INDUSTRIAL TRAINING

02/01/20 - 28/02/20 (Week 1 - Week 9)

Yeap Phay Min (0331073)

Industrial Training: Projects/Tasks & Reflection

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INSTRUCTIONS

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BREAKDOWN OF PROJECTS/TASKS

—Project 01
SAMA SAMA RIUH:
Event Branding Montages & Event Map Illustration

—Project 02
Illustration Series:
Wau Pattern Design of Malaysian Animals

—Project 03
Template Designs:
Greetings Cards & Posters

—Project 04
Underwater Mural Illustration:
Augmented Reality (AR)

—Project 05
Snapchat Stickers for Ramadan:
GIF Animations


—Extra Tasks
Managing the Studio's Instagram Account:
Posts & Stories

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REFLECTION ON EACH INTERNSHIP PROJECTS/TASK


Project 01 
SAMA SAMA RIUH: Event Branding Montages & Event Map Illustration
Week 1 - Week 3 (02/01 - 13/01)

Project
The first project assigned to me revolved around event branding, specifically for the Sama Sama RIUH event. RIUH is a monthly curated platform, consisting of a variety of pop-up stores & food, creative workshops, showcases and live performances. RIUH teamed up with Sama Sama Perak to bring the party outside of Klang Valley for the first time. The studio got to create illustrations that were inspired by the heritage culture of Ipoh as well as the unification of different races, to symbolise the way of living between each ethnics in Malaysia. With the existing key visual for the event illustrated by the studio, I needed to come up with various montages to showcase the wide range of possibilities of this event branding project. Besides that, I also needed to come up with an event map illustration to better visualise how the event was being set up during the event day.

Action
I came up with about 20 montages for this event branding, both using actual photos from the event and montaging the design over it, as well as made-up digital mock-ups using Adobe Photoshop. I made use of some mock-ups I found online, as well as some starting from scratch myself. I also had to get some help as well as feedback from my supervisor to further improve on the montages to make them look more realistic. For the event map illustration, I had to illustrate them with the same art style as the key visual to maintain consistency in design, as well as find references of illustrated maps online such as Pinterest.

Result/Successes
In the end once all the montages and event map illustration were completed, it was compiled into a post on Behance for people (including clients) to view how strong the event branding is. By showcasing all the different montages, it is able to show how the studio is capable of creating a strong event branding through the use of illustrations.

Overall Reflection: Challenges & Learning

At the start of working on this project, I realised that I really need to work on my Photoshop skills as I am not strong in that software. I also learned that whatever I’m doing, it’s for the real world, for clients, and not just a university project. Therefore, every design produced should not only be good but also have relevant meaning to it. I also learned that receiving feedback and/or constructive criticism is really good, as it really helps me learn from my mistakes and improve from there. I understood to never take feedback as negativity. After all, it is to help us realise what’s right and what’s wrong. After more time spent on using Photoshop for this task, I was getting more used to it as I learned new tools, techniques and shortcuts. I was glad that I could improve my skills on this software and learn different techniques from my supervisor, as he was patiently explaining and teaching me new things, even though my progress was slow at that time. It is good to take a step back and reflect on what went right and what went wrong. It is also good to go through visual references and take the time to understand what it is about the particular design that makes you think it is a good design. In the end of my first task, it was satisfying to see it all come together in the end. I also realised that even though I managed to learn a few new skills in Photoshop, there is still room to grow and learn how to use the software more efficiently.

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Project 02 
Illustration Series: Wau Pattern Design of Malaysian Animals
Week 3 - Week 9 (14/01 - 28/02) 

Project
For my second project, it is the studio's internal project which revolves around creating a series of illustrations to represent our culture. The set of illustrations aim to visualise each of the Malaysian animals respectively, through the silhouettes of various shapes of the wau kites such as Wau Merak, Wau Jala Budi and Wau Kucing. In the current days, the knowledge of one of Malaysia's national symbol—a wau, is not widely talked about and/or being incorporated into modern designs. Often times when it comes to a design/illustration of Malaysia's culture, it is always the typical elements such as our national flower and local food, but it's hardly ever using the wau kite as the main focus of the design. As for Malaysia's animals such as the Sumatran Rhino, Malayan Tiger and Malayan Tapir, they are currently endangered which is not good. Hence, this project aims to visually represent the 2 aspects of our culture which are the wau kite as well as animals.

Action
To start this project, I did some research on wau, and learned some background history as well as the various different shapes that it comes in which was interesting. I then proceeded with rough sketches of the wau designs, trying out different variations to see what would work and what wouldn't. Then, I moved on to illustrating it digitally in Illustrator. This took a long time as it was always "getting somewhere" but "not quite there yet". Throughout all these processes, I also got to receive a lot of help from my supervisor to better visualise the ideal outcome for the design of this illustration series.

Result/Successes
After much time spent on this project, I finally completed the 3 wau illustrations, with a lot of help and good feedback from my supervisor. The end result for the studio was that they have a set of illustration that represents our culture in a not-so-typical way. My supervisor also mentioned that the outcome of this project is good, and he might consider having a wau making workshop, making use of the designs we came up with.

Overall Reflection: Challenges & Learning
With all the ideation and design changes, this project took about a month to complete. I learned that it’s okay to take more time to work on the designs, it is better than creating something that looks rushed. It is always good for a design to be meaningful, hence research is important to make sure the design being created has a meaning to it. Whenever I felt stuck with the design at times, browsing through Behance and Pinterest does help to gain more ideas and inspiration. I also realised that trying to sketch out an illustration of a style that you don’t usually go for can feel intimidating, but at the same time exciting as you get to explore something different. I was also advised to do a reconstructing exercise did help me to get more familiarised with the art style we were going for. The illustration practice consisted of the use of gradients which I rarely use, so it was interesting to play around with something out of my comfort zone. Some books were also shared with me to further gain inspiration, which made me realise how books are such a great source of inspiration, and sometimes even better than things you see online. Even though I ended up spending a lot of time on this project, I try not to feel like a failure for having to take so much time to work on this. It is definitely challenging to work on a project that is not the usual art style you go for. However it is interesting to see things come together. I also kept reminding myself that it’s okay to have not achieved the end yet and trust the process. I learned that it’s better to take a longer time to work on a design, rather than doing it just for the sake of getting it done. Quality over quantity. In the end, no matter how long it took, it will always be worth it.


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Project 03 
Template Designs: Greetings Cards & Posters
Week 4 (21/01 - 23/01)

Project
For the next task, it is a project which includes creating a collection of template designs that could be used for greetings cards as well as posters for events, for various occasions and seasons. These include the holiday season such as Christmas, Malaysia Day, Chinese New Year, travelling, outdoor events and more! My supervisor had a collection of previous illustrations that he did, and he felt that instead of just storing them in a file that will never see the light of day, we should try and find a use for it. After all, illustration don't have an expiry date on it, so why not try and find a use for it. Therefore, I got to help with the design of the layouts through experimenting with different placement of texts that would go well with each of the illustrations shared with me. Each of the illustrations needed 3 variations of square, horizontal as well as vertical.

Action
I started this task by going on Pinterest and Canva to see how others play around with the placement of text and visuals to have more ideas on it. I also roughly sketched out some little layouts to visualise them better. Then, I proceeded on working on the layouts in Photoshop. I tried out several variations of the placement of text until I was satisfied with the outcome of it. I also made sure to get feedback on the works I've done to make sure it was what my supervisor visualised it to be.

Result/Successes
In the end, I made use of 9 of the illustrations, so I ended up with 27 design templates since each design had 3 variations of square, horizontal and vertical. I then shared the files with my supervisor so he could send them over to a company that does something like Canva, to have the templates be able to be customised and used by people.

Overall Reflection: Challenges & Learning
Compared to the previous projects, this task was fairly easy for me as I didn't find it difficult to try and make sure the text goes well with the illustration. I found these template designs pretty fun to work on as I got to experiment with various different layouts. Because I was working on this project alongside the second project of the wau illustration, I realised that I need to work faster to get things done more efficiently. I basically needed to time manage well to get the tasks completed on time. As always, I learned that receiving feedback is always for the better, for us to improve and learn from our mistakes. 

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Project 04
Underwater Mural Illustration: Augmented Reality (AR)
Week 6 - Week 7 (05/02 - 12/02)

Project
In this next project, it was an exciting one. This project is an experimental project for the studio which included the idea of bringing illustration to “life” with the use of augmented reality (AR) using the newly released Adobe Aero software. With the advancement of technology nowadays, it is always good to make use of them and try to experiment with new things. Adobe Aero is fairly new, hence it would be good to try out how it works. The studio is also always being creative and trying out different things, hence I got the opportunity to work on the illustrations that were taken and inspired by an existing mural illustration in the studio of several underwater creatures, as well as illustrating additional elements such as coral reefs to further enhance the mural. 

Action
I started by tracing over a photograph of the existing mural in the studio using Illustrator. Once that is done, I came up with rough sketches of all the additional elements of coral reefs as well as jellyfish that I would like to add to the illustration. Before proceeding, I had a round of feedback on the idea. After that I started to illustrate the rest of the additional elements and arrange them. I was also taught on how to prepare the files to be used in Adobe Aero later on. Since the Adobe Aero app is still "new", the app was quite buggy at times, but it still worked out. Through the app, I got to learn how the upload the files and play around with the placement as well as the animated actions for the illustrated elements.

Result/Successes
After several attempts of using Adobe Aero and having a better understanding of how it works, the end result was a success. We managed to place the elements surrounding the mural which enhanced the existing mural. A video of the augmented reality was also filmed, which was done uploaded on the studio's Instagram stories as well as a proper post about it. It also got several positive comments on the post about the project. People seemed to enjoy seeing something different, in this case, bringing an illustration to life.

Overall Reflection: Challenges & Learning
It is always fun and exciting to experiment with something new, and creative such as bringing illustrations to life through the use of augmented reality. I'm thankful for my supervisor for being patient in teaching my how to do AR. I really found it fun and exciting to experiment with. I learned to always be taking every opportunity I can to learn new things and skills. It's always nice to be surrounded by creative and passionate people, as you get to be exposed to different unique things. I was also impressed by the technology nowadays, with all these existence of virtual reality and augmented reality. At the start of this project, I felt intimidated by the words "augmented reality" as I thought that it would be really tough to create. But it was actually the opposite. With the help of my supervisor, it was actually quite easy (and fun) to work it out. It just takes some time to properly place the elements and anchor it to where you want it to be. Overall, I found this to be a fun project and I'm glad I got to learn this new skill.


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Project 05
Snapchat Stickers for Ramadan: GIF Animations
Week 7 - Week 8 (12/02 - 17/02)

Project
For my next task, it's all about creating gif animations! For the Ramadan season, the studio was engaged by Snapchat to come up with a collection of stickers for Snapchat, highlighting Ramadan's experiences. The stickers were previously illustrated by the team in the studio. I then had the opportunity to animate several of the Snapchat stickers.

Action
At the start of the project, my supervisor demonstrated an example of how he would approach the process of creating a gif for one of the Snapchat sticker. Once I received the working files of 5 of the illustrated Snapchat stickers, I took some time to go over them and plan out how I would want to animate them. I also ended up with some sketches of how I wanted each frames to be. Then, I moved on to Photoshop and started to work on the animations. After receiving feedback on it, I was given some better ideas of how I could animate them. After that, I continued to work on the animation, in which I had to illustrate some extra frames.

Result/Successes
In the end, I had 5 completed gif animations for the Ramadan themed Snapchat stickers.  I then shared the completed gifs, along with the working files in case they were any changes that needed to be made. The gifs I made were then uploaded in the studio's Behance post for the Ramadan Snapchat stickers.

Overall Reflection: Challenges & Learning
I found this project to be fun and exciting as the client for this project is Snapchat (!!!) Initially, some of the animations I did were not that good, as I was animating things that didn't need to be animated, as it would be meaningless. I learned that when coming up with animations, it should have some sort of a meaning. Don’t make things move unnecessarily and instead create meaningful designs. I was also given the advice that when it comes to creating an illustration or any design in general, a lot of considerate thoughts should be put into it. This made me realise I should spend more time on planning how things are gonna go, instead of just doing it right away. That way, the design not only looks better, but it is also more meaningful. It’s also okay to feel stuck at times, just move on to something else or try something new. Sometimes we just need to keep our eyes off it for some time and come back and look at it again with a fresh eye, and perhaps a new fresh idea that's better than the initial one.


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Extra Tasks
Managing the Studio's Instagram Posts & Instagram Stories
Week 1 - Week 9 (02/01 - 28/02)

Task
Currently, the studio's Instagram profile showcases more of their internal projects, and not so much on past projects done for clients. Most of these client based projects go on their website and Behance profile. While briefing on this extra little task for me, my supervisor also share with me about how different social media platform works, and how it is important to keep them updated. Therefore throughout the weeks that I'm in the studio, I need to help with managing their posts as well as stories.

Instagram Posts: The aim of this is to showcase the projects done by the studio. Share the studio’s past projects, with each post being a multiple post containing around 8 images in one post. This will then be paired with a caption to give a rationale and clearer idea of what it is about. 

Instagram Stories: The aim of this is to share a raw and more personal side of the studio. This includes sharing what’s going on in the studio, such as behind the scenes and sneak peaks of work/projects, along with the studio’s environment of plants, shelves of books and also card/board games. 

Action
For Instagram posts, I went on their Behance profile and website, to view their past projects and saved photographs of it. Then, I need to have them cropped and rearranged in a way that would best fit Instagram's ratio, and I would often try to make it a square crop. I would then compile all the images into a multiple post, come up with a caption along with several hashtags, and saved them to my drafts. For Instagram stories, I would just post things that are happening in the studio on that day for people to have a glimpse into what the life at the studio is like.

Result/Successes
In the end, I came up with several Instagram posts for the studio, as well as Instagram stories almost every day that I was at the studio. Throughout the weeks, the studio also received more engagements with the followers along with likes, supportive comments and messages.

Overall Reflection: Challenges & Learning
This was a pretty simple and straightforward task. Was glad I could help keep the studio's Instagram account updated almost every day, as I feel like it is important to make sure social media accounts are active, so that people (including future potential clients) would know that the studio is active and would increase the chances of people reaching out to them. Even for me, I still remember when I came across about the studio on Google, the next thing I did was search them up on Instagram to see if they are active or not.

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REFLECTION ON THE WHOLE INTERNSHIP EXPERIENCE

Grow through what you go through. As the saying suggests, we grow through all the things that happen in our lives. Every step we take, we should always be open to learning and growing. With that mindset, I truly felt like I got to learn and grow throughout the two months of being an intern. I’m grateful that my first internship was filled with many learning opportunities, along with being surrounded by welcoming and creative people.

I’m thankful for all the lessons learned. I got to enhance my interpersonal and intrapersonal skills, along with software skills. I also felt that this internship gave us a good industry exposure as we are able to experience a glimpse into the working world, and the design industry. It did deepen my understanding on the processes of working on real-world projects. It’s nice to be able to gain new inspiration by being surrounded with people who are creative and passionate towards design. Another one of the lessons I learned is to always accept feedback as a way of learning from our mistakes as it allows us to grow and be better. Learning to step out of my comfort zone was also interesting, as I got to be exposed to different art styles and techniques that I don’t usually go for, in which I ended up liking them!

During the internship I also made sure to be open to any advice shared with me, as the people I’m surrounded by in the studio have years of experience in the design industry. Hence, it was nice to hear their thoughts and perspective on things. I remember my supervisor sharing with me about how in life you’ll go through all kinds of people/clients, but that’s where you’ll gain all the good experience! I was also reminded that meaningful designs are important. It’s the real world, not just a “school project”. Always put more thought when it comes to designing something. A good design should have meanings behind them. Also, when it comes to coming up with ideas through sketches, start with messy and rough sketches, don’t worry about it being “ugly”. The whole idea of sketching before starting a design is to come up with an idea/concept, not to create a final art piece. Another advice I received was to have a clean and effective workspace. Not just your workplace desk but also in the Adobe softwares when it comes to all the tool panels and tabs at the side. Efficiency is key, and it’s okay to start over again to figure out what is best. In general, never be afraid to start over again when you feel like it’s not good enough. Often times, that’s when you’ll get it right and/or find what’s right for you.

I’m grateful for the opportunity to intern at Studio Behind 90. I believe it’s good that Taylor’s University includes a compulsory module of Industrial Training, allowing us to gain exposure to the real working environment. I also got to meet and connect with new people during this internship, who will continue to inspire me with their creativity and passion towards design.