Magnetic poetry

Last Thursday during our creative thinking lesson, we had a fun activity in class. We had to form sentences using the words given in the kids magnetic poetry kit. It's a little difficult to form interesting sentences as the words given are limited and some sentences might seem a little weird as it is missing some words and 's' . However, it was still engaging as it allows us to think harder and deeper to form a sentence. Our class also did this activity together where everyone in class has to say a word each to form a sentence. It was amusing as the sentences make no sense. We really had a great time thinking and laughing together. I'm really amazed by how my group can actually come up with interesting sentences with that limited amount of words given in the kit. 

Forced connections

Last Thursday, we had a fun lesson that requires us to crack our brains. We were given a few items to choose to create and express 6 emotions / feelings ( Passionate, Sad, Brave, Creative, Greedy, Hardworking ) . I chose the clock as I thought it was the easiest to express however I was wrong. I spend around 20 mins thinking and drawing. The process of thinking was tiring but interesting. The activity was engaging and allowed students to think really hard. 

For the passionate clock, what reminded me of passion were love and fire. 

For the sad clock,  it does not have numbers on it therefore it is sad. 

For the brave clock, I drew the hands with muscles. 

For the creative clock, I drew a human figure.

For the greedy clock, there's a lot of hands therefore it is greedy. 

For the hardworking clock, there's a lot of informations / details on the clock therefore it is greedy. 

Analogical thinking

For this week's blog, our class was supposed to find facial expressions on either plants, furnitures or buildings. It wasn't easy for me to find facial expressions on plants as I'm not a very observant person and it usually takes me very long to find it. However, I still managed to find a few facial expressions on plants. Here are some of the facial expressions I found on the trees and plants. This week's activity is a little challenging but fun at the same time. 

Inspired by nature

Gachapon aka Toy Capsule Machines - 「ガチャポン」

Gachapon is toy capsules from coin dispensing machines. By turning the knob of the capsule machines to drop a capsule. 

So what inspired a Gachapon? 

Basically, it's just blind-boxes. They are similar to vending machines except the machines have a knob to turn in order for the capsules to drop. They are also known as blind purchase from a box because people do not know what will they get from the capsules when they turn the knob. The capsules are inspired by plastic bottle caps. 
(The name comes from the sound a machine makes: "gacha" when a dial is cranked and "pon" when the prize drops.)

Creative thinking games

Last Thursday, our class had a fun and exciting activity in class. Our creative thinking teacher played some creative mind games with the class. Each group had a piece of mahjong paper and colorful markers. My group consists of Wan Teng and I. The questions given by the teacher required us to think out of the box. I felt that this activity was very engaging and kept me awake the whole lesson. Unlike other creative thinking lessons that are just group discussion and group presentations, I felt that last week's lesson was more much fun as it allows me to think really hard and out of the box to solve the questions. All the questions require a lot of thinking and determination to solve it. There are many ways to solve the questions and I felt the sense of satisfaction after I managed to solve the questions. I'm glad to have Wan Teng as my partner to think and solve all the challenging questions. ^^ 

活動を楽しんでいました〜（＾∇＾）/ 

IMindmap

Artists that have broken the rules

Toyo Ito 「豊雄伊東」

http://1759magpie.wordpress.com/top-10-arcitects/

Projetomelhor.blogspot.com

Toyo Ito is a Japanese Architect that pushes boundaries and explore architectural surfaces. He designed a seven-storey building luxury Italian shoe store, Tod's. The building structure mimics the shapes of the tall elm trees that stretch along Omotesando Avenue. The facade has a crisscross structure with a smooth blend of concrete and glass. The opaque glass hides the rear view thus drawing shoppers to the store. 

Sou Fujimoto 「藤本壮介」

Archdaily.com

Sou Fujimoto is a Japanese Architect new experiment was to find a volume, light and spaces. He designed a glass house located at Tokyo, with white walls and open spaces. Strict lines are broken by the presence of many steps in the building.  This house that he designed has three storeys that are subdivided into many staggered platforms. The walls are mostly glass, making certain spaces secure without adding privacy.

Sato Oki「佐藤オオキ」 

Ecofriend.com

Instead of making conventional 4-legged chair, Sato Oki designed a chair that can be crafted to your heart's content by peeling away it's outer layers.  The paper is wrapped into a cylinder and cut vertically halfway down one side so that the layers can be peeled back one at a time. For sturdiness, resin is added during the original paper production process. This also enables it to remember forms while the pleats give the chair elasticity and springy buoyancy.

Mind Mapping

What is mind mapping? In my opinion, mind mapping is a great way to brainstorm. Mind mapping comes usually after brainstorming. After coming up with many ideas, it's time to pen them down on a piece of paper. Mind mapping and brainstorming are basic tools to do a natural planning for projects. They help people to step out of the norm and create interesting ideas. 

In a team/group, teammates/group members are given a large sheet of paper with different colour markers or pens. This it to make the process of mind mapping more interesting and fun at the same time. Ideas are presented in a non-linear manner and by creating branches and more sub branches. Having different coloured branches on the mind map will help differentiate the different themes/topics/ideas thus making it easier to understand and absorb.

All in all, mind mapping is a simple technique for gathering informations by drawing a diagram instead of writing in plain sentences. It can be used in many and varied ways. 

This week, my group is doing the topic on, " What is true love? ". True love comes in many forms, do take a look at what we came up with and hope you will understand a little better on what is true love!! 

愛してるバンザイ！!（＾∇＾）

Artists that have broken the rules

「Coco Chanel 」ココシャネル (1883-1971) 

-> In Coco Chanel's era, women wore corsets to make them look slimmer under their dresses. 

-> Comfort was a luxury. 

-> Only men gets to be comfortable last time. 

-> Coco Chanel redefined how women dressed in her time. 

-> She designed clothings that were both comfortable yet elegant thus making her famous for revolutionizing how women dresses. 

「Steve Jobs 」スティーブ・ジョブス (1991-2011)

-> Steve Jobs founded Apple. 

 

-> Steve Jobs broke the rules with the design of the electronic devices. 

-> Steve Jobs was unhappy with the phones designed last time and so he decided to changed the views of people. By creating a rectangular and slim phone. 

-> He also changed the way people thinks about white ear phones. People used to think that black is the professional colour and silver is the premium colour however Steve Jobs managed to changed their mindset by introducing the colour white. 

「 Georges Braque 」ジョルジュ・ブラック(1882-1963) 

-> Georges Braque is a French painter known for painting, drawing and sculpturing. 

-> Braque worked closely with one of his colleague, Picasso, on Cubism. 

-> Before Cubism was introduced, paintings were ordinary and proportions of human faces were normal. 

-> Cubism used odd colors and broke the paintings into different shapes. Braque created an odd yet unique artwork. 

 

 

Brainstorming

In my opinion, brainstorming is about team work and coming up with creative ideas. Many people thinking along the same topic and discussing. People put their ideas and discuss among themselves as well as participating in the activity spontaneously. Brainstorming helps to bond friendship along the way as everyone is sharing with one and another their own ideas. When people brainstorm, their ideas flow out easier as there are also other people giving ideas. When people brainstorm, they usually put their ideas down on a piece of paper, making a list. From there, they choose their most suitable idea and improve on that. Brainstorming helps to develop creative solutions to a problem. Students generate ideas while writing it on a piece of paper. Brainstorming also motivates and develops teams.

                                       Topic chosen :「 100 Ways To Send A Message」

My group came up with 100 ways to send a message. There are many different ways to send a message. The most commonly used ones are SMS and E-Mail. As technology improves everyday, we now have even more ways to send a message. For example, Instagram. Instagram not only allows us to upload pictures but it also allows us to send people a message but commenting on their photos. 

Brainstorming helps to strengthen friendship as the group members work together as a team. ^^ 

Group Members : Toh Wan Teng, Liu Jia Hao and Dorcas Luai 

VA1M-Tohwanteng.blogspot.sg // VA1M-Liujiahao.blogspot.sg // VA1M-Dorcasluai.blogspot.sg

Case Study : Illustration Design With Animation

My course in NAFA is Illustration Design With Animation. The reason why I like animation is because of the possibilities it allows. What continue to draws me is the art. There are many story lines and genres. For example, romance and comedy. Not only that, watching tons of Animations have also made me fall in love with cosplaying. Cosplay is a way for people to express their fandom by costuming and performing as their favorite characters. Recently, I went for an Anime event which I got to see and take pictures with many different cosplayers. 

One of my all time favorite manga artist will definitely have to be Hayao Miyazaki (駿宮崎) from Japan. He's drawings and films are what inspired me to be a illustrator / manga artist in future. During my June holiday this year, I went to Hong Kong and visited Studio Ghibli. I got the chance to admire all his artworks which I think is truly inspiring and amazing. "Spirited Away" is definitely one of my all time favorite Studio Ghibli film.