FCI students win first prize at the 1st International Social, Economics and Law Festival

From left: Yam, Neo, Lee and Lavanyaa at the festival

Faculty of Creative Industries Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Graphic Design and Multimedia students Yam Zheng Wei, Neo Kai Xian, Lee Yen Jie and V G R C. Lavanyaa won first place for the ‘Artistic Paper’ category at the 1st International Social, Economics, and Law Festival which was held online. The team was guided by FCI lecturer K. Jeevamalar.

Themed ‘Stepping Towards Being the Creative and Innovative Youth’, the event was co-hosted by Universitas Internasional Batam (UIB), Indonesia, UTAR and the University of Economics and Law, Vietnam to provide international exposure for students, improve students’ hard skills and knowledge in the field of economics, education and law, and develop students’ interest and soft skills.

The team expressed, “The whole ideology is to make people understand and inform them about how we can be more creative and innovative as youths. Our supervisor gave us the idea to apply a comical style for the poster to convey the message and educate young people. Each of us studied it and sketched out the ideas. Initially, it was hard for us to understand the purpose of it and it was also hard to think of a way to express our ideas through visuals. But then, we gathered together, brainstormed, chose a sketch and started working on it. It was stressful but it was also a rewarding learning experience for us.”

They advised, “Have no expectations when you do something because you don’t want to be disappointed with the final results. It’s okay to set a goal but don’t solely depend on it. You got to move at your own pace.”

“We were very surprised with the outcome. We had a lot of assignments and we didn’t have enough time to do it on time. At one point we were too stressed and we didn’t know if we could make it. But in the end, we managed to complete it. So, we are very grateful for it,” Neo and Yam shared.

Lavanyaa and Lee said, “As a team, we learned how to work together despite our busy schedules. We also understood that communication was crucial for group work. We realised that hard work eventually pays off and we should expect the unexpected.”

The team’s poster