January 8, 2012
Creating Meaning
filed in:
Ethics
Most of designers, or makers of things in general, think and work on projects that "provide financial returns" as quickly as possible. While this is a true and valid endeavour to work hard in, sometimes (and through this post, I'm trying to ask us to get more of this) we need to find the right problems to solve.
While designers work to feed themselves, they should also pay attention to select projects that see the right problems instead of the right money. Instead of working on the next startup idea that provides the most obvious channels for revenue stream, why don't we identify the most obvious, most important problems that the product will solve?
Instead of creating another deal-based startups, why not promote responsible consumption? Instead of doing another location-based app that is looking forward to brand's business pages that nobody cares, why not shift this into something that is promoting local tourism? Instead of another online store that sells "everything-under-the-sun", why not specialise in one or two lines or brands of products, or better yet, locally-produced ones? Instead of fussing about which platform to develop in, why not take one or none at all?
And this is the best of all: instead of taking inspirations of success from overseas products and copying it almost back-to-back, why not solve specific problems?
December 2, 2011
Scholarship & The Legal Aspect
filed in:
Life
I don't understand how Indonesian government works, or how scholarship should work, or how a legal document should be drafted and delivered. But I sure know if there's something ethically wrong. As part of my graduate scholarship that is granted by the Ministry of Education & Culture of Indonesia, I had to sign this suspiciously-sounding document:
- Melaksanakan kewajiban perkuliahan sesuai dengan ketentuan yang diberlakukan oleh Fakultas Seni Rupa dan Desain Institut Teknologi Bandung hingga selesai. Apabila dikemudian hari (30 hari setelah mengikuti perkuliahan perdana) tidak dapat mengikuti perkuliahan dan mengundurkan diri atas keinginan sendiri dan/atau tidak menyelesaikan program pendidikan sesuai jenjang pendidikan yang dipilih, bersedia mengembalikan dana Beasiswa Unggulan ke kas negara sebesar 2 (dua) kali dari biaya yang diterimakan selama masa studinya.
- Bersedia untuk tidak menerima beasiswa serupa dari pihak lain dan apabila menerima, bersedia dihentikan dan mengembalikan dana Beasiswa Unggulan ke kas negara sebesar 2 (dua) kali dari biaya yang diterimakan selama masa studinya.
- Bersedia untuk menulis pada jurnal/media massa nasional/internasional (mengkaitkan/menyebutkan Program Beasiswa Unggulan) sebagai pelaksanaan Intellectual Social Responsibility (ISR) sesuai dengan bidang studi yang diambil dan apabila tidak membuat jurnal/media massa nasional/internasional, bersedia untuk tidak menerima beasiswa pada semester/tahun berikutnya.
- Dalam kondisi anggaran Program Beasiswa Unggulan mengalami perubahan yang dikarenakan antara lain kenaikan harga bahan bakar minyak, bencana alam, krisis ekonomi global dan sebagainya, menyetujui beasiswa yang diterima mengalami keterlambatan pembayarannya.
If you find bullet number four, it says literally that in cases there is an oil price hike, natural disaster, economical crisis and et cetera, the government is not subject to the obligation that they should pay the scholarship in time. It means that during those circumstances (and add the ambiguity of "et cetera", the frustration!), they can pay whenever they want, even if it's late.
This brings two implications:
First, would it mean that there are other undefined, unplanned circumstances that could cause this? I am very suspicious of corrupt government officers.
Second, would it mean that in cases of payment delays, the students will be liable for temporary payment?
Ever since the beginning of receiving this scholarship, I have never felt that the ministry is truly committed, even more when listening to past grantees. I hardly trust the government, and now it's proved. If there's somebody who says we should put faith in Indonesia, it's definitely not the government.
Also, somebody must consult a lawyer before writing legal-binding statements like this.
December 2, 2011
The Iron Doors
filed in:
Work
So I had this lengthy discussion with somebody who claimed himself truly experienced in startups, information technology and businesses in general. I met him in one restaurant in Plaza Senayan a couple of days ago. I deliberately asked him for a meeting to discuss about the possibility to help with an iOS app I'm designing for Ransel Kecil, my Indonesian-language travel blog.
I won't discuss about the details about the app I'm designing, but for sure, the whole concept is not something entirely new. I just utulized some existing technology, and the content is what I'm focusing more of. There's a habit-changing aspect of this app that I also want to bring on to the table.
Long story short, I explained things to him. Immediately, as I expected, he would say, "So, what's your offering?"
I stopped speaking for a bit, and thinking what this could all mean. This must be about money. I said to him that for my entire life, there's a little chance that I could afford him, so I was trying to engage him in this project as a partner instead.
Turned out it wasn't easy. But I was prepared for this. As a designer myself, I know how picky ourselves are regarding projects that we put our partnership in.
His worries deal less with the production of the app, but more on the continuity and sustainability of it. There's of course financial aspect in it. Would it make sensible return of investments? It all comes down to the money. In cases where an app requires a dedicated server or backend infrastructure, the cost will continue to rise if users love it.
As for my own app, he thinks it's a good concept, only that it's technically resource-intensive, and judging on the character of Indonesian app users, it will not make good success. Indonesian users are lazy pricks. They are not good content producers, if we are to speak about user-generated content apps. Thus some alternative ideas churned up, which was very kind of him.
At this point, he cannot decide whether he would help. I don't think he's interested, probably my concept just doesn't cut it. But that's perfectly fine. I hope to find other feasible solutions, probably to code on my own and build a web app instead. Web apps are something that I'm more closely familiar of.
All the discussion items in that meeting really opened my eyes, but also left me with one big question: Should we just pursue to do what we love and believe, or leave it to the market? I am probably such a hopeless romantic when it comes to crafting something related to what I really love to do, and getting it to the iron doors of commercialism does not seem that appealing to me. I will see.
June 19, 2011
In Search of Perfection
filed in:
Ethics
"It's better to finish 3rd but with three dollars in hand than to finish first but having to spend three dollars and have nothing left."
That quote passed by a friend of mine could apply to most of our efforts today. We search for perfection endlessly that we forget what it takes to have things perfectly: meticulous attention to details and process. All we care is the finished product, the finish line. All we care is to be number one, and get the most cash.
I am highly disappointed by most Indonesian startups or businesses that emphasize nothing less than monetizations, revenue streams, lavish launch and being winners of competitions. Looking closely inside their products, I find lack of attention to details.
Don't get me wrong, there is a fine line between half-finished products and staged releases. Half-finished products will always be wrong in any stage. Staged releases involve wrapping up and perfection in every stage. Every stage is a finished product, no matter what the roadmap is.
I'd rather see a perfect, polished product with half the features of a complete but flawed product.
True, we have to create products that actually sell, but that doesn't mean the have to force it to sell. Good products that seem to naturally sell will not sell automatically, if there is no effort to do so. In better luck, the product will sell itself. However, the most important is the quality and perfection of the product, in any development stage.
So, here's my idea for a startup or any effort in that sense: start small, humble, find perfection in every stage, and care less about monetizing it or accumulating backfiring hypes at the first place. Take your time and don't just get along with climbing the popularity ladder without knowing what you do.
June 2, 2011
Quality Blogging
filed in:
Media
When people say blogging is kind of left behind, or dead, I was a little bit skeptical. The advent of microblogging services seemed euphoric at first, and people seem to favour its practicality and spontaneity, albeit the possibility to curate our timeline. Microblogging services lack proper archiving system, mainly because contents are rapid, time-sensitive and not designed to be fetched back in the future. Snippets of information seem to be insignificant, though when executed rapidly, they put pressure on the server infrastructure.
However, blogging is more than just a mechanism, if we are to compare the two scales. Behind the clickety-click publishing system and geeky infrastructure, there is a human concept. If we are to look at blogging as a tool, then we can say anything on it, fire away. However, blogging is a medium in which we may coherently deliver a message. Every post gradually builds it, shaping a brand, a voice.
There are still rooms for well-edited, well-curated blogs or online periodicals out there, especially for Indonesia. I don't think we need huge investments for a quality blog. It's easy to start and design a blog, it's harder to maintain the quality, it's even harder to build a brand and voice out of it. However, it ends up on our commitments.
For me, blogs are still the sure-fire way of accommodating our voices regardless of the bitter fact that we might get unheard of. Submitting articles to publishers and "established" mass media isn't a guarantee that it will get published. Blogs, in the other way, make us easy to put everything online, so easy that it gets a lot noisy out there. To reduce the noise, why can't we all make better blogs?
If you have personal blogs, try by at least curating information and make them your "own". If you research something on the web and you find an article of your interest, try to rewrite it, revise, take another point of view and make a voice of your own. A post doesn't have to be academically lengthy. Also, if you are writing your personal feelings and thoughts, at least edit and see if it is coherent and nice to read.
Thematic blogs have the same rule: edit and curate. Even more, be grammatically correct. They can be overwhelming, but people will appreciate the attitude. Check multiple sources and perspectives. Be good and consistent if you can't be great and innovative. Decide the voice and matters, and how readers would interact (comments, Twitter, or any other forms).
By the end of the day, blog posts are meant to be read casually, unless we are publishing scientific journals. I'd rather read short, coherent and thoughtful one paragraph blog post than a long shot that steals my precious time away.
May 31, 2011
Indifference
filed in:
Art
Feeling truly indifferent on viewing this work by photographic artist Chris Jordan. It's part of a series called "Intolerable Beauty: Portraits of American Mass Consumption (2003 - 2005)".
May 30, 2011
Gone Fishing
filed in:
Life
We had an Asia Pacific Oracle Education Initiatives staff gathering in May 17-19, 2011, held in Singapore. It was my first time in this kind of meeting, because I'm normally in the back seat. This meeting was more for the "marketing" staff. I put an apostrophe because what we are "selling" isn't entirely about having monetary revenues.
I've been working for Oracle Education Foundation for three years, it's a wing of the whole Oracle Education Initiatives, a part of corporate citizenship programs by Oracle. We develop ThinkQuest as a free on-demand application for teachers & students to use to evangelise and facilitate project learning in the classrooms. This session in Singapore was an evaluation and a projection on next year's mission. I can say we had a generally successful year.
So, back to the fun.
I've been to Singapore numerous times before, but only for personal reasons, so this time was different. It's definitely the first time I went to such event after three years in Jakarta office, meeting staff from the Japan & Asia Pacific region and having a memorable team-building session.
It's also the second time I met Galvin Sng, a long-time ThinkQuest winner, which I am a pretty big fan of!
The first evening we also had a team-building session at a Clarke Quay establishment called The Coriander Leaf. I thought we were just going to have dinner. I was wrong. We had to cook our own dinner!
The next day involved an all-day meeting, concluded with a short night out with Lisa Siregar, Vanessa Lorein, Rika Safrina and Amudi Sebastian. Bliss!
Also, I got to feel like a bird viewing this from my hotel window!
April 23, 2011
I Studied Design, Graduated, Now What?
filed in:
Design
Indonesia is likely to produce more graphic designers and other designers alike in more years to come. I have no statistics at hand, but when I entered college, interests in graphic design as a field of study for bachelor degree were steep. Competition was high (I believe it still is now). Campuses who organize design education are struggling with a dilemma: delivering quality design education in an economy not entirely driven by commercial arts and design. There is a growing number of institutions that provide design education (mainly undergraduate, there is a scarcity in furthering design education, most Indonesian designers take their masters or doctoral abroad).
Indonesia is no Singapore, or even Malaysia who probably has better shots at design that drives the economy (if not culturally, commercially is fine). Indonesia is also not the Netherlands, Germany or Switzerland whose design roots took place many decades ago. In countries like these, design is a highly-specialised area, evolving, shaping, born and reborn.
Where is Indonesia in this? Is it a crossroad?
Why do parents permit or even encourage their children to study design? What motivates the students at the first place? Most students were inspired by design as part of the commercial arts they see everyday: motion graphics in television, computer & multimedia apps, the world wide web, mobile devices... even in more conventional medias like magazines, books and in some, comic books.
As an economy, it is clear that Indonesia is not fully driven by a consensus that design matters in leveraging values of a product. Most of the products sold in Indonesia where design plays a large role are imported ones. Most design or advertising agencies only communicate a brand through larger campaigns. Some might build a brand, probably thoroughly from all perspectives (some which all 360 degrees branding or anything like that), but how many of those are local products? How many of those are then successful to maintain a consistent brand, and to communicate it further? The most nerving question would be, can the product itself compete?
Where is the place of Indonesian graphic design students and graduates here? Some or most of them would be willing to work in international creative agencies or in-house companies, helping foreign products sell; some others would stick to small yet creative & fulfilling works for local products with less to care about the products; some others would strive in helping design education by teaching. Some others will not deal with design anymore somewhere in the path of their lives.
Another issue is with specialisations in graphic or visual communication design. In many cases, visual communication is taught academically for about four years teaching just about everything, structured autonomously by each institution, some "tailored to industry needs", some "pride on the importance of conceptual strength"; but rarely on something that is related to specific focus: why can't we have focus studies on typography, branding, or illustration? Why can't we have more flexibility?
Then again, how are people outside going to deal with these unfamiliar jargons that only the discerning designers know why those matter?
Is design only for the idealists? Could it be that design students have ample time and money at their expense to explore without worrying about making monthly salary? If you ask design students, "why do you want to study design and what are your plans for your future with design?", would they give tangible answers?
It probably takes Indonesia many more decades for design to be really appreciated, and design graduates have promising careers in their hands. Or, in the worst scenario, this hope might never materialise.
April 1, 2011
Decisions
filed in:
Life
We're occasionally busy with things, but can we hold back and think of where we are heading? Can we stop worrying about what the next minutes will be and worry about what the next year would be? Can we sit back and relax, think about things that define us? Or perhaps, is it just a question for the undecided like me?
Is indecisiveness okay? Is it a state of mind, or is it a reality? What's with the urge of being decided? Can we project ourselves into a certain path and let our life in the years forward become defined by this path? Is being decided a good thing?
Decisions sometimes kill. They kill possibilities. When you decide on buying a pair of shoes, you risk not liking them, you risk not having them for a long time. You're having a closure. You risk not having that better pair of shoes out there. But, perhaps, you might not need that better pair of shoes. For now. Maybe you should stick with the bad pair of shoes for a length of time and see the gems of the experience. Next time, you might or might not get that better pair of shoes, because "better" is a mind-framing of your own. Life probably wants you to be adventurous.
What is life for? What is a job for? What do you do for your life? What is it that you do with your job? Do you even know what you're doing? If not, then what makes you think you should be decided with a certain path? Can we just sway away from the firmness of decisions and let loose? Can we take the risk of being indecisive and not be dragged away by regrets?
In five or ten years time, let's be able to look back and convert all the regrets to values. That there was nothing wrong with what we have chosen, that they were actually part of our scenario. Sometimes, forgiving ourselves for not making or making a choice is the hardest thing.
March 26, 2011
Spotting Game
filed in:
Design
Had the urge to document this. In cases where perhaps the two most-obsessed fonts are indiscernible from one another, I made a simple guide. It's an interesting look at how it originated not from Helvetica, but from Monotype Grotesque, although glyph widths are nearly identical to Helvetica.
Arial
Helvetica
Happy spotting!