Intercultural Design/Project 1 & Project 2

4.1.2021 - 30.1.2021 (Week 1 - Week 6)
Nur Allyssa Nabilah Binti Mohd Nizam / 0337796 / BDCM
Intercultural Design
Project 1: Idea Proposal & Project 2: Data Collection

LECTURE

Week 1

Lecture:

For the first lecture lesson, we were introduced to all the lecturers that would be facilitating us for this module. Mr Asrizal one of the lecturers went briefed the MIB to us to show what we would be doing for this module. We even split up into groups of 6 for our final group assignment.

Tutorial:

For our first tutorial lesson, another lecturer Dr Charles thought us about Netnography and Ethnography. Since we are in a pandemic and we are unable to carry out our research while we travel, the lesson given by Dr Charles could help us out.

Week 2

For this weeks lecture, we had two guest speakers to give us a talk about what they do and their experiences as to do that. The first speaker was Mr Tintoy, is the founder of the fusion wayang kulit which he gained popularity when he combined the wayang kulit characters with the well-known star wars characters. The other speaker was Ms Natasha, she specializes in Arts and Crafts. During the session, she showed us some of her batiks and even her store Gahara.

Week 3

For this weeks lecture, we had another two guest speakers which are Mr Munir and Ms Emelia Ong.

Week 4

For this week, it was presentation week all the groups were divided into two days to present the topic of culture they have chosen and the theme they were doing associated with the culture.

Week 5

For this week, we only had a consultation about our next part of the project which is the data collection with our assigned lecturer.

Week 6

For this week, it was presentation week all the groups were divided into two days to present the topic of culture they have chosen and the theme they were doing associated with the culture.

INSTRUCTION

Figure 1 MIB

Project 1: Idea Proposal

For this group assignment, as a group, we are to choose a certain culture to study and choose a theme for the chosen culture.

My group decided on the revival theme and narrowed a few topics as stated below

Hanbok
Kimono
Hanfu
Kebaya

My group and I initially chose the Hanbok since most of us were quite interested in the Korean Culture but unfortunately, another group has already taken the Hanbok clothing so we decided to go with the next topic that we were interested in which is Hanfu clothing.

Week 2

After we finally decided on our final topic, we were each assigned a certain part of the hanfu to do research on and we compiled all of the information we had into a google doc and we presented our google doc to our lecturer in charge Mr Asrizal.

Figure 1.1 Data compilation about Hafu

Week 3

After we were given feedback by Mr Asrizal on the google docs we presented, we decided to work on the feedback that was given to us by Mr Asrizal and used a website called Miro to compile a summary of the data we initially collected plus the ones that Mr Asrizal have raised about to us to do more research on. After that, we presented the miro board to Mr Asrizal.

Figure 1.2 Summary of Hanfu Information

After presenting our Miro board, we were given more feedback by Mr Asrizal that we needed to fix our research questions and research objectives. He even gave us some examples to help us get started.

To study the evolution of the hanfu clothing
To identify the hanfu over time
To the extent to which hanfu has changed in modern times

Finally, we compiled all of the information and research we have collected into a Canva slide for our upcoming presentation in Week 4.

Figure 1.3 Hanfu Research Compilation

Week 4

Before our presentation day, we had a meeting as to who would present which slides. We individually wrote our scripts and had practice rounds to time ourselves since we are only given 10 minutes to present our presentation slides. We even started brainstorming some ideas that we wish to do for our final outcome which included Resin Art, Poster, Chinese Paintings as well as Instagram Filter.

The day of the presentation came and we finally presented our research to all our lecturers. They all gave us feedback saying that the research we have done was great just that we had to fix our research questions and research objectives because none of it correlates to each other and it's too general

After receiving the feedbacks, our group decided that we had a consultation with Mr Asrizal regarding our research questions and research objectives. During our session, Mr Asrizal told us that the first one should be more general as compared to the other two. As for the second one, it should be more based on the hanfu evolution and finally, the third one should focus more on what our design outcome would be. From Mr Asrizal's consultation, we were able to come up with the first and second research questions

RQ1: What role does politics possess in the revival of hanfu
RQ2: How has the symbolism of hanfu and its meaning evolved?

Since for question 3 we needed to base it of what our design outcome would be, our group had a long discussion regarding the final question. As everyone put out their ideas, we finally were able to sum up the ones we felt best that suit the question description:

How can hanfu be restored to its original meaning in the modern world?
How can political opinions be reduced and hanfu restored to their original meaning?
How can Hanfu be restored to its original symbolism without the emergence of the political agenda?

And finally after that long group discussion, we were able to choose the final research questions with the help with everyone's ideas:

What role does politics possess in the revival of hanfu
How has the symbolism of hanfu and its meaning evolved?
How can Hanfu be restored to its original symbolism without evoking the political agenda?

Then after we started to come up with the research objectives. Everyone put out their ideas and we finally voted on our final three as shown below.

Distinguishing the rise of the political agenda due to the return of the Hanfu.
Identifying and understanding the evolution of the Hanfu symbolism.
To produce a final outcome that revives the Hanfu and to its original meanings without the emergence of political views.

Figure 1.4 Final Hanfu Presentation

Project 2: Data Collection

For our data collection, my teammates Caitlyn and Sajiya found people that we could potentially interview one of them is Hanfu Girl she runs a Facebook page, a blog as well as Instagram about the Hanfu. She would also use those mediums to promote the designs that she sells such as masks, fans and bags. The other one was a Tumblr blogger who also talks about the Hanfu and its motives.

My teammate Sajiya emailed both Hanfu Girl and the Tumblr blogger if we could do an interview with them.

While waiting for a response, we started coming up with questions that we could ask for our upcoming interview which we finally came up with this:

Our objectives of learning the Hanfu would be to produce an outcome where the Hanfu is revived to its original meanings without the emergence of political views.
To begin, we would like to ask; How were you introduced to Hanfu? What is it that you are interested in whenever it comes to the Hanfu?
Are you aware of the political views of the Hanfu?
We are living in a modern era where most aesthetics are turned into trends. Do you know about the modern Hanfu and how it is different from the traditional Hanfu?
Does it still carry the same symbolism as the traditional Hanfu? Has the representation of the Hanfu changed in the media?
In your opinion, what patterns and colours are mostly used in the Hanfu? And why?

We sent the questions to Mr Asrizal and he responded that the questions that we have were too specific and should be improved. He even suggested us to ask questions like "Can you describe what topics you cover in your blog and Facebook page?" and "Are you aware of political views of hanfu?"

After receiving the feedback from Mr Asrizal, we worked on improving the interview questions and we finally were able to come up with our final questions:

First, we would like to ask more about you and what you do with your hanfu girl blog and Facebook page?
How were you introduced to Hanfu, and what is it about hanfu that appealed to you?
In your opinion, what patterns (embroidery) and colors are mostly used in the Hanfu? And why?
Are you aware of the political views of the Hanfu? If so, then what role do you think politics has on the revival of hanfu?
Do you know about the modern Hanfu and how it is different from the traditional Hanfu?
What does hanfu represent to the newer generation, and is this different from the older generation?
Now there being hanfu made for cats and gym wear, do you believe the modern hanfu still carries the same symbolism as the traditional Hanfu, or has it changed?
What is it about hanfu you would like others to know?
Through our research, we have found that the political view dominates the revival of hanfu. Hence, our goal as a group is to design an final outcome that can restore the hanfu to its original symbolism without invoking any political narrative. As such, what would you like us to represent in our design, is there anything you would expect to see?

After that, our group had a discussion as to what other ways that we could collect data about the Hanfu.

We thought of ideas which are as follows:

Google survey
Questionnaire
Instagram polls
Museum walkthrough for image collections

We split up our work based on the ideas that we wanted to use to collect data and complete the presentation slides I worked with my teammates Caitlyn and Cynthia to find any walkthrough museums about the Hanfu while my other teammates Marsya and Jocelin worked on the google survey and Sajiya contacted other people we could interview.

We even received a reply back from Hanfu Girl saying that she agreed for us to interview her which we sent her the questions that we are gonna ask her so she would be prepared. We also added in some design questions since she designs products such as masks, bags and fans.

Figure 2.1 Interview Question

Finally, when our teammates Marsya and Jocelin finished working on the questions for the google survey, we shared our google survey link with everybody we knew through Whatsapp. We even advertised our google links on Instagram through Instagram Stories.

Figure 2.1 Google Survey Question

Figure 2.2 Survey Instagram Story

After that, we had our interview with Ms Gong Pan Pan aka Hanfu Girl. We had our interview through the Zoom application.

Figure 2.3 Ms Gong Pan Pan Interview

Once we completed our interview, one of my teammates Jocelin transcribed the interview we had Ms Gong Pan Pan's interview.

Figure 2.4 Ms Gong Pan Pan Interview Transcription

Thanks to one of my teammates Sajiya which her family has contacts, we were able to interview two other people that could help out with our data collection process which was Ms Anisha and Mr Shanawaz.

Figure 2.5 Interview sessions with Ms Anisha and Mr Shanawaz

Finally, after completing all of our data collection, we compiled everything into a slide and since this weeks presentation is a recorded presentation we conducted our presentation through the Zoom application.

Figure 2.6 Data Collection Presentation

Figure 2.7 Recorded Presentation

FEEDBACK

Week 2

General Feedback:

Mr Asrizal gave us feedback about our research

Specific Feedback:

Mr Asrizal asked us to focus our research on the following aspects:

Identify the importance of these clothes, what do the symbols represent in the clothing.
Understand more of the types of hanfu and how they differentiate from each other.
What do the colours and patterns represent?
How is hanfu in the past different from the modern hanfu?
Identify if the meanings have changed.

Week 3

General Feedback:

Mr Asrizal looked over our research

Specific Feedback:

Mr Asrizal mentioned that we should narrow down our research questions and research objectives to 3 only. He also said that the research questions and research objective should correlate to each other and asked us to combine some questions into a single question.

Week 4

General Feedback:

All the lecturers looked over our presentation

Specific Feedback:

They all said that our research questions and research objectives were too general. Ms Jinchi pointed out that our focus on political views is good. Ms Anis said that we could focus more on China's current climate and maybe incorporate it into our hanfu.

Week 5

The interview questions were too specific they should be more neutral

REFLECTION

Project 1

Through this project, I was able to learn about a new culture that I have little knowledge of. I was also able to communicate well with the teammates I worked with to get the presentation slides complete.

Project 2

From this project, I was able to learn an even more in-depth about not only the hanfu but also the Chinese culture. The thing that stood out the most was the four gentlemen flowers which is the orchid, bamboo, chrysanthemum and bamboo.

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Nur Allyssa Nabilah 0337796