I bought this version of Frankenstein in Eslite right after I saw it. I was so much fond of this cover design. This work of Gothic English literature has its impacts on modern minds even after two centuries. The signifiers throughout the chapters convey the timeless messages that serve as a mirror to propel us into some profound mental activities. The brutality of this indicator amplifies our fear, as flawed human beings, of being replaced as individuals or, even more horrif

My memory of consuming the must-read translated version as a kid is blurry. Perhaps, I was too young to understand that scenario in which an elder but proud fisherman eventually had to accept the fact that he was losing his strength with age. It seemed to be a plain voyage of an old man fighting for his life against a fish in the ocean the whole time; however, the most gripping part for me was the descriptive writing, so vivid that I could visualise how the skiff was being dr

To Kill a Mockingbird , a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel written by Harper Lee, is such a well-wrought and deeply humane work of literature. It is so gripping that I could read it for an entire day despite Lee’s rhetorical writing style, which a non-native reader might find challenging. Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit them, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird. That is a story set in the 1930s, when racial inequality was much more pronounced. It is narr

The nocturnal blink lit up the dark refuge, Igniting a spurt of laughter from a toddler. Catering on rocks, bathing in rivers, The children basked in their freedom beneath the sun. An aura of light shimmered over the tranquil lake. Their faces glowed with pleasure. With the earth as their bed, The brother scattered fireflies around, Gallantly tucking the baby girl in at night. On the brink of firestorm, They dwelled in desolation, Untouched, sheltered, yet isolated. Destituti

Masterpieces last forever. Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984), written in 1948 by George Orwell, depicts a world that is governed by dictatorship. People are classified into different classes in a hierarchical society, where the proles who sit at the very bottom were neglected as wild animals, engaging in labour work, uneducated and poor forever. However, “only proles and animals are free,” being outer party members who work for Big Brother in forging history, erasing words and doi

Do we have to care about the history? Why do we bother to study the past? It is always an interesting debate in education. The dates, the places, and the names on the textbooks generally seem irrelevant to our daily lives, but it is still an essential for students to delve into ancestors’ memories. In my personal experience, being a “historical illiterate” could result from my history of being terribly exploited by this inefficient and inflexible educational system in my coun

It’s been one and a half year since homecoming from the UK after graduation. The flight to Taipei was in the end of January 2020 right before the outbreaks of COVID-19. I’ve never travelled abroad ever since. After three-month break, I returned to work as a role of Associate Art Director in an advertising agency, which is a completed milestone of my career plan made before going abroad. "Is it necessary to have a master degree working in advertising?" A predecessor who have l

距離從英國畢業返鄉已一年半載，當時抵台是二零年一月底，緊接疫情爆發，從此再未出過國。休息三個月便回歸職場，進入廣告代理商擔任副藝術指導一職，算是階段性完成出國唸書前所立下的規劃與目標。先前遇過早期曾在廣代工作的前輩說：「做廣告還需要唸到碩士喔？」對我而言，取得碩士學位只是一種達成理想的實質回饋，就讀廣告科系是一張通往職涯目標的門票，選擇出國則是希望打開眼界、看見不一樣的世界。 目前任職的公司電通國華(Dentsu One Taipei)，是電通國際行銷傳播集團(Dentsu International)旗下的一間創意公司。整個電通集團(Dentsu Group)分成兩大部分：電通日本(Dentsu Japan Network)及電通國際 (Dentsu International)。約莫四月從主管那得知一個由集團主辦的青年創意交流會(Young Innovator Workshop)，開放三十歲以下(含)、具備英文能力的年輕員工自薦報名。我幸運地成為十六位獲選的其一：八位來自電通國際、另外八位則來自電通日本，將隨機兩兩配對組成八隊，並分派導師，進

It was a journey of discovering the wonder of one of my favourite artists, Bridget Riley, whose works were curated in Hayward Gallery in London in 2019. Purely from the perspective of ‘seeing’ itself, I found abstract art was particularly evocative. Geometrics objectifies the rhythm of nature through the lens of visual sensations with composition in simplicity, conveying single-minded messages without any predisposed definition and indication. As a thinking artist doubles as

I have been reading ‘What They Didn’t Teach You In Design School’ written by Phil Cleaver, who is a multi-award winning designer. It guides design graduates to step their first foot into design industry from several perspectives. I wish I could have found a book like this sort and read it all when starting my career in design industry seven years ago. During my time working on considerable projects in a design company, I have developed my technical skills and cultivated my ae

二零一九年十二月的畢業典禮，我正式以最高榮譽資格取得英國里茲大學廣告設計的碩士學位(MA Advertising and Design in University of Leeds with Distinction)。 同年九月結束畢業製作之後，我搬到了倫敦，希望能利用剩下的五個月好好體驗倫敦生活，同時試著爭取任何能夠繼續留在英國的機會。回顧這段日子以來所有的酸甜苦辣，我能用三個字簡單總結這段旅程——值得了。因為這一年半可以說是我人生中相當重要的里程碑，也是一個很關鍵的轉捩點。 獲得碩士學位雖然是最主要的目的，但並非唯一甚至不是最重要的成就感來源，而是適應生活與學習過程中的經驗培養與觀點塑形。從每一次的小組專案中學習如何與來自各式各樣文化背景的人相處、溝通與合作，化解衝突並取得一致觀點。且同時維持工作效率、品質與小組氣氛。我領悟到看待同一件事情的角度及立場的多元程度，也因此訓練自己在每一次議題探討中都能夠適時切換角度，並從不同觀點拼湊事情的全貌。所以，我在這裡重新定義了自己的價值，也重新定位自己的視野與水平。 關於學業 第二學期的課程總共有四門，

A change of eating habit is quite observed in recent years. People start consuming less meats and further seeking alternatives due to the...

台灣政府立法院於2019年5月17日正式通過同性婚姻法，其中《司法院釋字第748號解釋施行法》第4條，「雙方當事人依本法向戶政機關辦理結婚登記」，明定同志伴侶可「結婚登記」。此舉讓台灣成為第一個邁出這一步的亞洲國家，對廣大的台灣同性伴侶以及支持他們的家人朋友們來說大概是今年...

During the time I travelled in Austria, I visited Hallstatt - the most picturesque town where the oldest salt mine is. Also, I had a glance of the place where Mozart used to live in Salzburg. The last but not the least is the capital of Austria, Vienna. It is known as 'the capital of classic music', having a specific area where all the significant heritages located including palaces, galleries, museums, gardens and monuments. I went to an enchanting music concert in Schönbrun

I went to London for second time during New Year. Basically, I was all alone and surprisingly figured out what type of trip would be my...

Marjorie And Arnold Ziff Community Centre, University of Leeds 十二月中旬，碩士學程的第一學期結束在聖誕假期開端。 回想起九月底的第一堂課，穿著休閒式黑西裝、一頭中長灰髮看似已有滿堂子孫的設計系主任在台上滔滔不絕...

漫漫等候・入學許可 不管多漫長，等待都是必經過程，而天天打開電子郵件確認是否有與學校相關的未讀信件更是例行公事。 先前提到英國學校多採先送先審，然而每個學校也有自己審核申請的方式，無法知道什麼時候可以得到結果。在這段期間內，我陸續收到了兩三封拒絕信，這讓我感到相當挫敗。拒絕的原因不外乎是我大學的學術背景，不然就是我的作品偏商業設計，與學校所期望的有所出入，因而沒有辦法提供給我就讀碩士的機會。 而轉機，總是會在沒有預想到的時候出現。約莫三月左右，我已拿到了三個 條件式入學許可 (Conditional Offer) 。所謂的條件式入學所代表的意義是，學校認可申請者的能力與條件，也將提供就讀碩士學程的機會，但礙於部分門檻尚未達成或部分文件還未補齊，只能提供條件式入學許可，一但滿足這些缺少的條件後，學校便會核發 無條件式入學許可 (Unconditional Offer) 。補足條件的時間點沒有一定，視各個學校而定，有些學校甚至沒有截止日期，一直到學校寄發警告信告知最後期限為止。當初我十二月才報考雅思，月中拿到合格的雅思成績，一直等到我拿到了條件式入學

一千零一篇・自傳與作品集 申請英國碩士學程必備的文件有： 個人簡歷 / 履歷表 (Curriculum Vitae, CV)、自傳 (Personal Statement / SOP)、最高學歷畢業證書 (Certificate or Diploma) 與成績單 (Transcripts)、推薦信 (Reference)、有效護照 (Passport) ；若英語並非第一語言的申請者，則須附上 雅思英語成績(IELTS) ，分數標準依各校系規定為主，比較特別的是，英國大部分學校可後補英語成績，不需在申請的第一時間就附上。有些校系會特別要求額外的項目，像是藝術設計類需要附上作品集 (Portfolio)、有些商科要求GMAT成績，在我申請的學校之中也有需要額外撰寫讀書計畫 (Study Plan / Study Proposal) 的科系。通常 十月 是各個學校開放申請的時間，國際學生沒有截止日期，推測是到隔年開學前只要有名額且趕得上學校的行政手續應該都有機會可以申請，但英國學校大部分採 先送先審 ，相對地後期申請的門檻也會越來越嚴謹。 基本上，撰寫

二十五歲這一年，我決定離鄉背井。 下定決心的那一刻，有些興奮喜悅、也有些緊張不安，還有一些隨之而來的徬徨，以及對未知的期待與恐懼。這種感覺與初入職場很相似，都是對於未來的幻想憧憬和即將實踐理想的那股悸動。 從事將近五年的商業設計，我發現我的生活已徹徹底底與設計緊密結合，當我仍然持續在每天的工作上用盡腦力的同時，我意識到，若是設計思維在日常中無處不見，那麼身為一位設計師，如何在日復一日的生活中學會反思？而我，到底還能夠追求什麼？一如往常兢兢業業、求知若渴，我卻發現這樣的環境已不足以滿足嗷嗷待哺的好奇心，知道在看不見的地平線遠處藏著多如星斗的新奇事物，我從未耳聞目睹；我渴望衝突、碰撞與嘗試，追求成就感、甚至是挫敗感，因為一切感官刺激都是成長的養分。既然如此，那就去挖掘一個我未曾謀面的世界。 選校・選系・從零到一 出國念設計，英國，當然是不可缺少的選項之一，也是我在諸多考量下平衡理想與現實後的首選。我的目標是拿到 文學碩士學位 (Master of Arts, MA)，英國大學碩士學程大部分採 一年制 ，比起其他國家的兩年制 (例如美國、加拿大)

Design, different from the purely so-called fine art, is my passion and what I live for. Several intrinsic elements constitute design,...