Share Your Survival Tips!
During the unplanned situation of the pandemic, how
did you manipulate the situation? We, the BA (Hons) Interior Architecture Year 3 students had to deal with our finals and the sudden pandemic as well. It was like a sudden separation from class, most of us went back home during the MCO, while some of us got ourselves stuck in the hostel.
But HEY! We are not alone right?
And perhaps we could focus better in our finals?
In this blog post, we had featured all the year 3 grad's artwork and made a simple interview around. Also we had conducted an online interview/survey with some notable professional in the industry towards their POV of the pandemic and advices to the fresh grads. I hope you enjoy the read!
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Post-Pandemic Interior Architecture Design Industry
A lot of us are worrying about the post-pandemic world about how the environment will impact us graduates and alot of concern whether will we be able to secure a job in the industry. We had gather some helpful advice from the Director of some notable company in the Interior & Architecture Design Industry.
We would like to take this opportunity to say thank you for spending your time in answering our surveys through email. Thank you, again, as it means alot to us. :)
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Ar. Lee Chor Wah Company: Lee Chor Wah Architect Email: leechorwah @gmail.com |
The Past President of the Malaysian Institute of Architects (PAM), Ar. Lee is an award-winning architect who is also passionate about teaching, writing and sketching of architecture.
Currently lecturing at Tunku Abdul Rahman College, he always mentions that students need to acquire fundamental skills such as CAD, construction, presentation drawings and good taste for design.
According to him, there will be no much difference in the Interior and Architecture Design industry after the Covid-19 pandemic.
"Dont worry, the good time will come back. Take this opportunity to learn new skills. Be Perseverance, Optimism. Continue to learn" says Ar. Lee Chor Wah
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| John Jong Company: Thinkscape Email: john@thinkscapegroup.com |
Founder of Thinkscape, John Jong believes that Independent & leadership quality will take graduates through this hardship and future ups and downs.
"Besides covering all the fundamental requirements design tools & amp, young designers should be skillful in all kinds of design tools. Such as, Graphic, SocMed, illustration, writing, presentation particularly. The building industry will still keep moving forward, perhaps at a slower pace. The world will never be enough of beautiful space & objects. So, i am optimistic about the future of our industry."
"Stay lean. Learn additional skill sets, learn how to multi-task and work extra hard. Be Passion for what you do and be curious to learn" says John Long.
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Marcus Teo Company: Marcdesign Services Email: marc.dsign@gmail.com |
MarcDsign is a creative studio specializing in portraying an unbuilt architecture. Founder Marcus Teo expects graduates to have the eagerness to learn and be committed.
Besides basic drafting and 3D visualizing skill, designers also need to be able to communicate with their designs to people they are working with their clients.
"Social adaptiveness is very important. Take this time to brush up technical & design communication skills" says Marcus Teo
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BA(Hons) Interior Architecture Design Year 3 [2019-2020]
*Arrangement below are listed in random
Q1. Your daily routine was affected due to COVID-19 i.e. class schedules etc. What did you do to ensure that you were making progress with your projects?
Our daily routine was affected due to COVID-19,
but gladly most of us are taking it well to ensure that we are making
progress with our projects. Self-discipline is important during this hard
time, some of our friends shared that they will make a list of tasks to
accomplish daily, manage their time to make sure they are on track.
Some students decided to push themselves harder, one of them even uninstall social media apps to stay focused. But is it all about self-discipline or was it about chasing to meet the deadline?
“Desire
to rest earlier, that's why I work harder.”
“Tried
to work as hard as I played.”
“Remind
myself I’m going to graduate.”
“I aim
to create a final year project with no regrets.”
Since self-quarantine and social distancing has
never happened to most of us, staying online becomes a daily essential for
us to connect with each other. Some of our friends said that they called their classmates to encourage each other as support while doing their assignments,
reminding themselves that...
“I am not alone!”.
Some found that the Movement Control Order has affected their mental health, and slowed down their progress. Slow but surely, as long as there is progress, and guess what?
"We made it~"
Q2. Was 'work-life balance' concern for you during this MCO period? If yes, please share what you did to balance it. If no, please share your thoughts, why?
A number of students have answered that they have utilized their time management skills to balance work and life. One student has shared her tips: schedule the progress and make sure that she does not miss out her chill time too! This is some of the extracted opinions of students, let’s check it out!
“Work-life balance is like having 3 meals in a day.”
On the other hand, some students had confessed that they were having much issue of themselves getting stuck in the same 'limited moving-around' environment daily in order to be productive in their workload and as well as getting fresh air within. They mentioned that they preferred staying outdoor and have social interaction while learning.
“I am concern about being stuck in the same environment with limited fresh air and inspiration. It is unhealthy to face laptop all day to get answers & communication.”
“Personally I prefer outside learning and having social interaction.”
For friends who answered ‘No’ to this question said that they could concentrated better on their work rather while staying indoor. Whereas, some students answered that they enjoyed the flexibility of working time.
“I can work on my own time zone which I don’t feel too tired.”
“As most of our projects are done on our laptop and it allows us to be flexible with our time.”
Q3. It must be hard to fight alone, what kept you going?
Many students did not manage to return home when MCO had first announced. Some of us were forced to stay in hostels and might be staying alone without any roommate. It is not easy being home alone for those who used to hang out before MCO, therefore what kept our friends going to finish their finals during the pandemic period?
Here are some very positive responses about not regretting in their future and encouraging mindset to make sure they can do their best;
“My desired future.”
“Achievements.”
“Finish what has started.”
“The final result of the artwork are always unexpected,
it's so satisfying to complete a project and thus it gives me motivation.”
it's so satisfying to complete a project and thus it gives me motivation.”
“To create a design that I am proud of.”
“Do not want to leave any regrets in my uni life.”
One of our classmate mentioned his/her friend's stress kept herself/himself motivated, which was quite relatable to most of us...... Whoops! Moreover, let's not forget about the love and support from our friends and family.
“It was quite lonely without friends and tutors around, but using video calls and Skype while doing assignments keep us motivated throughout the process.”
“Support from family, friends and lecturer.”
“Always keep ourselves updated with friends and encourage each other.”
“Spending quality time with family and realizing the way to make them happy is letting them know I do not give up what I have started and this becomes the motivation for me to complete my course with no regrets.”
It is undeniable that some of us feel a little disappointed from what we experienced during the pandemic period and luckily we had a strong-mind;
“Days past by and life proceeds.
By the time we aren't in RMCO; we will finally go out.”
By the time we aren't in RMCO; we will finally go out.”
“To be very honest, I was not alone. However, I felt lonely when I do not receive any feedback from my lecturers at all.”
“Do not rely on others.
Fighting alone is not really the hardest part, but it is when you rely on somebody and someday has gone”
Fighting alone is not really the hardest part, but it is when you rely on somebody and someday has gone”
Last but not least, the most agreeable answer from everyone on what keep them moving forward through the hard-time, is all about...
“The Degree certificate”!
Q4. In terms of resources, were you facing any trouble working at home? If you said yes, what was your solution?
Due to the pandemic, all facilities and shop had to be closed. Thus, we could not access to the facilities like the school library, printing shop, laser cutting machine or the material shop. Therefore, our only material and research resource was the internet;
“I had dug in the online magazines, Google, etc.”
“My tip is: use the online library- the free trial for 30 days!”
“I had hundreds of window tab since I can’t print it.”
“I replaced physical works with digital works.”
“Whenever the internet is on, I tried to download all the resources in one go.”
“Since there was no material, I focused on 3D rendering to look more presentable.”
“I used my phone data for internet. I had to buy a better package.”
Ouch. It seems like a lot of us had no choice but to spend money for better data connection and online materials. However, some of us decided not to;
“I might purchase the materials online, but I did not. Oops!”
Q5. After experiencing both offline and online classes, which do you prefer?
Nevertheless, we students had overcome our pandemic adjustment & online studies. A poll was done online in results stating that 75% students preferred to study Face-to-Face & 25% students enjoyed studying online.
Perhaps we are used to communicate & social in person rather than having it done virtually without physical touch, and looking so unreal through a screen or perhaps a closer eye contact. We hope that humanity could overcome this pandemic together soon and get back to our usual norm instead of the new norm.
Of course there are some funny moments in which no one could help it from coming and it still remain mystery and could be rather a funny memory to recall in the future.
“One day, when I was using 3dsMax software to do my work, my dad asked me why am i keep playing pc games (not doing work) and i went speechless......."
"Stay up all night long is a norm to me, but not my family. During the lock-down my mom tend to nag me to have a better routine of lifestyle & healthy rest cycle. So whenever i work on my assignment from dawn to dusk, i would greet my mom 'Good Morning' and have breakfast with her, then i will silently crawl to my bed without her knowing...."
“During the MCO, I guess I enjoyed staying at home, started to wonder am I an extroverted or introvert because I love spending time alone in my room, tuning to my favourite music to the loudest, and i also enjoy singing karaoke with friends through APP. It was fun!"
“My mother keep sending me pictures of her homemade cake, egg tart, sweet soup, kuih ... etc. and I was at the hostel ... this is memorable especially during the hungry midnight”
“Happened on one late night while i was rushing for my dissertation report, i was so hungry that i had a big scoop of homemade ice cream by my brother without his concerned. Without knowing, my brother delivered that tub of icecream to his girlfriend the next day and the mystery still remained unsolved up til today because i did not confess... :P"
“Every time I look into the mirror, I see a panda face standing right infront of me and i had to rub my eyes to give a clear view of it only to realized that is me standing right there"
If you would like to browse other graduates from Graphic & Furniture Product course, we had actually launched a website link for public to view our artwork/portfolio. Also, thanks to the graphic team they had created a VR walkthrough showcase of us all graduates of 2020, an utmost indifferent experience for us all! *Click link below
Sequence 20: Make a Mark
