TAPE by ICAD: Issue 03

03 issue

August 2020

REITERATE BEARINGS People (feature) Syakir Hashim Knowing by doing Craft Syakir Hashim Material thinking from my perspective Place Pott Glasses Happenings Sewing hope for front-liners ICAD Design Days 2020 Reiterate Bearings

TAPE THE ICAD MAGAZINE

From The Editors

Our special 3rd issue celebrates one of our major events on the ICAD calendar – the ICAD Design Days 2020, held digitally this year, in conjunction with World Design Days and World Interiors Day. We had the opportunity to reflect on our ICAD Manifesto as a design school, and thus we aligned our articles in this issue with it. We reached out to our network of industry partners, alumni, and fellow academicians to obtain their opinion on a number of thoughtprovoking questions about ethical design, industry collaboration, competitions, and being multidisciplinary. We hope that their responses will provide readers insights on what it means to be a design practitioner as we begin a new decade.

In the PEOPLE column, we spoke to our faculty member, Ahmad Syakir Hashim, on his journey and identity as a fine artist. Syakir also guest-contributed to this issue’s CRAFT column on a topic that he is passionate about – material thinking. For PLACE, we sat down with the founders of Pott Glasses, a local eyewear brand founded in SS15, about their vision (no pun intended) of what an eyewear store should be and their approach to ethically contribute back to society.

It has been an eventful year for us as we weathered the storm that the pandemic has brought upon us. At the height of the Movement Control Order, a number of our faculty members took the time to sew Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) for frontliners using our workshop facilities. Their story is documented under the HAPPENINGS column, and we hope that this would inspire our fellow designers to contribute as well.

As the turbulent 2020 reaches its end, the editorial team at TAPE wishes for everyone to be safe and healthy, as we optimistically look forward to the challenges of another new year.

Ryan Cheah Editor

Dean Spills the Beans

The year 2020 began to serve as a new experience for everyone with the emergence of the coronavirus. It is a year to rethink, to reset, and to unlearn and relearn about adapting to the “new life model”.

We have invited the community to practice design thinking for wellbeing – by thinking about the relationships between design, processes, materials and functions that designers should adopt. We continue to strengthen the connectedness between different disciplines to spark new ideas, such as the co-exist series, research and design boot camps, ICAD Design Days 2020, and ICAD Speaker series through webinars which can definitely impact one’s design thinking and attitude.

Despite the challenges we face, I am very pleased to see that the ICAD team continues to reiterate bearings, make changes and stay relevant.

The effort that the team has put together to encourage our students to know how and to rethink the ways in making things work is definitely commendable.

It was great to see that the ICAD team has endeavoured to personalise and customise solutions to engage with students in making them understand that design is not just a skill, but also a responsibility towards humanity and culture. I am convinced that design thinkers do not fear about the uncomfortable times; instead, they are resilient and persistent in creating to meet needs.

Stay well, stay safe, and stay connected.

Ang Tong Yin Dean, INTI Center of Art & Design

TA P E ADVISOR Sean Lee ART DIRECTION & DESIGN Vin Sze Yong EDITORS Ryan Cheah Laura Chen Amirah Izzati Zakaria PROOFREADER Rachel Tan FEATURING Syakir Hashim Pott Glasses PROUDLY PRODUCED BY INTI Center of Art & Design FACEBOOK @inticentreofartdesign INSTAGRAM @icadmedianews EDITORIAL ENQUIRIES Ryan Cheah ryansy.cheah@newinti.edu.my Laura Chen laura.chen@newinti.edu.my Amirah Izzati Zakaria amirah.zakaria@newinti.edu.my ________________________________ Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed or implied in TAPE are those of authors or contributors and do not neccesarily reflect those of ICAD

People

08-11 Knowing By Doing Craft

12-15 Material Thinking From My Perspective Place

16-19 Pott Glasses Happenings

20-23 Sewing Hope For Front-liners Happenings

24-41 ICAD Design Days 2020: Reiterate Bearings

Knowing By Doing

We are entering a world where everything is being sucked into the realm of binary. Digitalization has changed our thinking and behaviour. Albeit being called disruptive, technology is not stifling art, instead, it’s transforming it. However, the heavy focus on technology in recent times has deprived us of tactile stimuli in the way we create and consume art.

We spoke to artist and an ICAD key member, Ahmad Syakir Hashim, about his artistic journey as an artist who strongly believes in analogue exploration. Born in Taiping, Perak, Syakir currently divides his time between Subang Jaya, Selangor and Kampar, Perak balancing family, work and his passion for art. Syakir’s body of work crosses a number of mediums, including painting, sculpture, and furniture. The following is our conversation with Ahmad Syakir Hashim on his creative process, artistic principles, and art creation journey in the time of the pandemic.

Text. Amirah Zakaria Photos. Ahmad Syakir Hashim

ON EARLY YEARS

ON INFLUENCE AND INSPIRATION

Q: When did you first discover your creative niche?

I started to realize my interest in art when I was in secondary school. Art education was my favourite subject since then.

Q: How did you start making art?

I was active in mural painting at secondary school and took part in some art shows and art competitions. I decided to pursue my studies in UiTM Shah Alam and have been trying to make art until today.

Q: Why did you decide to become an artist I’m endlessly passionate about making art, and I want to share my views based on my life experiences.

Q: You have an MA (Fine Art and Technology), from UiTM. How much of your technical expertise do you attribute to art school, and how much would you say is self-taught?

For MA in Fine Art and Technology, most of the subjects focused on idea development. It was more into art criticism rather than the technical aspects, which I had to personally explore.

Q: How has your practice changed over time?

I am into painting and sculpture, but recently my work mostly involves sculpture. 3D form excites me the most; however, it is a big challenge.

My approaches differ from time to time as they are influenced by my ideas or messages that I want to convey to the audience.

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“I am always driven by intuition in my art-making.The fundamental of my creative process relies on material thinking, which means ‘knowing by doing’” Q: Is there an element of art you enjoy working with most? Why? Composition and texture are the elements that I enjoy the most. To me, that makes an artwork more interesting.

Q: How would you describe your aesthetic?

Gloomy, non-eye-catchy, melancholic.

Q: Where do you normally draw inspiration from?

Mostly from my readings on religion, philosophy, and culture. Some of the inspirations were also drawn from my personal experience as a human, as a father, and as a part of the society.

Q: What does your work aim to say?

Specifically, the message is about my understanding of reality, between pessimism and optimism, between hope and despair. The unsettled problems of injustice, poverty, and oppression are to be dealt with endless hope and love.

People. Knowing By Doing

Q: Are there any pivotal figures who are crucial to your art?

Title: Embracing the Unknown Material: Polyurethane foam, wood and zinc Size: Variable Year: 2020

Ad Reinhardt, Mark Rothko, Anselm Kiefer, Cy Twombly, Latiff Mohidin and Mad Anuar Ismail.

Q: Tell us about your creative process.

I am always driven by intuition in my art-making. The fundamental of my creative process relies on material thinking, which means ‘knowing by doing’. Most of the process involves material experiments in order to achieve the desired forms and effects. However, there are times where the outcomes are different from what I wanted in the first place.

Q: How does your creative process normally start?

I always take different approaches, which depend on the discipline I work on. Normally I would paint intuitively (spontaneous) whenever I do painting, especially if it is abstract. For sculpture, I would start with simple sketches, put on some necessary keywords for the intended concept, and develop my visual language either by using metaphors or symbols.

After that, I would plan on how to solve the problem of technicality, but most of the time, that would happen during the execution of the sculpture making itself.

Q: Is there a real-life situation that inspired you?

Yes, Covid-19 pandemic is the best example of a real-life situation that has inspired me. The pandemic affected me emotionally, mentally and physically, and has ‘forced’ me to express my thoughts and feelings through artworks.

Q: Do you have an essential philosophy that guides you in your creative expression?

Q: Is there an artwork of yours that you are most proud of and why?

I am interested in Phenomenology founded by Martin Heidegger, and this has guided me to look at the fundamentals as a basis in dealing with any subject or object. Theory and practice are much related, but the most essential is to practice, i.e. ‘knowing by doing’. This kind of thinking generates “a very specific sort of knowing, a knowing that arises through handling materials in practice”, says Barbara Bolt, a Heideggerian art researcher. For me, a theory gives no value without practice.

There is one sculpture that I am working on, which I started to make in the early phase of the Covid-19 pandemic. Since I had plenty of time while staying at home, I had more time to work on this crafted piece, and the result quite satisfies me.

Q: Your work often features discarded objects.

What kinds of objects do you upcycle most in your work and why?

That would be discarded wood and metal because there are certain qualities that lie in these materials.

Stained, rusted and natural textures that are caused by a long time of exposure to extreme weather - I believe these qualities can manifest the feeling of abandonment, longing and melancholy.

Q: How do you overcome creative blocks?

I always go back to the basic questions, such as why do I create art, what are its significance to me, and how can I contribute to society. Adding to that, material exploration and experiment has helped me in finding new elements in art-making.

Q: What are you currently working on?

Currently, I am working on a series of sculptures that are inspired by the Covid-19 pandemic. It will take quite some time since I am working on four (4) sculptures at a time.

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ON CREATING ART DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

“The new norm brings along mixed emotions to me. Being away from my daughter and wife for almost two months made me tense and anxious. Art has distracted me from them and kept my mind at ease. It is like a therapy.”

Q: How has the Covid-19 pandemic affected your life and art as lives come to a halt and all notions of creativity completely change Covid-19 is a global historical event and will be remembered as one of the world’s tragedies.

Personally, the Movement Control Order has made me a prisoner of my own house. The lack of movement and access to the outside world has surely changed the way I think and work. Having to deal with the same surroundings for two months has shrunken and limited my reality.

Q: Were you able to create art when the movement control order was imposed?

Yes, I tried to use whatever material I had at home, and for the first time, I bought hardware stuff, such as metal wire, pliers, metal plate scissors, mesh wire and many more, online. However, tools limitation had caused me to think of other ways to work with my materials which I had a difficult time dealing with.

Q: How has your art changed during the pandemic?

It has changed the way I deal with my surroundings and the way I created my artwork, and of course, my work focus was specifically about the Covid-19 pandemic. Before the pandemic, my work was more inclined towards longing and hope, which still has an indirect relation to the Covid-19 pandemic as a highlighted tragedy.

Title: Appreciation Medium: Print block, mesh wire. sackcloth, steel rod, wall plaster, gloss paint Year: 2020

Q: What emotions are you experiencing and how does creating art help you to embrace and reflect them?

The new norm brings along mixed emotions to me. Being away from my daughter and wife for almost two months made me tense and anxious. Art has distracted me from them and kept my mind at ease. It is like a therapy.

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People. Knowing By Doing

ON LIVING SYMBIOTICALLY

“An artist is no longer a person who only creates beautiful objects but is also a social critic, thinker, culture researcher or even philosopher.”

Q: What do you think people in other disciplines can learn from artists?

I believe that an artist has the ability to share their views with the society, based on their thoughts and experience about the world. To me, an artist is a person who has the capability to think critically and express their thoughts and feelings visually. Those who are not from the art discipline are able to do the same, just not through the visual medium. People in other disciplines can also learn how to appreciate the aesthetic in the art to fill their emotional needs.

Title: Material and composition study no.1 Medium: Concrete, steel rod, wood and found object.

Year: 2019

Q: Does the local arts scene inspire your art?

ON GROWTH

Yes, there are many established old and young artists who inspire me in terms of the spirit and passion to create art. In addition, the variety of art forms and ideas in the local art scene has indirectly guided me to develop my stance in art.

Q: What do you think is integral to the work of an artist?

Q: What role does the artist have in the community?

I believe that ‘meaning’ is integral to the work of an artist. However, most of the time, meaning cannot be captured easily on the work surface and by the artist because they are just tools. We generate meaning by discourse, and a good work of art is determined by its ability to generate discourse. I believe an artist needs to understand the discourse that is happening in the contemporary world and extend the discourse with authentic ideas and views, which is (sad but true) a difficult thing to do.

The artist’s responsibility is to develop his fundamental thinking and then share and offer them to the society through artworks. An artist is no longer a person who only creates beautiful objects but is also a social critic, thinker, culture researcher or even philosopher.

Q: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?

Keep believing and being consistent in what I am doing even if I do not gain quick material profit out of it. I have to try my best before giving up.

Q: Is there anything that you do fundamentally different from when you first started a couple of years ago?

Yes. I am also into furniture making. I learned to build furniture in 2014, and it became my entry point to move to make sculptures as it also involves 3D form.

Since I am now more comfortable working in different disciplines, I often switch to painting or other forms that I find necessary to achieve my objective.

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Title: Silent scream.

Medium: Acrylic and charcoal on paper.

Size: 29.7 cm x 42 cm Year: 2020

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Craft. Material Thinking - From My Perspective

Material ThinkingFrom My Perspective.

Text & Photos.

Ahmad Syakir Hashim

In my recent artistic practice, I have come to look at making artwork as a process of knowledge inquiry that is also known as ‘material thinking’. As explained by Barbara Bolt, material thinking generates a very specific way of knowing; a knowing that arises through handling materials in practice (2007). Moreover, Estelle Barret (2007) proposed that artistic practice be viewed as the production of knowledge or philosophy in action. This kind of practice also creates an element of surprise and curiosity in my exploration led by the philosophy of Phenomenology- the foundation in material thinking.

In ‘Being and Time’ (1966) Martin Heidegger set out to examine the particular form of knowledge that arose from our handling of materials and processes.

Heidegger argued that we did not come to “know” the world theoretically through contemplative knowledge in the first instance. Rather, we came to know the world theoretically only after we had come to understand it through handling (Bolt, 2007).

Title: Indefinite Gloom.

Medium: Acrylic and charcoal on paper.

Size: 29.7 cm x 42 cm.

Year: 2020

Title: Uncertain Prediction.

Medium: Acrylic and charcoal on paper.

Size: 29.7 cm x 42 cm.

Year: 2020

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Since my works involved sculpture as my current discipline, I explore most of my materials in the process of making to gain new knowledge which is not only about the character and substance of materials, but also about the relation of every material aside of its technical suitability. As an example, I explored the combination of polyurethane foam, wall plaster and industrial paint in order to create a textural form.

It ended up looks like ceramic – something I did not expect. Even though my sculpture is quite big in scale, it is lighter than it looks. There is a sense of appearance or revealing that occurs outside of myself as the sculpture develops in a practice of material thinking where the practice is an epistemological act. It is like I am entering the unknown and moving towards what will become known, which is different from escalating what I already (believe that I) know. Thus, this practice leads me to the element of surprise where the outcome cannot be known in advance.

Even though material thinking sounds like a fully driven intuitive approach, it does not take the plan for granted.

Planning, such as sketches or drawings, are essential to any art discipline, but material thinking avoid being fully dependent on planning as it might deviate from the element of the unknown. I always begin my work with a certain concept or idea. I write down important keywords or notes and later move to rough sketching and drawing. I do not focus too much on thinking about the outcome. In material thinking, the outcome or produced knowledge might be different from time to time as the space, tools, amount of materials, and the other processes may differ. In addition, material thinking does not solely depend on the material itself.

Rather it involves space (studio or workshop), tools, even the hardware shop where the artist buys his or her tools and materials. These elements contribute to the existence of a work that is to create a relativity between the creative disposition of an artist and the qualities of the material. This theory has proven its legitimacy with me looking at my surroundings while working on my sculptures. I had enough space to build a human-size sculpture but lacked the tools to do welding and metal forging. Because of that, I looked for alternative materials in building my structures to create forms such as wood, concrete, metal wire and mesh wire. These materials gave me the quality that cannot be provided by welded and forged metal.

Technique is an important ‘skill’ in making art. Material exploration requires not only a vast understanding about the material’s physicality but also its character, in order to apply a suitable technique. Even if I already know how to weave, it does not work if I use the technique on hard material such as concrete or wood.

Alternatively, I have to find a way to build my sculpture by using different techniques, which I sometimes need to explore spontaneously on my sculpture while work is in progress. This dynamic approach towards making is how I can learn a new combination of material and technique, which I have never thought of in the first place. As Barbara Bolt once said, “Material thinking is the magic of handling” (2006). There are times when I thought I knew something before doing it - clearly, I don’t - until I have tried doing it.

References: 1) Barret, E. & Bolt, B. (2007) Practice as Research- Approaches to Creative Arts Enquiry, Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, London, United Kingdom.

2) Heidegger, M. (1966) Being and Time, State University of New York Press, United States of America.

3) Bolt, B. (2006) Materializing PedagogiesWorking Papers in Art & Design 4, http://sitem. herts.ac.uk/artdes research/papers/wpades/

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Craft. Material Thinking - From My Perspective

Title: Pursuit of Happ(y)ness | Medium: Wire, steel rod, canvas, reclaimed wood and wall plaster | Size: 60 cm x 60 cm x 137 cm | Year: 2019

Title: Embracing the Unknown | Material: Polyurethane foam, wood and zinc | Size: Variable | Year: 2020.

Title: Keep Holding On | Medium: Wood, concrete, wall plaster, wheel, sackcloth, metal rod | Size: Variable | Year: 2019

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Pott Glasses Text. Ryan Cheah

Photos. Ryan Cheah

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Place. Pott Glasses

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SS15 is home to numerous businesses established to leverage on the youthful population of the area. In this competitive environment, a home-grown optical label - Pott Glasses - managed to carve out a niche of its own and hold itself against the more established brands, while bringing new ideas and an ethical responsibility to their business. TAPE spoke to Hau and Hoong, friends and founders of Pott Glasses, about their entrepreneur journey.

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“We want to let people know that you can be normal but your story can be unique and extraordinary.”

The motivation behind starting Pott Glasses is a combination of both Hau and Hoong’s personal experience with glasses. Hoong, an optician with 7 years of work experience with a major optical chain, realised that the customers’ experience with buying glasses in Malaysia is void of a personalised touch.

“We used to just help customers to correct their vision and eyesight by prescribing the right lenses,” Hoong said, “but along the way we noticed that there is a big space for us to understand the customers’ lifestyle, budget, and other concerns besides vision.” For Hau, a civil engineering graduate, he noticed in his backpacking trip around Europe that professionals there wear stylish glasses that fitted their looks and personality - almost as if the glasses were specially made for the wearer. Hence, the idea to provide customers with a tailored, bespoke experience emerged - not just to correct their vision, but also to help them choose a pair of eyewear that fits their personality.

One aspect of the customer’s purchasing experience that Hau and Hoong looked at was to improve the timeconsuming part of trying on pair after pair of glasses in search of the right one that fits them. They even tested a method that uses Photoshop to help their customers.

“You send in your photo and we will recommend a few glasses by ‘Photoshopping’ them over your face,” said Hau. “We needed about 2 to 3 days to deliver the final product back to them.” While agreeing that this method is also quite time-consuming, they realised that there is a demand for such service, which encouraged them to bring it to the next level.

In 2019, Pott Glasses pioneered their AR-powered Virtual Try On service for customers to try different eyewear online via a web browser. By working with a partner that converted their catalogue into 3D renders, customers can try on different glasses by just looking at

the webcam - similar to the effects of Instagram Filters.

This technology allows customers to try as many as they want before coming to the shop, thus saving them a lot of time as they would have narrowed down their choices when they go to the store. With Pott Glasses’ main customer base of young working adults and youth, who are familiar with AR, and the recently implemented Movement Control Order due to the pandemic which encouraged minimal contact with shared objects, this idea took off. “What we are trying to do now is to bring as much convenience as possible to users by allowing the entire glasses purchase to happen online, including getting their vision test done online,” added Hau. Currently, Pott Glasses operates in four different locations, with the SS15 store as the flagship. What made them choose this area? “This is the place I am familiar with the most - the flow of the people, where they come from, where they want to go,” Hoong said.

This was the place he used to hang out frequently with his friends who were studying at a nearby college. “The reason we chose here is also because we know that there will be an LRT station and the multi-storey car park,” he added. When they began operation around 5 years ago, there were lots of cafes; now it has given way to the mushrooming of bubble tea shops along their street. Hoong likes the vibe and the young people who hang out at SS15. “The scene here is rarely seen in other places - the vibe around here is crazy at night!”

Hau attributes the trendiness of SS15 as the reason.

“You will see the latest ideas and very ‘rebellious’ kinds of business here,” he enthused, “Obviously you get pretty much the same thing at Bangsar, but Bangsar is more matured.” He also likes how the youthful population of SS15 are not afraid to try different things, which makes the area synonymous with a lot of latest subcultures and trends. “You will see people taking the effort to dress up in trendier fashion as opposed

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Place. Pott Glasses

to areas with other colleges,” Hau said, mentioning that SS15 is easily the most fashionable among all their branch locations. This complements well with the business of Pott Glasses, which is able to offer their youthful customer base tailored advice on eyewear as a major accessory to their stylish wardrobe.

Additionally, inspired by the idea of how businesses can give back to the community, Pott Glasses also pledged to donate a pair of glasses to those in need for every pair they sold. The campaign, called “One For One”, helps underprivileged communities and victims of natural disaster by providing prescriptive glasses to those with vision problems. The first place they went to was Kuala Krai, Kelantan, which was badly affected by a flood. They spoke to the principal of a school and decided to help them, and it turned out to be a huge success. Pott Glasses now collaborates with Teach For Malaysia, a non-profit organization that aims to overcome education inequality in Malaysia, and tap into their database to discover communities in need.

They also rely on their customers who provide contacts of orphanages. The campaign has so far benefitted 20 schools and donated over 3,000 pairs of glasses, with recipients ranging from school children, orphanages and orang asli communities.

Advice for youth who are also interested to start a passion-led business?

Hoong: Know the industry you are going to tap into, know whether you have a strong passion for it, and know what makes you feel like you will continue to do your best besides earning money.

Hau: Work for 1-2 years in the industry or business that you are interested in, because it provides a lot of free guidance and valuable experience. Don’t be too salarydriven in the beginning; instead, get lots of hands on experience.

Pott Glasses recently launched a series of IGTV videos, titled “Humans of Pott Glasses”, featuring profiles of their customers with interesting background and stories of what they do. “To us Pott Glasses is beyond an optical shop - I want to highlight all these hidden talents and real stories of our glasses wearer to our audience,” said Hau. The series has featured a harmonica player, a tattoo artist, a barista-cum-bartender, and a tech vlogger. “This is one of the projects that we are very excited and proud of doing,” he added, “we want to let people know that you can be normal but your story can be unique and extraordinary.”

This spread 1 Hau (left) and Hoong (right), founders of Pott Glasses.

2-3 Pott Glasses Flagship Store is located at 64, Jalan SS15/4, Subang Jaya SS15.

4 The Virtual Try On feature on Pott Glasses’ website.

5-6 One for One campaign donates a pair of glasses to those in need for every pair they sold.

Instagram @pottglasses

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Akmal (front) and Sufi (back) working on the sewing of PPE.

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Happenings. Sewing Hope For Front-liners

Sewing Hope for Front-liners Text. Laura Chen Photos. ICAD team

June 2020 - Since March, the city has been on stand-still and the college campus grounds have been closed as part of the Malaysian Movement Control Order (MCO). As COVID-19 cases escalated globally earlier this year, the pandemic was followed suit by a shortage of personal protective equipment for medical and frontof-line staff globally. Malaysia was not excluded from this shortage.

A video circulated on social media in April showed hospital nurses sewing protective gowns in the desperation of keeping themselves safe as they battle the pandemic head-on.

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Apart from the on-going battles at COVID-19 testing grounds, quarantine centers, and hospitals, the city streets were otherwise empty. Despite the unusual silence of the otherwise bustling streets of SS15 Subang, tucked away in the sewing lab of INTI Center of Art & Design was an army of 8 administrative staff and lecturers. For a few weeks, they had been sewing away endlessly - threading together thousands of disposable gowns for medical staff as part of the ‘PPE Fundraising Campaign’ organized by the Malaysia Official Designers Association, also known as MODA. It is easy to feel defeated and resigned to the situation during a challenging time such as the MCO. But these academic staff wanted to empower others through their skills instead. When asked how the department got involved in the project, Louise Yee, Head of Program for Diploma in Fashion Design said,

“As we were all working from home and communicating daily via Microsoft Teams, my team and I started bouncing back ideas on what kinds of community service we could do as designers and makers, to empower and provide relief to people during the pandemic.”

Led by Melinda Looi, pioneer of the Malaysian fashion industry and the newly appointed president of MODA, the campaign started in March where funds were collected to purchase non-woven hospital grade materials to make the medical gowns. The materials were then distributed to a few fashion designers’ workshops where they were cut into size and shape and then distributed to volunteers to sew and assemble. ICAD received the materials in late April and got to work.

While balancing their time between conducting their courses online and adapting to working online during the MCO, they managed to complete over a thousand medical gowns and foot-covers, an impressive amount, considering that half the team was experiencing the sewing machine for the first time. It goes to show that learning is a constant process for these ICAD academic staff. True to the ICAD manifesto of "designing for a positive change" and their first calling as creatives, makers, artists, and designers, they believe in doing good and serving a social purpose through art and design.

When they heard that local designers and fashion houses had been turning their workshops around to sew medical gowns for public hospitals, they started contacting their industry partners. Soon enough, MODA started its campaign, and ICAD jumped in on the opportunity to be part of the project.

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Happenings. Sewing Hope For Front-liners

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This Spread 1 Stacks of PPE ready to be distributed.

2-4 The ICAD team (shown here: Laura, Sean, Akmal and Fedah) busy working on their sewing machines.

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Text. Ryan Cheah

ICAD Design Days (IDD) is an annual celebration held by INTI Center of Art and Design in conjunction with the World Design Days (WDD) and World Interiors Day (WID). For IDD2020, our team took a step back to reflect on our identity as a design school as we enter a new decade.

In the current industry climate, there is a strong call for a reflection on designers’ role and responsibilities towards humanity, environment and culture, while advocating for a positive, ethical relationship between the design industry and our world.

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In a way, the themes echoed the four values of our own Manifesto.

At ICAD, we design for positive change; we collaborate closely with industry partners; we believe in competition to achieve an edge; and we foster cross-disciplinary knowledge.

Thus, the four main directions of our ICAD Manifesto - ethical design, industrial relations, competitive edge, and multidisciplinary practice - inspired IDD2020’s theme: REITERATE BEARINGS.

Happenings. ICAD Design Days 2020 Reiterate Bearings

To reiterate means to repeat something for emphasis and clarity, while “bearings” refers to an understanding of directions to know your position; it is also the manner in which one conducts oneself. Hence, using the launch of IDD2020 as a catalyst, we are prepared to align our directions for the year via a series of activities that re-emphasises ICAD’s values and philosophy.

Using a curated list of thoughtprovoking questions, we reached out to our network academic partners and industry stakeholders - and gathered their perspectives on the four directions above.

To read the full interview, visit https://idd.inti-icad.com/

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1. What should the relationship between academia and the industry be? How are we able to bridge the gap between what academia is producing and what the industry is demanding?

One quintessential discussion topic for designers who have gone through both academia and professional life is often about the disparity between those two experiences. While some had felt that their transition was smooth, others faced a jolt of culture shock and had to undertake another learning curve.

Schools used to be a training ground for talents and used to supply labour for the industry - but this single-directional notion can be perceived as outdated. Majority of our interviewees believed that there should be a symbiotic relationship between academia and the industry. “Academia should always look into what the demand/trend in the industry is, while the people from the industry should also bring their knowledge and experience back to academia,” said Jim Chuah. This opinion is echoed

by Mirei Monticelli: “The theory that academia produces must be put into practice by the industry, but at the same time, the industry must keep the academia updated on current trends or practices.”

Similar sentiments are also uttered by Alfred Phua, who said that academia “should always keep abreast of developments in the industry”.

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Another key idea is the mutual respect and collaborative spirit that should exist between the two entities. For Jenni Whitehead, this kind of close relationship would create a back-and-forth exchange of ideas, collaboration and work-in-progress. Rachel Lee also added how both academia and the industry should recognize the values each bring to the table, and the need to have a space where “both are able to challenge the thoughts and processes of each other, but at the same time also leveraging and balancing each other’s worth”. As also noted by Mirei Monticelli, having this mutually beneficial, symbiotic relationship would allow us to have the best of both worlds.

What are some ways that academia and the industry can work together? Fariz Ghazali recalled how industry panels used to just be involved in the final assessments, but are now participating a lot more in academic settings. Forums, as suggested

by Matt Edgar, where all parties can “meet on an equal footing where they can share opportunities and challenges that are needed in contemporary contexts”, is one way that knowledge and insights can flow freely between academia and industry, thus creating a circular relationship. Additionally, both Jim Chuah and Jenni Whitehead also suggested ideas which include setting live briefs, facilitating placements, setting up studio visits, sharing portfolio and experience, and conducting workshops to provide a variety of authentic learning experiences that can bridge the gap.

Happenings. ICAD Design Days 2020 Reiterate Bearings

“It’s to transfer passion to the people who actually have the moxie to do something with it.

Start with passion.

Ignite that hunger.

And all the skills and wonderfully weird attitudes will follow.”

Adam Chan, Regional Executive Creative Director of Bonsey Jaden

Nevertheless, it is important that both parties understand their own roles and not crossover into each other’s domain too much. Arnold Ma emphasized that while collaboration is important, it is vital to do so “with minimal overlaps where possible” and instead focus on the strength of each side. Fariz Ghazali also thought that there should be a gap between both, since “universities have never been a place to produce workers to start with”. Academia should not be treated as a means

to the end, that is the industry. It is important to remind ourselves that while the industry provides a great deal of knowledge to be learnt, academia is also crucial in being able to “focus more in terms of critical thinking and building a healthy mentality” as suggested by Enzo Foh. He added that the industry is more than just about “completion of work”, but also about the communication between people and the way things are handled - which requires a mind set that the academic setting can help mould.

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2. What does “multidisciplinary” mean to you? In your practice/industry, do you think it is more important to be a “generalist” or a “specialist”, and why?

The design industry continues to expand with many new entrants and specializations entering the fray, following external factors such as new consumer behaviour and emerging technologies.

Today, it is not uncommon to see designers taking on projects involving different disciplines and even innovatively carving out new ones.

On the subject of being “multidisciplinary”, a key attribute is the ability to be versatile, fluid, and being able to explore ideas through various art and design directions and mediums, as noted

by Carmen Au and Jim Chuah.

Arnold Mah added that being multidisciplinary is a positive trait to have, as it indicates that a professional is able to be creative in various different formats.

Interestingly, some interviewees also interpret “multidisciplinary” in the context of a team. As mentioned by Rachel Lee succinctly, “it’s where people from various backgrounds, skills and knowledge come together to achieve something”; a notion shared by Alfred Phua, who said how a multidisciplinary team would have individuals with different expertise and

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experiences working towards a common goal. Celest Thoi also added that the additional perspectives brought in by a multidisciplinary team would allow problems to be redefined, which would contribute to generating better solutions.

Matt Edgar provided a further clarification on how we can understand the term.

“Multidisciplinary means holding a range of specialist competencies within a particular discipline (or closely associated disciplines),” he said, “interdisciplinary practice means connecting subjects and disciplines that draw on significantly different knowledge domains and research methods.”

Designers today are faced with what are called contemporary (or wicked) problems, which are not possible to be solved only from a single angle like design.

Hence, as Edgar suggested, interdisciplinary is key to be able to respond to the complexity of such problems. Designers should be able to collaborate with others and be ready to learn new things, since - as Alfred Phua puts it, “more often than not, you will find yourself working in a multidisciplinary team”.

Happenings. ICAD Design Days 2020 Reiterate Bearings

“Multidisciplinary design in our current climate now is all about collaboration, being curious, being adaptive, and ever ready to keep learning to combine methods and creating new ones.�

Celest Thoi, Wedding Gown Designe

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In terms of being specialists or generalists, our interviewees believe that it is better to juggle both. As suggested by Carmen Au, “I think it is more important to be a specialist in one medium of execution, and be a generalist in others”. She added, “this encourages more collaboration with like-minded individuals of different strengths”.

Saki Matsumoto also shared similar sentiments, saying that it is important to polish our skills and sense as a specialist, but we need to also be a generalist to be flexible enough for more collaboration opportunities. Fariz Ghazali believes that a generalist designer would be a great asset for the company - “but to survive as a freelancer, or to make a name for yourself, you need to be a specialist”, he said.

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On one hand, Cayenne Lim believes that constraining oneself to a specialisation when just starting out is undesirable. “As young designers, to me, the hunger to learn and explore is very important,” she said, “do not lock yourself as a ‘specialist’ when you should be learning and widening your knowledge”.

On the other hand, Adam Chan believes that a fresh graduate should not be a generalist. “Work like heck to make sure you master your craft, whether it’s writing, design, client managing, whatever,” Chan said, “Be single minded in being damn good at what you’re supposed to do.

There will be time to get a hang of everything else.”

In summary, your goal as a designer is the determining factor, as ultimately, at different points in your career, you will have to alternate between being either a specialist or a generalist.

As Patrick Johansson suggested, notions of both only exist on paper - any job will in some way or another involve a multifaceted array of responsibilities. Rachel Lee concludes this well, “I think it’s more important to know the purpose of your mission. You are the specialist of your mission.”

Happenings. ICAD Design Days 2020 Reiterate Bearings

“I try to learn to love doing things that I don’t love because I know that someday I will make connections between these different fields. I like to think that there is still a long road ahead of me, and it’s important to be flexible and adapt to the needs of the times and learn as much as I can as I grow into this field.”

Mirei Monticelli, Founder of StudioMirei, Milan

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3. How has your industry incorporated ethical practices, if there are any? Do you think ethical responsibilities fall on the shoulders of the artist/designers or the client, or both?

Ethics refers to the moral principles that govern a person’s behaviour or the conducting of an activity. In the medical field, the Hippocratic Oath requires new physicians to swear and uphold specific ethical standards, such as to prevent a disease whenever possible, to respect the privacy of patients, and to share knowledge. Similar professional code of ethics exist in other fields as well, like in business, engineering, and the media.

In design, ico-D (International Council of Design) and AIGA, the professional association for design, has published codes and standards of professional practice for designers. They cover a designer’s responsibility to the client, to other designers, and to the community, plus a few more aspects, including remuneration, publicity, and authorship.

Nevertheless, the interpretation of when and how to uphold these principles remains a grey area in many sectors, and often comes with a certain degree of ambiguity.

For Rachel Lee, ethical responsibility falls on the shoulders of all individuals involved, regardless of their title - whether you are the designer, client, management, or employee. Half of our respondents also agreed to this sentiment. Adam Chan believes that “ethics come into question at every single stage of what we do”, and is not limited to only the design process - costing, pitching of ideas, all can include a certain element of ethical consideration.

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“Diversity and representation within the design industry is a key ethical responsibility that falls on both designers, employers, the client and the education providers.”

Jenni Whitehead, Senior Lecturer of Visual Communication, Shefield Hallam University, UK

Happenings. ICAD Design Days 2020 Reiterate Bearings

However, there are some who believe that designers should shoulder the greater responsibility. “Ethical practices start from us as designers in communicating, guiding and educating our clients”, said Leonard Mak, “be it price, knowledge, management and expectation of one another.” Designers should take the lead and play the role of an educator as well, since the other stakeholders might not have the similar interest in mind. “Informed clients tend to provide greater clientele relationships”, added Mak.

Mirei Monticelli agrees. “Designers should play the part of having a transformative role in the society,” she said, “If we look back at history, we see that a lot of past designers’ choices are affecting our present time drastically.” Designers should be aware of the butterfly effect of their decision, as they may have huge repercussions that are not felt immediately. Similarly, for Matt Edgar, design students are taught how to frame questions by thinking in and through systems, and they will eventually confront ethical complexity. With great awareness comes great responsibility.

“Once a problem is framed culturally, economical, socially, environmentally and politically, the responsibility and complicity of the designer is inescapable.”

Matt Edgar, Principal Lecturer in Design, Operational Lead Visual Communication & Foundation, Acting Employability Lead Art & Design

Ethical consideration can also be influenced at an organizational level to foster a collective commitment. “Ethical responsibility should be an individual initiative,” said Celest Thoi, “although many [may] feel a push by companies to fulfil that obligation.” A company may play a significant role in subconsciously “nudging” designers and their ethical viewpoints, especially those who are on the fence towards these issues. Cayenne Lim added, “It is important for companies to set core values and goals as part of determining what ethical practices are to them. Ethics is really subjective to begin with.”

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“ It is important that designers do not preach but learn to find aporia and empathy with their clients and their concerns… I think it’s important to listen to the clients’ ethical stance and be able to engage in constructive dialogues. We are all responsible. ” Matt Edgar, Principal Lecturer in Design Operational Lead Visual Communication & Foundation Acting Employability Lead Art & Design

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Happenings. ICAD Design Days 2020 Reiterate Bearings

“ As a designer/ artist, our role is to provoke and to solve problems. We are bigger than just a logo designer or a graphic artist; we incorporate our beliefs about what’s right and wrong into the work we do, challenge our audience to think, and hope it could change the society (world) a little. ” Jim Chuah, Co-founder and Project Lead, FNLPRJCT

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4. Are the nature of awards and competitions still relevant today and why?

Design competitions and awards have lately attracted polarized opinions from the industry.

With the increasing number of such events being organised, many argue that what used to be considered as a platform to unearth talent and ideas have had its value diminished, with many organizers jumping on the bandwagon for hidden agendas. Our network of industry professionals offered their thoughts on this issue.

Supporters of awards and competitions believe that they are still relevant today. Rachel Lee and Mirei Monticelli both agree that competitions provide many people “an avenue for challenge and creativity”, and that it “brings fresh ideas and encourages new discoveries”. Alfred Phua, our ICAD alumni who won the contest for the redesign of the Visit Malaysia Year 2020 logo, said that there is a certain enjoyable “creative freedom” when producing artwork for a competition, as opposed to producing artwork for a client.

Additionally, winning design competitions offered a chance for companies to be recognised and for the designers to be rewarded with honour and acknowledgement for their work, as mentioned

by Enzo Foh and Cayenne Lim. Even if they did not end up winning, awards are also relevant as it can encourage healthy competition, which will increase the standard and quality of design works - a sentiment shared by both Jenni Whitehead and Arnold Ma.

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Happenings. ICAD Design Days 2020 Reiterate Bearings

It is important for designers to participate in competitions just to self-check whether he/ she is doing good or swaying away from the passion already.

Cayenne Lim, Design Director, A Moxie Associates Sdn Bhd

More importantly, there is an increasing number of new professionals entering the design scene each year, resulting in a denser talent pool hence it is more important than ever to think of ways to stand out from the crowd. As noted by Fariz Hanapiah and Jim Chuah, competitions provide a good opportunity for starting professionals to “get your first break” and to get noticed, while also getting free marketing. Tan Chin Kang, our alumni who was the finalist at the Asia Young Designer Awards in 2019, also thinks that his experience afforded him a chance to get in touch and form strong networks with the industry as a fresh graduate.

On the other hand, Rachel Lee remarked that having too many competitions “dilute the value”, and organizing them “waste quite a lot of resources that could actually go into further research and development to new and innovative solutions”. Carmen Au added that the “relevance of awards and competitions is diminishing as the value of these recognition decreases”, especially with the increased usage of social media that allows new studios and designers to have wider exposure reach. There is also the concern about the lack of transparency in the judging process.

“I don’t think it’s relevant in my opinion,” said Celest Thoi, “as I know many of these awards/ competitions are prejudiced”. She prefers to evaluate a designer’s work by looking at their portfolio and having a chat with them instead.

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[Awards and competitions] do provide a measuring stick for yourself and for others.

As we move towards a more transparent future, I feel the value of a jury sitting in an opaque room will be questioned — as indeed will larger issues of partiality and bias. But for now, it’s fun to put something up on your wall.

Patrick Johansson, Associate Lecturer at Tsinghua University at the School of Economics and Management, vocal teacher at Dulwich College Beijing, and conductor of the Peking Sinfonietta Children’s Choir.

Mirei Monticelli pointed out that some competitions “exploit designers by asking for an exorbitant entry fee”. Leonard Mak agrees. “Often awards and competitions are tied to monetary benefits of some of the organizers,” he said, “It is conflicting at times from our point of view as creators. It contradicts the idea of certain awards”. Fariz Hanapiah added that while competitions are still relevant, it is bad when people start abusing it and produce projects “that are made on purpose specifically for awards”, which misses the point and intention of being a designer.

For better or for worse, competitions are here to stay - and it is up to the designers to make the most out of it.

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Happenings. ICAD Design Days 2020 Reiterate Bearings

Like any competitive field, competition drives us. It forces us out of our bubble. Have your work stand against all the work out there and see how it stacks up. And maybe you disagree with the outcome (Tends to happen a lot when the result is unfavourable). Maybe you wholeheartedly agree (Pop the champagne). Either way, I bet you, you’re going to feel that visceral, guttural feeling – that next time, you want to do better. At the end of the day, if the process makes you want to do better work – hell yes, it’s relevant.

Adam Chan, Regional Executive Creative Director of Bonsey Jaden

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5. What do you think is important for the arts practitioners/designers of the future to think about and challenge?

A worrying trend I’m seeing in the new crop of talent is that the majority of them come into the industry and behave as though school’s out. Truth is, school is always in session… Love learning what’s out there.

Adam Chan, Regional Executive Creative Director of Bonsey Jaden We certainly have to start thinking about newly available tech and how to utilise them to our advantage.

Alfred Phua, BGDSHU Alumni. Currently at Kingdom Digital Diversity and inclusivity is something we are putting more emphasis on, but I think we still have a long way to go.

Arnold Ma, Founder, Qumin: Chinese Digital Marketing Agency, UK ...we should also learn tools to be proactive and predict what consumers need, and not constantly react to the problems at hand.

Carmen Au, Senior Design Associate at POW Ideas To be able to have a deep passion and to stand firm in what you do is by default. Being able to adapt and work around situations is essential.

Celest Thoi, Wedding Gown Designer ...we should always be aware of market changes and be curious about the things that are happening around us.

Enzo Foh, Executive Director/ Producer at Circle Studio Sdn Bhd ...artists, designers and lecturers have to interact. Talk to people. Adapt to needs and requirements. A one size fits all degree is going to die soon.

Fariz Ghazali, Dean, Faculty of Animation and Multimedia, ASWARA The adaptability to change. Understanding human behaviour. Making full use of technology. Ability to tell a story.

Fariz Hanapiah, Executive creative director, Motiofixio TEDxPetalingStreet speaker ...to be responsive and entrepreneurial. Being able to respond and adapt to the social and political changes that are ever changing is an important skill to develop.

Jenni Whitehead, Collaborative course leader Sheffield Hallam University

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Happenings. ICAD Design Days 2020 Reiterate Bearings

Sustainability and culture preservation.

Jim Chuah, Co-founder and Project Lead, FNLPRJCT It is extremely important to consider the potential of what design could alter the future of our cities. Study sustainability, wellbeing in design, thought-evoking spaces, urban contexts, place-making etc.

Leonard Mak, Founder of LM Studio A focus on planning, research and strategy become central. Increased complexity demands interdisciplinary collaboration and an understanding of the larger systems we work within.

Matt Edgar, Principal Lecturer in Design Operational Lead Visual Communication & Foundation, Acting Employability Lead Art & Design ...how to keep up with these developments (coronavirus pandemic and its development) and incorporate them into our practice. At the same time we should preserve our culture and tradition so that we do not lose our identity as a human race.

Mirei Monticelli, Founder of StudioMirei, Milan In our field, we also tend to follow an interpretivist paradigm — that there are multiple ways to the same truth, and that our observations carry with them our social and cultural biases. This kind of thought, I feel, is particularly important to spread in an increasingly split and intolerant world.

Patrick Johansson, Associate Lecturer at Tsinghua University at the School of Economics and Management, vocal teacher at Dulwich College Beijing, and conductor of the Peking Sinfonietta Children’s Choir. ...the most important thing is to learn and practice critical thinking, and start thinking about and challenging industry norms and standards.

Rachel Lee, Design & Innovation Lead, EPIC ...developing skill and sense, then communication skill.

Saki Matsumoto, Illustrator / Graphic Designer I think the important sectors that designers of the future should think about are the changes in people’s lifestyles, e.g. types of working methods, and how we are designing to completely avoid the possibility of the virus spreading.

Tan Chin Kang, ICAD Alumni, AYDA2019 Finalist TA P E

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