Intercultural Design

Design Principles
05.2.2023 - 22.3.2023
Johnny Lam Wee Zhe (0363436)
Bachelor of Design in Creative Media

INTRODUCTION

LECTURE

We are briefly introduced to " Cultural Sensitivity in Design", it's a board yet essential topic for every creator. Mr Asrizal and Ms Annis gave us an introduction through the class material, and we got to learn the base concept as well as its applications in real life. We'll be doing the group project which related to subcultures or phenomenon under the theme "Cultural Sensitivity".

Cultural sensitivity in design will serve as a compass when we are creating our works, it allows audience from different cultural backgrounds understand the topic of the the work without offend nor misuse. "Cultural Appropriation" is a common phenomenon that appears in modern popular media, we need to raise more awareness to cultures and subcultures that are not in the mainstream.

PROJECT 1

Individual Research

There are multiple cases in which cultural sensitivity is important especially in the modern world where culture joins together in a cultural hotpot. It is especially crucial for one to be aware of ethics valued by other cultures. The lack of culture sensitivity may cause friction between cultures. One such example is when an oil company, Shell decides to give their own red packet design by using the traditional Chinese ink writing with a white backdrop behind. It may not seem significant to people outside of the Chinese culture but the purpose of the red packet is to give fortune. However, the color white often represents death in Chinese culture, Therefore, this cause an uproar among the Chinese community.

Another one of the example relates to game design. One of the triple A game called 'The Sims 4' has released an expansion pack (which is an purchasable add on for the game) called Snowy Escape. This add on introduces a Japanese themed world along with several elements of Japanese culture. However, one of the feature added along with this add-on is the ability to bow at the shrine, something that is in the deep roots of Japanese culture. However as a result of adding such feature, this causes numbers of Korean players to be upset at the inclusion of the shrine bowing. This is due to a historical context where during the Japanese occupation, Koreans are forced to bow to a Japanese shrine as well as forced to erase Korean culture and identity.

The backlash cause by generational trauma inflicted by Imperial Japan causes the developer to remove the ability to bow to the shrine swiftly as a response. In turn however, this action upsets the Japanese player as the shrine is deeply ingrained in Japanese culture. The action has resulted in number of argument among the player community and some have argue that the developer of The Sims 4 should have handled the situation better than swiftly removing the feature.

Topic Selection

After a brief discussion with my group mate, we have plan to use batik as our topic for our project. we decided to focus on a cultural clothing that has the significant meaning in Malaysia. Because it would be an element that Malaysian people finding familiarity in everyday-life, yet still suffers the cultural appropriation in a international level as other sub-cultures. We discussed local food and art-styles, then finally agreed on the topic of Batik in Malaysia.

Topic Rationale

The true origins of batik design is a little bit unclear, however there is early evidence of batik having been found in the Middle East, Egypt, Peru, Japan, East Turkestan, Europe, as well as India and China as far back as 2000 years ago.

The ownership of batik designs have caused a lot of conflict especially between Indonesian and Malaysia when Malaysia started to claim Batik as their own national heritage which created outrage from Indonesian citizens. In the end UNESCO stept in to solve the problem by recognizing Batik as an Indonesian cultural heritage.

While it is understandable that each culture would be protective over their own history and it may also be true that batik may have been brought over to from Java in Indonesia, it is important to acknowledge the significance in terms of the rich symbolism, craftsmanship, Identity etc, batik has in Malaysia.

Addressing the similarities and differences of batik designs in each culture may be the answer towards resolving the animosity that built up over the years.

Individual Idealization and Sketches

Idea 1: Create a storyboard which demonstrates the change in Malaysia batik culture from a traditional hand making technical to the modernized fashion symbol in post-colonial stage, then within the education and developing technology, it finally returns back to the everyday life.

The scene starts from a traditional batik making process by wax and bamboo stick, as the artist put down a single drop of the wax on the fabric, it starches itself into some delicate patterns.

The the camera zooms out, shows different patterns and colors. The last batik pattern we see is in green and black, the green part slowly moves to the side and reveals the black inside, the star-like cross turns into the flash light, and the black become the stage. The scene transforms into modern fashion shows. Models wearing all kinds of dress carrying batik elements. However it’s mistreated because of the colonization influences and commercial purposes. The scene fixes in one batik dress, as the camera zooms in the detail, the wax (from scene 1) begins to move again.

The wax travels through all traditional patterns, create a flow of movement, and demonstrate a great amount of detail history and meaning behind. Finally, the scene fixes in the lectures happening in one museum. We see people using modern technologies (digital screen, 3D modeling software, etc.) preserve the culture of batik. The last scene returns to the first frame.

The short animation "Batik Girl" from [Youtube] inspired me of this storyboard.

Idea 2: Create a kit which aims to preserve and promote the cultural significance of batik making, cultural appreciation, creativity, and skill development by offering hands-on engagement with its techniques and history. By providing tools and guidance for creating batik designs, the kit encourages exploration and innovation, developing the users unique artistic styles and problem-solving abilities.

Developing an educational kit on batik making inspires cultural preservation, hands-on learning, creativity, and skill development, fostering a deeper appreciation for cultural diversity and empowering individuals to connect with their creative potential.

Idea 3: The first sketch depicts an elderly batik artisan passing down her skills to her granddaughter, and the second sketch shows the granddaughter all grown up, passing down her skills to her next kin, showcasing the inter-generational transmission of cultural knowledge and emphasizing the importance of preserving traditional crafts within Malaysian society. It highlights the role of design in safeguarding cultural heritage and respecting the expertise of elderly artisans.

Project Proposal

Project 2 - Data Collection

Project 3 - Final Design

Rationale

We aim to create a batik kit that preserves the cultural significance of batik making, fostering creativity, and skill development through hands-on engagement with techniques and history.
The kit provides tools and guidance for creating batik designs, encouraging exploration and innovation, and developing users' unique artistic styles and problem-solving abilities.
This educational kit on batik making inspires cultural preservation, creativity, and skill development, fostering appreciation for cultural diversity and empowering individuals to connect with their creative potential.
The kit will be passed down to future generations, showcasing the intergenerational transmission of cultural knowledge and emphasizing the importance of preserving traditional crafts within Malaysian society. It highlights the role of design in safeguarding cultural heritage and respecting the expertise of elderly artisans.

We decided to do a digital version of the Batik Kit. Among our group, only two of the members has experience with 3D modelling. Those are me and another teammate, Meng Fei. Due to working separately due to circumstances, both of create different versions of the batik kit with different number of kits. Here is her version of the kit:

For an in depth explanation on how she make her own batik kit, click here to see her side of the blog.

For my version of the kit, I made the remaining object propose to be part of the kit. I first started out generating simple shapes and get as close to the object I want to create and then mold it with whatever I want it to be or feels appropriate.

For the texture look, I decide to use texture image downloaded online. Specifically I download from this website:

https://www.poliigon.com/

I used the free asset texture. The reason why I use this website is because it provides texture information as well which control various reflection and roughness or other property of the material used. I apply the texture using various modules that helps apply material information on the output.

Then I apply the cycle lighting system and change the light color to give it a warm comforting look.

Final Result

FEEDBACK

Project 1

We should be focus on a more specifically aspect of Batik in Malaysia. Instead of only showing the audience the details and the overall knowledge of Batik. We can change our topic into - Batik Beyond Borders: Unraveling the Threads of Cultural Heritage and Identity.

Project 2

At first, we just collect the information from the museum, like clothing's history and the making process. They are non-interacted knowledge, do not hold the subjective ideas. We think they would be enough for the researches. However, Ms Maria told us that for the data collection, we need to go out and reach to other people, to ask about their opinions (the interviews and survey). Because for the topic of Batik cultural heritage and identity, it was an constant changing cultural perception, instead of the ancient technical itself.

Project 3

Our supervisor approves with out kit idea. We can have it either physically and digitally. We will have to include a mini instruction book about how to use the kit and include info on batik. Instruction book has to be kept simple and informative. She also tells us to focus on spreading awareness of batik and its context.

REFLECTION

Experience

When I first heard of this module, I was somewhat curious about it. My initial expectation for this module is that this will be teaching us about cultural involvement with design and taught what to do to avoid offending any particular cultural group and more (which seem to be impossible). My experience as a whole doesn't match my expectations. Instead, we are given a short lecture on what cultural sensitivity are and is told what we're supposed to do for a very open ended project.

Observation

Being one of the more open ended project, I observe that this module actually helps with stretching out the creative muscles in coming up with final output of the project and that lifting many restrictions give the freedom for students to design an output. Supposedly it sound like it make the project easier but paradoxically, I observe that this very nature of lifting limitations also make it much harder in many other ways especially when the project has no clear cut directions

Findings

Due to the open ended nature of this project, it can rather difficult to pinpoint what to do in open ended projects. I find that what is most important part of this project as whole isn't to just simply put out work but also set the goals or set the purpose of the project to focus on which help with getting through this module. Also, I find that solidifying your argument point for your final design is also one of the major things I have learnt indirectly from this module as I realize the whole point of this study is to get enough argument point to defend your own work.

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Johnny Lam Wee Zhe (0363436)