Design Project B: Concept

Concept 1: an picture album about Beijing Opera Masks

Research map

Summary of Brainstorming

Key words:

1. roles- Beijing Opera masks on different roles' face are different.                   Maybe I can use the different colors, patterns and fillings on pages.

2. toy- I can try to make the book like a mask 

3. young people- the audience is young people.

Word References

Four kinds of roles in Beijing Opera:

Sheng

The Sheng (生) is the main male role in Peking opera. This role has numerous subtypes. The laosheng is a dignified older role. These characters have a gentle and cultivated disposition and wear sensible costumes. One type of laoshengrole is the hongsheng, a red-faced older male. The only two hongsheng roles are Guan Gong, the Chinese god of sworn brotherhood, loyalty and righteousness, and Zhao Kuang-yin, the first Song Dynasty emperor. Young male characters are known as xiaosheng. These characters sing in a high, shrill voice with occasional breaks to represent the voice changing period of adolescence. Depending on the character's rank in society, the costume of the xiaoshengmay be either elaborate or simple. Off-stage, xiaosheng actors are often involved with beautiful women by virtue of the handsome and young image they project. The wusheng is a martial character for roles involving combat. They are highly trained in acrobatics, and have a natural voice when singing. Troupes will always have a laosheng actor. A xiaosheng actor may also be added to play roles fitting to his age. In addition to these main Sheng, the troupe will also have a secondary laosheng.

Dan

The Dan (旦) refers to any female role in Peking opera. Dan roles were originally divided into five subtypes. Old women were played by laodan, martial women were wudan, young female warriors weredaomadan, virtuous and elite women were qingyi, and vivacious and unmarried women were huadan. One of Mei Lanfang's most important contributions to Peking opera was in pioneering a sixth type of role, the huashan. This role type combines the status of the qingyi with the sensuality of the huadan. A troupe will have a young Dan to play main roles, as well as an older Dan for secondary parts. Four examples of famous Dans are Mei Lanfang, Cheng Yanqiu, Shang Xiaoyun, and Xun Huisheng. In the early years of Peking opera, all Dan roles were played by men. Wei Changsheng, a male Danperformer in the Qing court, developed the cai qiao, or "false foot" technique, to simulate the bound feet of women and the characteristic gait that resulted from the practice. The ban on female performers also led to a controversial form of brothel, known as the xianggong tangzi, in which men paid to have sex with young boys dressed as females. Ironically, the performing skills taught to the youths employed in these brothels led many of them to become professional Dan later in life.

Jing

The Jing (净) is a painted face male role. Depending on the repertoire of the particular troupe, he will play either primary or secondary roles. This type of role will entail a forceful character, so a Jing must have a strong voice and be able to exaggerate gestures. Peking opera boasts 15 basic facial patterns, but there are over 1000 specific variations. Each design is unique to a specific character. The patterns and coloring are thought to be derived from traditional Chinese color symbolism and divination on the lines of a person's face, which is said to reveal personality. Easily recognizable examples of coloring include red, which denotes uprightness and loyalty, white, which represents evil or crafty characters, and black, which is given to characters of soundness and integrity. Three main types of Jing roles are often seen. These include tongchui, roles that heavily involve singing, jiazi, roles with less emphasis on singing and more on physical performance, and wujing, martial and acrobatic roles.

Chou

The Chou (丑) is a male clown role. The Chou usually plays secondary roles in a troupe. Indeed, most studies of Peking opera classify the Chou as a minor role. The name of the role is a homophone of the Mandarin Chinese wordchou, meaning "ugly". This reflects the traditional belief that the clown's combination of ugliness and laughter could drive away evil spirits. Chou roles can be divided into Wen Chou, civilian roles such as merchants and jailers, and Wu Chou, minor military roles. The Wu Chou is one of the most demanding in Peking opera, because of its combination of comic acting, acrobatics, and a strong voice. Chou characters are generally amusing and likable, if a bit foolish. Their costumes range from simple for characters of lower status to elaborate, perhaps overly so, for high status characters. Chou characters wear special face paint, called xiaohualian, that differs from that of Jing characters. The defining characteristic of this type of face paint is a small patch of white chalk around the nose. This can represent either a mean and secretive nature or a quick wit.

Beneath the whimsical persona of the Chou, a serious connection to the form of Peking opera exists. The Chou is the character most connected to the guban, the drums and clapper commonly used for musically accompaniment during performances. The Chou actor often uses the guban in solo performance, especially when performing Shu Ban, light-hearted verses spoken for comedic effect. The clown is also connected to the small gong and cymbals, percussion instruments that symbolize the lower classes and the raucous atmosphere inspired by the role. Although Chou characters do not sing frequently, their arias feature large amounts of improvisation. This is considered a license of the role, and the orchestra will accompany the Chou actor even as he bursts into an unscripted folk song. However, due to the standardization of Peking opera and political pressure from government authorities, Chou improvisation has lessened in recent years. The Chou has a vocal timbre that is distinct from other characters, as the character will often speak in the common Beijing dialect, as opposed to the more formal dialects of other characters.

from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peking_opera

Picture References

I found some works designed by others from Internet

Concept 2: an picture album about tattoo

Key words

1. leather: I can try to use this material

2. medical anatomy: Make the book like a medical anatomy.   Maybe it will be cool.

3. fans& artists: the audience are them.

Picture References

Design for Business- business card

                  

     

  

Task 4: Corporate Social Responsibility

Potential business benefits

The scale and nature of the benefits of CSR for an organization can vary depending on the nature of the enterprise, and are difficult to quantify, though there is a large body of literature exhorting business to adopt measures beyond financial ones.

The definition of CSR used within an organization can vary from the strict "stakeholder impacts" definition used by many CSR advocates and will often include charitable efforts and volunteering. CSR may be based within the human resources, business development or public relations departments of an organisation, or may be given a separate unit reporting to the CEO or in some cases directly to the board. Some companies may implement CSR-type values without a clearly defined team or programme.

The business case for CSR within a company will likely rest on one or more of these arguments:

Human resources

A CSR programme can be an aid to recruitment and retention, particularly within the competitive graduate student market. Potential recruits often ask about a firm's CSR policy during an interview, and having a comprehensive policy can give an advantage. CSR can also help improve the perception of a company among its staff, particularly when staff can become involved through payroll giving, fundraising activities or community volunteering. See also Corporate Social Entrepreneurship, whereby CSR can also be driven by employees' personal values, in addition to the more obvious economic and governmental drivers.

Risk management

Managing risk is a central part of many corporate strategies. Reputations that take decades to build up can be ruined in hours through incidents such as corruption scandals or environmental accidents. These can also draw unwanted attention from regulators, courts, governments and media. Building a genuine culture of 'doing the right thing' within a corporation can offset these risks.

Brand differentiation

In crowded marketplaces, companies strive for a unique selling proposition that can separate them from the competition in the minds of consumers. CSR can play a role in building customer loyalty based on distinctive ethical values.Several major brands, such as The Co-operative Group, The Body Shop and American Apparel are built on ethical values. Business service organizations can benefit too from building a reputation for integrity and best practice.

License to operate

Corporations are keen to avoid interference in their business through taxation or regulations. By taking substantive voluntary steps, they can persuade governments and the wider public that they are taking issues such as health and safety, diversity, or the environment seriously as good corporate citizens with respect to labour standards and impacts on the environment.

Above all are quoted from the research of Wikipedia explanation. I am inspired by this explanation  for developing my own point of view on the subject CSR and choosing my favour design company MUJI as a good CSR policy holder. After seeing the film Fahrenheit 9/11, I absolutely agree with that the more organisation and companies having CSR, the better world it could be. MUJI is one of the companies having a good CSR policy who is focus on its influence to the environment. From the material choosing process to the producing process, and the using habit design, MUJI company have paid a lot of concern on every step and tried the best to avoid the waste of  natural resources. Therefore, I personally think that, as a designer, in the case of we can not concern all the elements that can help to respons to corporate society, we can choose our best energy to focus on one or two. When we respons it well, the benefit would grow for a long time. 

Task 3: Motion Graphics

From the latest event, Decode: Digital Design Sensations, which was organised by the Victoria and Albert Museum, we easily find that there are more than a few pioneers in the area of the fast-moving computer-generated world of animated digital media design. 

As the introduction of its official website said, “from small screen based graphics to large-scale installations, there will be work by established international artists including Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Daniel Brown and Daniel Rozin as well as emerging designers such as Troika and Simon Heijdens.” Above names are all counted as the pioneers for only this single events. However, there are so many events and exhibitions holding or coming up by the endeavor of the institute as the onedotzero_adventure. 

Therefore, I personally think that the question of who exactly are the pioneers is no way to answer by names. We can say we all are the pioneers in this area, especially in the groupe of younger ages. Because it is encouraged to be participated with the works and welcome to share the codes with others. Like what is is said, the “digital technologies are providing new tools for artists and designers, some works exist in a state of perpetual evolution; others are altered by the behaviour of the spectator. Artists at Decode therefore blur the boundaries between practices, between programming and performance, creator and participant.” The trends of the blur boundaries between all elements is the current trends of the animated digital media explore as well. Likewise, its future is holding by our own hand, who is in favour of animated digital media and has passion in the higher digital technology for design. 

Task 2: Critical Debates In Design: 9H NINE HOURS

"9h Nine Hours" is an original type of a stay called "transit capsule", based on the idea of 1h (shower) + 7h (sleep) + 1h (dressing).

9h, where people stay in a capsule unit, was created to become an infrastructure in urban limited space and it suggests a new style of a stay with its original design. Graphic, interior and product designers shared the concept and ideas from the beginning of the plan and every single piece of the facility was designed from the ground up. In terms of the signage system, the pictograms on the wall and the floor explain how to use the facilities, which is easy for foreigners to understand as well.

Here is a video about this hotel and the sign system. 

This sign system was designed by Masaaki Hiromura, Hiromura Design Office.  The designer made the signs by very simple lines, but they are  strong enough to make travelers from foreign countries to understand. The simple signs are well corporate with the background. The drawback is the signs are shown up too serried at sometimes.