mfa thesis presentation by rongfei geng

UNIVERSITYLIFE

AN IDEAL

MFA THESIS PROJECT

EMPOWERING CHINESE COLLEGE STUDENTS TO REVIST THEIR VALUES

RONGFEI GENG

PRELIMINARYRESEARCH

Summer 2012, Beijing

Oct 31, 2011Uruguayan lady saved girlwho fell in the Lake

Sept 11, 2012American women helpedold men who fell on the ground

Sept 5, 2012Chinese snatching grapes froma turned-over truck

It was an Uruguayan girl who saved people in West Lake, an American girl who helped fallen old man on the street, and an African student who bore witness to the assailant on the airplane. It was foreigners who are helping Chinese uphold justice in China’s land. ... Have you heard of Pavlov’s experiment, dog’s conditioned reflex action on repeated ring bells and feeding? When justice is being constantly punished, it is becoming a biggest experiment lab here, and we’ve been trained for long.

跳进西湖救人是乌拉圭女孩，大街上扶起摔伤老人是美国女孩，出来作证武装政委打空姐的是非洲留学生。在中国领土上帮中国人主张正义的却是外国人。肯定又有人会说懦弱，自私。知道巴甫洛夫实驗吧，不断摇铃铛，喂食，摇铃铛...狗就条件反射了。当正义常受惩罚，这是最大的一个实验室，我们被训练良久。

— Chengpeng, Li. Critic & Author in China.

You Have To Win At Your Thirties:Things that those successful people did when they were still in their twenties.

Books on the Shelves

Apathy

Absence of Respect

Selfishness

Living Condition

Education

How do students look at the world?What do they value?How are they setting their goals?How are they facing the problems in the current education environment?Critically or apathetically?How do I use design to help them critically think about the status quo?How do I communicate questions related to value to them?

BACKGROUND

OPENING-UP POLICY

1978

POST-80’S

GENERATION

if you don’t suffer, you lost the meaning

of the final high school year;

if you don’t fight, your life in the final

high school year becomes in vain.

• studying hard, good grades in exams

• “useful” things, getting credentials

• student government, joining the Party

• not caring anything at all

• renting house outside

• not attending any school activities

PROBLEMSTATEMENT

What are their values now?

Are they aware of these values?

Do they have other options?

Why are they feeling lost?

How can they develop a critical judgement while still being inundated with the pressure from the social context and their parents?

In what way can they develop critical attitudes about their current value views?

How can concepts, strategies, forms and methods of graphic design be used to explore and to communicate questions about values to Chinese college students, in order to develop their empathy and awareness for active and critical thinking, and to empower them for a more meaningful college life?

TARGET

AUDIENCE

Chinese college students

stakeholders of higher education in China

(e.g. parents, teachers, to-be college students)

English-speaking audience

PROJECTPROCESS

PHASE ONE: AWARENESS

PHASE TWO: CALL TO ACTION

PHASE THREE: CO-DESIGN

WHAT TO PURSUEIN UNIVERSITIESPOSTER SERIES

1

INSCRIBE YOUR CHILDHOOD DREAM ON PAPERHAND-MADE NOTEBOOK

2

20 ACTIONS FOR A MEANINGFUL COLLEGE LIFEACTION BOOK

3

AN UNIVERSITY DREAMSTORY WEBSITE

4

TIME-TRACKING CARDSPRINTED CARDS

5

SHARE YOUR READINGSSOCIAL MEDIA SITE

6

SHARE YOUR PROJECTSSOCIAL MEDIA SITE

7

CARPE DIEM APPCOMPUTER-BASEDBROWSER-BASEDMOBILE

8

PROJECTPROCESS

“My original dream is to become an

ILLUSTRATOR,

Using color and brush strokes to express emotions, ideas, and many beautiful things, and share them to others, so that myself will have an enjoyment of achievement.”

PROJECTPROCESS

EDUCATIONevaluation criteria, publication/SCI, profit,

amount of PhD programs, etc.

EDUCATIONwhat is it for?

SOCIAL PROBLEMS“the death of millions is a statistic”

SOCIAL PROBLEMS“the death of one man is a tragedy”

NEW MEDIA / WEBreaching a broad audience and is

therefore effective statistically

TRADITIONAL MEDIA / BOOKlimited audience, but deep reflection on information without distraction

FAST DESIGNcommercial, profitable, like fast food

SLOW DESIGNcompared to slow eating

FOR THIS PROJECTdeciding which media to use based on audience statistics, e.g. when participant number N < 50,

use printed media, otherwise use digital media

FOR THIS PROJECThow is each form influencing the audience?how are participants interacting and participating?

QUANTITY QUALITY

CO-DESIGN

THOUGHTS

QUANTITY VS. QUALITY

DESIGN AS

PROBLEM SOLVING

PROBLEM

PROBLEM

social, cultural, industrial, daily need, etc.

PROBLEM

Solution A


PROBLEM

Solution A

Solution B


PROBLEM

Solution A

Solution B

Solution C


DESIGN PROCESS

PROBLEM

Solution A

Solution B

Solution C


DESIGN AUTHORSHIP

+

CO-DESIGN

PARTICIPANTS DESIGNER

discussing visuals

stories

visuals, opinions

story book

influencing others

DESIGN PROCESS

create designconcept

test designconcept

create designprototype

test designprototype

introduce designsolutions

brain-storming

mind mapping

interviewing brand matrix

visual brain dump

action verbs

co-design

mock-ups

DEFININGPROBLEM

GETTINGIDEAS

CREATING FORM

Nini, Paul. (2004) Sharpening one’s axe: making a case for a comprehensive approach to research in the graphic design process.

Lupton, Ellen. (2011) Graphic Design Thinking: Beyond brainstorming.

test designsolutions

THANKS TO:

THANKS TO:

Maria Rogal, Brian Slawson

THANKS TO:


Marisa Falcigno, Rober Finkel, Joungyun Choi, Gaby Hernández,

Myda Iamiceli, Fuer Liu, Dan Luo, Jorge Pérez Gallego,

Shantanu Suman, Garima Thakur, Alston Wise, Daniel Ypsilanti

THANKS TO:





Dori Griffin, Murphy Zhang, Guolong Lai, faculty members who

taught me at University of Florida

THANKS TO:







Brothers and Sisters at Gainesville Chinese Christian Church

THANKS TO:







Brothers and Sisters at Gainesville Chinese Christian Church

Mom & Dad & Dan Zhai

UNIVERSITYLIFE

AN IDEAL

MFA THESIS PROJECT

EMPOWERING CHINESE COLLEGE STUDENTS TO REVIST THEIR VALUES

RONGFEI GENG