COMMUNITY SERVICE INITIATIVE

COMMUNITY SERVICE INITIATIVE

31/03/21 - 30/06/21 (Week 1 - Week 14)

Group Name: ROTI
Group Members:
Ahmad Syaqiel Bin Mohd Ashri
Ahmed Abobakr Omar Balfaqih
Alizeh Shahid
Chan Jing Wen
Goh Chia Min
Maria Alwani Binti Sidek

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Week 1 (31/03/21)

We were briefed on the module and were told to form a group. We had to find Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), and identify the problems that we can help with as a group of designers. 

We started off by finding potential NGOs that we could help. The NGOs that we initially had in mind are:

1. EcoKnights (Focuses on environmental issues)
2. Pusat KOMAS (Fights for racial equality)
3. SKRLWN (Volunteering aid to all kinds of homes/charities)

Week 2 (07/04/21)

After discussing with Mr Charles, Ahmed represented us to approach the NGOs mentioned above by emailing them. 

Figure 1.1 Email Sent

We received an email response from Pusat KOMAS. 

Figure 1.2 Screenshot of Response from KOMAS

Week 3 (14/04/21)

We had our first meeting with Pusat KOMAS on 14/04/21 (Wed).

Problems identified by KOMAS: 

1. Racial stereotypes and prejudice are formed by politicians to divide citizens for them to control
2. Citizens don't hear other narratives, thus falling for it. This leads to problems in policymaking, how the country performs, etc.
3. Difficulty to discuss this topic as Malaysians typically feel defensive when discussing race and religion. 

Race to equality is an awareness campaign meant to change the narrative. KOMAS needs assistance to change the narrative, but the help they need is minimal as they are mostly done with everything. They only need us to help with a few posters. 

What we need to do is create a campaign promoting national equality. The objective of it is: 

1. To eliminate racial discrimination 
2. Explain racial discrimination and equality in a simple way for everyone to understand 
3. Educate ordinary citizens on the concept of racial discrimination and equality so they will know why they should also be promoting racial equality. 

 Things that KOMAS wants us to know before creating the social campaign are: 

1. Understand equality and racial discrimination 
2. Understand why it is important 
3. Read the research paper

We had our second meeting on 19/04/21 (Mon) to further clarify the things we will need to do. KOMAS told us that they currently need help with a post for their existing photography competition, and will need help with around 5 posters later on (TBC). We started with the poster for the photography competition first.

Week 4 (21/04/21)

After understanding how we can help, Ahmed was in charge of creating the designs for the Race to Equality event.

Below is the poster for the creative photography competition under Race to Equality. It is done according to the existing art direction of the event:

Figure 1.3 Creative Photography Competition Poster

We had another meeting on 26th April with KOMAS and they updated us on a few more posters that we can work on for the time being. We helped with the registration deadline countdown posters for their Race to Equality event. Alizeh and Syaqiel worked on the 3 posters below:

Figure 1.4 Countdown Posters

Week 5 (28/04/21)

Maria and I (Jing Wen) worked on the proposal slides, which is presented during Week 5's class. Below are the proposal slides:

Figure 1.5 Proposal Slides

As we were updated on how our collaboration with KOMAS was going to be like for the next few weeks, we started to distribute our task before our next meeting so we can start the work asap. Below is a screenshot of how we distribute the tasks and the job scope of each position:

Figure 1.6 Screenshot of Task Distribution

On May 4th, we had our 4th meeting / 1st workshop with Anusha from KOMAS and we learned about human rights. We had to summarize what we've learned in the workshop into posts for them to publish on their social media accounts.

Week 6 (05/05/21)

Syaqiel sent us a summarized version of the notes from the meeting and identify the key points we can include for the posts.

Figure 1.7 Summarized notes

On May 10th, I (Jing Wen) sent the content structure of the posts and the captions for them. There were initially 2 different options, but we decided that option 2 (splitting the content into 2 separate posts) will be better for others to understand.

Figure 1.8 Two options for content structure

Syaqiel also sent the content structure to Anusha from KOMAS to check if they're okay with what we've come up with. 

Week 8 (19/05/21)

After Anusha from KOMAS gave us feedback and made minor amendments, below is the finalized content structure:

Figure 1.9 Final content structure

Week 9 (26/05/21)

The illustrators (Maria, Chia Min, Ahmed) sent us the finalized designs for the posts. Below are the designs for the posts in Google Drive:

Figure 2.1 Screenshot of Set 1 for Workshop 1

Figure 2.2 Screenshot of Set 2 for Workshop 1

Figure 2.3 Post 1 (GIF)

Figure 2.4 Post 2 (GIF)

Week 10 (02/06/21)

We couldn't really reach KOMAS for quite a while so Ahmed tried to private message Anusha from KOMAS to check if everything is fine. We managed to find out that KOMAS faced a bit of change inside their organization so they had to prioritize that first. We were also told that we would only have one last workshop instead of 3.

June 4th was our last workshop meeting with KOMAS. Unlike the previous workshop, the content we had to deliver was much clearer as it was based on a PDF document that was provided. 

Figure 2.5 Screenshot of content to work on 01

Figure 2.6 Screenshot of content to work on 02

Week 11 (09/06/21)

Since the content was a bit heavier this time and we didn't need to really summarize or sort anything out, we decided to disregard the old task distribution system and split the workload according to the posters we had to do.

After much discussion, Syaqiel split our workload as below:

Figure 2.7 Screenshot of Work Distribution

Syaqiel also helped to plan the content for the iceberg since there was a lot of information that needed to be included. Below is the content generation:

Figure 2.8 Content for Iceberg Post

Week 13 (23/06/21)

Since Syaqiel had already come up with all of the content needed for the workshop, I (Jing Wen) did the design for the iceberg. All of the group members did the designs for each post for the second set. Below is the compilation of all posters we've created from workshop 2:

Figure 2.9 Screenshot of Set 1 for Workshop 2

Figure 3.1 Screenshot of Set 2 for Workshop 2

Figure 3.2 Post 3 (GIF)

Figure 3.3 Post 4 (GIF)

Week 14 (30/06/21)

Below is our final presentation slides prepared by Syaqiel, presented by Ahmed and me (Jing Wen):

Figure 3.3 Final Presentation Slides

Below is our article write up:

Individual Reflection

Ahmad Syaqiel Bin Mohd Ashri :

Going into this module, I had thought CSI would work like other community service classes that I’ve been a part of in school. I realized this was completely different once we got to work, especially in the current environment we were in. Being able to work with KOMAS was a great experience. This was because the cause that KOMAS was working to help, was cause that I would see casually occur in Malaysia. A growing problem that I believe can be stopped, so working with KOMAS and aiding in educating others on how to help with this problem was a good experience. Additionally KOMAS helped make this module run smooth as they were very responsive to us and helped us when we needed it, they also helped us understand better about racial discrimination which I did not know about previously, specifically about two kinds of discrimination that existed. Working in this module also let us as design students use our design skills for a good cause which I didn’t think was possible as a designer, so that really opened up my eyes on the further importance that design can have on the world. In summary, this module opened my perspective to the world for the better.

Ahmed Abobakr Omar Balfaqih :

First of all, while scrolling down in the module list I was a bit worried about this module, as it was not looking as a design module for me. Going through the MIB in the first week made it easier for me to know what type of design part will be used later on. But what made me want to continue with this module is that we need to collaborate with an NGO to help them to solve and develop in their design side which is something I have never experienced before and I was so excited to be able to. As most of the other MPU/UCM modules, we have been divided into groups. I was lucky enough to be part of the group that I'm in at the moment. So as a group we decided to work with KOMAS. It's an NGO that works to raise awareness about racial injustices and eliminate racial discrimination within Malaysia. We were too lucky to be able to collaborate with them, as we learned many things about racial discrimination that personally I have never thought of them. KOMAS was a great and kind NGO, they were really helpful and they were more than happy to share with us more and more information. Throughout the entire process we tried our best not to lose connections with them and we had a variety of meetings and workshops. And also as a team we always tried to contact with each other and be on track for better outcome. As a designer, I felt that this module designs was not just about combining graphics and typography. Each design we made has to go through many new information, and some other real life situations to be considered while developing one design, in order to be able to stand out and be straight to the point. And that process made me gain new skills that helped me as a person before helping me as a designer. In conclusion, this module has not only made me a better designer, but also a better human.

Alizeh Shahid :

Before this module began, I didn’t really know what to expect. Among all the different organizations, we choose to work with KOMAS which is an organization that raises awareness for racial injustice and injustice. Due to covid and being a class full of designers, the experience of our community service was quite unique and well-suited for us. Along the journey, I learnt a lot about current racial issues in Malaysia as well as understanding the true impact of it and how we can change this as an individual. Overall, it was a very eye opening experience. Lastly I would like to thank all of my group mates who were all great to work with. I hope that we all gain from the learning process and improve ourselves as individuals to play a positive part in our communities. 

Chan Jing Wen :

Initially, I was a bit worried about this module since we had to collaborate with NGOs outside. I’ve heard a lot of my friends from other courses complain about how unresponsive some NGOs can be and how the module is quite time-consuming. However, I think we’re really lucky to be able to work with an organisation like KOMAS. Although they had to solve some internal issues in the middle, they were really responsive and nice to us. I’m also really grateful to be able to learn so much from them. I used to think that I’m aware of the racism and discrimination around me, but collaborating with KOMAS made me see how much more there is for me to learn and what we can do as normal citizens. I am inspired by how dedicated the team was to fight for racial injustice, and I genuinely hope that I can be more aware and more helpful to the community in the future. All in all, I think this module is really the most beneficial MPU/UCM module among the rest because it really taught me a lot.

Goh Chia Min :

At first, I was quite nervous and stressed about this module because we need to work with people outside. This is my first time knowing what clients require and what we need to do. Our NGO partner is KOMAS which promotes equality. We do posters and have meetings with our supervisor - Anusha. Being able to work with KOMAS is a great experience as I learnt things through it. They explained racial discrimination to us so that we have better understanding when create our posters. I used to think racist problem was not that serious, but after I got in touch with them, I realized what racist problems are nowadays. I admire how this group of people fight for equality. In a nutshell, I think this community service initiative module taught me a lot.

Maria Alwani Binti Sidek :

First of all I would like to thank our group supervisor, Mr. Charles for guiding us throughout this module. The whole time I was in my group from the first week to the fourteenth week, we had a very good team spirit despite our busy schedule. Unlike the years before, it would be fun and we could gain more real life experience with the NGOs themselves if we could meet each other physically. Nevertheless, even though we are in a pandemic we had a great interaction with our chosen NGOs, KOMAS. We used our skills like graphic design students to contribute to KOMAS by producing illustration works such as infographic posters and social media Instagram informative posts to raise awareness in our community. This module has helped me gained wider thoughts and knowledge about the discrimination of race equality in our country after we have worked with KOMAS. I would like to thank Miss Anusha from KOMAS for educating us the importance of race equality in this country and I will continue to stand up for those who are in need even after I finish this module.