Inspired by Yayoi "Polka Dot" Kusama, the Dotty Room assignment is an attempt for 124 students from Nanyang Technological University registered in the general elective course which was offered for the first time in January of 2012 to revel in the vibrant and playful works of the Japanese artist whereby they will add colorful dots to their own room or at any chosen environment, both inside or outside. They are asked to be innovative with colors, but be mindful of connotations and the dots' relationships with the space they interact with. They may incorporate themselves as part of their installation of dots. The objective here is to let the students explore a visual environment which creates an opportunity for the students to explore the elements of spatial visual designs.
From top left: Choong Hui Yi (Business), Kwok Pei Wen Denise (Communication Studies), Ng Tze Min (English), Chong Yin Min (English), Siti Suhaila Mohd Aris (Art, Design and Media), and Li Hui Yuan (Art, Design and Media).
My Dotty Room
This course seeks to orient students to the full spectrum of human experience through which the different dimensions of our environment affect us in sensorial, retail, style, travel and cultural dimensions. The course is both a reflective and hands-on approach to design which recognizes that there is always an experience created by a product, service, event, environment and people. These interacting elements play a part in contributing to our overall experience. As a result, whether we intend to or not, our perception about a product, service or brand becomes impacted.
From top left: Tay Lide (Communication Studies), Ang Hui Xuan Sharilyn (Art, Design and Media), Cai Weijie (Art, Design and Media), Chan Wai Sheng Jonathan (Art, Design and Media), Sin Jiayi (Sociology), Jefri Jong (English), Ho Suet Wei Elene (Art, Design and Media), and Yip Hon Long (Art, Design and Media).
Sensory Experience
In addition to the individual assignment of the Dotty Room, all the 124 students are divided to be part of a group project. They will select any of the five different areas of experiences (Cultural, Retail, Sensory, Style and Travel) and each experience will have 6 groups of 4 students.
SENSORY EXPERIENCE
Tapping into the five aspects of sense which include hearing, sight, touch, smell and taste, the students explore an important aspect of socializing in places such as restaurants, cafes or tea houses. Using the questions below as a guide, they address the following questions but pay particular attention to aspects of the 5 senses:
- The type of restaurant and the kinds of food it offers.
- How does the restaurant employ any one or combinations of the 5 senses? Pick a particularly unique sense. Be creative in describing this question, especially if you are dealing with the sense of smell.
- Are there any design elements (interior, exterior, personnel) that are particularly interesting?
- How are the foods presented and served? Are they tasty?
- Is there a waiter? A busboy? Are your orders being taken by a waiter? When you are ready to pay the bill, is the experience pleasant? Are they efficient?
- What about the store front, signage, floor coverings, lighting? The furnishings? How about its exterior? Are there any unexpected elements or surprise?
- What kind of customers do they cater to? Locals? Expats? Certain ethnic groups?
- Is the place laden with meaning and promise? If so, how do they communicate or convey the meaning or promise?
- How was your dining experience like?
Nicholas Tan, Chen Huitian, Edmund Chong, and Chee Zhiquan investigated a restaurant called Relish located along Bukit Timah Road next to the Botanical Gardens in Singapore. It is on the 2nd level of a row of beautifully restored shop-houses built in 1928. They discovered that Chef Willin has created a wide range of burgers which are both good & fun to eat. There are burgers which will not mess with what everyone expects of a good burger from the traditional ones to the not so traditional such as the Blue Cheese Beef Burger with Rucola, the Soft-Boned Char-Siew Pork Open Foccacia Burger & the Curry Chicken Burger. As for the interior, one of the unique designs that Relish adopts is the use of hanging over-sized incandescent cone lamps. The tables are neither decorated with any accessories nor table cloth. Everything is kept very simple and clean and utensils and serviettes are set tidily and neatly. Indeed, they provided good food with good service in a good ambiance.
Retail Experience
Taking on the role of a mystery shopper, groups of students registered for this experience can further select from the broad categories below:
- A place with lots of space (super marts, museums, gymnasiums, car showrooms, airport terminals, etc)
- A place with lots of expensive stuff (luxury watches, jewelry, goldsmiths, exclusive products, etc)
- A place with stuff you can try on (glasses, clothing, footwear, bags, glasses, etc)
They will use the questions below as a framework to investigate and present their findings:
- Does the signage make a strong statement about the company? Is the sign clearly visible? How do they look at night?
- Does the interior reinforce the corporate identity?
- How are colors being used? Is it an eye-pleasing experience or are they overpowering? Is there a good continuity with the store colors? Do the colors work together on walls, fixtures, ceilings and floor coverings?
- How about the store front? Is the paint or exterior finish dull or faded? Is the parking area well lighted and in good condition?
- How is the space being lighted? During the day? At night?
- Can you tell what type of products/services they sell at a glance?
- How about floor coverings? Carpeted? Tiled? How about housekeeping? Is it clean? Fresh looking? Are the aisles free of clutter and boxes?
- Are the staff/associates engaging? Are they performing their jobs nonchalantly? Is there a customer service or sales counter? How are they being set up to handle customers?
- Is it the merchandise, the staffs, or the way the products are displayed that contribute to your shopping experience?
- What is your lasting impression of the place you visited?
Students Crystal Chng, Chong Si Min, Chong Yin Min, Ng Sian Pei visited a fashion store called Mode la Vie on 38 Haji Lane in Singapore. Does the use of a French name evoke a more unique, and perhaps giving buyers the impression of high fashion? Upon entering the shop, the noticed that there are no direct shop display because the shop display is in the form of a flight of stairs that entices you to step in. They felt that walking up the stairs was as though they were going up to someone's house. They felt a sense of anticipation because they didn't know esactly what they were selling. The store is spacious enough to have chairs for staff to sit: shows that owner is not very fussy. This s because for branded shops, the rules are strict as their staff are not allowed to sit at all times. Hence mode la vie gives off a more laid back and relaxed feel. Compared to branded or chain retailers, Mode La Vie is more personalized as they pay greater attention to smaller details. Overall, it was a pleasant shopping experience because of the detailed interior design and more relaxed shopping mode.
Style Experience
In style experiences, the students pick a luxury store (such as Hermes, Prada, Gucci, LV, Burberry, Dunhill, Tods, Bally) how through products, people aspire to create personal identities necessary for their own self expression. It is the tripartite relationships among client, product and design.
By using the questions below as a guide, they address the following questions:
- What kind of store is it? Is it service-oriented or product-oriented?
- Where is it located? Is its location prime?
- What is seemingly attractive about the store? How does the store attract your attention? How do they reach out to their customers?
- What are the profiles of their patrons?
- How about branding? Logos? Logotypes? Monograms carefully utilized throughout?
- How does it help the wearer achieve a new, more flattering look that expresses their personal styles?
- What does the store mean to you (or its patrons)?
- How do they communicate the essence of the company to their customers?
- What are the elements in the store that attracted your attention? (E.g. the location, its products? The display? Cutting-edge design? Distinctive interior design? The lighting?
- How are the products being displayed?
- What is your experience with their salesperson?
- How do they use space to turn your shopping experience into a delightful one?
- Does the store employ any one or combinations of the 5 senses? If so, what is the most engaging element you noticed?
Tay Lide, Denise Kwok, Ng Tze Min and Cheong Yiling visited the 160 sq meter Porsche Design store located at the Marina Bay Sands, unit B2-41. They discovered a few things; amongst others, that the store conveys a sense of prestige, exclusivity and luxury. Porsche Design creates and markets a range of men's accessories, industrial products, household appliances, consumer goods.
To make things more interesting, their group conducted a social experiment. This is to examine if personal style affects the overall experience one receives in a luxury store which will give them an idea or two whether a poor sense of style precipitate a poor style experience? Lide and Yiling were decked in garb that you would spot
on shoppers at heartland malls in Singapore.
- Lide (male): a sports singlet, running shorts & flip-flops
- Yiling (female): a T-shirt and shorts.
The experiment:
Step 1: Ask to try a shirt that is one size too small
Step 2: Show keen interest in something and see if anyone takes notice
Step 3: Ask to see an incredibly expensive timepiece
Results:
Task 1: Polite & Obliging
Task 2: Acknowledged and started to walk
over but got distracted by Caucasian couple
Task 3: "Erm, that's limited edition."
The Conclusion:
While they expected to be treated poorly due to their poor sense of dressing, it wasn't the case as they were attended to with courtesy and a smile. Staff were in no way rude or condescending, but merely slightly less attentive when multiple customers were there.
Travel Experience
A universal experience, there is something fascinating about finding new situations and seeing new sights when we travel. It is said that people don't merely travel to see sights but they travel to experience. Whether it's an immersive environment, people travel for wonderful experiences, maybe unique, maybe educational, but always experiential. When we travel, a basic accommodation becomes an important aspect as a place that provides lodging on a short-term basis. Using at least 3-star hotels and above, as well as boutique hotels, the students addressed the following questions in their presentations:
- Where is your chosen hotel located? Is it easy to locate? Is it close to a major attraction? An MRT station?
- Do they offer parking? Are the rates high?
- What is the basic profile of the hotel? How many rooms? Its history? Its size?
- If applicable, are the rooms well laid out? How about the design and layout of the rooms?
- Do they use track or spotlights to create focal points?
- Does the exterior make a strong statement about the hotel? What kind of thematic designs do you notice in the hotel?
- Do the staffs wear apparel or accessories that reinforce the identity of the hotel?
- Do they have necessary facilities in place for their guests?
- How do they advertise their presence?
- What kind of clever attention to details, carried throughout the hotel that make the boutique establishment a destination in itself.
- What is the difference between a small boutique hotel and a big hotel chain? You may choose to do a side by side comparison for this particular question.
- Do they offer unique experiences? If so, what are those?
- Are there any refinements/improvements/additions?
Seen here is a movie clip, created as part of group 5's travel experience presentation featuring their visual survey/research. Raphael Lim Yeok Kiang, Peh Yuxin, Evonne Ong Hui Hoon, and Tan Tam Mei investigated a boutique hotel called Wanderlust in Singapore's Little India. The hotel was one of the few owned by Mr Loh Lik Peng who was a lawyer for 10 - 12 years before setting up his own business. The hotel was set up during a time of where the owner, who was then a lawyer, saw an influx of cases where he needed to close down businesses. This experience spurred him on to open his own business to counter what seemed like "sad" times. As such, it's intentions and meaning is to create joy and wonder, for patrons who are tired of "normalcy" and crave the feeling of traveling to a different and distant environment. Pricing has also allowed Wanderlust to cater to this niche market. Their prices vary according to the different ranges of rooms. At less than $300 a night, these young working adults find it worthwhile to spend their money at such boutique hotels for a quick getaway.
The inspiration for the hotel centers itself around the notion of giving life to something bleak, which is embodied in the use of a conservation site as the hotel, and also the infusion of modern and vintage elements in the hotel. The facade of building to be retained while interiors may be altered to suit building's new use Simple use of subtle colors and strategic lighting that direct attention to the unique inherited features of the property. The name and the simplicity of the building is 'unpretentious' and inconspicuous as it blends in with the environment.Each room is design-focused and is created by 3 award winning Singaporean design agencies and a local architect firm. (they are given full creative freedom). Ephemeral and keepsakes are thoughtfully designed and deployed onto the collateral set. Bus ticket for rate cards; air ticket for brochure inserted into an Air-ticket Wallet; a notebook is aptly named ITINERARY as a multipurpose room-directory/guide book/journal for the guests.
As we become more globalized and passively accept commercially provided styles, many different kinds of subcultures appear as they actively reach out to other like-minded individuals who are often times neglected by societal standards. Students enhance their experiences by interacting with the subcultures in Singapore. There are many other marginalized groups worth exploring. Some subcultures may find it difficult as their activities are met with challenges or curtailed. They are required to pick community that is foreign to theirs. Some subcultures to consider: Manga, Surfer, Musical groups, graffiti artists, punks, bodybuilding, gender or identity-based cultures, etc. Speak with some members from the community to gain some insights.
- What is your chosen subculture?
- What is unique about this subculture?
- What is it that makes the subculture different from the mainstream? How is the subculture’s relationship with mainstream culture?
- Is there any cultural appropriation by the mainstream/mass market? If so, how does it affect the subculture?
- Show element/elements that is/are ubiquitously observed in the subculture?
- What are the varying perspectives and deeper issues that give birth to these chosen subcultures?
Seen here is a movie clip as part of their group presentation produced by students Marvin Tang,Cai Weijie, Benji Yip Han Long and Lee Wei En who picked Lomography as a topic for their group presentation. A lomo-cultural quest as the group coined the term, they visited the Lomography Gallery Store located at South Bridge Road near Maxwell Food Center in Singapore. While they discovered that money matters because digital formats cost only 40 cents per print due to the absence of developing and processing fees, lomography will cost $11.40 to develop because there are developing and scanning cost involved. However, the grains and colors from the print was awesome and authentic, which is absent in digital format.
Select below to view my students' awards as well as their creations from Nanyang Technological University, Texas Tech University, and Southern Arkansas University.
