On Wednesday we had to prepare for a test exhibition which was a formative test. For this, I prepared a mockup for my 2021 version and 2051 version. I was overwhelmed as I didn’t know if what I’ve done is enough for the formative test or not and if it was good enough to portray what I was trying to do.
During my presentation time, my microphone didn’t work, therefore we had to opt for another option which was to use the chat instead. This was quite difficult as I couldn’t clearly explain my whole project and idea, but it was done briefly so that everyone could understand. Following my presentation, Russell had commented about considering another option for labelling the 2051 bottle, as in the future it might be done without paper.
With that being said, I wanted to do something with QR code scanning, so I’m still considering that option. By going through each student’s work during the exhibition had given me various inspiration and interesting thoughts on my work.
Before reading week we had a Test Exhibition coming up, as the documentary isn’t fully done and there aren’t many footages to be shown, I decided that for this exhibition I will show the mockup of the bottle both for the 2021 version and 2051 version.
At first, I considered doing both versions on the same page, however, once I saw the exhibition space on Mozilla Hubs I decided to change the layout of the mockup and made it look more put together. As I’ve chosen the bottle and the final logos, the mockup should be done easily for each version.
Before changing the mockup plan, I had imagined an image in mind of how I wanted the mockup to look like, however, I wasn’t sure of how to make it look that way as adding only drop shadow on Photoshop won’t do the job. Therefore I learnt how to make a realistic shadow from YouTube, the further proceed on with the mock-up.
I created all the mockups using Adobe Photoshop, in addition to the Drip Shadow I also tried to experiment with different tools and effects such as the Inner Glow and Inner Shadow to make the bottle look more realistic with shows and reflection.
Personally, by creating these mockups as a preparation for the exhibition test has helped me in clarifying the final outcome for the bottles before proceeding on with filming the documentary. Hence, by having the looks and display of both versions done, I can be more concentrated in filming the short film documentary.
I enjoyed most part of creating these mockups and I by doing these I had the chance to learn another skill which I haven’t acquire before. It was a great opportunity to not only create work but also learn new skills which can be used in future times as well.
During the weekends I usually go out with my family to buy groceries at the supermarket. Consequently, this was a great opportunity for me to look at different types of packaging that is currently out there in the market, as well as what I could do to make my soy sauce unique from the others.
I first looked at the soy sauce and fish sauce packaging to look at the trends and what is currently selling in the market. I see the similarities of the shapes used as well as the colours. I noticed that only a couple were newer brands with newer designs.
Moving on from the soy sauce and fish sauce bottles, I looked at water bottles, both plastic and glass. This could be the options I could use for my soy sauce packaging. I had imagined a picture in mind of what the bottles for the 2021 version and the 2051 version would look like, however, looking at these bottles would allow me to experiment with different designs and logos to see which one fits best. I find the water bottles are quite large however the shapes are similar and mostly are engraved or have patterns on them.
From that, I went to look at olive oils and balsamic bottles as these bottles are usually elongated and shaped quite tall and slim, therefore this might be another option that I could use to be more distinctive with the soy sauce packaging. By looking at these packaging, I think that the olive oils and balsamic bottles are shaped in a traditional way, giving it a traditional feel to the brand, however, none of it fits the picture that I’ve depicted.
Lastly, I looked at the alcohol bottles. Wine, Soju, Korean Wine, Japanese Rice Wine and what’s out there on the shelf. I think that looking at these have given a broader range to the packaging ideas as all of these bottles are in different shapes and sizes as well as colour tints.
I chose to buy 3 bottles, 1 water bottle, 1 fish sauce bottle and 1 Korean wine bottle. I decided to experiment my logo designs with 4 different bottles, also including another big bottle which I already have at home.
Being able to go out and look at what is already out there and available in the market has helped me in deciding where I should direct the packaging of this soy sauce bottles as the brand isn’t totally new to the market, yet the brand has already disappeared from the market for a certain time. Therefore the packaging would play a big role in this, as local customers would have to feel that it is easy to get access and doesn’t feel too expensive to buy, yet it has to be unique from other brands.
I think that after sorting out the packaging, logos and all the decisions made for both the 2021 and 2051 bottles, the filming part can fully start as the soy sauce bottles will play a big part in the film as well.
Following trying and looking at different ideas, I experimented with different tools and overlays on Photoshop to create more modern look while keeping the traditional touch to the logo. I think that for the 2021 logo, keeping a traditional signature of the brand within the logo will help the older generations of customer understand that this is the old brand that they use to buy but also the logo will need a modern touch to match and persuade the newer generations of customers as well.
I tried using the 3D filter on Photoshop to create an illusional, glowing parrot as well as adjusting the overlay colours. This gave the parrots much more dimension, looking as if it was engraved, however, it still kept the nostalgic feel with a modern touch. Therefore this was the one that I chose to continue with.
I tried to move the layouts within the logo, as well as creating different simple shapes, printing it out and trying it on different bottles to see which one fits best. As for the shape of the stickers, I chose the one with the curves at the top and bottom as this gives the whole logo a softer feel. In addition, the shape was also inspired by the windows on the Sino-Portuguese houses in Old Phuket Town as well. As I am surrounded by these beautiful buildings, the Sino-Portuguese played a big part in my childhood, not only that, but these architectures is also a popular spot for tourists as well, therefore, using it as a shape of the logo will provoke to the customers where this brand originally came from.
With the background colour, I chose to use a light beige colour as this will make the two parrots more distinctive. In addition the colour of the parrots, I chose to keep and slightly change the tone a bit. But I believe that the blue will help the logo become more notable if it’s on the shelf with the competitor’s product, as most soy sauce logos in the market usually contain a lot of browns, reds and yellows.
With the 2051 logo, I wanted to give it a very minimalistic, simple and modern touch as this would be used in 30 years times, therefore it will still need to be something that customers can see and relate back to the brand without losing the identity.
I experimented with many outlines of the parrot from the old logo, as well as the layout of it on the sticker. With the shape of the logo, it will be more elongated from the 2021 version to give it a more simple touch. In addition, I chose to explore using alphabets instead of having lots of writing on the designs as it gives a more clean and sleek look. I envision that in 30 years, apart from the Light Soy Sauce, there will also be Sweetened Soy Sauce and Dark Soy Sauce which is commonly used in households. Therefore, having 3 logos by that time would make more sense.
I used the first letter of each word to symbolise the type of soy sauce, For example, if it was Light Soy Sauce the alphabet symbol on the sticker would be L and ข in Thai. If its a Sweetened Soy Sauce it would be S and ห. And for the Dark Soy Sauce, it would be D and ด. With that being decided I took the time to arrange the letterings on the sticker and the placement of it.
In my opinion, I enjoyed working on these logos as it gives me the opportunity to explore and learn to use different tools on Photoshop but also learn to predict what should be done for future products as well. During the time of designing these logos, luckily I have the voices of other people to comment and help me judge on the logos and the arrangements. This was very helpful as the people who helped me are my staff age range from mid-twenties to mid-forties, who buy groceries often, so having their voices helped me a lot on developing the logos that will suit future customers which makes them attracted and buy the product.
After waiting for a couple of days, I have encountered a problem with the soy sauce that has been fermenting in the ceramic barrel. The soybeans itself looked dry and crisp. It didn’t look like the pictures when I was researching online. Therefore I asked the expert who used to work for my great-grandparents soy sauce company back in the days to come and have a look at what’s going on.
When he arrived he said it is too dry, there’s only a little bit of water. This might be caused by the barrel is too large and the amount of water the I’ve put in is too little. Consequently, Mr Jin suggested that he will add more salt water to the fermenting soybeans and transfer the soybeans into another clay barrel which is smaller in size. He said that I shouldn’t worry as this is the right way to go, just that it’s too dry.
Following that Mr Jin decided to dissolve more saltwater to put in the barrel and during that time, he transfers the soybeans from the big barrel into the smaller one as this is suits more with the amount of soybeans used.
In the beginning, before asking for his help, I was nervous as I didn’t know how the soy sauce would turn out. There were multiple questions that came through my mind, will it work? Do I have to start again? If it doesn’t work what should I do? I think that it was the most overwhelming and stressful part during that time, because fermenting the soy sauce needs a lot of time, yet if it fails then we need to start every other procedure again. I was lucky enough to have the hand of Mr Jin, the experts who came to the rescue. After all the problem solving we continue to ferment the first barrel, in addition, starting a new batch incase the first one doesnt work again. With the new batch, I decided to do it with all of Mr Jin’s advice, so this time it must work.
I am excited and eager to know what this homemade soy sauce will taste like and I’m eager to continue with the project. It has been yet another stressful week, but luckily this had taught me to not give up, and ask the experts for help or advice when theres anything that I’m unsure about.
Apart from the storyboard that I’ve also been working on rebranding the logo that I’ve received from my auntie who also kept the recipe.
The old logo has a very strong and vibrant colour and 2 parrots which I believe my great-grandparents were the ones who designed it. I wanted to keep some aspects of the logo for the 2021 logo designs as there are still customers who remember the brand so I didn’t want to completely change the designs because I believe that the older generations are the ones who are important in bringing this brand into the market and their family for the younger generations. However, the logo would have modernised aspects to it to be able to conquer the new younger market.
I’ve tried out different designs, incorporating both old and new aspects to satisfy and being able to get the brand into both markets. The key points that I still want to keep in the logo for 2021 would be the 2 parrots, re-coloured as well as the Chinese letterings on top because it’s the name of the shophouse.
Following the idea of doing a short film documentary about the soy sauce, I have to begin with creating the storyboard. I first began to write out key points which I wanted to include in the storyline which were:
Soy Sauce story
Culture
Local and Authenticity
Identity
Method of Making and Packaging
Location
People
Local Menus
I have further written out a brief outline of what the story could be. In the beginning, it was a bit hard because I don’t know how I should tell the story, whether its purely a short film or purely a documentary, or even can I combine both aspects into one film?
I’ve written the storylines in Thai for easy understanding, however, the longer I take the time to think, and as I have more ideas, I am able to write down more scenes and what I wanted to tell the audience. At this point, it wasn’t a full storyboard yet, just a basic outline of what this film might look like.
Finishing that I continue to draw out the storyboard. I pictured out the camera angles, as well as what I wanted to show in that scene. As it is a film about food, I also wanted to show a close up detailed shot of the food as well, so with that, it will need to incorporate a special technique in filming and editing. With only 14 bullet points in the storyline, I didn’t expect my storyboard to have over 40 scenes to shoot.
The story would begin in the year 2041/51 in a grocery store with me picking up the 2041/51 Soy Sauce bottle into the trolley. Then it will further tell the story of the year 2021 where it flashes back to finding the old logo and recipe in the safe. Following that the story will take us back to the old days, with interviews some acting scenes from people that are associated with the soy sauce. Then it will switch back to 2021, where the rebranding and experiments started. After all the hard work, trial and errors they story develops to the soy sauce being the ones used in many households, restaurants and public events. The scene then would end when the cashier brings us back to reality in 2041/51, putting the soy sauce in the bag to take home. For little details, like the credits at the end, I also wanted to incorporate images of my great-grandparents that I’ve found but also behind the scenes images, including the learning aspects, shooting, experimenting and interviewing as well, this will also have traditional Peranakan music as a background sound to incorporate the culture and authenticity to the end.
Once the feedback from the formative was given, during the weekend I get started with making the soy sauce. Receiving the recipe from an auntie who now lives in Bangkok, I quartered down the recipe as the first batch would ask big as how they use to make them.
I began by checking the qualities of the soybeans they were bought in-store, taking out the ones that are bad and discoloured. Following the recipe, I wash and soak the beans in water for 3-4 hours until it’s doubled in size. Then boiling the soybeans for 30 more minutes and straining out the water, cooling it off before the next step. Once the soybeans are a bit cool to touch, I coated the beans with wheat flour then leave it on the threshing basket until it changes in colour.
Soaking the soybeans
Soybeans after 30 mins boil
Coating it with Wheat Flour
Coating it with Wheat Flour
Day 1 After Coating
Day 2 After Coating
Those are only the first few steps of making the soy sauce, being able to first-hand experience that has taught me not only the process but also how labour intensive it gets. Making the soy sauce doesn’t only requires soybeans, and a good supply of water but also it consumes your time. It was an enjoyable experience to do this and I hope that the next step of waiting for the acid bacteria to grow and transferring it into the barrels would be a success.
Once I gathered the brief research, have the Research Question and the creative outcome, I had a chance to talk to Xavier and Russell about it which was the formative assessment.
I was nervous before and during the talk as I didn’t know the feedback or how the project would go after this, whether they will like the idea or not, or even if I have communicated the idea properly.
Talking through the short brief presentation the feedback I received was mostly positive, Xavier also mentioned about a documentary called Hero, Dreams of Sushi which I should watch. In addition, making the film authentic would be a great option as this will bring the uniqueness to the project. They both also suggested that I should start making y own soy sauce, so that I know the process and know how it’s done, the difficulties or any errors.
They seem to like the idea, which I am now stressed as the hopes are high and I would want to create something to meet their expectations or even go higher if it’s possible. With the feedback given, I wanted to do better and push further with the project
As my mum has a group chat with the other family members who use to live in that shophouse, I was lucky enough to be able to get in contact with my uncle who kept the ceramic barrels that my great-grandparents used to make and ferment the soy sauce.
I went to his house and have a look at the barrels, though he turned it all into lotus ponds, I was able to grasp the idea of how they used to use the barrels. The older ones seem like it was made from cement clay which my great-grandpa imported it from China. However as years go by, it started to break therefore he changed to these ceramic clay pots instead which we could easily find in Phuket.
Where they use to ferment the soybeans
The old imported cement barrels
The container they used to transport the soy sauce from the factory to the shop
My uncle later told me that there was once a hotel that came to ask him to purchase the old cement barrel and at that time he sold it for 1,500 Baht which is around £37, however, he said that prices would go up by this time as it is considered as an antique that you can’t find in Phuket anymore and it is estimated to be around 4,500 Baht which is approximately £110.
Being able to go and see what they used before have given me more ideas and information on what I should do with the project. And therefore the final outcome has to turn out good as this soy sauce is a valuable asset of my family.
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