as our theme for our project assignment. We wanted to work on a subculture that surrounded fashion trends. We came up with several cultures that we wanted to conduct research on:

Hanbok
Kimono
Hanfu
Kebaya

We conduct some research on our chosen topic which is Hanfu Revival and find several problem which would help us configure our research questions and research objectives. Using the mapping and feedback from our lecturers we compile our data and information in google docs.

Fig 1.1 Hanfu Notes

Week 3

Lecture :

Guest Lecture 2 (18/01/21)

This week we have our second guest speaker which is Mr. Munir Yahya and Ms. Emelia Ong. Mr. Munir teaches us about the value of cultural studies and he shares his experience of studying and interaction with colour and how it has different meaning for each different cultures.

Group Project :

Further Research

After getting showing our google docs notes to Mr. Asrizal in week 2 we made a list of thing we needed to do more research about:

Identify the importance of these clothes, what do the symbols represent in the clothing.
Understand more of the types of hanfu and how they differentiate from each other.
What do the colors and patterns represent?
How is hanfu in the past different from the modern hanfu?
Identify if the meanings have changed.

We divided ourselves one person take one question and we each need to research regarding our chosen question. We tried answering all of the question and when we are done, we compiled our information into website called 'Miro Board' in which we will present to our lecturer which is Mr. Asrizal.

Fig 1.2 Miro Board

After showing Mr. Asrizal, he suggested we need to work a little bit more on our research question and objective. He gave several examples and suggestions on how we can fix our research:

To study the evolution of the Hanfu clothing
To identify the changes of the Hanfu over time
The extent to which Hanfu clothing has changed in modern times.

Therefore, we rewrite our research objectives and question and compiled all information that we have into presentation slides and prepare for our presentation to all lecturers later next week

Fig 1.3 RQ & RO Presentation

Week 4

Lecture :

Idea Proposal Presentation 27/01/21

This week is presentation week. The presentation is divided into two group, one in Monday and one in Wednesday. Our group slot is on Wednesday morning.

Our lecturers said we did a lot of research which was good. However, we need to improve on our Research Questions and Research Objectives as it was too general.

Group Project :

Idea Proposal Presentation Preparation

Before the presentation day, we had group meeting with all our members to decide who is presenting which slides. We also conducted a test run as we are given time limit of 10 minutes maximum. Initially, we exceed the mark given and we all talk too fast it sounded as if we are rapping. Therefore, we narrow plenty of slides and scripts. We spend more time presenting topic that are extremely important.

We also started to brainstorm several ideas for our final outcome. We come up with various ideas and these were the most plausible one:

Resin Art
Poster
Chinese painting
Fabric / Textile design
Instagram filter
3d Sculpture

It's unfortunate that we are conducting this module online, especially with Covid lockdown and we all separated in each own countries, as we have several interesting ideas which requires us to be there physically.

Amending Research Question & Research Objective

After our presentation feedback, We did a little more brainstorming on how to fix our RQ and RO. Our team struggled with this and we decided that we need consultation with Mr. Asrizal privately to reach better understanding.

Mr. Asrizal explained to us that our first RQ's the most general out of our three RQ. The second one should be base more on evolution of hanfu. While the last one should be related to our final design outcome. With that, firstly, we were able to come up this first two questions:

RQ1: What role does politics possess in the revival of hanfu
RQ2: How has the symbolism of hanfu and its meaning evolved?

Secondly, question 3 was based more on the final design we had to do a bit more discussion with all the group members. We came up with a few ideas for the questions:

How can hanfu be restored to its original meaning in the modern world?
How can political opinions be reduced and hanfu restored to their original meaning?
How can Hanfu be restored to its original symbolism without the emergence of the political agenda?

Thirdly, after going back and forth, we all voted on the research question that reflected on what we wanted our final design outcome. The Final Research questions:

What role does politics possess in the revival of hanfu
How has the symbolism of hanfu and its meaning evolved?
How can Hanfu be restored to its original symbolism without evoking the political agenda?

Fourthly, we worked on improving our Research objectives, a few ideas we came up with were:

RO1: Distinguishing the rise of the political agenda due to the return of Hanfu.
RO1: Determining if the revival of hanfu is influenced by politics.
RO1: Identifying the relations of political views on the Hanfu
RO2: Identifying the evolution of Hanfu's symbolism.
RO2: Identifying and understanding the evolution of the hanfu symbolism
RO2: Conserving the originality of the Hanfu symbolism
RO3: To produce a final outcome that enhances the national esteem on the Hanfu without the emergence of political threats
RO3: Developing innovative and creative products based on Hanfu without evoking the political agenda
RO3: Returning the meaning of the hanfu without evoking the political agenda.

Lastly, our Final Research Objective is:

Distinguishing the rise of the political agenda due to the return of the Hanfu.
Identifying and understanding the evolution of the Hanfu symbolism.
To produce a final outcome that revives the Hanfu and to its original meanings without the emergence of political views.

Fig 1.4 Final Presentation Idea Proposal

Project 2: Data Collection (Week 5 - Week 6)

Week 5

LECTURE :

Data collection Week (02/02/21)

This week we don't really have any lecture. Instead we have private consultation outside class time with our group lecturer regarding our data collection.

Interview questions

Four our group's data collection we are actively searching for someone to interview. I stumbled upon Hanfugirl firstly on website as I search for hanfu related blogger. Then, I went and research for her background information where she had instagram, Facebook and personal website full of hanfu related information as well as shop. She sells items that she design such as bags, mask, embroidery and etc.

I hand over her instagram to Sajiya where she emailed and contacted her to ask permission for us to interview. Sajiya found another person which was a Tumblr blogger who likewise talked about hanfu and motifs.

Before progressing with our interviews, we come up with several question we're going to ask the interviewees.

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS:

Our objectives of learning the Hanfu would be to produce an outcome where the Hanfu is revived to its original meanings without the emergence of political views.
To begin, we would like to ask; How were you introduced to Hanfu? What is it that you are interested in whenever it comes to the Hanfu?
Are you aware of the political views of the Hanfu?
We are living in a modern era where most aesthetics are turned into trends. Do you know about the modern Hanfu and how it is different from the traditional Hanfu?
Does it still carry the same symbolism as the traditional Hanfu? Has the representation of the Hanfu changed in the media?
In your opinion, what patterns and colors are mostly used in the Hanfu? And why?

We send our final question to Mr. Asrizal to analyse. Mr Asrizal suggested us to improve our questions as it was too specific and this would as if we are leading the interviewee in answering the questions. Mr. Asrizal suggested we ask this questions instead:

Can you describe what topics you cover in your blog and Facebook page?
Are you aware of political views of hanfu?

NEW INTERVIEW QUESTIONS:

First, we would like to ask more about you and what you do with your hanfu girl blog and Facebook page?
How were you introduced to Hanfu, and what is it about hanfu that appealed to you?
In your opinion, what patterns (embroidery) and colors are mostly used in the Hanfu? And why?
Are you aware of the political views of the Hanfu? If so, then what role do you think politics has on the revival of hanfu?
Do you know about the modern Hanfu and how it is different from the traditional Hanfu?
What does hanfu represent to the newer generation, and is this different from the older generation?
Now there being hanfu made for cats and gym wear, do you believe the modern hanfu still carries the same symbolism as the traditional Hanfu, or has it changed?
What is it about hanfu you would like others to know?
Through our research, we have found that the political view dominates the revival of hanfu. Hence, our goal as a group is to design an final outcome that can restore the hanfu to its original symbolism without invoking any political narrative. As such, what would you like us to represent in our design, is there anything you would expect to see?

Hanfu Girl Interview & Survey ( 05/02/21 - 07/02/21)

We brainstorm among ourselves to find ways for us to collect data other than interviews. We list down several possible ideas:

Google survey
Questionnaire
Instagram polls
Museum walkthrough for image collections

Allyssa found a 360 degree museum which were helpful for our data collection.We also divide our task in filling up our data collection presentation. Sajiya contacted the interviewees , Marsya and Jocelin are making the google surveys while me, Cynthia and Allyssa are In charge for Museum Walkthrough.

Fig 1.5 Museum tour

In the end, we decided our main data collection would entered around google survey where we would ask a few questions regarding hanfu and the data will be used to support our research questions and decide our final outcome. Hanfu girl replied back to us stating that she agreed to be interviewed. Therefore, we did a further research on her and we tried to include some design questions and send it to her so she could prepare .

Fig 1.6 Interview Questions

We finished creating our google survey. We decided to post the survey on instagram and ask our friends and family personally for feedbacks.

Fig 1.7 Survey Questions

Fig 1.8 Instagram Story Template

We had our interview with Hanfu Girl at 8.30 PM. We conducted our meeting in zoom and ask for her consent to record the interview for evidence. After that, Jocelin transcript our video into text form.

Fig 1.9 Interview with Ms. Goh Pan Pan/ Hanfu Girl

Interview Ms. Anisha and Mr. Shanawaz ( 09/02/21 )

After conducting our interview with Hanfu Girl, we still felt lacking information. Thankfully, Sajiya has connection from her family members which sells product connected to ours. The first person we interviewed is Ms. Anisha. She sells bags which incorporate her subculture. We went ahead and ask several questions regarding her work and some tips for our final outcome.

Fig 2.0 Interview with Ms. Anisha

After that, we had our last interview with Mr. Shanawaz which is in mask business. He is an expert in business and help us creates a new perspective towards our outcome. We also ask several questions regarding mask and tips for our final outcome.

Fig 2.1 Interview with Mr. Shanawaz

After we finished the interview, we went ahead and transcribed both videos. Then, added the answers to our presentation slide.

Fig 2.2 Presentation Slides

Fig 2.3 Full Information Slides

Fig 2.4 Group Photo

Feedback

Week 2

Take a look and identify the importance of these clothes. To indicate the symbols which these clothes present, in political or non-political views.
Understand each type of Hanfu clothing. The presentation of its colours or patterns, and what is it used for? Any specific occasions?
Make comparisons for both the Hanfu, in the past and the present, and identify whether these clothes still carry the same meaning or symbol.
Define the Hanfu’s visual presentation.
Search for more information through digital platforms; like digital museums.

Week 3

Narrow the 5 Research Objectives and Research Questions to 3 Research Objectives and Research Questions (must be correlated).
Change and combine a few research questions.

Week 4

Some of Research Objectives and Research Questions are quite general. To indicate something specific from the Hanfu.
Can talk about the 'Modern Hanfu’. Whether these modern Hanfu styled clothings will diminish the design quality of the Ancient Hanfu.
Research on political views regarding the Hanfu are good.
Can focus on China's current situation? To incorporate our ideas of the Hanfu, with the political context. This can create a discussion setting.

Week 5

Change some of the interview questions.
Insert photos from digital museums, google maps, or other visual research materials in order to support the data.
To form a short rationale for the final outcome.
Insert a screenshot of the interview session, along with a transcribe of the interview.

Week 6

According to the ROs and RQs, validate some questions and discover something different or new information.
Rationale is a guidance for our data collection.
What kind of politics are we incorporating into our design? Negative connotation or Tradition?
Use Hanfu to spread an agenda to the community.
Focus on the positive side/symbolism of the Hanfu, rather than utilizing the negative propaganda.
Use the Hanfu to spread a positive message and revive the Hanfu culture to its form of beauty.
Use colours and patterns, need not have to replicate the clothing.

Reflection

Experience:

This was a new experience for me, I would say for project 1 the amount of time we had was 4 weeks, which was too long. This caused us to pushed back our final project later on. Thankfully, my group members was really great. They all wants to participate and did their work. Hanfu was an interesting subject to touch on. I've learned a lot of new perspective and culture knowledge.

However, To be honest, i was quite disappointed with this module. I've heard and saw from seniors on how they went on a field trip research. There's even international students which got their intercultural module pushed back because of visa. However, we are not allowed to do that. It was quite irritated as they thought online research seemed easier. Nevertheless, it was different with on site research. It was hard in collecting a significant information and data. Further, we couldnt conduct a physical interview which leads us to online interview and google maps museum tour ourselves. This may seemed alright but we had a hard time in grasping our data collection and visual application.

Observation

I observe that I do understand we have a pandemic emergency which creates an abrupt change in this module. However, our voices should be included in this decision. Sometimes, our main goal isn't always graduating early. In fact, I would want to gather experiences in which I was able to learn from my university experiences into my career stage in the future. In my opinion, the school should've atleast provided a survey regarding our opinion if we wanted to push back the module or conducting it online. I do hope our intake could have an extra event for field trip research in the future.

Findings

I find things harder for me with this module. At first I can't imagine which way are we going with this project. There were no clear explanation in the beginning of this module as to what we are achieving at the end. As times progresses, I find myself questioning everything.

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Caitlyn Aurelia Tjandra (0339381)