Multidisciplinary Project I / Blog Journal
Naura / 0356798 / Interactive Spatial Design
MDP60108 / Multidisciplinary Project I
Reflective writing via Blog Journal
To Do:
A digital compilation of your journal and industry report in Assessment 5. You are highly encouraged to include additional documentation of your design journey to ensure a comprehensive submission.
Week 00 - Onboarding
I came to the company a week early just to get settled in earlier (which I don't mind!) where we started with a briefing from HR and then moved on to doing simple tasks so I can acclimate to the working conditions of the company. I got briefed with Davies (my supervisor)
I was also introduced to the company's Plaky board (or maybe it's just the 3D design team) where I can see the progress of each project that the company is in charged of (even the past ones)
Week 01 -
This week at Virtual Tech Frontier, my entry into professional event visualization and extended reality (XR) development was split across two distinct project scopes. For the My XR Lab project, my task was to optimize a complex vehicle asset by executing polycount reduction and modeling an integrated suspension system for real-time mobile XR deployment. Concurrently, I was integrated into the AUX Training Visualisation project to mock up a spatial photobooth design and adjust the configuration of client-facing presentation slides to align with sudden budget constraints.
Stepping into a fast-paced agency workflow as a student presented an immediate learning curve regarding visual pacing. During the initial design phases of the AUX photobooth, I found myself getting overly caught up in adding micro-details too early. Under my supervisor's guidance, I realized that during the early mockup phase, prioritizing grand visual composition and communicating the overall "look and feel" to a client is much more valuable than final content accuracy. This shifted my mindset from chasing perfection to focusing on agile, iterative production.
In the classroom, 3D modeling assignments rarely punish you for sloppy mesh geometry, but the industry pipeline is completely different. Working on the XR engine deployment forced me to realize how academic concepts like Face Orientation dictate real-time user experiences. Flipped normals, which look fine in standard viewports, cause total texturing failure when exported into game engines like Unity or Unreal. Furthermore, calculating real-world metric-to-imperial conversions (1' = 304.8 mm) helped me understand that digital models must strictly adhere to physical spatial limits to be practically viable.
Week 02 -
The scope of week two focused heavily on spatial atmosphere creation and heavy asset scene optimization
As the geometric complexity of the MERU Perkeso interior environment expanded, my laptop's hardware performance began to drop significantly, threatening our strict delivery schedule. This technical hurdle forced me to seek guidance from senior designers on system performance. I learned to split my workspace into a secondary layout window, using a wireframe mode to manipulate cameras with the move tool. This workflow not only kept my hardware from crashing by slashing the GPU workload, but it drastically improved my spatial awareness and placement accuracy along the local camera axes.
While academic projects often rely on generic ambient lighting, this week forced me to apply the mathematical logic of the Three-Point Lighting Formula to evoke emotional weight in a corporate space. I learned that a Key Light must be strategically positioned at a 45 degree angle from the camera to define the spatial mood and construct depth. I paired this with a softer Fill Light on the opposite side to save critical background details from pure black rasterization, and a Back/Rim Light behind the subject to create a clean halo effect. This synthesis proved that lighting is a structural design tool used to manipulate how an audience visually navigates an environment.
Week 03 -
This week involved finalizing the rendering and illumination pipelines for MERU Perkeso and taking over the texturing upgrades for My XR Lab. Based on senior feedback, the interactive table and podium assets required a shift from their original flat finishes into a structurally complex, "panely" sci-fi aesthetic.
Transitioning to an intricate sci-fi art style required software competencies I hadn't fully explored before. Initially, adding detailed panel cuts manually to the mesh geometry caused severe topological distortion. After consulting with my team, I pivoted to a non-destructive workflow by learning Substance Painter from scratch. This experience built immense professional resilience, showing me that a design member must be agile enough to learn and deploy new production toolsets on the fly to fulfill precise client briefs.
This week beautifully synthesized advanced deformation theories with performance optimization. To align assets over uneven terrain smoothly without damaging mesh weight, I used a Shrinkwrap modifier on a Lattice parented to the target object—a technique that completely prevents visual mesh distortion. Furthermore, I learned to optimize interior render times by manipulating Blender’s Ray Visibility settings. By disabling the Shadow pass for structural ceilings, I allowed external HDRI environmental maps to illuminate the scene naturally. Finally, I bridged cinematic camera theory with spatial design by using a wide Field of View (FOV) angle to intentionally exaggerate perspective, making small, enclosed booth models look heroic and vast.
Week 04 -
Week four stood out as a major milestone, as I was handed my first full-scale corporate event project: HP: Amplify Elevate. My role involved attending collaborative project briefings, analyzing site floorplans, researching rental furniture catalogs to match strict budget allowances, and designing layout zones 1 through 4 along with their primary backdrop visuals.
Diving into a major international corporate project was initially overwhelming due to the sheer volume of assets and moving parts. With guidance from my direct senior designer, I managed my anxiety by systematically breaking down the space into bite-sized operational sections. This built massive professional confidence, proving I could keep up with professional creative workflows without compromising design depth under tight schedules.
My academic texturing workflows were completely upgraded this week as I transitioned from manual, destructive brush-painting to procedural systems. In Substance Painter, I mastered utilizing Color Selection masks mapped to Blender ID maps to instantly isolate and texture separate mesh parts with a single click. I combined this with the vector Path Tool for editable panel line creation and explored Ambient Occlusion (AO) baking. Baking shadows directly into texture coordinates protects game engine frame rates because the system doesn't have to calculate real-time shadows. I learned this requires strict UV non-overlapping rules to prevent shadow bleed.
Week 05 -
The scope for HP: Amplify Elevate intensified this week, requiring rapid revisions to branding graphics and spatial taglines for various zones. A major task involved building structural layout alternatives (Plans B and C) and superimposing our conceptual digital 3D stage mockups over real-world physical venue photography for executive review.
Manually trying to align a 3D digital camera to perfectly match the perspective, distortion, and focal length of real venue photos was incredibly time-consuming and prone to errors. To solve this, I researched and integrated an automated camera-matching tool called fSpy. By pinpointing vanishing points on the physical room photography, fSpy automatically aligned my Blender camera. Taking the initiative to research and implement this pipeline automation saved our team hours of manual perspective adjustment.
This week bridged digital design with real-world spatial constraints and industry terminology. I moved past abstract digital naming conventions and learned that the physical structures holding massive LED walls are called risers, and standard hospitality venues rely on specific 6ft x 2ft foldable tables known as oblongs. For digital post-production, I synthesized academic digital imaging skills by utilizing Photoshop’s Dodge tool set specifically to "Highlights" with a low 20-25% exposure threshold and "Protect Tones" disabled. This provided targeted, cinematic light blooms across our backdrops without burning out texture details.
Week 06 -
This week expanded into concurrent multi-project execution. I balanced design updates for HP: Amplify Elevate (including Consumer and Gaming turnover booths) with the Microsoft CTOS project, where I updated display elements to reflect Windows 11 Pro compliance and added AI-generated graphics to external exhibition walls. Concurrently, I helped design the Skechers Fun Run exhibition layout, mapping product showcases, retail areas, and attendee interaction spaces into a physical canopy footprint.
This period served as the ultimate test of my pacing and workplace adaptability. With my senior teammate away on leave for the entire week, I suddenly became fully or partially responsible for executing three corporate projects at once. Under the direct supervision of Davies, I had to master project management principles to distinguish between what was "important" versus "urgent" to keep our production pipeline moving smoothly without missing delivery dates.
In academia, spatial layouts are rarely limited by operational timetables, but this week forced me to think critically about real-world retail restrictions. Designing the Skechers setup taught me how spatial flow must adjust to venue rules. I learned that shopping mall activations offer structural design flexibility but are heavily restricted by overnight build windows after standard retail hours close. Furthermore, layouts must be planned defensively so they never obstruct permanent store sightlines or pedestrian walkways.
Week 07 -
After getting through back-to-back public holidays, I shifted away from rough creative mockups to the technical side of things. My main focus was executing the Final Artwork (FA) files for the Microsoft CTOS walls and setting up print-ready backdrops for HP Amplify Elevate 2026.
Working on technical print handoffs taught me to be incredibly disciplined and patient. When handling logos sent over by clients, I often encountered messy, locked PDF files. I had to manually clean them up by releasing clipping masks and ungrouping paths just to select individual lines.
This week completely changed how I look at file preparation by showing me what it takes to actually print something for the real world. I had to practice a strict FA Framework that I've actually never heard before:
- Embed Linked Images: Forcing external graphics into the file so they don't go missing.
- Bleed & Margins: Leaving extra space around the edges for physical cutting tolerances.
- Outline Text: Converting text to paths (Ctrl + Shift + O) so fonts never break on the printer's computer.
- Packaging: Gathering all fonts and links into one clean folder (Alt + Shift + Ctrl + P)
Week 08 -
For HP Amply Elevate 2026, I had to change a center backdrop to a 22' x 12' screen and create an itemized Final Artwork Checklist. I also got back again to the EPF 75th Anniversary project, using AI image generators to research and brainstorm grand, official-looking booth structure.
As I started using our company’s subscription AI tools more often, I struggled with getting the designs to look realistic. I learned that a beautiful concept on screen is useless if it can't actually be built. I had to practice my prompt engineering to focus heavily on realistic materials and lighting layouts rather than abstract shapes.
I learned about professional accountability this week. We created an FA Schedule (PowerPoint Blueprint) that lists every single asset with its exact measurements. This document acts as a shield for the designer, proving the client approved those exact dimensions before building. On the tech side, I used Illustrator’s Windows > View > Actual View trick. This blows up the artboard to its real-world physical print size on your screen, which is an amazing system to catch blurry pixelation before wasting a printing budget.
Week 09 -
I organized the presentation sequence for the EPF project and generated compact 10'x10' layouts for Watsons x Beautopia (specifically for Alia and Miss Gadis). The best part of the week was leaving the studio for an industry field trip to the Kuala Lumpur International Mobility Show (KLIMS 2026) to study massive exhibition booths.
The field trip completely changed how I look at design. In school, we are stuck looking at a monitor, but seeing those car booths in person made me realize that massive curved screens rely on interlocking panels, and your artwork resolution must perfectly match the physical LED pixel density to avoid looking blurry and distorted. It challenged me to always think about hardware limits when planning a space.
The last week of this stretch got me away from my desk to see how design works in the real world. For the EPF pitch, I realized that non-designer clients understand creative ideas much better if you tell a visual story that builds up momentum to a grand tagline reveal, instead of just putting all of the information into one slide. My supervisor, Davies, also taught me the "Finished Wall Rule" - any booth wall that a visitor can see must have finished branding on it, and you can only leave it plain if an adjacent booth blocks it completely out of sight.
Week 10 -
On Week 6, I mentioned to Davies that I wanted to learn more on videography and today he told me I would be "shared" with the videography team, whereas they would give me small tasks (not the whole project) so I can contribute something..
Week 11 -
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Week 12 -
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Week 13 -
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Week 14 -
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Week 15 -
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Week 16 - Final Week
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Reflective Journal
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