Graphic Design & Multimedia and Digital Animation students launch virtual exhibition for final year project

 

The X-Change Virtual Exhibition 2022 poster

Final year students from Graphic Design & Multimedia and Digital Animation programmes recently launched their very own virtual exhibition as part of their final year project. Titled X-Change Virtual Exhibition 2022, it was held for a week, starting from 5 May 2022 until 12 May 2022. The event was showcased on Behance, an exhibition platform, where the students’ artworks were put on display for the public.

The virtual exhibition, themed Pixel Art, aimed to display exhibit works of different creative viewpoints from various individuals, in particular, final year students from the Bachelor of Arts (Hons) Graphic Design and Multimedia programme and Bachelor of Arts (Hons) Digital Animation programme. When asked about the inspiration behind the exhibition’s name, X-Change, the project manager, Wong Tzu Shin, stated, “We came up with the name X-Change because we were inspired by the exchange of ideas that occurred between both Graphic Design & Multimedia and Digital Animation departments.”  She also explained that the theme, Pixel Art, was formed because both Graphic Design & Multimedia and Digital Animation courses revolve around working with pixels, with vector art being formed from pixels, whilst animation has a whole genre of 8-bit games.

X-Change Virtual Exhibition 2022’s management team

There were a total of 65 Graphic Design & Multimedia and Digital Animation final year students who were involved in this project. To ensure the event ran smoothly, they divided themselves into different teams. Spearheading this project was the top management team, consisting of Wong Tzu Shin, the project manager, Yhie Hong, the assistant project manager, and Carolyn Hiew, the secretary. The other teams include the Content Team, Design Team, PR Team, Research Team, Technical Team and the Video Team.

Prof Ewe giving a speech

X-Change Virtual Exhibition 2022 kicked off with a countdown livestream. It was followed up by a quick video message from the UTAR President, Ir Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat. He said, “UTAR believes that it is critically important to support students’ creative and artistic development because it provides them with skills that prepare them for the workforce. This virtual exhibition opens doors for students to broaden their horizons through the exchange of ideas and viewpoints in arts and technological skills. Organising such an event encourages students to think critically, solve challenging problems and develop skills such as communication skills, teamwork and resilience.”

The livestream continued with a video presentation of all the artworks, along with students showing their appreciation to their lecturers and loved ones. Overall, the livestream at the time garnered around 46 likes and 31 comments.

The virtual exhibition featured a variety of artworks, all of which were categorised into four different specialisations, namely Film & Animations, Branding, Publication and Web Designs. Each artwork came with detailed information such as the wireframes, visual mock-ups, mood boards, character and background designs, and video demonstrations. Not to mention, the students also included the objectives and reasons behind their creations.

Mok’s Artwork; Han & Bagel

One of the artworks featured in the exhibition was an animation project titled Han & Bagel by Bachelor of Arts (Hons) Graphic Design & Multimedia student Mok Siu Kei. In it, she explained that the animation represents the daily life of Han, a young girl with her dog, Bagel. According to Mok, the purpose of the animation was to make the viewers feel relaxed and chilled while watching it. She also included the detailed character and environment designs, plus the moodboards and storyboards, giving viewers an insight on how the animation was brought to life.

Overall, the X-Change Virtual Exhibition 2022 was a success, with the exhibition gaining a massive 5,026 views, 773 likes and 64 followers in total.