GRAD703 – Week 05

Waves, The building blocks of the Chinese characters

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Lecture all about

With the keywords chosen, I began to look into the studies based on the keywords.

The lecture by Elwyn Sheehan, who is our Art and Design research guide over the library. The talk was very helpful. I’ve learned a ton of new databases and ways to collect information.

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Information gathering

The limited information on the early stage of Chinese culture study, especially on symbolic language and form, is not much, and I can’t seem to gather trustworthy information from western databases. I must turn to the Chinese database, particularly information from Beijing Normal University and the Institute of Archaeology, CASS. I was able to find specialists and professors that have rich knowledge of our culture. I was able to find information that was very useful for my topic.

My project also collab with western design ideologies such as minimalism and publication design. I can also explore the topic regarding its relevance.

The core of minimalism?

clean – modern – white – empty, these are the keywords that popped up in my head the first time I thought of minimalism.

The publication (book) as a media.

How is publication different from other forms of communication? such poster and flyer?

The sensory design – Texture and touches

How does touch influence our feeling? How does a certain thing feel premium?

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Class activities

In the class, we read each other writing on the first chapter of the exegesis. My classmate provided some extremely helpful information on my initial draw of the first chapter. The chapter was too long, and I found it hard to cut down the word count. But, with the feedback I got from direct talk to the commentator, they offered a couple of ways for me to shrink down some sentences and focus.

Also, the printer might have someone else’s paper; better check the paper tray before printing. Otherwise, this might happen. Of all the classmates, mine was the ONLY one that printed in purple paper, fantastic!

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The meaning of symbol, sign, icon

One of my tutors had been a great helper, clearing out one of the biggest questions I had. Although now, come to think of it, I think I’m lost again. But, the idea of semiotics was fascinating. I learned semiotics in year one at the lecture, but I never understood the meaning of symbols, signs, and icons. But I guess because I was too scared to ask the lecturer, afraid of being seen as not paying attention and giving a bad impression is the last thing I wanted to do. Know I realise how dumb and stupid that idea was, and thanks to this one-to-one section, I was able to get an answer that I’ve been waiting for three years.

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Refining the positioning

My classmate provided extremely helpful information on my initial draw of the first chapter. The chapter was too long, and I found it hard to cut down the word count. With the feedback I got from direct talk to the commentator, they offered a couple of ways for me to shrink down some sentences and focus.

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Read of the week

Exploring rigour in autoethnographic research by Cheryl S. Le Roux

What is Autoethnography?

Auto, meaning oneself; The inner ideological state.

Ethnography, The study of one culture or a group of people who share the same ideology or similarity in mindset.

Autoethnography, (?) Is a way of studying the inner self and reflecting on the experiences one has during daily activities, and being able to identify the significance of culture, religion, politics and connected when with border means.

The paper also mentions the importance of being able to feel others who might share the same experience. Research can sometimes be very serious and strict, focusing on one problem. Still, in this paper, the author offers a different idea; try to loosen the topic, try to lead yourself in the mind of the problem you’ve been working with. Often time, connecting with the inner self can provide a more meaningful result.