Intercultural Design
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03. 02. 2025 - . 02. 2025 / Week 1 - Week 7
Aw Wen Chia / 0368828
Design Principle / Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media
Aw Wen Chia / 0368828
Design Principle / Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media
INTRODUCTION: Knives in Culture
We are "the Knifey Cult" (don't worry we are not actually one)
We are Taylorian students who founded this group for an intercultural
design module assignment, which is themed... Everyday design! These
designs may not be iconic or extravagant but play a crucial role in
shaping the cultural and functional aspects of society. So us, group
32, has decided to delve into the territory of knives.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
MODULE INFORMATION
LECTURES
information below are summarized notes from the Intercultural Design
slides
CULTURE & DESIGN
Visuals are a powerful medium to information about the world.
40% of people respond more to visuals than to text.
90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual.
Visuals are processed 60,000x faster in the brain than text.
VISUALS
Everything that can be seen - wide, all-inclusive including
nature (if nature is connected to a culture).
Everything produced or created by humans that can be seen - visuals that have functions, content and communicative purpose.
DESIGN SIGNIFICANCE
Designers need to understand the significance of graphics in its
cultural studies, philosophy, sociology and origin.
Fig 1, Design System
DESIGN SYSTEM
Fig 2, Design System
Example:
Basic Assumptions/Cultural Functions: Cats(Maneki-Neko) and
Bells brings goodluck.
Norms and Values/Design Language: In China cats and bells
are said to ward off evil spirit and bring prosperity.
Artifacts and Products: Cats with bells keychain lucky
charms.
DESIGN SENSITIVITY
Symbolism and Imagery: Certain symbols and imagery can carry
different meanings in different cultures. Designers must be mindful to
avoid misunderstandings or offense.
Colour Considerations: Colours have cultural significance that
has different meanings in different societies. Designers must make an
appropriate choice.
Typography and Language: Culturally appropriate fonts and text
styles are important, proper translation from language to language is
crucial to reach a diverse audience.
Inclusive Design: Designers should aim to create products and or
experiences that are accessible and inclusive for various cultures,
abilities, and needs.
User Research: Conducting research that includes a variety of
diverse groups helps to gain insights into cultural preferences and
behaviours.
Localization: Adapting designs to specific cultural contexts
through localization can enhance the product/service.
Cultural Awareness Training: Designers can benefit from culture
awareness training to have a deeper understanding and perspectives.
TASKS
TASK 1:
The first task required us to form a team of 6 people, which I managed
to find:
Group members:
- Btari Kasih Maulana
- Aw Wen Chia (me)
- Loh Kai Xuan
- Lim Yeng San
- Loke Yoong Xin
- Tai Xian Zun
We then made a Discord server where all group meetings and discussions
were held.
Fig 3, Screenshot during a discussion on Discord
After forming a group, we had to do research about a topic related to
everyday design, which are designs that you can find in everyday life.
After a few group discussions, we narrowed down to 3 design choices.
- Drinkware
- Chairs
- Knives
Finally, we settled on Knives as our research topic as we thought it
would be interesting. Because it was Intercultural Design, we decided
to talk about the Problem statement (lack of knowledge about knives
and the risk), the History of knives, Knives in 6 different cultures,
and 3 sketches (ways to combat problem statement).
Task delegation:
- Rationale - Loh Kai Xuan, Loke Yoong Xin
- Problem Statment - Btari Kasih Maulana
- History of Knives - me
- Knives in Cultures:
- Knives in China - me
- Knives in Japan - Loke Yoong Xin
- Knives in Vietnam - Btari Kasih Maulana
- Knives in Germany - Tai Xian Zun
- Knives in France - Lim Yeng San
- Knives in England - Loh Kai Xuan
- Sketches:
- Sketches #1 - Lim Yeng San, Btari Kasih Maulana
- Sketches #2 - Loke Yoong Xin, Tai Xian Zun
- Sketches #3 - Loh Kai Xuan, me
For my part, I just researched my part on the internet and used
credible sources.
Fig 4, Process of research
FINAL TASK 1 SLIDES:
TASK 2:
After submitting task 1, we then started on task 2, which was to further
and develop the sketches by basing it on our research. We decided on our
research methods, using a Google Form and an interview.
Google Form: 38 responses
A series of questions testing the public's knowledge about knives, and
the public's opinion about educational short-form video content.
Interview: 7 people
(2 culinary students, 3 design students, 1 computer science student,
1 actuarial science student)
A series of questions testing the public's knowledge about knives, the
public's opinions about knife usage, and educational short-form video
content.
After we gathered the information, I found out that the public's
knowledge about knives were little, and their perception for educational
short-form content was positive. With that in mind we narrowed down our
sketches and formed our idea:
- An 8 episode short form video series.
- Each episode will be a trivia about knives in the 6 cultures we researched in our slides above.
- To attract viewers and keep them to stay, we went for a popular concept of characterizing the knives into humanoid designs.
- Having an eye-candy to explain and share info will help viewers stay till the end.
- Using our previous research with additional research, we came up with conventionally attractive yet as accurate as possible designs of humanoid knives in different culture.
(taken from
Loh Kai Xuan's
blog)
Task delegation:
We were to design, storyboard, and voice or find a voice actor for our
own characters.
Process:
I was in charge of the Chinese Cleaver or Caidao.
I first did research on the clothing that was worn in Ancient China
which was a Hanfu, then I researched the colour scheme and started
sketching.
Fig 5, Character Sketch
Fig 6, Character Sprite
Afterwards, I started making the video storyboard and worked on some of
the slides.
Fig 7, Storyboard
FINAL TASK 2 SLIDES:
TASK 3:
After we submitted task 2, it was time to move on to task 3, which is where we executed our idea.
At first, we delegated the task to where each of us would edit our know video, however, Kai Xuan pointed of there might be some continuation issues, so we split off into 3 groups.
Character Design & Storyboard:
- Caidao: me
- Gyuto: Loke Yoong Xin
- Dao bào nhỏ: Btari Kasih Maulana
- German Knife: Tai Xian Zun
- Chef Knife: Lim Yeng San
- Steak Knife: Loh Kai Xuan
Introduction & Ending script:
- Everyone
Video Making Team:
- Animatics: Loh Kai Xuan
- Video Editing: me
Social Media Team:
- TikTok: Tai Xian Zun (Wallace)
- Instagram: Btari Kasih Maulana
Documentation Team: (Presentation Design & Process Recording)
- Lim Yeng San
- Loke Yoong Xin (Selina)
Character Sprites I made:
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Fig 8, Character Sprites
I was in charge of making the intro, outro, subtitling and adding sound effects for the videos.
Fig 9, Process of making Intro and Outro using After Effects
Fig 10, Process of making Intro and Outro using Capcut
We would send our character sprites, storyboard, pictures and voice lines to Kai Xuan to make the animatics. Then she will send me the videos to subtitle and add sound effects. Then, I would send the videos to the group chat for final checks, after it get greenlit, Wallace and Btari will upload it to our TikTok and Instagram pages.
Fig 11, Process of Subtitling and Sound Effects
FINAL TASK 3 SLIDES:
Click on the images to go to our TikTok and Instagram pages:
FEEDBACK (taken from Loh Kai Xuan)
Week 1:
Choose everyday topics, having cultural relation helps.
Week 2:
Weapons do not count as everyday design, at least in Malaysian context. So choosing something else will be easier to research.
Week 3:
Knives can be a good topic, can compare the different cultures of cooking knives, or for eating
Week 4:
Consider making our TikTok content about our group being knife fanatics. make things interesting by doing short form content or funny story documentaries.
Week 5:
Use the results from our survey and quizzes to prove our problem statement and why we chose to do educational shorts.
Week 6:
Working on Task 3 [No consultation]
Week 7:
Keep up the good work but be more constructive with the blog so that it looks cohesive between group members. More visuals and clearer, simple info in the slides.
REFLECTION
Honestly, this was a really fun subject, I was really looking for it when I heard we had an exchange trip to Japan, however, when it was cancelled, I was deeply disappointed. But I cheered up when I heard it was a group assignment, I was ecstatic because all my friends had the same class. Only to find out we had to be separated due to all of us taking the same course. But I still managed to work with a few of my friends. Which was the reason I found this subject fun and interesting.
However, I did manage to meet new people which was nice. The course had pretty interesting assignments and taught me how to collect information, research and apply it to a "product". So, overall, I did enjoy Intercultural Design.
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