cool website to leech inspiration from

www.tokyoplastic.com

simplicity intrigues!

personally i hate information overload.

i don't like direct approach.

some things are better left unsaid. fuel curiosity, smoke up a mysterious feel that leaves the audience wanting more.

personally, i think...don't dumbdown the audience. assume all of them are intellects. therefore don't state the obvious, don't give unnecessary information.

often, the most simple, plain, and 'empty' interactive websites are what intrigues me most.

simplicity lets us focus on the core subject. no frilly nonsense.

but then again, to achieve sophisticated simplicity needs thinking on a deeper level and sensitivity. lacking these, the end product will look unfinished, insincere, 'cincai', lack depth, lack creativity. must tread carefully.

mr k once commended that my style about one particular project in foundation is "less is more". perhaps i shall take this approach in my future projects too since i feel so strongly about this. must hone my skills in sensitivity and conceptualizing ideas. as to the group project at hand, we'll see how things turn out.

concept page

Title:

The Cups of Kuala Lumpur

or

What is Cuptizen about?

or

Cups and the Stories They Tell

Content text

Cups...we bring them to our lips, often our thoughts only focused on what's within it.

But have we ever thought of the reason why we choose to use certain cups? Practicality? Aesthetics? Status?

Rarely do we take notice of the cups we use, but there is a hidden story within each cup.

They do not only hold our beverages for us...

...but also narrate our personality...

...and the memories of a period of time in which they were used...

...or reflect the contemporary environment in which it sits in.

We take a look at cups around the city of Kuala Lumpur, and listen to what they tell us about the citizens of KL...

the sleighbells have stopped ringing

so the big christmas hooha is subsiding, and new year's day is looming. and with it follows the recommencement of classes..GARGH! i think i've settled myself into this cushy holiday mood waaayyyy too deep. *SMACK* oi...krystal! wake up!!!

lemme take a look at my very dusty group work sketchbook...a recap of the last discussion after tutorial:

• no need title above image, speech bubble from cup is sufficient.
• overall mood to be minimalistic and poetic. main color: off white, cream or beige to keep it neutral so as not to contrast too much with different colored cups.
• overall style to be doodle and sticker collage.
• speech bubble writing should reflect character of cup (e.g. cursive writing (?) for traditional cup, kid's scribble for kid's cup)
• background to be monochromatic photograph to avoid snatching attention from cup
• content text to be poetic, can be a quote relates to cup characteristic
• instead of a speech bubble, text can be "splashed" out of cup. (e.g. coffee splashes out with text out of a traditional porcelain teacup, while juice splashes out with text from a kid's plastic mug)
• incorporate sounds (from tapping cups) into buttons
• incorporate a range of sounds (from tapping cups) on different images of cups on main page so that when mouse rolls over, user can create own tune, just for fun and attraction?
• on concept page, text spills out of cup when mouse rolls over. this page is to elaborate on the objective of the field guide.

before next meeting, i am to...

• come up with poetic description of environment and atmosphere, and the text for 'speech bubble'
• develop a doodling style
• short description of myself for "who?" page + 5 doodles of objects that reflect me.
• write concept page content.

woah better get crackin' krystal... u are WAAAAYYYYYYYYYY behind schedule. procrastination has gotten the better of me. gurgh!

keep focused!

oftentimes during a group project, we get excited when we keep throwing around ideas and want to incorporate everything into the project. and if we're not careful, the end product might have deviated from the objective of the project!

to keep focussed i always start with writing down the aims and objectives or concept of a project and constantly refer back to it throughout the process to keep me from adding unnecessary and unrelated ideas.

the concept for our group project is...

mug=people.

mugs say a lot about their owners. they tell us a lot about what their owners like, what they do, and who they are. through observing mugs typically found in kl, we can get to know a little about the different people of Kuala Lumpur.

the purpose of the field guide is to learn more about the citizens of Kuala Lumpur through taking a look at their mugs.

mr sean has commented on the name of our project "cup people" that it is a bit too direct. perhaps...

cuptizens of kl?

mugtizens of kl?

'porcelain citizens' would have been a pretty name if we were only doing porcelain cups. oh well.

cup voices? because cups 'say' a lot about their owners?

hrmm hrarhmm hrrhhuu...

burrrhaaarooom!

Goodness gracious

i've finally set up my blog, weeks too late. I cant believe how i let my personal problems get in the way of my studies.

The title of my blog tells how i feel about the current project. i find myself in limbo, neither here nor there, neither part of it, nor wholly out of it.

The first part of a project is always the most crucial, and i've not participated in this important stage due to my absence from kl for more than a week. Therefore i find myself very disconnected and difficult to immerse myself fully in the process. i am trying, though.