External Project Proposal

Project Title

“ Too K00L For You ”

“ KOL WannaBe ”

Introduction

It is not a new status quo in this modernised twenty-first century that people around us are continuously chasing emerging trends. Ultimately, social media is spoon-feeding everyone nearly everything -- everything we need to know, hear, and do is so easily accessible at our fingertips. Judging by the current generation, everyone has at least one mobile device in their hand, which allows them to remain up to speed on the newest trends and news. The person who is leading the trend, or in the other words, an influencer marketing practitioner, is often referred to as a key opinion leader (KOL) or topic experts (Geyser, 2021). In China, KOL is known as “WangHong” , which is the romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation for “online celebrity.” (Editors, 2018). With the combination of technologies and KOL, the behaviour of a person is easier to be spread around and act as a trendsetter. The superficial atmosphere on social media and the specific kind of stereotyped lifestyle being shown by KOLs are clearly structuring the users mindsets and behaviour, in both positive and negative ways.

Thus, with this project, the researcher aims to create a series of posters that shows the behaviour or act of a person that tries to keep up with the trend or to stay cool.

Research Methods

The purpose of this study aims to investigate the trendy habits or acts that form the 21st century children. In order to create a more favourable context, this study will provide the designer with a better understanding through the results compiled from the people that are directly affected by the purpose of this project. As a result, the research will be carried out with both qualitative and quantitative methods, which will separate into primary research and secondary research. In primary research, online questionnaires will be sent out and interview sessions will also be conducted with a group of university students. University students are chosen to be the research audiences as most of them are from the group of people from Gen Z. This will allow the researcher to collect more interesting datas and have a better picture in mind of the formation of the 21st century children. Additionally, moving on to a more in depth understanding, secondary research such as reading articles and watching documentaries will be conducted for a deeper understanding and for a better development of the project on the chosen topic. Also not to forget, as a Malaysian, research will also be based on some personal experiences. To improve the overall effectiveness of research, existing data is summarised and compiled and to be observed. With all of the information in hand, the researcher will then all be gathered and proceed as the direction and approach towards the project.

Brief

For the external brief, this project will be performed with the help of visuals, such as illustrations and photographs. This project aims to present the things that are now trending all across the world with the help of social media. Nowadays, people are more enamoured with current trends and are constantly on the lookout for new ones. Staying up to date on trends can be critical to establish credibility and value. According to research, successful people devote a certain amount of time every day to keep themselves up to date (TRC, n.d.). One of the reasons that causes the change in mindset of social media users is because of the FOMO (fear of missing out) and YOLO (you only live once). (Ulerarnmoney_MC, 2020) philosophies that have resulted in the constant craving for trends as the users do not want to feel left-out and excluded by society.

A series of posters will be approached with the help of a series of photographs with the support of illustrations as the medium. In this current society, photography services are crucial as it helps to disseminate objective information by visually capturing things as they are (Studiolemon, 2019). The posters would be presented with a series of realism photography that focus on a range of the so called “in things” that is going on right now and being done by the 21st century children such as taking tik tok videos, doing MCO things (baking, cooking, dalgona coffee), playing the latest games, and many other more. The nature of this work will be experimental and discursive design. The posters are mainly acting as another medium other than books to communicate and bring out the topic to the people out there. Ultimately, it is the researcher’s responsibility to expand a topic through communications and bring it out through visuals.

Targeted Audiences

The targeted audience for this research is mainly Generation Z. Generation Z is also known as Gen Z, iGen, or centennials. According to research, (Meola, n.d.), Gen Z mainly refers to the group of people that were born between the years of 1997 to 2012. The researcher chose to focus on this group of people as they are the group of people that has been raised with the revolution of the internet and social media. Due to the fact that Gen Z grew up with technology, the internet, and social media, they are sometimes referred to as tech-addict, anti-social or “social justice warriors.” (Meola, n.d.). Hence, they are also following up on knowing what is trending around and the one that follows up the latest trends by then. As it is now the 21st century, when things are more digitized compared to the previous generations, being able to stay connected with people around the world through social networkings and technologies, this group of people are believed to be the best potential groups to work on with.

Deliverables

1. Poster

a. Photography Series

· Includes a series of photography about the things that forms the 21st century children

· Consists of images and illustrations

b. Poster Series

· Includes a series of poster about the things that forms the 21st century children

Timeline (Gantt Chart)

Link To View: Gantt Chart (Graduation Project 2)

Resources

Editors, e. (2018, Aug 2). What’s the Difference Between a KOL and a Wanghong?. Retrieved from: https://www.emarketer.com/content/what-s-the-difference-between-a-kol-and-a-wanghong.

Geyser, W. (2021, June 28). KOLs | Key Opinion Leaders - What Are They And Why Should You Care?. Retrieved from: https://influencermarketinghub.com/kols-key-opinion-leader/.

Ulearnmoney. (2020, Apr 24). Common Factors That Drive Millennials To Follow Trends. Retrieved from: https://ulearnmoney.com/common-factors-that-drive-millennials-to-follow-trends/.

Meola, A. (2021, Jul 2019). Generation Z News: Latest characteristics, research, and facts. Retrieved from: https://www.insiderintelligence.com/insights/generation-z-facts/.

Lemon, S. (2019, Sept 30). What is the importance of photography for society?. Retrieved from: https://medium.com/@studiolemonseo/what-is-the-importance-of-photography-for-society-128b2c42646c.

Trc. (n.d.). 4 Ways To Stay Up-To-Date on Industry Developments and Trends. Retrieved from: https://trcstaffing.com/4-ways-stay-date-industry-developments-trends/.

Candy, E. (2015, Dec 16). The role of realism in photography. Retrieved from: https://afropunk.com/2015/12/essay-the-role-of-realism-in-photography/.

Beard, H. (2019, Sept 5). What Makes "Generation Z" So Different?.

Retrieved from: https://youtu.be/qyCn3APagyU.

Psychtube. (2018, Jul 4). Why Things Trend? Retrieved from: https://youtu.be/QEGvaMvzD4c.

Heinrich, S. (2021, Feb 10). 17 Things Gen Z Does That Will Never Be Cool, According To Millennials. Retrieved from: https://www.buzzfeed.com/shelbyheinrich/things-millenials-think-gen-z-needs-to-stop.