G9 PBL A

Main Projects (Weeks 1–7)

Week 1 SDG Collage

SDG 16 means living a peaceful life free from violence. Our title of artwork is "Dove." We made a poster about SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions. At its center is a white dove holding an olive branch, the symbol of peace. And the dove in the middle is 3D. The poster lists marginalized groups affected by injustice, such as Ukrainian citizens and students with disabilities. And we have some connection with war and peace, we want to make the peace part stand out.

Elements of Art contained by lines, shape, form, color, texture, space, and value.

We separate parts of the design, like the hammer and bird, using an implied line without drawing it. Shapes like circles and clouds represent peace, while blue conveys freedom. The bird and hammer are shown with a 3D effect. Black and blue create contrast, and textures from cut war images show the darker side of SDG 16. The composition also suggests space. Finally, darker tones at the bottom and lighter tones at the top represent the contrast between the negative and positive sides of SDG 16.

Week 2 CurrencyRedesign

This currency design features Mona Rudao as the central figure, highlighting his role in the Wushe Incident. The mountains in the background represent the Seediq people’s homeland, culture, and strength, while the sunset symbolizes memory and reflection on Taiwan’s history.

The design uses key principles like emphasis (large central portrait), balance (symmetrical layout), contrast (dark portrait vs. light background), repetition (indigenous patterns), and white space to create a clear and visually appealing composition. Birds add a sense of movement and freedom.

The artwork was created through research on Mona Rudao and his story. Its purpose is to raise awareness of indigenous history and promote justice, inclusion, and respect (SDG 16) by sharing this story through everyday currency.

Week 3 Mood Board

For this project, we were required to collect visual representations of Amis people's culture. Our group selected a range of paintings and traditional images sourced from the internet. Through careful evaluation and group discussion, we identified six images that most effectively reflect the values and cultural identity of the Amis community. The six colors featured in our work were derived from the most frequently occurring within these images. Our objective is to promote greater awareness and appreciation of the Amis people’s cultural identity, as well as to highlight their strong sense of community and inclusivity.

G5_Pitch1.pptx.pdf

Week 4 Project Pitches v1

We created a presentation to demonstrate our topic about the Amis people. In this presentation we are required to design:

Social Justice Issue explanation
Magazine & Tangible Design Examples
Community Partner/Charity
References

After our presentation, we received some feedback from Mr.Cillier:

Your pitch is a good start, but you need more specific details in your charter, especially roles and responsibilities, and you should adjust your timeline so your design is finished before Week 12.
Your social justice topic is broad and sensitive, so you should either cover all 16 indigenous groups equally or focus on one group in depth, while staying accurate, respectful, and avoiding generalizations.
Your research is a strong start, but you need more sources and should include interviews to understand real-life experiences.
Depending on your focus, you may need additional community partners to better address your issue.
Your magazine design is too basic and feels more like a cultural showcase, so you need to clarify your message, who you are representing, and improve your color choices and layout.
For your tangible design, choose one idea and make sure it is respectful, with proof.
For your presentation, speak clearly, be well-prepared, and ensure your facts are accurate.

G5_Pitch1拷貝.PPTX.pdf

Week 5 Project Pitch v2

This is our updated presentation after making several improvements. We added patterned lines and refined the tangible design and charter. We also selected new images to make our magazine more organized and visually appealing. Overall, the presentation is now clearer and shows greater attention to detail and respect for the audience.

Week 6 Logo design

Initially, we created 50 thumbnails, 3 rough sketches, and 4 drawings, followed by a critique. Then, we selected our top three ideas from the 50 thumbnails and spent five minutes on each to develop them into images suitable for critique. Finally, this is my favorite idea from the 50 thumbnail drawings.

Week 7 Brand Kit

Based on our mood board and the feedback from our presentation, we created a brand kit for our magazine. This kit will serve as a design guide for our magazine and includes the following components:

Logo: Three rough sketches of our top ideas selected from the 50 thumbnails.
Color Palette: A set of colors with HEX codes.

Typography System:

A display font (for headlines)
A body font (for readability in long articles)
A secondary/accent font (for pull quotes or captions)

G5 (1).pdf.pdf

Reflection on Growth

Comparing the SDG Collage and our brand kit, we have demonstrated a deep and developing understanding of the Amis people, including their culture, experiences, and the importance of raising awareness about the challenges they face. Through these projects, we also explored more effective ways to promote social justice and communicate meaningful messages that encourage others to recognize and respect their identity.

I think we have grown comprehensively overall throughout this process, especially in learning how to communicate more effectively, collaborate as a team, and manage our work more efficiently. However, one drawback of our group is that we are sometimes off task during discussions and working time, which affects our productivity. Because of this, we need to improve our focus and time management in the future so that we can complete tasks more smoothly and achieve even better results.

Improvements on our project

We think we need to improve our time management and create drafts of our artwork earlier to produce a more refined and visually appealing project. We also believe it would be helpful to assign specific tasks to each group member to improve efficiency and responsibility.

In addition, there are several specific improvements we could make to our portfolio pieces. First, in our SDG collage, the message could be clearer by reducing the number of elements and focusing more on one central idea instead of combining too many concepts. Second, in our currency redesign, we could improve the typography and make the text more readable by adjusting font size and spacing. Third, in our magazine design, the layout could be improved by creating a stronger visual hierarchy so the audience knows where to look first.

Our current group works well together, and we hope to stay in the same group for future projects. However, at the beginning, we did not discuss the design in enough detail, so we were unsure about the theme and direction of our work. Next time, we will focus on discussing ideas more thoroughly at the start and establish a clear objective before moving forward. This will help us work more effectively and produce a stronger final project.

We also found the SDG 16 topic quite challenging because it is abstract. Everyone has different experiences related to it, which made it difficult to create a single clear message that represents our group.

In addition, our final deliverables did not fully meet our expectations because we had too many different ideas for the presentation. As a result, the background and overall design did not fully connect with the audience, and some parts may have felt unclear or unorganized.

However, we believe that with better brainstorming and clearer communication in the future, we will be able to improve and present a stronger project next time.

(Week 1 SDG Collage)

This project connects to our earlier SDG collage assignment in Week 1, where we first explored visual communication. Compared to that project, our later work shows improvement in organization, clarity, and purpose.

Critique

Group / Group Members ---> G6 member: Jorden, Dexter, Nathan, Kevin

Liked the ideas and the design. They liked the ideas, and they liked the topic that we picked.

Question

How are we going to pick and mix all the ideas, or are we separating them, and if we are separating, are we going to make the design colorful, or are we going to keep it clean?

Suggestions

We could make our poster colorful and make the colors stronger.
Make the ideas clear for the poster so people can know them more easily.
We can put the SDG signs on our poster so it is easier for people to guess what our project is about.

After receiving feedback that our magazine design was too basic, we changed our layout by adding clearer sections, better color contrast, and more structured content. This made our final design more organized and easier to understand.

Connections

It connects to our science intersession because we need to present accurate data to support and clarify our claims and evidence. This helps strengthen our topic and makes the information more reliable and understandable. (Local Injustice Research) (Project Pitches)

This connects to our English lessons, where we learned how to present information clearly and share ideas that support disadvantaged groups. It is also linked to our previous PBL class, where we were required to write detailed and insightful literary analyses. (Informative Magazine Article)

Math is circumstantially implicated in our PBL intersession, where we need to find relevant evidence to support our claims. If the evidence is not convincing, the audience may not trust the data or information presented in our slides. Therefore, the PBL intersession has helped me greatly in learning how to find and use relevant information effectively. (Informative Magazine Article)

Social Justice Investigation

Our topic is the "Unfair treatment of Indigenous people." In Taiwan, Indigenous people are more likely to live in extreme poverty and suffer higher rates of landlessness, malnutrition, and internal displacement than other groups. Problems regarding indigenous people in Taiwan often occur in rural, mountainous, and eastern regions, as well as in cities with high indigenous populations due to urban migration. Key issues include land rights disputes (e.g., in Nantou, Hualien), environmental hazards like landslides, loss of cultural identity, economic disadvantages, and unequal access to resources. It connects to our SDG because we want to create a space that is harmonious for indigenous people. Peace and justice are the symbols of our group; we want them to be treated the same way as us.

The injustice that the indigenous people still encounter today includes legal inequality, economic disparity, cultural marginalization, and structural barriers. The indigenous people are losing their traditional land due to the lack of government attention and over-development. Land development policies and national laws often prioritize economic growth over Indigenous land rights. This creates legal inequality because Indigenous communities do not have full control over their ancestral territories.

Economic disparity is maintained because many indigenous communities live in remote districts. Therefore, it will be hard to get job opportunities, and they will get lower salaries. Cultural marginalization still happens because Mandarin dominates public life and education. People learn Mandarin in school, but not in the indigenous tradition, causing indigenous languages and culture to decline.

The older living relative will be the most affected based on their age; they have already gotten used to their lives in the mountains, so it’s unsuitable to pursue urban migration. Some people will think they will have less power to choose, but the truth is the opposite. Older indigenous people often hold significant, respected positions as elders, knowledge keepers, and, in many cases, final decision-makers within their communities. If the young indigenous people work in urban areas, the old elders will be marginalized, their mood and the longing for their children will also be affected.

Graphic Design Growth

At the beginning of the semester, I felt that graphic design was mainly about making things look visually appealing, and I didn’t realize how much thought and planning went into it. I thought it was mostly about creativity and choosing nice colors or images, but I didn’t fully understand the importance of structure, purpose, and communication.

Over the past seven weeks, my opinion has changed significantly. I now see graphic design as a powerful way to communicate ideas and messages clearly to an audience. It is not just about aesthetics, but also about how effectively information is organized and presented. I have learned that every design choice—such as layout, color, typography, and images—has a purpose and can influence how the audience understands the message.

The most important thing I’ve learned about graphic design is the importance of clarity and intention. A good design should not only look good but also make the message easy to understand and meaningful to the audience. This has helped our project a lot because we focused more on organizing our ideas, choosing appropriate visuals, and making sure our message about the topic is clear and impactful.

Overall, this experience has helped me appreciate graphic design more, and I now understand how it can be used as an effective tool to communicate ideas and create stronger projects.

All in all, this activity has made me value graphic design even more because now I know how to make use of it as a powerful medium of communication and for making better projects.

Week 8 - Logo Design

The logo was designed to be simple, direct, and concept-driven, reflecting honesty, transparency, and clarity in relation to our social justice topic. Its minimal style ensures that the audience focuses on the message of stereotypes and discrimination rather than decorative elements.

We selected a classic serif font for headings to communicate seriousness, trustworthiness, and credibility. This choice improves readability and reinforces the tone of our campaign. The black-and-white colour palette represents honesty and realism, symbolising the importance of presenting issues of bias and discrimination in a clear and truthful way.

The mood board supports this direction through documentary-style photography and neutral tones. These visual choices encourage respectful reflection on stereotypes, bias, and media representation while maintaining emotional impact without exaggeration.

Week 9-13 - Magazine & Logo - Drafts, Feedback and Revision

Over a five-week development process, we created multiple drafts of our magazine, received structured feedback from peers and teachers, and continuously refined our design through iteration and collaboration.

We began by producing a rough layout in Canva to establish the structure and visual hierarchy of the magazine. This helped us evaluate spacing, alignment, and content flow early in the design process. We then added written content and images, gradually building a complete draft while identifying design inconsistencies.

Throughout development, we faced challenges in maintaining consistency between visuals and theme. Through collaboration and discussion, we solved these issues by refining layout structure and improving visual balance.

We conducted extensive research, reviewing 12 academic articles on systemic bias and media representation. We also analyzed stereotypes affecting Indigenous peoples, migrant workers, and individuals with disabilities. To ensure ethical accuracy, we consulted the Alliance Cultural Foundation for guidance. In total, we referenced 18 credible sources, including government reports and peer-reviewed studies, strengthening the reliability of our work.

A key piece of feedback from our teacher highlighted that our original design tone did not match the seriousness of our topic. In response, we redesigned the colour scheme by replacing overly harsh tones with a softer light orange background. This improved emotional balance, increased readability, and created a clearer contrast between text and visuals.

This work connects to previous PBL projects where we explored social issues and visual communication. It also connects to the English class, where we developed skills in structuring arguments and communicating complex ideas clearly. In addition, it links to Science intersession, where we learned the importance of using credible evidence and data to support claims.

Mood board

Our initial mood board focused on discrimination against Indigenous groups in Taiwan. As our research developed, we narrowed our focus to the Amis people to improve clarity and depth.

The Amis, one of Taiwan’s largest Indigenous groups, illustrate how stereotypes and underrepresentation affect cultural identity and public perception. This focus allowed us to create a more specific and meaningful visual direction.

The design uses strong contrast, balanced spacing, and clear visual hierarchy to engage teenagers and young adults. Large imagery draws attention, while concise text ensures accessibility. The contrast between dark and light elements emphasizes key information and improves readability.

Brand kit

Our brand kit includes a logo featuring two brains representing different perspectives, symbolising diversity of thought and challenging bias.

We carefully selected colours, fonts, and visual elements to align with our social justice message. We applied the Principles of Design, especially contrast and emphasis, to highlight important content while maintaining clarity and respect.

After receiving feedback that our initial branding was inconsistent, we refined the colour palette, improved font pairing, and adjusted image selection. These changes created a more cohesive and professional visual identity across all materials.

Week 14-15 - T-Shirt Making, Mock Exhibition, Project Pitch 2

Comments from the mock exhibition:

Strengths:

Our presentation clearly explained the project's purpose
Our audience understood our message easily
The magazine was completed on time

Areas for Improvement:

Missing SDG logos, reducing the clarity of the global connection
Inconsistent speaking roles during the presentation
T-shirt design was incomplete

Some key content was not clearly explained

The first stage of our project was identifying the challenge by creating a driving question that guided our investigation into the social justice issue.

Next, we conducted research by gathering information and evidence about our topic, including screenshots of the sources and findings we explored.

We then developed inspiration for our project by creating a mood board that reflected our ideas, themes, and visual direction. After that, we generated ideas through mind mapping and thumbnail sketches for both our logo and tangible design concepts.

During concept development, we created rough sketches of the logo and tangible design, along with flat plans, wireframe sketches, and an initial brand kit.

In the refinement stage, we improved our designs by producing refined sketches, revising our magazine layouts through Drafts 2 and 3, and updating our brand kit.

Finally, we implemented our ideas by completing the finished logo, final tangible design, and polished magazine sample.

Project pitch 2

Our project began with identifying the challenge by answering the driving questions for our school, class, and group. We introduced ourselves, explained our topic, and discussed the purpose of our project. Next, we researched our chosen social justice issue, investigating who is affected and gathering information to better understand the problem. Screenshots of our research were included to document this stage.

We then created a mood board to gather inspiration and establish the visual style of our project. This helped us decide on the themes, colors, and overall direction of our designs. During the idea-generation stage, we used mind maps and thumbnail sketches to brainstorm concepts for our logo and tangible design. As part of concept development, we created rough sketches, flat plans, wireframes, and a brand kit. We also planned the content of our magazine, including the information and features we wanted to present.

In the refinement stage, we improved our logo, tangible design, magazine layouts, and brand kit based on feedback from peers and teachers. We also considered how the Elements of Art and Principles of Design could strengthen our work.

Finally, we implemented our ideas by producing the finished logo, tangible design, and magazine sample. Throughout the process, creative thinking and feedback helped us improve our project and communicate our message more effectively.

Portfolio Improvements

Although I am proud of my portfolio, there are several improvements I could still make:

I could add more detailed captions beneath each image to better explain my learning process and design decisions.
I could include additional examples of drafts and revisions to show how feedback influenced the development of my final products.
I could improve the organization of my portfolio by creating clearer section headings and adding navigation links to help viewers find information more easily.

Reflecting on these improvements helps me identify ways to make my portfolio more professional and effective in the future.

Critique

Logo Critique

Group / Group Members ---> G6 member: Jorden, Dexter, Nathan, Kevin

Very straightforward, that connects to their project

Question

What is the concept behind this? Try to make it clearer

Suggestions

Make sure the elements all fit together
Make the ideas clear for the poster so people can know them more easily.

After receiving feedback that our logo design was too vague, we changed our layout by adding clearer sections, better color contrast, and more structured content. This made our logo design more organized and easier to understand.

Reflection on Growth

When comparing our final magazine to our earlier drafts, it is clear that we developed a stronger understanding of the Elements of Art and Principles of Design. We applied concepts such as color, contrast, typography, and visual hierarchy to emphasize important information and communicate the challenges faced by marginalized communities.

Through these projects, we explored more effective ways to promote social justice and communicate meaningful messages that encourage others to recognize and respect different identities and cultures. This project also connects to the coding project we are currently completing in Math class, where collaboration, communication, and problem-solving are essential for success.

Overall, I believe our group has grown significantly throughout this process. We improved our communication skills, collaborated more effectively, and learned how to manage our workload more efficiently. However, one challenge we faced was occasionally becoming distracted during discussions and work sessions, which affected our productivity. In the future, we need to improve our focus and time management so that we can complete tasks more efficiently and achieve even stronger results.

Social Justice Investigation

Our topic focuses on the unfair treatment and representation of Indigenous peoples in Taiwan. Through our research, we learned that Indigenous, disabled people, new immigrants, and migrant workers continue to face challenges related to land rights, economic opportunities, cultural preservation, and social representation. These issues are often connected to systemic bias, where certain groups are disadvantaged by social, political, and economic structures.

Throughout this project, we examined how diverse people are portrayed in media and society. We discovered that stereotypes and limited representation can influence public perceptions and contribute to inequality. Indigenous voices are often underrepresented in mainstream media, which can make it more difficult for their concerns and perspectives to be heard.

Our investigation also explored how historical and contemporary policies have affected these communities. Land development projects and economic priorities have sometimes taken precedence over Indigenous land rights, leading to disputes and concerns about the preservation of traditional territories. In addition, many disabled communities face barriers to employment, education, and access to resources, particularly in remote areas.

One of the most important lessons we learned is the value of cultural identity and community knowledge. Indigenous elders play a crucial role in preserving traditions, languages, and cultural practices. As younger generations move to urban areas for education and employment, communities may face challenges in maintaining these cultural connections.

This topic connects to SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions because it emphasizes fairness, inclusion, and equal treatment for all people. Through our research, we gained a deeper understanding of the importance of respecting Indigenous rights, challenging stereotypes, and promoting a more inclusive society where everyone has the opportunity to be represented and treated equally. It connects to our science intersession because we need to present accurate data to support and clarify our claims and evidence. This helps strengthen our topic and makes the information more reliable and understandable.

Graphic Design Growth

At the beginning of the semester, I believed that graphic design was mainly about making things look visually appealing. I thought it was mostly about creativity and choosing attractive colors, images, and layouts. However, I did not fully understand the amount of planning, purpose, and communication involved in the design process.

Over the course of this project, my perspective on graphic design changed significantly. I now understand that graphic design is a powerful tool for communicating ideas and messages effectively to an audience. It is not only about aesthetics but also about organizing information in a clear, meaningful, and engaging way.

One of the most valuable lessons I learned was the importance of clarity and purpose in design. Effective design should not only be visually appealing but should also help the audience understand the message quickly and easily. This understanding contributed greatly to our project, as we focused on organizing our content, selecting appropriate visuals, and ensuring that our message about systemic bias and social justice was both clear and impactful.

Throughout the design process, I also learned the importance of collaboration and revision. By receiving feedback from peers and teachers, we improved our magazine's layout, color scheme, and overall presentation. These revisions helped us create a final product that was more professional, engaging, and aligned with our topic.

Overall, this experience gave me a greater appreciation for graphic design and its role in effective communication. I now see graphic design as more than simply creating attractive visuals—it is a powerful medium for sharing ideas, raising awareness, and creating meaningful social impact.

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