CTS B | Week 4+5 Field Trip + Analyze Artistic Traditions and Lineages
My initial attraction to the Bus Guide 88 poster was purely visual, but it quickly became a way for me to understand artistic traditions and lineages in graphic design. Its bold colors and dynamic forms immediately reminded me of the Seoul ’88 Olympic poster. Beyond the visual similarity, the Olympic imagery carries strong personal meaning. The 1988 Olympics played a major role in bringing global recognition to Korea, and as a Korean, seeing this aesthetic echoed in another work made me reflect on how design can carry cultural pride and historical memory. Both posters express the energetic, maximalist style of 1980s Postmodernism—saturated colors, geometric rhythm, and a sense of optimism—revealing a shared lineage shaped by globalisation and rapid development.
This idea became clearer during our class field trip to the National Gallery Singapore, where I got to see Chua Mia Tee’s National Language Class (1959) in real life. Even though it looks nothing like the 1980s posters, it belongs to another important artistic tradition: Southeast Asian Social Realism. Through its careful depiction of students learning Malay, the painting reflects the post-war effort to define identity and nationhood. It continues a lineage of realist art that documents cultural transitions and social hopes.
Placing these works side by side helped me see how different traditions—Postmodern graphic design and Social Realism—respond to the needs of their time. One represents global modernization and national emergence; the other captures the quieter shaping of identity. Analyzing these lineages encourages me to think about how my own design work can draw from history and culture, not just style, to create more meaningful outcomes.
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References:
“Bus Guide 88 (1988).” graphic.sg, Singapore Graphic Archives, 1988, www.graphic.sg/gallery/bus-guide-88-1988.
“Logo Design.” Seoul 1988 Summer Olympics, Olympic.org, Organising Committee for the Games of the XXIV Olympiad, www.olympics.com/en/olympic-games/seoul-1988/logo-design.
Ting, Kennie. “National Language Class, Chua Mia Tee, Singapore, 1959, Oil on Canvas.” Roots.sg, National Heritage Board, 31 Dec. 2018, www.roots.gov.sg/stories-landing/stories/the-singapore-story-through-60-objects/art-historical/national-language-class/story.