Design Principles: Task3 (Development & Design)

3/3/2025 - 17/3/2025 (Week5-Week7)

Amber Tan Jing Jing (0372746)

GCD60804 / Design Principles / Bachelor of Design in Creative Media 

Task3

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Instructions 

2. Task 3

3. Feedback

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INSTRUCTIONS

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TASK3

• Select one of the 3 ideas we proposed in Task 2. 
• Develop it through colour exploration, composition, typeface, positioning, etc., with design principles in mind.
• Finalise our idea. 
• Create our final design in A4 size, JPEG format in at least 300dpi pixel size. Label the design as <Your Name_Title of Design_Task3>. 
• Write a 200-word rationale explaining/defending: i) the decisions made in our design, ii.) the meaning/purpose of the design and iii) the design principles that are employed to create the design.

Reference

Figure 1.1 Reference, Week5 (3/3/2025)

Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/153615037264273216/

After receiving feedback from Ms. JinChi, I decided to choose Idea 2 (Sketch 2) for further development and digitization.

Figure 1.2 Sketch, Week5 (3/3/2025)

For the color palette of the flowers, I first researched funeral flower colors on Google. Based on my findings, I chose white, yellow, and pink for my artwork.

Figure 1.3 Funeral flower, Week5 (3/3/2025)

Symbolism of Chinese Flowers: 

White: Death and Ghosts 

White is linked to death and ghosts in China. It represents sadness and goodbye. White flowers are for honoring the dead. They help remember and celebrate their lives. (source)

Yellow: Grief and Sorrow

Yellow colored flowers, though unconventional, hold traditional significance in Chinese culture during the Qingming Festival. Chrysanthemums, often chosen for this hue, symbolize grief and sorrow. Offering yellow flowers honors the departed, expressing deep emotions and paying respects with solemnity and reverence. (source)

Red and Pink: Celebrations and Good Luck

Red and pink mean joy and good luck in China. Red shows happiness and wealth. People use it in weddings and Lunar New Year celebrations. Pink stands for love and energy, showing care and affection. (source)

If the deceased was over the age of 80, the color pink may also be worn. Pink is a color that symbolizes joy and happiness in Chinese culture. Living to be 80 years’ old is generally seen as something to be celebrated, so these funerals tend to focus less on mourning and more on celebrating the departed’s life. (source) 

Digitization

Figure 1.4 Progress of digitization, Week5 (3/3/2025)

Figure 1.4 Attempt#1, Week5 (3/3/2025)

Figure 1.5 Attempt#2, Week5 (3/3/2025)

After receiving feedback from Ms. JinChi, I made some changes to my artwork.

Figure 1.6 shows the progress of the work after I received feedback from Ms. JinChi. I removed the box in the center and tried to adjust the flowers around the hand to make it more natural and balanced. 

Figure 1.6 Progress of the artwork, Week6 (10/3/2025)

Figure 1.7 Attempt#3, Week6 (10/3/2025)

Then, I felt that the artwork felt very flat without shadow. So, I decided to add shadow.

Final Design

Figure 1.8 Give me my flowers, Week6 (10/3/2025)

Amber Tan Jing Jing_Give me my flowers_Task 3

Design Principles

• Emphasis: The hand has straight lines, which contrasts with the complex flowers around it, attracting the viewer's attention. Besides, the blank space is in the center of the picture, attracting the viewer to see the hand at first. 
• Symmetrical Balance: The hand is in the center, and the flowers are distributed around it, giving the whole picture a sense of balance.
• Contrast: The blank space in the picture contrasts with the colorful flower. Besides, the lines of the flower are more tortuous, while the lines of the hand are quite straight, making the hand the visual focus of the picture.
• Movement: The flower and the leaves create a sense of movement as they appear to be falling. The movement of the hand reaching upward also creates a sense of movement.
• Repetition: There is repetitiveness in the shape of the flowers.

Rationale

A hand stretches out from the flowers, but cannot get them. This represent that no matter how hard he tries, he cannot get praise. The blank space emphasizes its unreachability. The surrounding flowers represent praise, but they are meant for the dead, not the living.

When refining the design, I decided to make it more natural and balanced. So, I removed the box that I first created. Then, I tried to arrange the flowers around the hand, but it still did not look natural because the flowers were too neatly placed. Next, I attempted to add some small flowers into the blank space, but it still felt unnatural. Finally, I found that thin out the flowers gradually at the side rather than suddenly turning black made the transition feel more natural. 

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FEEDBACK

Week6 

- Maybe elaborate on the symbolism of the flowers' colors in Chinese culture.

- Do think the boxing it up is kind of restrain it. Keep this as one of the development. But feel that it is disconnected form the background.

- What you can do is you can remove the box but the hand you weave it in as part of the foliage

- Make like very natural border around it by the flowers that means empty space.

- Maybe less pink. Because looks very sweet. More white and maybe a hint of pink and yellow.

- More big and small flowers. Already have slightly big and small flowers but there are not enough.

- May also want to consider the size of the hand could be a bit bigger. Cuz the centre figure is here.

Week7

- The final one has more dynamism. It brings out a feeling of more life. This one also has a celebratory mood, like throwing confetti.