Episode: my story (how I came to design)
Friday, September 4, 2009

Those who know me knows that I am passionate about design. Well, in this post i would like to blog about it, blog about how I came to be doing design.

At kindergarden, arts and craft was my favorite lesson. Probably because I was praised for one of my art pieces(its a hand print art, I remember). That made me feel good, out of all the classes(not many actually) this one brings a more than a smile to my face.

At a very young age, my interest were on Dinosaurs. My parents provided me with paper and crayons and I would spend time drawing dinosaurs. I liked dinosaurs so much, that when I draw it, I want it to be as perfect and as close as possible. Pages and pages of crayon doodles, until I am satisfied and what I see on books and what I drew couldn't tell apart. Well, I was 5 then.

I remember vividly that at the age of 7, when Spider-man was introduced to me, (Spider-man is still my favorite superhero until now) I started drawing it. Again, I drew it to be as close as possible. This time, I used a pencil. (Quite a few erasing were involved) My final piece was a shaded spider-man. It was so close to the real picture that not even myself, but my parents were amazed.

At 9, the school that I was in were quite encouraging on the arts. Everywhere in the school, there are framed drawings on the wall by students. I wanted that. I wanted my art, my drawing to be up there to be seem by many too. There was this time after art lesson, my teacher praised my full color drawing of Spider-man and wanted to hang it on the walls of the school. I was so delighted that I just gave it to her to do such. However, I walked around the school on the next day it wasn't there. I even checked on it everyday for the next two years but it still wasn't there. I was upset.

Anyways, life goes on. In class, during a boring lecture, I decided to pick up a foolscap paper and started drawing Jurassic Park 3 logo (at that time the movie had just released). I did it with a silver pen and a red pen to really capture the logo's essence. Out of nowhere, my teacher came to me and confiscated my drawing. Though I was sad, I did not cry. After the class, I had to go to her office and I expected to get a scolding. However, my teacher did not do such thing. She said, "Junaidi, I know you like to draw, but do not do this during lesson, ok? Your drawings are really good. Even I myself cannot draw like you can." I cried. I really did this time, no matter how hard I tried not to. Why I cried? Well, mainly because my drawing now is never going to be completed, and I cried harder right after she said "even I myself cannot draw like you can." I was 10.

In my early years of my secondary school, art lessons were one of the few lessons that I always look forward to. There was this one time when the whole class was given a photocopied image. The task was to imitate and draw the complete duplicate of it using pencil. I did exactly that. The next day,it was already graded and the grading that I got was 9.5/10. The teacher came up to the class with my drawing and made an announcement. "Class, this drawing is very similar to the picture, however, nobody is perfect so that is why I cannot give him the full marks. Come and take a look at it." "Huh?! Then, why you put the total at 10?", I said to myself. I find it ridiculous. The full mark is 10, everybody is aiming for that, but no matter how good it is, nobody can ever get it. This was when I was 14.

At 15, Principals of Accounting and Design and Technology was introduced to me. These two were new to me, but somehow I knew Design and Technology requires drawing skills, so I picked that class. I did enjoy the lessons, especially the ideation phase as that is when I get to draw. The rest of the lesson was spent studying circuit boards, LED, LDR and all those technical stuff. Apart from drawing, I liked the model making phase of the class. Throughout my secondary school life, Design and Technology was the one class that I look forward to having. If was different, it was exciting and I can use the whole time (2hours of the class) drawing and not be scolded. Compared to other classes where you just look at books, listen to lectures, sit in class and study( boring........) Design and technology gets me to explore, think, draw and create products at the end of the day. Another thing that made me really happy is to see the end product throughout all your hard work. You can tell how much hard work was put it just by looking at the final product. Unlike studying, the end result, the grades are not usually parallel to the effort that you have put in.

When it was time to pick a course for Polytechnic, I already knew what I do not want. I do not want a boring course that requires you to study according to the book, and at the end of the day, the grades are not parallel to the effort that was put in. I want a course that has drawings, model making, and where your hard work is clearly reflected on your final product. I want a DESIGN course. But where? I heard that Temasek Poly is one of the most established design schools in Singapore. I put that as one of my choices. However, there was this new Design course in Singapore Polytechnic called Diploma in Experience Design(product and interaction)-it was called that then. It was SP, near to where I live and it has the words DESIGN and PRODUCT in it. Now, I am the pioneer batch of that course and enjoying it.

How can I not enjoy this course? It has model making, no exams or studying required, no book to follow, grades are almost irrelevant, hard work definitely pays off and most of all it requires me to do what I like to do, and that is DRAW. I can now draw as much as I like without a care. Unlike art, Design puts my drawings to good use, to help people to better their standard of living and most of all make them happy. I am truly in my zone where I truly should belong. I am in heaven. There is no other line for me other then the design line.

That is my story.


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Aidie blogged @ 12:55 AM

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