Monday, May 3, 2010

Final Assignment 7

Final Outcome:

From this pic(Without enhancement):


To this pic(With enhancement)

Final Assignment 6

Random Word Association:


Final Assignment 5

Simile:



Metaphor:

Final Assignment 4

800 words essay:

How did I derive creative multimedia to Expensive?

In this modern age and times, there is a lot of career path that one can choose to traverse through to make a living. Be it engineering, biology, management, law enforcement, multi-level marketing, all these professions require ample amount of sweat, blood, and tears in order to climb to the top of the ladder. Believe me when I say the cost of going down the Creative Multimedia path tops off the chart, although the benefits can surpass most of the other professions, more often not.

First off, to be a person working in the Creative Multimedia field, one must have good tools in order to compete with the others in the battlefield. The most important gadget one simply has to have is a good personal computer. A top specification computer goes a long way in making every work easier. From graphic designing, 3D modeling, flash scripting, animation rendering, information gathering, a fast computer makes all the difference. A very good computer costs an arm and a leg, and keeping it up-to-date with the latest hardware costs the other arm and leg. Not to mention the additional computer accessories, which include the tablet (or unnecessarily expensive PC tablet) for graphic designs, good speaker sets for sound designs, a good microphone for recording sounds, a high resolution monitor for increased workspace, good processor for faster processing, and even good mouse and keyboard for ease of use. And a good mouse pad for comfort. These may well cost over RM10,000, in a very rough calculation.

The software, on the other hand, costs another computer or two. The computer itself, with a good Operating System, adds up to the cost. The most basic editing software one should have on the computer is Adobe. As of this date (27th April 2010), the Adobe Master CS4 Collection costs RM9899 to purchase. Another essential tool for 3D modeling is the Autodesk 3D Studio Max, and the most recent one costs a hefty RM14,600. Add another Sony Vegas 8 for sound designing, and little software here and there to enhance everything, and Creative Multimedia professionals are well on their way to thinner wallets.

Even if you have all the latest hardware and software, in a few months time, new updates will come out with better features and better performance. After a year the hardware and software will become nearly obsolete compared to the newer versions. Obtaining the initial computer is expensive, but even maintaining the computer is expensive.

Basic needs out of the way, any person considering Creative Multimedia as a career need to calculate the costs of studying in a university to get a Bachelor Degree in the field they are interested in. These certificates do not come cheap. A good university may charge you well over RM20,000 for the piece of paper. Another university may charge you up to RM40,000. This is just the basic fees. Add in the costs of living in university areas, renting apartments, eating the food, buying groceries, and one will find out that these cost some pretty pennies.

Going specifically more into the education part, even the projects and assignments costs a lot. Comparing Creative Multimedia to Engineering, Management, and Information Technology, each and everything costs a lot more. For example, one does the project, prints the project on an A2 glossy paper, and then hands it in. If the work is rejected, another print would be in order. It may not seem as much, but the total adds up ridiculously, as getting the work rejected is commonplace among everyone. And the total number of subjects taken directly relates to the amount of money wasted on miscellaneous things.

Miscellaneous things such as the mounting boards, mounting spray, cutter, rendering markers, acrylic paints, printing costs; the costs of these things may be meager at first, but in truth, Creative Multimedia students have spent thousands on these.

Even if one managed to go through all the rigors and expenses of the student life, throughout their career, the same things will be repeating. The cost of everything goes up as the stakes get higher. Clients will be rejecting the proposal left and right, and Creative Multimedia workers are hard pressed to make sure their ideas get accepted and willing to spend the money to do so.

Creative Multimedia may be a new career choice for people nowadays, but it is quickly rising to be the top career. Thus, competition among those working in the field is rampant and hazardous. One has to keep updated with the latest technology and knowledge in order to even be inside the circle of Creative Multimedia. Without sufficient interest and effort in the Creative Multimedia pond, one may find themselves quickly drowning in the currents.

Expensive as all the expenses are, Creative Multimedia is not without its merits. If one is a hardworking person, never gives up, never afraid to try out new things and willing to learn, the person is already halfway towards a successful career. The hurdles of money may be great, but the rewards are even greater.

Final Assignment 3

Logical Mind Map (Derived from Creative Multimedia to Design to Expensive) :-

Final Assignment 2

Logical Mind Map:

Final Assignment 1

Logical Mind Map:

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Lesson 8 : Random Word Association

In this exercise, we have to use features from a traffic light to invent ways to make a person stop smoking in 6 months time. This is what I came up with.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Lesson 7 : Exploration Juxtaposition

Juxtaposition exercise. We were given numbers with objects and we had to choose a number. I chose 13, 88, 58.
Then we have to come up with a sentence and illustration to match the words chosen.

Then we have to create new things based on the words chosen.

Then we have to choose two animals to be a new animal that is not possible to be in the world.

Fish+Cat


Chicken+Elephant

Worm+Bird
Then we have to describe an analogy. The analogy is 'Love is like...'+Chilli.
Love is like eating a chilli.

You eat a bit, it tastes nice.
A bit more, you start to sweat.
A little bit more, your eyes become red.
A bite more, you thought 'Why am I eating this?!'
But you keep coming back for more.

We also describe another analogy as our homework. The analogy is 'Life is like...'+Coffee
Life is like walking around with a cup of coffee.

You know when you take the coffee from the grinder and bring it to the table?
Too much, then it spills.
Too less, then you need more.
Keep it just nice, then you will be content.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Lesson 6 : Juxtaposition : Analogy

Analogy is the process of transferring information understood from one object to another object as a comparison in similarity. As what I have come to understand from the lecture. There are two types of analogy which are:

Logical Analogies which use similarities, rational, and describes behavior that you can observe.

Affective Analogies which is more on emotional resemblance than physical, and typically use animals as a comparison.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Lesson 5 : Juxtaposition

Juxtaposition is the arrangement of two opposing ideas. The purpose of it is to further intensify the effect of the contrasting factors.

Random juxtaposition is the technique of two random objects moving in parallel, to stimulate creative thinking.

Juxtaposition is used to further develop a story, and the characters.

From the television Lost series, there were a lot of juxtaposition to be found. A few examples given from the lecturer were:

Civilization/Wilderness
Committed/Flighty
Chaos/Calm
Dark/Frivolity
Turmoil/Serenity
Indifference/Feeling
Weakness/Strength
Rationality/Faith

By showing the contrast between the characters, the audience can further feel the difference between them.

The lecturer also showed us a picture of a baby and a laptop, with words play and work on them. Another picture shows the same image, with the words switched. It shows the difference in perspective of people viewing the picture.

Friday, February 26, 2010

Lesson 4 : Logical Mind Map

Tony Buzan created the concept of Mind Mapping. Mind Mapping is a tool for idea generation and brainstorming. It is used in taking notes, research, and generate new ideas. A creative Mind Map is able to stimulate and create interest to the individual and viewer.

Logical mind map is directly connected to stereotype. It is directly related to the central subject. Associated mind map is used to generate random words and show links between seemingly unrelated words. Stereotype is conventional, oversimplified conception, or opinion.

Logical mind map method- main subject is in the center of the page. Make the subject more dominant than the rest. Decide the main categories. Use different colors for different categories. Use drawing and images. Shape the map like the root of a tree.

As an exercise, we were required to do a logical mind map based on ourselves.

Logical Mind Map of myself:

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Lesson 3 : Logical Mind Map

Mind Map is a tool to generate new ideas and inventions. It is widely used by everyone to take notes, research, and produce ideas. The mind map should be able to garner interest from the individual and also the viewers.

Logical Mind Map is directly connect to stereotypes. What is a stereotype? Stereotype is a common belief of the public towards a certain issue, without regards to the real truth on the matter.


For the exercise this week, we were required to define the concept of design using mortar and pestle.


The main use of mortar and pestle is to crush and mix various ingredients in order to come out with a delicious result. It is the same concept as design. With just one concept or theme, it will get dull quickly. But if we were to mix and match different designs, the result can become wonderful.

Monday, February 8, 2010

Lesson 2 : Defining Creativity, Novelty, Innovation, and Invention

For this class, our lecturer was the esteemed Mr. Mustafa Muzer. He lectured on the topic 'Creativity, Novelty, Innovation, and Innovation'. There were many valid points that I have taken to understand during his lecture.

A creative person is someone who generates new ideas. Creative process is the process of generating new ideas. Being creative is seeing the same thing as everybody else but thinking of something different. An idea can only be called creative if it makes sense and adaptable by society. Furthermore, it has to make a difference and bring change. Creativity does not happen inside people's heads, but rather exists in the interaction in sociocultural context.

Take a look at the example Mr. Mustafa has given us. A creative and innovative invention by Jane Chen.


Innovation, by definition, is to bring in new ideas or make changes. A basic structure to making new inventions is to do research, narrow down problems, and find the solution.

Creativity appears to be utilized in varying degrees by different people. Wisdom is the balance between creativity and intelligence relegating the novel ideas according to their appropriateness (Sternberg). Wisdom will distinguish the reasonable from the unreasonable.

Definition of novelty is the quality of being new. There exists two kinds of novelty. Subjective novelty is the apperception of something as being new by an individual or group of persons. Objective novelty is something new for all humanity. It is hard to view from this standpoint because one cannot claim to know everything from before.

Innovation is the process of making improvements by introducing something new. Innovations by standard must be replicable, economical, and cater to a certain need.

Design can change everything.

Lesson 1 : Defining Creative

Our lecturer for Lesson 1 was Mr. Yap Sau Bin. A bearded man in his thirties, he came to class flailing around an amusing tool he used as an example in class; a metal L-shaped bar with holes in it. An overtly creative man (as I can analytically tell), his lecture on 'Defining Creativity' was creatively presented in a refreshing way.

The first thing he asked the class was, "What is this?" while holding up the metal bar. 'Something to hit people with' was first in line in my thought. He was looking for more creative answers from the students. And there was a few. Most memorable one was 'a curtain hanger'. There were some more that didn't really struck me as memorable.

His point was, in order to be creative, one must see something ordinary in a different perspective and make something out of it. Being creative is being observant. Creativity is the ability to think up and design new inventions. Creativity is the ability to see something in a new way.

A few creative inventions, video taken from YouTube.


A conclusion. Being creative is being able to see ordinary things in new ways, and be different and out of the box.

Monday, February 1, 2010

Creative Studies

Hello and welcome to my humble domain. This blog was created as a project for Creative Studies subject MLC1013. Hopefully, our time here will be spent in a creative manner. I will share things that relate to creativity, creative products, and whatnot. Look forward to new posts every week!