Intercultural design

Semester 2.5
Jessica Tjoe / 0361482
Intercultural design/ BDCM/ Institute of Innovation and Technology

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Instructions

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Lecture 

• As future designers, you should embrace the habit of research as part of your work process.  

• Research is to unite theory and practices of design to establish your project rationale. 

Research process:

1. Before producing the proposal

• Secondary findings data collected through published and existing resources 
• Wikipedia, websites, youtube documentaries, design sources, inspiration
• Primary findings, sketches of proposed artworks based on your research from secondary findings
• sketches, storyboards, wireframe

2. After Producing the proposal

• On site observation
• Interview/ Surveys 

3. During the creation of your artwork

• Utilizing the research found and producing a visual design outcome from either physical or digital material to represent our interpretation of the project 
• Using cultural aesthetic aspects balanced with our own design knowledge

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Task 1

What is Cultural sensitivity?

The definition of cultural sensitivity is having an understanding of another person's set of beliefs or values that is attributed to the person's ethnic or racial background. In addition, an individual must be agreeable to modify their behavior to accommodate the other person's cultural beliefs.

Cultural sensitivity is important in fostering a cohesive, peaceful society. Examples of cultural sensitivity include;

 asking a person how they would like to be addressed

respecting cultural health practices

promoting multi-lingual signage

Topic of research

For the topic of research we have selected 3 different topics;

1. Tabletop RPGs

2. Graffiti culture

3. The Evil eye

 

Soon after we discussed in a group meeting and worked together to bring ideas and brainstorm what we should do for our project.

The next step was to create the proposal. We came up with 3 different proposals available in the pdfs below. 

TTRPG pdf link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FR_X-oG6NDLdfel62C7Ed6sNs5W2LdXR/view?usp=sharing 

Graffiti pdf link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jZ53EyHEH7RthmK2w8cN2TlLfMoV0Lqq/view?usp=sharing

Evil eye PDF link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CBRKXXog0u2TcsWwo_NfIWbhvfxQgzgR/view?usp=sharing

Presentation PDF link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1u4F_0pBzrQa_bSLCQd25XiAS04xcw6d9/view?usp=sharing

sketch 1; ttrpgs

sketch 2; graffiti culture

sketch3; brainstorming session

Sketches 4&5 ; Evil eye

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Task 2

After we got our proposals back, following the lecturer’s decision we decided to do our project on  tabletop rpgs. This is where our research came in, we had to do find people to interview and observe a game of dnd.

Data collection

At this stage, the data is collected in different ways in order to support the design and implementation in the best way, so we start conducting a data gathering collection process about the tabletop RPG games,specifically Dungeon & Dragons with relevant information to the theme and our research objectives.

We did this by three methods researching , which are as follows

Observation study - we observed a live game and noted the characters personalities and the pieces used in the game, such as dice and its kinds, watching the story, watching the way of play, the laws, and the team spirit in the game to reach the common goal, all of these with taking notes . This kind of data gathering is useful to give a live and real perspective of our research topic that can help analyse the information . So we can say that after this observation study we had a clearer idea of the role of each part of the game, which helped us collect data In a vivid way.

In the live observation we also see the players feelings and emotions, and how they interact with each other

Interviewing players - in this kind of gathering information we ask an experienced players about their experience with DnD , we ask questions like:

How did you get into Dnd?

Did you know about Dnd before you started the game?

What's your favourite thing about the game?

How long have you played Dnd for?

Through this type of interview, we learn about the culture of DnD and the extent of its impact on players , their relationship, and their feelings towards the game.

Thus, we recognise DnD impact closely from the player's own words .

Obtaining online/physical research material - At this stage, we conduct a comprehensive and detailed research on DnD to collect as much information as possible that can help us design our project and value support. We search for general knowledge about DnD , some pieces that we used to play, the characters classes, and the game culture from old players .

We searched about types of dice being used in the game, each having different number values and having their own uses. Basically It determines whether the moves cast by the character (player) would be a success and how successful it would be.

And other game pieces such as : Dungeon Master’s screen that provide better imaginative scenarios

We also collected information from YouTube and from the following video we learned how Dungeon & Dragons impact to the lifestyle, and some of the information that we got from this video are :

D&D made people such as : actors, writers,directors, trained in innovation and imagination, creative energy.

D&D makes people play with different people who come from different perspectives or cultures or backgrounds and be able to communicate with each other without any limits.

It helps make people meet many more people than they would have been met . So it is also the rope that brings you back to relationships in a new society.

Some People were using D&D to treat , for example ,post traumatic stress disorder or people with special needs because it was helping them to live another life they would love to live and be happy in it . And some people were using D&D as a therapy as a way of dealing with rough times.

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Task 3

After the lecture we got some feedback from our supervisor. At first we were going to just do an Illustration for the campaign, but that alone wasn’t going to make the cut. We then brainstormed how we are going to make our project. The plan was to create a dm screen with a fully illustrated front with everyone’s characters and the story of these characters and the campaign facing the dungeon master.



We showed our results to our supervisor Dr.Charles and came back with a huge setback, Dr.Charles thought that a simple game wasn’t going to cut it. We had to make a completely new story and a new session.


The new story would take place in a kingdom called Eclypsa. A corrupted empire that has been taken over by a tyrant. Our heroes’ have received a mysterious letter, telling them to kill the current king.

Characters

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Illustration process break down

Rough sketch

At first we had some thumbnails from our sketches in the earlier concepts. I took the one with the dragon and cleaned it up with the addition of 5 place holders. The rough sketch was very quick to produce and over all didn't take a lot of time. 

rough sketch

the following sketch was a more polished version with elements from the session we played.

Changes were made after the campaign. The inclusion of the flying ship was after the campaign. 

After that I did some more detailed sketching of 2 of the characters and the background. I made the background mountains and a sky since I thought the setting was going to take place on the air ship.

Sketches 

Sketch of all the characters

During the sketching process we had to make several changes during the whole timeline also counting one redesign, and the placement of a 6th caharacter. We also had to change the whole setting entirely due to our supervisor.

The characters themselves vary in a lot of different ways. From dragon-borns to elves to humans. A group consisting of at least 3 different races shows how these cultures can coexist and work with each other.

Line art

Line art was the easiest to do throughout the whole process. The line art ended up being the thing that the illustration needed as it highlighted everyone’s features and made it so much clearer.

Funfact, I actually did a lot of the sketching and lineart processes on stream. 

Base colour

For a lot of the base colours I had to go into everyone’s sheets and extract their colour from the mid tones I can find on their character sheets. Easiest was Phelicia while Asthore, Aphyrn and Sildrate are on the harder side of the spectrum.

Rendering
The rendering can be separated into 2 steps. Light and shadows. Light requires the use of an airbrush and a colour of lighter value. I initially considered using a lighter shade of blue but due to the setting change I had to use white, colour code #FFFFFF. Now for the shadows I needed to use the cell shading approach due to time constraints. For the sequence to be pulled off I used a light purple colour code #AE8AAC on a multiply layer and just shade from there.

 

Background and finishing touches
For the finishing touches I used a trick that illustrators used to save time. By just using basic shapes to make the buildings. And use gaussian blur. That’s it. I also fixed Zani’s head. I realised that it was too big almost too late after I finished rendering. So I had to go back and fix it.
The last step was to apply a gaussian blur and resize the canvas.

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Dungeon Master Screen Layout Insight


The journey towards creating a Dungeon Master screen tailored towards our project focused on cultural sensitivity was a difficult task as the physical project of the screen is our visual representation of cultural sensitivity and how it bridges the realms of storytelling and D&D.

What is a Dungeon Master Screen?

A Dungeon Master screen is a physical barrier placed between the Dungeon Master (the game moderator/organizer) and the players in a tabletop role-playing game like Dungeons & Dragons. The screen contains useful reference materials and charts to assist the Dungeon Master in running the game smoothly, while also concealing hidden story elements and challenges from the players to maintain an element of mystery and surprise.




The process of creating the layout

After discussion with the group, the design was to be laid out between three sections:

The left side of the screen holds the entire story held in the main D&D session.


The middle would be dedicated to the map and, the actions players could take in combat as well as the effects/conditions and the pocket holding the character and enemy cards.


The right side of the screen would be dedicated to the character's origins and their link with real cultural groups, and the rules of D&D.

The first rough layout of the D.M screen (before changes)

Finished D.M Screen Layout

This specialized screen serves as the group’s visual representation of inclusivity and understanding within the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) universe.

We altered the screen to showcase the story of a D&D session involving characters from diverse cultural backgrounds, as to not only create an engaging narrative but also to display the group’s exploration and appreciation of different cultures.




The left side of the screen illustrates the journey and interactions of the characters, displaying the power of acceptance and unity amidst the characters’ diversity. The story follows their shared quest to reclaim a stolen kingdom from an evil king, the characters in the story showcase a sense of collaboration and mutual respect, ultimately forging bonds that go past their initial difficult cultural boundaries.

In the middle portion of the screen is a description of the game mechanics, balancing the elements of exploration and action. The top half features the map used in the session and below it, the instructions outlining the possible actions players can take during combat, along with the corresponding effects of it. In a pocket sitting beside the instructions is the pocket containing the character/enemy cards with each character’s cultural background and game stats.


Lastly, the right side of the screen holds a detailed insight into each character and which culture they represent from real-life cultural groups. It ranges from explaining a character’s connection to religion (Atheist - Muslim cultural references) to how the character’s clothing can signify the country it originated from (Arab - Chinese clothing). This also holds a small section of rules for the overall game that the Dungeon Master must help players incorporate in the game session.

The background and Back of the D.M Screen

Underneath the layers of text on the screen are two digital illustrations on the top and bottom of the screen. These digital illustrations were created by Nada to add a pop of color to the screen to help the human eye engage better with the written text thanks to the use of bright colors helping the eye navigate through the screen.



Created by Nada ( she did such a wonderful job and I loved the little details of all of the gang together in the corner!) 

And in the back cover of the Dungeon Master screen holds the old proposal; the cover art design for our D&D game mentioned in the illustration process created by Jessica.

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Making of the DM screen

Once the layout and illustration were finalized, Two of the three group members in charge of putting together the final product (Dee and Jessica) headed to campus at 9 am to get the cardboard sheets for the screen. They then proceeded to Sunway Geo to have the layout, cover illustration, and remaining enemy stat cards printed out, while the last member in charge of the physical product creation (Kong) appeared later on to offer help.

Size of the layout and Illustration: A2
Type of paper: Semi-Gloss Paper (200GSM)
Size of the cards: A6 (standard size)
Thickness: 300GSM

Cardboard sheet bought from the school store

The printed A2 size cover and layout

The two students proceeded to trim the borders of the layout and illustration to fit the size of the screen after returning to campus.

Sooner or later an attempt was made at bending the board as it was a requirement for the finished D.M. Screen to be able to bend and close as D.M. screens have to be small enough to be seen as portable to get to the location of the D&D session. However, that soon escalated horribly as the board snapped into 3 separate pieces as shown in the image below.

As a final attempt, the group resorted to using electrical tape to secure the three boards together. However, despite their efforts, the screen still fell apart in the end. At the suggestion of a third group member, Kong, the group opted for a PVA board instead. This proved to be the solution to creating the D.M. Screen, as the PVA board offered more sturdiness compared to the initially planned material.

Following this, the group continued to cut out the layout and paste both the front and back of the D.M screen on the respective panels, succeeding in creating a physical product of our project: A D.M. Screen based on cultural sensitivity between our characters.

Moving along they trimmed the excess of the image giving it a nice clean finish.

Afterwards, the group adhered the character pocket in place, as a means to provide a designated spot for the character cards with each group member’s name written on the back of it. 

 

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Reflection

Experience

It's been one whole fascinating semester I tell you. On one hand I'm tired. On the other hand we made something so cool and I got to experience it with amazing people to work with. And I also got to play Dnd twice this sem, which made me really happy.

Observation 

We all have different ways to work but we cooperate really well together, during the time I was drawing I was too tired to take on the leader role. Nada stepped up surprisingly. It was a nice change of pace, but she was a bit too much during the final stretch. Quite understandably though as we did experience quite the turbulence while doing it. In the end it all worked out and we finished our project just before the deadline. 

Findings 

Throughout the games, just like what I wrote above. I find that everyone has unique ways to play the game. I've learnt a lot throughout the module and found about things I didn't even know about myself. I am now questioning whether I have ADHD or Autism. I might get a psychiatric evaluation soon.