Category: What and who is it for?

A well made visual story telling through graphic design – Inside Coco Chanel

Reading through David Berman’s book “Do Good Design” I came across this site which was introduced in his book. Re-nourish.com by Eric Benson, is a site that every designer should visit at least once to get some inspirations of what a designer can do to help the society and sustain the environment. Have a look here. You can click at the image and it will take you to the site.

Here Eric try to introduce and to change our practice as a designer to green practice. Issues about paper, printer, tools and plenty more are set here for you to explore. Now, it’s your time to do it.

My first meeting with David Berman was in Sydney when I attended an AGDA talk about “How can designer save the world?”, which I think the title sound a bit ‘big’ but the content is very useful and I didn’t regret attending the talk.

David’s talk is fantastic! He shared about his experience as a Graphic designer but not so much about the design artwork, but more on the ethic part of being a designer. He is such an inspiration and after his presentation I cannot help from seeing him to discuss more about his effort to shaped a better designer in each one of us. I bought his book “Do Good Design” and reading the book have answered lots of the questions that I’ve been asking myself about my role as a Graphic designer. All these questions, such as “what will happen if I create a design using an image of a little baby?” Is it ok to use it? Or is it not? Of course my boss and the company that I was working at that time supporting and comforting me by saying that it perfectly fine. Because we have paid the royalty of the picture, and we have asked the client if they ok with using the baby image in their poster and branding promotion, and they are fine. But am I the only one was in the bubble here? I am more concern about how we exploit the image of the naked baby here. Yes, it’s cute and yes, it only the back view of the baby, but still.. So David, thank you for answering the questions in my thoughts.

I am delighted to present David to Malaysian designer. So I have put my best efforts to bring David here in Penang. Under the Graphic Communication Design department, I am delighted to bring David as our guess of honour. My advice to you, this is once in a life time David Berman talk is held in Penang, so if you’re around please do come. Make your RSVP at maslynda[at]usm.my

See you there!

 

 

I’m thrilled as today a whole group of people who have similar interest about design and culture will come together and discuss focus on design and culture, how it relates to each other. So if you’re around in Penang, please do come along to the forum from 1 to 5pm at the Green Room, Georgetown, Penang. More info http://www.cutoutmag.com/mex/

The Grande Mosquée de Paris, located in the 5th arrondissement, is one of the largest mosques in France. Here in the mosque the notion of Islam is clearly projected as a simple, peaceful and acceptance religion. The mosque represent it all. Anyone can visit the mosque. It is open to public except at the Friday prayers where the mosque will be fully occupied by the Musliman for the Friday prayer. Behind the mosque there is a beautiful cafe, which runs all days serving lunch and dinner. There is also a hammam place (Strictly for women only). This is how the mosque sustains the place.
If you in Paris, the Mosquee de Paris – the restaurant, is one of the place you should not missed. Spend some times to visit the hammam then have your lunch and end with small sweet taste of the dessert and sweet tea. They served Oriental food such as Tagines, Couscous and Pastries. Sit at the open terrace and just enjoy the design surrounding the space.

Visit their website for more info

 

I’m thrilled as today a whole group of people who have similar interest about design and culture will come together and discuss focus on design and culture, how it relates to each other. So if you’re around in Penang, please do come along to the forum from 1 to 5pm at the Green Room, Georgetown, Penang. More info http://www.cutoutmag.com/mex/

I’ve been wanting to write about this for a while but I was taking the whole issues slowly thinking that I wanted to know more to be able to convince myself about it. This is about how designers can contributes in facilitating the way we do things in Malaysia. If you meet a Malaysian and start a conversation with one, you will soon come to realised that Malaysian (most of us), loves eating out and loves food. And if you have the chance to visit Malaysia you will soon come to understand why, or may be will be able to make a reason out of it. This is because there are plenty of hawker’s styles food around, and most of them are selling cheap and sometimes they do served fresh food.

Lucky enough, in Malaysia we can get hold to this hawker’s style food easily, but on the other side come to think about it, there is not much choice of food to eat. On perception, it does seems that there are varieties of Malaysian cuisine. Yes indeed, I agree there are plenty of Malaysian cuisine, but then when you start eating out, you will soon understand what I mean here. The selections are limited to the Malaysian favorite food style, or perhaps, what people think is Malaysian favorite food, such as Nasi lemak, Nasi Ayam, selections of Nasi Goreng, Chicken curry, Mee Goreng, Roti Canai, Nasi Kandar, Rendang, and so on is j

“All men are designers. All that we do,
almost all the time,
is design, for design is basic to all human activity.

Any attempt to separate design, to make it a thing-by-itself, works counter to the fact that design is the primary underlying matrix of life. Design is composing an epic poem, executing a mural, painting a masterpiece, writing a concerto.

But design is also cleaning and reorganizing a desk drawer, pulling an impacted tooth, baking an apple pie, choosing sides for a backlot baseball game, and educating a child.” Victor Papanek – Design for the real world.

On 24 April 2013, all the designers in Penang come together to celebrate the Icograda World Communication Design Day,
for its 50th anniversary. The celebration took place at the exhibition ground at the New World Park, Burma Road Penang. It is in conjuction with the weekly series by wREGA (Association of Graphic Design Malaysia) that bring designers together called Jack In the Box. The idea of the celebration is to portray and highlight Penang Island, as one of the cultural heritage in the world and where the design and arts collates. Supported by Graphic Design Department (Dr. Zainurul Rahman), School of the Arts, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Urban Cr3tures (Chun Woei), New World Park (Alex), Georgetown Festival (Wanida) and Vividesign (Vivian), the events that took place from 6 to 10 pm, managed to get around 50 designers and students (from KDU, USM, and Han Chiang Colleges) to stick their post notes with wishes and notes about Penang legendary icon, P.Ramlee. The end of the session, a portrait of P. Ramlee, a truly Penang icon who was also an actor, comedian, singer, film director, song writers, musician and most of all the cultural ambassador of Malaysia was created. This is the benchmark of the future design, arts and culture growth in Penang, Malaysia.

 

I’ve been wanting to write about this for a while but I was taking the whole issues slowly thinking that I wanted to know more to be able to convince myself about it. This is about how designers can contributes in facilitating the way we do things in Malaysia. If you meet a Malaysian and start a conversation with one, you will soon come to realised that Malaysian (most of us), loves eating out and loves food. And if you have the chance to visit Malaysia you will soon come to understand why, or may be will be able to make a reason out of it. This is because there are plenty of hawker’s styles food around, and most of them are selling cheap and sometimes they do served fresh food.

Lucky enough, in Malaysia we can get hold to this hawker’s style food easily, but on the other side come to think about it, there is not much choice of food to eat. On perception, it does seems that there are varieties of Malaysian cuisine. Yes indeed, I agree there are plenty of Malaysian cuisine, but then when you start eating out, you will soon understand what I mean here. The selections are limited to the Malaysian favorite food style, or perhaps, what people think is Malaysian favorite food, such as Nasi lemak, Nasi Ayam, selections of Nasi Goreng, Chicken curry, Mee Goreng, Roti Canai, Nasi Kandar, Rendang, and so on is j

“All men are designers. All that we do,
almost all the time,
is design, for design is basic to all human activity.

Any attempt to separate design, to make it a thing-by-itself, works counter to the fact that design is the primary underlying matrix of life. Design is composing an epic poem, executing a mural, painting a masterpiece, writing a concerto.

But design is also cleaning and reorganizing a desk drawer, pulling an impacted tooth, baking an apple pie, choosing sides for a backlot baseball game, and educating a child.” Victor Papanek – Design for the real world.

This semester I started teaching and supervising final year student and postgraduate students. All of the sudden I have limited time for research and even time to spend writing and posting in this blog. Times just fly and now I am at my third weeks of my teaching. And currently I am supervising eight final year students, two Masters and one PhD. My post today will be more on discussion about my final year graphic design students. As I go through with them in groups once a week and individually once every two weeks, I realised that the level of design thinking is very low. Yes the students are very talented, as they should be because that is how they get to be excepted in the School of the Arts, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, but in terms of their knowledge in constructing ideas, they seems lost. I think the biggest challenge in teaching design in Malaysia is the about the design thinking. To empower the creativity and use it in various ways. To also understand that design is not only about creating layout for print or for online, the space, the color, the principles but also the purpose, the rational and most importantly how the whole design process and outcome can contribute to the society. I think designer need to rethink about the designer’s tagline, “design is about problem solving”. I think design is not about solving the problem but to facilitate the situation by proposing several ways to manage it. Nothing can be solved, what designer was doing before was just trying to solve problem. Most of the time by doing so, another problem arise. In creating the awareness of design thinking to the students I think it will be a long new journey by reshuffling the course syllabus, the way of thinking and the way of doing. Designer need to be able to questions and critics not only about design but also about what’s happening around them. Remember design is not just for fun or for the glam, but it is about people, and what it can do to the people, individual, society and the county.

I am blessed with the new member in our family and since then I have not been in touch with my online blog. There are many things that I have learned and would like to share with you in this blog, but that have to wait as time is precious, or should I put it, very limited to be use on other things apart from nurturing my baby.

This is another wonderful news, I finally completed my PhD, and gained the recognition to hold the title Dr.

That said, still I like to post a topic here, not only for you to think about but for me to continue writing it when I am able to organised my life again. I like to discuss about the term ‘design management’ and ‘design eduation’, on what does it mean to me and to the whole society.
Since May we been living in a beautiful Penang Island at the northern part of peninsular Malaysia. Moving from Melbourne to Penang is a big step but after living again in Penang,
the whole rediscovering Penang is rewarding. I started my lecturing job at School of the Arts,
University Science Malaysia or also known as USM, a prestige Malaysian science based university. The most interesting part of being here again after a long 9+ years living in abroad provide enough space for me to rediscovering the whole idea about Penang. As a designer, it is part of the practice to observe. I was very keen to explore these idea of design in Penang, for example, how design activities have evolved so far?, what is the most popular design topic in Penang, whose the local designers and so on. I also reconnect with wRega (Malaysian Graphic Design Association Kuala Lumpur), became a professional member and try to contributes some of my five cent senses in design with Malaysian designers.

During my exploration within the idea of design in Malaysia, I realised there are two types of designers in Malaysia. One is always the follower, the one that just agree with the main audience, the one that go with the main streams and the one that scared to stand on his own. This type of designers need someone else to hold on too. And most of the time this type of designers just focus on how to make more money by asking the question, “So what is it for me?”. Yes, I understand at the end of the day, that question need to be asked, but focusing only to it, also provides another meaning – selfish. This type of designers will try to accommodate and conform the general societies expectation.

The other one, the second type of designers, is the one that want to feel special through his work and most importantly, to be the first. Meaning, what ever he or she does have to be special and “no one else has done this before, I am the first one” have to be in somewhere. This type of designers tries so hard to be the first and to create something that no one else have done, that he or she forgot the whole ideas of creating design, the trill to explore, the excitement of creating and crafting, not to be part of the game of “I am the first that created this type of design”. And the most interesting with this type of designer is the comments he or she throws to the other designers, by comment
Since May we been living in a beautiful Penang Island at the northern part of peninsular Malaysia. Moving from Melbourne to Penang is a big step but after living again in Penang,
the whole rediscovering Penang is rewarding. I started my lecturing job at School of the Arts, University Science Malaysia or also known as USM, a prestige Malaysian science based university. The most interesting part of being here again after a long 9+ years living in abroad provide enough space for me to rediscovering the whole idea about Penang. As a designer, it is part of the practice to observe. I was very keen to explore these idea of design in Penang, for example, how design activities have evolved so far?, what is the most popular design topic in Penang, whose the local designers and so on. I also reconnect with wRega (Malaysian Graphic Design Association Kuala Lumpur), became a professional member and try to contributes some of my five cent senses in design with Malaysian designers.

During my exploration within the idea of design in Malaysia, I realised there are two types of designers in Malaysia. One is always the follower, the one that just agree with the main audience, the one that go with the main streams and the one that scared to stand on his own. This type of designers need someone else to hold on too. And most of the time this type of designers just focus on how to make more money by asking the question, “So what is it for me?”. Yes, I understand at the end of the day, that question need to be asked, but focusing only to it, also provides another meaning – selfish. This type of designers will try to accommodate and conform the general societies expectation.

The other one, the second type of designers, is the one that want to feel special through his work and most importantly, to be the first. Meaning, what ever he or she does have to be special and “no one else has done this before, I am the first one” have to be in somewhere. This type of designers tries so hard to be the first and to create something that no one else have done, that he or she forgot the whole ideas of creating design, the trill to explore, the excitement of creating and crafting, not to be part of the game of “I am the first that created this type of design”. And the most interesting with this type of designer is the comments he or she throws to the other designers, by showing how the work of other is not original and that lots of people have done similar.

I am blessed with the new member in our family and since then I have not been in touch with my online blog. There are many things that I have learned and would like to share with you in this blog, but that have to wait as time is precious, or should I put it, very limited to be use on other things apart from nurturing my baby.

This is another wonderful news, I finally completed my PhD, and gained the recognition to hold the title Dr.

That said, still I like to post a topic here, not only for you to think about but for me to continue writing it when I am able to organised my life again. I like to discuss about the term ‘design management’ and ‘design eduation’, on what does it mean to me and to the whole society.