Major Project 2 - Final Compilation

Major Project 2

02.2.2026 - 20.3.2026 (Week 1 - Week 7)

Qian Guoyi | 0369462

Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media

Final Compilation

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INSTRUCTIONS

Group members & Topic confirmation

1.During the holiday, we confirmed our group members: LEE JIA ROU (group leader), QIAN GUOYI, CHEN NAN

2.We discussed and decided to continue the theme of Major project 1 and continue making Peranakan culture blind boxes.

Brand significance explanation

Using designers' visual design to promote Peranakan culture

Building an independent brand for Peranakan culture

The goal: Peranakan culture originated from the evolution of Chinese and Malaysian cultures. Chinese culture coexisted with local and Western elements in Southeast Asian society, creating a cultural landscape that is both familiar and unfamiliar. It is also another form of continuation. Exploring this culture from a Chinese perspective gives it new vitality, allowing it to continue to be passed down.

Mission:Our mission is to tell the story of Peranakan cultural "fusion" through contemporary design.Combining Chinese culture with diverse Malaysian elements, presenting it in a youthful and easily understood way, making tradition no longer distant, but a cultural experience that can be seen, collected, and loved.

Vision：To become a leading cultural lifestyle brand that brings Malaysian cultures and traditions to a global audience through innovative and exciting products.

Outcome：A  brand logo, blind box packaging, character cards, posters, shopping bags, and other merchandise.

Product Design and Cultural Core:

1. Character Design: Inspiration can be drawn from historical figures in professions (embroiderers, chefs) for character design.

2. Visual Elements: Incorporating iconic elements such as Peranakan tile patterns and embroidery designs from Kobaya clothing.

Designing a Character Series with Stories: Avoiding designs that are simply "dolls."

Profession Series: Showcasing the exquisite craftsmanship of Peranakan culture, such as embroiderers making beaded shoes or chefs cooking Peranakan cuisine.

Historical Figure Series: Drawing inspiration from Peranakan oral history or folk tales.

Modern Fusion Series: Combining traditional Peranakan clothing elements with contemporary trends (such as streetwear and techwear) best reflects the vitality of the culture. When Nonya Delicatessen upgraded its brand, it chose to give the traditional Peranakan doll image a more modern and friendly design while retaining the iconic clothing colors.

Each blind box includes: A "Peranakan Story Card"—not an encyclopedia, but fragments of life.

Design Method: Visually "Bride Peranakan," not museum Peranakan.

Q-version but not childish.

Sophisticated colors.

Modern aesthetics.

Visual Reference

Nio Sayang Mood board

Brand Name：NIO SAYANG

Can be understood as “Beloved Nyonya” or “Cherished Lady.

reflects love for Peranakan heritage, respect for Nyonya womanhood, and a sense of care passed down through generations.”

NIO（Hokkien）：Nyonya names frequently include the Hokkien term "Neo" (or Neoh, Nio) derived from the character Niang (娘), meaning lady or mother.

SAYANG（Malay）：Is a Malay word meaning dearly loved, beloved, or cherished. It expresses warmth, emotional closeness, and affection—often used to describe love for family members, treasured objects, or something held close to the heart.

Brand Values：Fusion，Continuity，Nostalgic。

Mission：Our mission is to bring Peranakan culture into contemporary life through unique blind box and packaging designs.

Vision：To become a leading cultural lifestyle brand that brings Malaysian cultures and traditions to a global audience through innovative and exciting products.

Project Objectives：Launch a new Brand:

An innovative blind box product that showcases Malaysian culture, featuring interactive elements that enhance consumer engagement and storytelling.

Logo Design

Fig1.1 Initial logo design

The logo in the third row was designed by me; I referenced the patterns and shapes of Peranakan bricks.

Fig1.2 Second logo attempt

Final Logo Design

Fig1.3 Final Logo Design

Our final logo design adopts a purely typographic approach, using an elegant serif typeface to reflect the softness and refinement of Peranakan culture. The curves and delicate details of the serif font enhance the visual richness while echoing the craftsmanship and feminine qualities embedded in the culture, making the brand identity more distinctive and culturally meaningful.

Blind box character design（Chen Nan）

Fig2.1 Character sketch

Fig2.1 Character Attempt

Fig2.2 Character Attempt

We chose to use the unique clothing and patterns of the Peranakan people to design the young Peranakan girls' clothes.

For their clothing, we selected the most classic Peranakan colors, red、green and yellow.

Large pink fabric flowers combined with small, deep pink flowers echo the "floral" imagery of Southeast Asia and are common beaded headdresses in Peranakan makeup.

A black headband adorned with pearls blends Chinese hair accessories with a Southeast Asian aristocratic feel, enhancing the young Peranakan girls' sophistication.

Fig2.3 Character Improvement

Since the first design lacked distinctive features, we changed the head size from a 1:1 head-to-body ratio to 1:1.5.

1. Basic Styling: From a simple updo to a fuller, higher bun with enhanced hair shine.

New Additions: Large five-petaled South Sea flowers (with white textured details), multi-layered peony design. Two gold hairpins to enhance the Chinese + South Sea aristocratic feel.

Retained: Pearl headband, but the pearls are arranged more neatly and have improved luster.

Tassel Accessories: Added dangling gold beaded tassels that extend from the floral design to the sides of the ears, adding a touch of elegance and dynamism.

2. Face and Expression

Eye Color: From warm brown to pinkish-purple, more dreamy and with a stronger South Sea girl vibe.

Details: Added highlight to the whites of the eyes, more refined and upturned eyeliner, more defined eyelashes, and a more expressive gaze.

Skin Tone and Blush: Skin tone is more translucent, blush application is more natural, maintaining a gentle and vibrant look.

Expression: The corners of the mouth were slightly adjusted, making the overall expression more gentle and elegant.

Fig2.4 Final character design

Fig2.5 Facial expressions

Brand Guideline（Jia Rou）

Blind box packaging design（Qian Guoyi）

First draft of the packaging design for the knife.

Fig3.1 First attempt

1. Hexagon Column Box Design

The blind box uses a hexagon column shape instead of the common square box.The shape is inspired by a Nyonya lantern.

2. Nyonya Door Window Design

One side of the box is designed as a Nyonya-style door.The door uses Velcro, so it can be opened.When opening the door, customers can see the blind box character inside.

3. Lenticular Logo Window

Another side has a lenticular window made with transparent plastic.

When the inner structure rotates, the logo changes visually.

4. Rotating Inner Structure

Inside the box is a rotating cylinder structure.

Users can turn the structure to interact with the box.

5. Stable Structure Design

The lid and the base have slots to hold the cylinder.This keeps the cylinder stable when rotating.

Fig3.2 Second attempt

Based on the first dieline, we refined and adjusted the internal cylindrical structure by introducing three supporting points combined with rectangular elements to better secure the semi-cylindrical form and the character placement. This improves both structural stability and spatial support. In addition, a base was added at the bottom to complete the overall form, making it visually closer to a Peranakan lantern, and further strengthening the connection between the cultural concept and the design.

For the materials, we used grey board and wood, which were cut and assembled to build a solid three-dimensional structure with a refined tactile quality. The graphic design was printed as stickers and carefully applied onto the blind box, allowing the visual elements to integrate with the physical form while enhancing the overall finish and craftsmanship.

Fig3.3 First attempt at graphic design

Fig3.4 Final packaging graphic design

The unfolded packaging simulates a traditional Nanyang courtyard, using elements such as latticed windows, wooden doors, and steps to create a Peranakan lifestyle scene.

The main visual on the right is our theme, NANYANG COURTYARD, paired with a cute Peranakan figure holding an oil-paper umbrella, combining the themes of "lanterns + flowers + Peranakan style."

A gradient transition is also used: from warm yellow at the top to mint green at the bottom, simulating the atmosphere of "sunlight streaming into the courtyard."

The Peranakan latticed window on the left uses a blue-green window frame with gradient pink and purple floral patterns, recreating the latticed windows of Peranakan architecture.

The central display case uses floral frames to showcase different Peranakan IP characters, representing the "draw hidden items, collect the whole set" gameplay of the blind box.

Fig3.5 Packaging Mockup

Fig3.5 Mobile social media Mockup

Fig3.6 Social media

Final product

Final Presentation PPT

NIO SAYANG

Group signatures

REFLECTION

This project allowed me to gain deeper insights and growth in teamwork, brand development, and packaging design. Firstly, in terms of teamwork, I realized the importance of communication and clear task distribution. Each team member contributed ideas from different perspectives, enabling us to approach problems more comprehensively. When challenges arose—such as packaging size mismatches, unstable structures, or materials lacking durability—we worked through them by discussing, testing, and refining our solutions. This iterative process not only improved the final outcome but also strengthened our team cohesion.

From a branding and design perspective, I developed a stronger understanding of how visual elements communicate brand identity. The patterns, colors, and details of each product play a crucial role in shaping how the brand is perceived. Therefore, maintaining color consistency and a unified brand tone is essential when designing packaging and other brand materials. This helps build a clear and recognizable brand image while enhancing professionalism. Overall, this project significantly improved both my design thinking and practical skills, and it has helped me better define my future direction in branding and packaging design.