Hong Kong dialect

INTRODUCTION

一開始設計這本書的概念是，想以中國字體設計（CHINESE TYPOGRAPHY）或圖畫文字（PICTURE WORDS/ PICTOGRAM）的表達手法去設計這本關於「香港話」的書。最後，這本《我手畫我口》嚴選出二十個「口」字旁的香港KEYWORDS，把它們化成圖畫文字，各自訴說自己的故事。


為什麼想研究「香港話」呢？
其實，身為一個中國人、一個香港人，我個人也頗為欣賞中國文化與香港文化的。而我亦是非常愛我們自己的香港話的。香港話就是代表了香港人，也代表了一部份的本地文化。

香港話就是一種充滿活力的方言。它每天也不停地、不斷地在變；有加、有減；傳媒、青少年天天不斷製造出新造字；使這香港話充滿生機。我個人認為，雖然香港話是融合了各個地方的語言和文化，好像很雜，但就好像是最繪形繪聲、最跳躍、最到肉、最親切的一種方言。當然，這只是身為香港人的感覺。

所以，我覺得我們有理由和責任去保存或記錄下這些有趣的香港話，這種次語言、次文化。

何謂香港話？
其實，香港話與傳統的廣府話是有分別的。香港話可以說是變種了的廣府話。「香港話」與「廣府話」的差別有三。第一，香港話裡明顯夾雜大量「原裝」英文詞彙，而廣府話裡的外來語卻多是以翻譯詞語的形態存在。這是因為以前香港是殖民地的原固，英文的地位比中文更為重要，好像懂「英文」就是高人一第；所以港人主動引進「原裝」英文，以使香港人所用粵語顯得「神聖」起來。

第二，香港話的新陳代謝速率甚高，尤其在「新詞鑄造」方面，但廣府話則較穩定，新詞的「出生率」及「死亡率」都低。所謂「適者生存」，「追求女性」一詞由「追女」變成「溝女」到「溫女」，再到「𠝹女」。

第三，香港話乃全方位開放，西洋化、東洋化均可，可以說：香港話甚具「容納器量」，原則性不強。倠廣府話在這方面則明顯彈性不足。香港話東洋化的現象已是很久以前已經開始的事了，由當年日本把大量的外文翻譯成漢字開始，日本漢字不斷回流中國、香港。但這幾年這種現象已到水深火熱的狀態，尤其是多本雜誌與報張使用日本漢字寫文章，簡直是到走火入魔的地步。

「打開Milk這本年青人消費指南，充滿開不懂的日式漢字，如「達人」、「單品」、「氣持」……在文章中也有用上日式句子結構，稱呼人叫「XX氏」。最近娛樂新聞湯告魯斯被記者整蠱以假水槍射面，娛樂版報導大字標題是「湯告魯斯遭顏射」，「顏射」一詞來自日本AV男主角最後關頭抽出，將精液射在女優面上，竟然用在中文報紙標題。」
──劉細良《日本癡漢》

香港話還有其他的特色的，如「無厘頭」、「MK」、「HEA」等香港詞成為了一些青少年的生活態度。香港人也很喜歡用「X」、「咩」、「乜」作為表達一些模糊的字語，表現出一些幽默感。香港話也是有超多的助語詞的，如「囉、啦、呀、唷」，使香港話充滿了感情。

而香港話可以說是集各家之大成的一種方言，所以，香港話的詞彙是來自世界各地的。根據彭志銘的《次文化語言．香港新方言概論》，香港話可能來自：

1) 古代漢語；
2) 廣東地區方言（例如客家話）；
3) 外省語（例如上海話）；
4) 外國語（例如英語）；
5) 書面語；
6) 歌謠（例如童謠、民歌）；
7) 背語（即行頭話、術語）；
8) 格言、諺語；
9) 俏皮話（例如歇後語）；
10) 口頭禪；
11) 穢語（俗稱粗口）；
12) 江湖切口（例如黑社會暗語）；
13) 佛道真言；
14) 生活文娛詞彙；
15) 地名及人名等。

為什麼選香港話的「口族字」呢？
第一， 這二十個「口族字」可以代表典型的香港話。這些「口族字」有齊所有以上所提及香港話的特徵，包括快的新陳代謝率、受外語的影響、幫助語氣等等。

第二， 我認為這些「口族字」有一個同樣的特徵，就是「口」，是一樣在平面設計上可以幾有趣、幾好玩的一件事。

第三， 很多這些「口族字」也是一些象聲詞，它們多是以形聲的方法所設計出來的新造字。而大部份的香港話，甚至中文也是形聲字。

形聲字也是內形聲字是由意符（形旁）和音符（聲旁）兩部份組成。其中意符表示形聲字本義所屬的意義範疇，音符則代表形聲字的讀音。如以「口」為意符的形聲字「咩」、「啦」、「呀」等都屬於樹木類。意符只能代表其意義範疇，不能表示具體的字義。它的具體字義是靠不同的讀音，也就是不同的音符來區別的。

形聲造字法進一步打破了象形、指事、會意的諸多局限，具有無可比擬的優越性。世界上許多事物或抽象概念是很難用象形或會意的方法來表示的。由此方法，就產生了大量的形聲字。愈到後代，形聲字的發展愈快，數量也愈多。

書名的由來？
這本書的書名是《我手畫我口》（Drawing what I Say）。這是有雙重義意的。
首先，「我手寫我口」是五四運動與新文化運動時的一句口號。這是一個對中國文字語言發展的一個重要時期。白話文被認可為法定的手寫語文。而儒家學說與文言文則進一步被貶抑。

而這書也是介紹香港話，鼓勵香港人「我手寫我口」的。主要目的與新文化運動有相似的地方。

另外，這本書的主要內容也是那二十個「口」字旁的香港KEYWORDS。我，作為設計師與作者，真正的在寫、畫、與設計這些「口」。真正做到「我手畫我口」。

而封面的五個圖象文字是參考古代的象形文字所設計而成的。

我
從甲骨文看，「我」是一種兵器的形象。這是一種長柄而帶齒形刃口的兵器，是用來行刑殺人或支解牲口的。這種兵器後世罕見，所以我字本義也不常用，後來就借用為第一人稱代詞，指自己、自己的。

手
手是人體上肢的總稱，一般指腕以下能夠持物的部份。古文字的手字，正像一隻人手的形狀，上面的分支代表五隻手指，下面是手臂。

畫
甲骨文的畫字，像人用手執筆在紙上畫交叉線條、作圖畫之形。這就是畫字的本義──繪畫。

口
口字的形狀，正像人或動物的嘴，其本義就是嘴巴。嘴巴是人或動物飲食、發聲的器官，所以以口為偏旁的字多與吃喝和言語有關。

而我把這本書的二十個香港字分成四個章節，分別是愛（情愛）、港（香港人特性）、化（文化）、活（生活態度）。

而這四個章節，我也分別參考了古文去替它們設計了各自的圖象文字。

愛
字像一個人雙手捧「心」，張大了嘴，在述說心中的愛。

港
「水」是形符，「巷」是聲符。

化
由兩個人形組成，左邊是一個正立的人形，右邊是倒立的人形。本義是變化。

活
「水」是形符，「舌」是聲符。

(Tuesday)

Today, we receive the news which I the final critic will be postponed to 3 May 06. For some of us, it will be good news but some will think it is a bad news.

I almost print out the 20 booklets in real paper today. I haven't designed the layout of the introduction and conclusion booklets. I just let Esther to see my progress and the real paper and the layout. She tells me that the color of the green and the yellow can change a little bit, and she teaches me how to change to be better.

I also tell her binding problem of that the original binding I want will be difficult and ugly if I do it myself. I’m really worried about that. Esther helps me to ask immediately. I don't know the result but I hope it will be okay.

(Wednesday)

I have also designed some booklet layout for Esther to see. I try and print out lots of layout dummy. There are some variations of the font size, layout, colors, and development graphics. Esther and me modify the layout together.

And we decided the final font size of the body text: 9 point, 14 leading, -50 kerning. It will be most comfortable for the readers. I don't know why I always prefer to use small font size for the layout in this project. Maybe bigger body text and pictogram will be more suitable.

I also print out the booklets in real paper. This is the paper I love very much. I love its texture. The texture is just like the eggshell. However, there is a problem in printing of this paper. It can't print large color area on this paper, the ink can’t be absorbed well on the paper. The effect is too bad. If I just print some black strokes and small color area, the result will be very great.

So, I have to think of changing the layout or changing the paper for the book.

(Friday)

I have done all the layout of all the 20 covers for the books. I decided to use 4 colors to represent the 4 chapters for the covers. The four colors are the pink (representing the love chapter), the purple (representing the Hong Kong chapter), the yellow (representing the culture chapter), and lastly the blue (representing the life-style chapter).

I try to print out the covers for testing. Esther think that the colors maybe too colorful for the whole large picture. There are 4 different colors for the line stroke for the big pictogram. She suggests me that the 4 colors can be the background for the big picture and the stroke of the pictogram can be in white color.

Besides, I also take some photos of this tutorial. Haha! All of us put the layout on the floor. Good!

The following words are the translation of the 20 words of the post on April 3, 2006.
I asked my friend who studies translation to translate these for me.
Thx milk!

1. gulp down one’s sob
2. insolent (or arrogant)
3. tease
4. Coincidence
5. Stagger (or crooked)
6. chit-chat (or twaddle)
7 savor
8 boo
9 An onomatopoeia , it sounds as“Dud”
10. 咩 used in the interrogative (a) by itself to ask questions e.g. What do you mean? 你咩意思? (b) Before a noun to ask who or what e.g. who is he? 佢係咩人?
11. To defame or praise someone
12. Sluggishly
13. A quantifier, e.g . it can mean a piece of, an amount of…
14 crowd around (or close in)
15 Japanese
16. Arrogant
17 An onomatopoeia , it sounds as“Ding”
18. Have interest
19. Long-winded
20. Retch

I have designed the layout of a booklet and show it to Esther. And it is not that okay for the layout and the flow is not good enough. The yellow color I choose is very ugly.

I also decided the cover of the 20 booklet is divided from a very big poster. There is a meaning of the poster. The poster is showing a pictogram of the mouth. I express earlier that mouth represents a kind of communication and integration. There is a circle inside the mouth that is representing eating the food and it is a communication and integration of the body and the food with the media of the mouth. The arrow pointing from the mouth represents talking, which is the communication between one another in the use of the mouth. That is the concept of this big poster. And the covers of the 20 booklets are developed from this.

There are also some pictograms that I have to design for the graphics of each passage.

There is no much time and I have to do faster and faster. I think I need not to sleep for these 2 weeks lu!

1.【呑】ten1
解釋：咽下去。
例子：我吞唔落呢啖氣呀！

2【囂】hiu1
解釋：囂張，形容目中無人的態度。
例子：佢太囂啦！

３【𠱁】tem3
解釋：用他人喜歡聽的話使其順從。
例子：呢啲嘢𠱁細路就得！

４【嘺】kiu2
解釋：恰好；正遇在某種機會
例子：真係嘺嘞！

５𠵿】pé2
解釋：形容歪著身子。
例子：佢𠵿吓𠵿吓咁行入嚟。

６【吹】cêu1
解釋：
1) 吹氣（演奏）
2) （風、氣流等）冲擊
3) 使生氣
4) 奈何（含挑釁語氣）
5) （用言語）誇耀賣弄
例子：
1) 吹喇嘛
2) 吹咗張報紙落地
3) 吹到佢啤啤聲
4) 我係唔做，吹咩！
5) 有乜好吹喎。

７【嗒】dab1
解釋：
1) 仔細辨別滋味等，有享受的意味
2) 喻指仔細推敲當中的含意
3) 俗稱與女性／男性交合
4) 象聲詞。品嘗味道時舌頭與上顎接觸發出的聲音
例子：
1) 嗒番杯
2) 呢單嘢嗒真啲先得。
3) 嗒咗條女／呢條仔我嗒硬。
4) 食到嗒嗒聲！

８【噓】hê
解釋： 象聲詞。指為制止或驅遂某人而發出的聲音。
例子：大家噓佢落去。

９嘟】düd1
解釋：
1) 翹起嘴巴
2) 象聲詞。某種機器發出的聲音，如八達通機。
例子：
1) 嘟起個嘴
2) 嘟一嘟八達通先

１０咩 】mé1
解釋：
1) 表示疑問，什麼
2) 表示疑問語氣，有時帶有驚愕或反詰得語氣
例子：
1) 做咩啊？
2) 咩事？


１１【唱】cêng3
解釋：
1) 唱歌
2) 大聲叫
3) 公開要求
4) 詆毀；中傷
例子：
1) 唱首歌嚟聽吓啦！
2) 唱票
3) 唱減息
4) 等唱衰你先！

１２【嚤】mo1
解釋：指動作慢吞吞
例子：你行得好嚤呀！

１３嚿】geo6
解釋：
1) 塊，團
2) 俗稱一百塊錢
例子：
1) 一嚿飯
2) 五嚿水


１４【哄】hung3
解釋：
1) 水銹痕跡；汗碱
2) 圍攏
例子：
1) 呢度有一大笪哄。
2) 咁多人哄喺度做乜？

１５㗎】ga4
解釋：俗指與日本有關的人和物，如「㗎話、㗎頭、㗎妹、㗎仔」等等。

例子：
1) 㗎話ga4 wa6-2：俗指日本話
2) 㗎仔ga4 zei2：俗稱日本年輕男性，也說㗎佬
3) 㗎妹ga4 mui4-1： 俗稱日本年輕女性
4) 㗎頭ga4 teo4：舊時指日本人

１６串】tsyn3
解釋：一種語言的挑釁，帶妄自尊大的意思。
例子：你依家係咪鬥串呀？

１７【叮】ding
解釋：
1) 蚊、蜂等類昆蟲螯刺人畜。
2) 象聲詞。門鐘、微波爐所發出的聲音。
3) 再引申為用微波爐的動詞。
例子：
1) 我俾隻蚊叮咗一吓。
2) 叮噹！
3) 我去叮個飯先。

１８【吼】heo1
解釋：
1) 監視；緊盯
2) 對人、物感興趣，多用於否式
例子：
1) 吼實佢呀，唔好俾佢走甩呀！
2) 實冇人吼啦！

１９【吟】yem4
解釋： 說起來沒完的，囉嗦，嘮叨，埋怨
例子：呢次有排吟啦。

20【𠼱】lê1
解釋：使東西從嘴裡出來。
例子：快啲𠼱返啲骨出嚟啦！


I just give the last 3 passages to Esther today. In fact, I have finished the entire main content of the book. There are only the introduction and conclusion passages left.

And I just want to use pictogram as the visual elements for the book. But I haven’t developed yet. So, I have to really do the paper dummy for the booklet for Esther to see next time.

【呑】ten1
解釋：咽下去。
例子：我吞唔落呢啖氣呀！

「我終於能夠進入你的身體，我犧牲也要跟你融為一體。」
—— 傅珮嘉《幹掉你的胃》

身體，是一樣奇妙的東西，是一種建構，是一個CONSTRUCTION。

人的身體有其能耐去伸延至本體之外，與其他身體接觸。這是德國哲學家尼采稱之為的「可塑性」（plasticity）；而因為有了這「可塑性」，身體可以隨意改變大小、妥協、攻擊、與其它身體結婚，甚至，吞食其他身體。

愛情把人的貪婪推至極致。當你墜入愛河之後，你開始渴望佔有，你要確定這份愛與這個愛人是真真實實存在的。一開始是用眼睛；當眼睛不夠用的時候，你開始用口；當口已經滿足不了你的時候，你開始用手；當手也不能滿足你的慾望的時候，你便用身體；當連身體也無法獨佔對方的心而令自己感到安心的時候，你便用工具；當所有工具也不能使你鎖緊對方的時候，請容許我幹掉妳，把妳的身、心與靈魂一併吞落肚，來一場徹底的佔有。

曾經有人說過，愛在某種意義上，意味著一種超越肉體的疼痛與泯滅個體的存在。你相信嗎？吞噬，蠶食，為的只是與愛人融為一體，永不分離。肉體只是一個驅殼，有何珍貴？只要你吞下我的身體，飲下我的血；我倆的靈魂緊緊相隨，你代替我活，代替我感覺與享受這世界美好的一切，這已經足夠了。

「吃」是滿足貪婪的最簡單而直接的方法，也象徵了人類最為原始的佔有慾。借助吞食愛人的生命與身體，達至吞噬愛人的心與靈魂，回憶與愛人在一起時最美好的時光。

這樣一個以「愛」的名義作吞噬的過程，「愛」的成份，還剩下多少呢？

【囂】hiu1
解釋：囂張，形容目中無人的態度。
例子：佢太囂啦！

大部分的香港話也是新造字，而「囂」並不是一個新造字，它在古代的金文與小篆已經出現。

「囂」字由「頁」和四個「口」組成。 在甲骨文的「頁」字，像一個頭部很突出的人形，它的本義其實是指人頭。許慎在《說文解字》說：「頁，頭也。」在其他字中也可看出「頁」跟頭的關係，如項、頸、鬚、額；通通與頭有關。所以這個「頁」就代表人，一個人圍著四面都是「口」，顯示說話的人很多，聲音嘈雜，有喧嘩之義；再引伸為囂張浮誇。

當我看到這個「囂」字的古字的時候，其實，我已經覺得它很是囂張浮誇了。你可以發揮一下你的想像力，仔細地看一看，看看中間的那個「頁」字，覺得它露出整副牙齒對著你笑嗎？我覺得這是一副囂張的表情。

囂，確實是一部分香港人的生活態度，講甚麼、做甚麼也是囂囂的、串串的，要自大，要SHOW OFF。要了解香港人這種「囂」的生活態度，可能要從中國人說起。

中國人自大的心理由來已久，傳統的文化就以為中國即天下，是世界的中心，視其它國家為「蠻夷」，認定它們應對中國朝貢，認定他們應是卑下的。這種文化令國人的潛意識中深藏著天朝情結及妄自尊大的心態。孫中山先生曾經指出：「中國為世界最古之國，承數千年文化，為東方首出之邦。未與歐美通市以前，中國在亞洲之地位，向無與之匹敵者。即間被外族入寇，如元清兩代僭主中國，然亦不能不奉中國之禮法。而其他四鄰之國，或入貢稱藩，或來朝親善，莫不仰慕中國之文化，而以中國為上邦也。中國亦素自尊大，目無他國，習慣成自然，遂成為孤立之性。」

可惜，在近代，中國人在對外戰爭中屢戰屢敗，使一向很自信的中國人一夜之間轉入了深重的自卑。但我們並沒有把這種自卑表現出來，一直把這自卑感隱藏在心靈深處，對外依然表現出不合理的自滿和自大。那，這是自卑還是自大？還是因自卑而自大呢？

而不論自卑或自大，其根源都是出於自我中心，就是說，把眼睛專注在自己身上。這使我們的視野變得非常狹窄。

其實，我們（不論香港人或是中國人）也應做到不亢不卑（亢是指奮亢、囂張及自大；卑是指自卑、懼縮及自慚），這才是最合乎我們中國人的中庸之道。這才是我們應有的LIFE-STYLE。

【𠱁】tem3
解釋：用他人喜歡聽的話使其順從。
例子：呢啲嘢𠱁細路就得！

「曾經有一分真摯的愛情放在我面前，我沒有珍惜，等我失去的時候我才後悔莫及，人世間最痛苦的事莫過於此。你的劍在我的咽喉上割下去吧！不用再猶豫了！如果上天能夠給我一個再來一次的機會，我會對那個女孩子說三個字：我愛你。如果非要在這份愛上加上一個期限，我希望是——一萬年！」
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　──《西遊記大結局之仙履奇緣》至尊寶

𠱁，是男生對女生表達「承諾」的一種手段。

情到濃時，我們總會向對方許下愛的承諾。而這些承諾的特質往往是浪漫、浮誇、虛無與不切實際的。但人就是喜歡聽這樣的甜言蜜語，尤其是女生；「我愛你一生一世」，不夠；「我愛你三生三世，永不分離！」，還不夠，「我會愛你一萬年，就算是海枯石爛，天荒地老，滄海桑田，我們的愛也是永恆不變的！」。夠了嗎？歡喜嗎？

反正愛是不能用尺去度究竟有多長久，也不能用量杯去量有多深的，你說多少就多少，說到太陽從西邊升起又得，說到烏鴉變鳳凰都得；只要對方聽得高興，你說得開心，還有什麼是不行的呢！

這些「愛的承諾」就是因為沒有法律的約束，也不像畫線支票，可即時兌現，所以才會是這麼浪漫、這樣動人。我們才會輕言放肆地向全世界高呼我對你這「甜密宣言」。

但，這些「愛」，會持續多久呢？我們可否把這杯「純愛」放入保鮮袋內，再放進雪櫃，使它永遠保持新鮮不變呢？所謂「愛情飲水飽」，而當愛要開始腐爛的時候，那杯水又會否變酸呢？當愛要變的時候，所有之前許下的諾言、誓言，通通會失去其有效性與約束力。

如果硬要翻舊帳，哭說「你明明說過會愛我一生一世的，為何說過不算數呀？」他可能會答：「以理性的角度分析，在客觀的因素與前提（一切不變，包括外在、內在、經濟、我的審美觀與品味等）之下，『愛你』只是當下我對你的感覺，而『一生一世』並不代表我們會一生一世在一起，那只是那刻的衝動與打算。但客觀前提現在已經變了，我們都是分手口吧！」如果你硬要把這愛的承諾看得太實在，被傷痛的只會是你自己。

曾經，歷史老師說過，政治家很喜歡在大選前PROMISE選民這樣，PROMISE選民那樣，但當他當選後，通常之前的PROMISE都是不能兌現的；因為，PROMISE是用來BREAK的。

愛的PROMISE也是一樣，只是一種「𠱁」。

I have worked overnight in studio in SD yesterday because I think I do this project very slowly and I want to put more time and effort to do the layout of my book.

But working for a day, the entire testing layouts are failed and all are rubbish. Sitting before the computer, I think that I really don’t know how to design layout after 3-year design education. I really have big trouble.

好像讀完三年design，跟了Esther這麼久，我也好像像沒有學過一樣，完全唔識。之前所排的layout都是隨意的；或是我只可以排一些跟晒grid，排得整整齊齊、穩紮穩打的layout，可以騙一下人。昨晚，我完全感覺不到本書的flow；所有visual element都看不到；他們的作用與感受好像完全看不到。

I spent 2 days to trace the pictogram into the computer format. And there are some of them still not so good. But I think I have to design the layout and the other graphic in the book. So, I spend lots of time to try to design the layout. But, I lost. I really lost.

Luckily, Esther teaches me some methods to design the layout again.

1) There is flow for the book. There is interaction and linkage between pages to pages. There is a sequence of paper for flipping.
2) There are lots of visual elements. All are affect the layout of the book. Simply putting the graphic into the square box, we have to consider the box is enclosed or not. If it is not an enclosed box, there is a chance for the white space to flow out.
3) The heaviness and the lightness in a book are important. The whole book should not be very noisy from start to the end. We have to give readers to have a rest. There should be comfortable situation and noisy environment in a book.
4) All the visual elements have a kind of effect and feeling to us. Everything is suggesting and providing something. I have to learn to “see”.

I have to work hard la!

The process of developing the pictograms is very slow and difficult. This is quite a hard job. Making a thing fancy is a difficult job, but making a thin simple is a much more difficult job. When making the pictogram, all the details should be carefully considered. This is because every slightly difference can make the whole the gesture of the pictogram better or worst.

Esther thinks some of them are okay and some of them have to modify again and again. In fact, I have to scan all the “okay” ones into the computer and trace it. It will be difference when all strokes are standardized. All of them have to be slightly adjusted.

This this week, I have concentrated on the development of the pictograms. And the quantity of the words is narrowed down into just 20 words. That means there are 20 pictograms, 20 passages and about 22 booklets (20 content booklets + 1 introduction + 1 conclusion).

My design process is like this:
1) I have traced all the related pictogram of the甲骨文 into the little elements.
2) I use these useful Chinese elements to reconstruct the words.
3) Then, I have to modify them and use my own sense to judge the action and the design expression.
4) Finally, I have to decide which is ok and which is not.

I have given the development sketches for Esther to see. Both of us agree and approve some of them. And others have to be modified.

And Esther teaches me how to judge. There are some of the pictogram is okay and it is easy to judge others. I can design lots of them and compared with the “okay” one and I can judge this is really okay or not.

When I finished some “okay” pictograms, I really feel quite happy!

I also hand in some of the passages to her today.

And I also break down the Chinese element of the each words and try to use甲骨文 to reconstruct it and development my own pictogram. I think it is very playful and the direction this time should be right. So, I also explain to her how it works. In the end, she agrees this idea and direction with me.

I have to do more testing for this pictogram.

I just talk a little with her today. I have hand in some passages (the content of my book) to her.

She thinks about my pictogram again. She considers that I have to design a system for my pictogram. For example, that dot represents a man and this stroke represents a action. And all the things have to be defined, standardised and unified. I said I have take the ancient Chinese pictogram/ kanji (甲骨文) as reference.

She also recommends me to research on the TOMPA language (東巴文) and TOMPA culture. This language is a kind of picture words. This is very interesting and the drawing is just like the pictogram we use now. But this is a kind of special language. Asaba (淺葉克己) have found this culture and language 12 years ago and he brings it back to Japan and use this as graphic design element/ typographic element. It is a kind of trendy things in Japan in one or two year ago.

Today, we want to be healthier and absorb more Vitamin E from the sun. So, we go to the grassland on the podium to have tutorial. The environment here is quite comfortable.

I really heard a lot today. I have asked Esther about the book designer LES (孫浚良). And I know him more and lots of secrets. Wa! Actually, the design talent and one’s personality can be separated.

I give the more sketches and some of the pictogram/ Chinese Typography development for Esther to see. There is one about “嚤” and “唱”. Her comment is negative and she thinks that it is not good and not beautiful and not suitable. Therefore, I need to develop another direction. I also deconstruct each of the words into little text elements and try to use甲骨文 to replace the little Chinese elements. And I think this is interesting. And Esther also thinks that this can be one of the directions I can develop.

Besides, I also tried some of the design variations of the five pictograms on the cover. Esther thinks that the best one is still the first one. Some little things I have to modify such as the size of the “mouth” pictogram and the cross of the “draw” pictogram.

I gain quite much today.

Today is the interim presentation day. The whole presentation is quite smooth. And Esther does not have any problem and she knows what I’m doing and my project very well.

I have shown the pictogram of “I draw what I say” (我手畫我口) in the presentation. And Kenny asks me how to develop the pictogram. In fact, the pictograms of this five words are developed from the ancient Chinese, the 甲骨文. And why I would like to do this? The reason is all my words are from the Hong Kong dialect. Most of them are newly created words from the Hong Kong people. Therefore, I would like to use this pictogram to make a kind of contrast to the content.

Kenny also thinks that I have to put a lot of effort on research in this project. And there should be lots of development and testing.

Anyway, this presentation is quite smooth and don’t have much problem.