DESIGN STUDIES 1- FINAL ASSIGNMENT

10th October - 14th November (Week 6 - Week 11)
Tulekova Arailym (0326122)
Design Studies 1

Final assignment

INSTRUCTIONS

Research Articulation Brief

Design is a mode of communication that engages the intellect and emotions through the visual sense. One of design’s roles is to solve problems. The inspiration of ideas many a time comes from around us. Looking at the local, Malaysian scene, there are many visual cultural art forms that can serve as inspiration for ideation. This project looks into producing a work of design that is inspired visually or conceptually by Malaysian visual cultural art forms.

Two most apparent examples of Malaysian visual cultural art forms are batik and wayang kulit. Another example, although not very common, is the masks/carvings of the indigenous Mah Meri tribe. There are many more types of visual cultural art forms unique to Malaysia.

Museum and gallery visits are among the activities that students will have to take on to enrich their exposure to these art forms so that they gain better understanding through visual experience for the execution of this project.

Requirements

Demonstration of research skills, application of research and knowledge, and students’ evaluation of their learning is expected in the final outcome of this project.

1. Select a health/environment/social/animal issue that is current in Malaysia.

2. Conduct research on that selected issue. Pictures, captions and written information supported by secondary sources are compulsory.

3. Select a form of Malaysian visual cultural art form of your choice.

4. Conduct in-depth visual and background research of that Malaysian visual cultural art form. Pictures and written information supported by secondary sources are compulsory.

5. Utilising the knowledge you had gained from the research of that Malaysian visual cultural art form, brainstorm design ideas to solve the selected issue. Do this in your sketchbook. Each idea must be accompanied by a short description, including a rationale for each idea.

6. You may interpret and contextualise what you understand from those visual cultural art forms anyway you see fit to as a design solution to the selected issue.

7. You must produce evidence of idea inspiration.

8. You are also expected to apply the knowledge you have gained from the topics in this module.

9. The final work of design, although needs to show relevance to the selected issue, visual cultural art forms and topics in this module, can be in any form, deem fit by you.

10. A written rationale of about 300 words is to accompany the final work of design and how you have used your choice of Malaysian visual cultural art form as part of the design.

11. A written reflection of about 300 words, guided by these questions:

i. What have I learned from this module?

ii. How have I contributed to the learning?

iii. How can I apply what I’ve learned to future classroom situations and lessons?

iv. What are the changes I would suggest for the betterment of the module (delivery, topics, learning tools, etc)?

Duration

6 weeks (Briefing: Week 6; Deadline: Week 11).

Submission Format

1. Digital submission through TIMeS:

Powerpoint slides CONVERTED TO PDF file containing:

a. research (selected issue and Malaysian visual cultural art form)

b. idea generation (sketches from sketch book)

c. images from a few angles or positions of the final design work

d. rationale and reflection

e. reference and picture credits list

2. To present on submission day:

a. Physical form of the final design work.

b. PowerPoint slides.

Assignment Goals

1. Students to apply research skills.

2. Students to employ effective communication skills.

3. Students to analyse relevant design solutions.

4. Students to synthesise ideas.

5. Students to evaluate the learning process.

PROCESS

Malaysia’s traffic jam problem

In my final project I decided to choose topic which is common on each part of Malaysia and needs to be solved, this is “Traffic Jams”. During the research I have noticed that majority of people complain about this issue and discuss the solution but every day it becomes worth and worth.
This is for a single employee. Suppose 10 per cent of workers are trapped in traffic jams in Malaysia, this means that the country has suffered a loss of productivity in terms of time totaling RM5.51 billion (US$ 1.7 bil) a year.”

“As you probably know from experience, traffic jams are a huge problem in the Klang Valley. The World Bank estimates that Greater Kuala Lumpur residents “spend more than 250 million hours a year stuck in traffic.” Congestion also exacts a huge toll on our economy – Greater Kuala Lumpur traffic ate 1.1 – 2.2% of GDP in 2014.

And the situation isn’t getting better. According to one poll, most Malaysians said they are spending more time in traffic compared to a year ago. That’s bad news if you want to see a kinder, gentler Malaysia – experts have linked traffic jams with aggression.

So why is traffic so bad in urban Malaysia and what do we do about it?

Probably the number one cause behind our traffic jams is the ridiculous amount of cars on the road. Malaysia has the third highest car ownership rate in the entire world, a Nielsen survey found. 93 percent of our households have at least one car, with 54 percent of households owning more than one vehicle.

Unsurprisingly, just 17 percent of Kuala Lumpur commuters use public transport, the World Bank said. Compare that with Singapore – 62 percent – and Hong Kong – 89 percent. It’s no wonder that our roads are so jammed so often. Many Malaysians prefer the prestige and convenience of owning a car, but they just end up hurting everyone else” (themselves included).”

As you can see in this article, the main reason of traffic jams in Malaysia is a huge density of cars; in addition, only 17 percent of Malaysians use public transportation.

What is the main courses of bad traffic:

1) Big amount of cars.

2) Low developed public transportation system.

3) Tolls

4) The arrangement of roads are not shortsighted.

“Living in Malaysia, we deal with bad traffic every single day, especially if you live in places like Petaling Jaya and Kuala Lumpur. Aside from inconvenience, did you know a total of RM5.51 billion is lost in productivity annually due to traffic jams?

If we take the average wage for workers in Malaysia as RM2,500 (US$773) per month, this means an hour of their time is worth RM5.70 (US$1.76). If three hours a day is spent on the road for 22 working days, then employees have lost productivity valued at RM376.20 (US$116) a month.

What is the bad consequences of traffic jams :

1) Wasted time

2) Wasted money

3) Wasted nerves

Ways to solve this issue

“The MRT project is a good start, but far from sufficient. The government needs to ensure that public transport coverage extends throughout the Klang Valley and beyond. Major residential areas are still far from LRT and MRT stops, some of which don’t make any sense. For example, the Abdullah Hukum and Dang Wangi LRT stations see few passengers, emphasizing the need for better planning. Honestly, what were they thinking?

The government should also create and enforce far more bus lanes. Their absence is why bus waits can last up to an hour or more, when they should take between 15 to 30 minutes. Transport experts strongly endorse bus lanes, seeing them as a way to significantly increase the number of passengers on the road (as opposed to the number of vehicles).”

To solve this problem we have to give people the availability of transportation from anywhere in Malaysia. Which can be improved by developing existing public transportation system.

And I really appreciate the metro and monorails as a public transport but it can be improved by amending the metro/monorail map and making it wider so the Malaysians from any states can use it. Also it could be a great idea to make the “changing line” process more convenient like in Moscow “ring system”.

Malaysian cultural art forms

Mah Meri’s art

“Many among them are skilled in carving statues that are made from wood. Their carvings include deities, humans, flora and fauna figurines. These carvings have gained recognition from the UNESCO. Handicrafts produce of the Mah Meri community in Sungai Bumbun, Kuala Langat have high artistic value and the potential to be recognised at an international level.”

1.a.

1.b.

Strengths: Very nice floral style

Weakness: Doesn’t suits my topic

Batik art

“The origin of batik production in Malaysia is not easy to trace. Few historical artifacts exist, but it is known trade relations between the Melayu Kingdom in Jambi and Javanese coastal cities have thrived since the 13th century, the northern coastal batik producing areas of Java (Cirebon, Lasem, Tuban, and Madura) has influenced Jambi batik. This Jambi (Sumatran) batik, as well as Javanese batik, has influenced the batik craft in the Malay peninsula.”

Strengths: The unique art style created in Malaysia which don’t have any similarities with other country’s batiks which make Malaysian very proud.

1.c.

1.d.

Possessed with nice bright colors witch is good to catch attention.

Weaknesses: Doesn’t look serious and can be distractive and annoying.

Wayang kulit art

“"Wayang" derives from a word meaning "shadow" or "ghost", in turn originating from two ancient words: "Waya" meaning "ancestor or descending", and "Ang" meaning "symbol". Another source is the phrase "Ma Hyang", meaning spirit, God or God Almighty.

Wayang, in modern Indonesian language, is loosely translated to mean puppet. Kulit means skin or leather, the material from which the figures are carved.”