A re-architected and redesigned website
OVERVIEW
U.S. Taekwondo Academy is located in Harford County, Maryland. USTA was founded in 1987 by a family of former US Taekwondo national team head coach and national champions. Unlike its competitors (other Martial art schools), USTA is only focused on the official Olympic Taekwondo style. USTA offers regular Olympic Taekwondo classes, training for competition teams, self-defense classes, after-school and summer camp programs. It is “ONLY ACTIVE SCHOOL in the state of Maryland to produce National Champions.”
CHALLENGES
The website was built in 2006. Many out-dated content and marketing strategies had created a negative impact on user experience. Many of the contents were irrelevant not only to users’ needs but also USTA’s business practice. It needed major structural overhaul and redesign.
Structural challenges
- limited ability to update content.
- Very limited ability to integrate video content and social media interactions into the site.
- Poor support for existing customers.
- Abusive marketing practice – very poor user experience.
Design challenges
- Limited visual presentation -“One of the Many Martial Art Schools.”
- Unclear target audiences.
- Not able to find any of the “National Champions.”
- lack of authenticity despite its legacy and history.
RESULTS
We added the CMS feature to enable the ability to update content daily bases such as notifications, upcoming events, and achievements. We added “USTA Family” to provide a better online experience to current students. We reduced the accessive marketing but put more emphasis on the core value of the institute throughout the website. We created an online community through social media.
Structural Changes
- Ability to update content daily basis by using the Content Management System.
- Video content integration and social media interactions into the site.
- “USTA Family,” new content for existing customers.
Design Changes
- It is the”ONLY ACTIVE SCHOOL in the state of Maryland to produce National Champions”
- Enhanced credibility by presenting the “National Champions” and history of the school
- Less marketing elements, more interaction with users.
I grew up hearing a plethora of nationalistic rhetoric, such as “I should be proud of being a member of this homogeneous society.” I was born three years before president Park Chung-Hee was assassinated in 1979. President Park is the most controversial political figure in the history of modern Korean. He was the mastermind of the economic policies called Developmentalism that brought rapid economic growth in the 60s and 70s in Korea. Park was also the leader of the political establishment that was the military dictatorship that had existed since a military coup in 1961. Park had control of the mass media which prioritized his economic policy, nationalistic vision, and fear-mongering anti-communist policy. As a result, civil rights for Koreans suffered under the name of national rebuilding and of course, homeland security. His political opponents and any civil rights movements were often branded as communists or communist sympathizers.
I was one of the children who was forced to watch this film. It was about thirty years ago, so I don’t remember most details of the film, except for the murder scene. It was the most horrifying scene imaginable, especially for a child. The murder scene was very long, and I remember I covered my eyes many times, but the sound of stabbing, cutting, a violent male voice screaming, and the boy crying while he was choking on his own blood still came through. I opened my eyes in a quiet moment and realized the scene was not over yet. The boy was struck on his head, again and again, by a large rock. After the film viewing in school, we had essay competitions and public speaking competitions. We chanted the name of this national hero. We expressed how very sorry we were that he died, how very angry we were, and we promised his vengeance. We spoke out strongly, perhaps as a way to normalize our lifelong trauma and the beginning of a repeating nightmare of dismemberment. This was an integral part of my childhood.
Indeed, it is the path to lethal traps of the oxymoron, hypocrisy, and the paradox. I find that absurdity is part of the basic nature of most political “stories.” To avoid missteps in the multi-dimensional and complicated nature of the events I created, I also created an alter ego as a process of disambiguation. Within this process, I also fragment my own identity. As a result, it abstracts the notion of my past self as an anti-hero, by observing the one-dimensional character I play in the film. It allows me to have a unique position as a third-party observer with a less biased self-critical view. This is how the characters for my film, the Yellow Nationalists, were conceived.
These characters are an extreme version of my identity from the past. This one-dimensional character has lost the ability to reason and is brainwashed by fear-mongering propaganda. The zombie-like yellow figure stares at the audience with googly, wiggling, unfocused, eyes, and wears my high school military uniform. Predictably, these characters become violent when they find differences within any individual.
We all learn every day. Not only do we educate ourselves for a better life, but we also learn from unintended exposure to information, including propaganda. It is easy to find the motivation to learn, and sometimes it doesn’t take any motivation at all, as in the method of brainwashing by repeated exposure to particular information. However, we hardly find any motivation to un-educate ourselves.
My thesis work has been a process of uncovering the embedded painful histories of myself through critical analysis; it was a process of investigation of the insidious force of our socio-political condition. It was an un-educating process, the removal of toxic knowledge, and of my previous cultural prejudice, of politically motivated privilege, brainwashed ideology, in order to learn and find my true self as an artist. The indoctrination that prevents the individual from “free-thinking” was peeled away in layers of misguided education. I used divergent thinking for the possible varied responses that define the creative process. It all started with searching for my own identity in a foreign country, and I found the connection of absurdity in the human condition within my socio-political surroundings, past, and present.
In October 1968, 120 members of the North Korean Commandos landed in the Gangwon Province to create a guerilla base in the mountain region of South Korea. They entered and occupied villages and indoctrinated the villagers. During the offense, the commandos murdered a 9-year-old South Korean boy and his family. His gruesome murder was widely publicized throughout South Korea. “I hate communists,” the boy said. This enraged the commandos. In the following years, the South Korean military regime mobilized anti-communism propaganda using the boy’s story.[1] Numerous statues of the boy were erected, and an anti-communism film was produced. His story was taught, and the film, which included the details of his murder, was mandatory viewing for children in elementary school.
“Once the demon gets inside of you, it never goes away. It becomes a part of you. But you have a choice: either you face the fear, or you live with it. For many, many years, I didn’t even know I had a choice. Now, I summon my past demon to face the fear that has become part of my moral compass.”
“The Red People” scene from “In Pursuit of Greatness” (2019) by Frank YJ Cho
[1] Deog-Lyeon Kim and Joong-Seok Seo. Why Korean Children had to suffer from “Nightmare of Dismemberment.: Contemporary History of South Korea, Seoul: Pressian. April 26, 2016.
Synopsis: The dictator of North Korea has a dream; someday they will develop a big powerful missile to reach and destroy the Yankee empire (the United States, which North Korea has blamed for their failed attempt of the communist liberation of South Korea in the Korean War). But their weapons system is believed to be very small (men’s penis stereotype). One day, Dennis Rodman was invited with his basketball team to North Korea. Since then, their friendship grew stronger. On the dictator’s birthday, Dennis brought a gift to his best friend; The Powerful Big Black Missile which can reach a target anywhere in the Yankee empire.
Has North Korea just announced that it discovered a way to travel in time? The country set its clocks back by 30 minutes to “Pyongyang time” (instead of the same time zone as Seoul and Tokyo) on August 15th. It reset the time to GMT+08:30, as it was before Japanese colonization. August 15th was the 70th anniversary of Korea’s liberation from the Japanese Empire.
“The wicked Japanese imperialists committed such unpardonable crimes as depriving Korea of even its standard time while mercilessly trampling down its land with 5 000 year-long histories and culture and pursuing the unheard-of policy of obliterating the Korean nation,” – KCNA –
If we can go back 70 years, we may change our sad history, but what could we change if we can go back 30 minutes? Only 30 minutes?
This was one of the stereotypes I started hearing about when I moved to the US: Men’s penis size… especially Asian men’s penis size. Dennis Rodman started visiting North Korea, claiming to be a “basketball peace ambassador,” and later a best friend of Kim Jung-Un. While I was watching him urging world leaders to meet Kim, because he was a “nice guy,” I thought, “oh Jesus, this bizarre show somewhat looks like… a bunch of guys arguing about their penis sizes.” North Korea doesn’t have a big missile to reach or be a threat to the US, however, Dennis has a big and long-range one that can reach the audiences in the US — BBC, the ultimate propaganda weapon.
The Choco Pie is Korea’s all-time favorite childhood snack. Lately, I found them in an Asian grocery store in Ellicott City, MD. A box of twelve Choco Pies was sold for only $1.99. Around that time, I heard the news about how a single Choco Pie could fetch as much as $9.50 USD in the North Korean black market. This represents half of the middle-class monthly income in North Korea. Recently, North Korea has reportedly been cracking down Choco Pies on the Black Market. In response to the government crackdown, South Korean activists and North Korean defectors launched balloons laden with Choco Pies to North Korea.
Variations of the original go back to as far as 1917 in the southern United States. In 1929, Chattanooga Bakery created the official Moon pie with marshmallow filling and Graham crackers for local miners in Chattanooga, Tennessee. In 1958 Japanese Morinaga & Company started selling a similar product called Angel Pie for the Japanese market soon became one of the nation’s favorites and which is still popular in their domestic market today. Tongyang Confectionery also began selling a similar product known as ‘Orion Choco Pie’ in 1974. The company claims that in 1973, a member of the Tongyang R&D team visited a hotel in Georgia, US, and was inspired by the chocolate-coated sweets available in the hotel’s restaurant. He returned to South Korea and began experimenting with a chocolate biscuit cake, creating the Choco Pie as it is known to Koreans. The name ‘Choco Pie’ became popular when Tongyang first released the Orion Choco Pie and was well received by Korean children as well as the elderly thanks to its affordable price and white marshmallow filling. Tongyang Confectionery later renamed the company Orion Confectionery thanks to the success of the Orion Choco Pie brand.
Starting in the 2000s, Orion began using the Choco Pie to gain a foothold in foreign markets, and now controls a two-thirds share of the Chinese snack market, with a third of Orion’s revenue coming from outside Korea in 2006. Around 12.1 billion Choco Pies have been sold all over the world.
This series of videos presents North Korea, the forbidden world, the last twisted Stalinist state on Earth. We have been informed of an injustice by people and organizations and have gathered strong evidence from defectors that warn us of cruel human right violations in the country. My sadness comes from the distance we keep in our consciousness between everyday life and magnitude to which the regime isolates its people from the rest of the world. It is a bizarre reality, and I have found myself connected to this bizarreness.
The Potato Song is the first part of the video. The story starts when Dennis Rodman visits North Korea as a cultural ambassador. He celebrates the birthday of his best friend, the supreme leader of the Democratic People’s Republic, Kim Jong-Un.
Dennis Rodman sings Happy Birthday to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, seated above in the stands, before an exhibition basketball game at an indoor stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2014. (AP Photo/Kim Kwang Hyon)
Friendship and Propaganda:
7 TYPES OF PROPAGANDA TECHNIQUES (http://quizlet.com/5435505/7-types-of-propaganda-techniques-flash-cards/ )
Q: BANDWAGON?
definition – most people have this or are doing this so you should too(definition)
A: No
Q: LOADED WORDS?
definition – using words that have strong emotions: examples: peace war patriotism freedom hope(definition)
A: Yes
Q: TESTIMONIALS?
definition – using an expert or celebrity to sell or support(definition)
A: Yes
Q: NAME CALLING?
definition – saying bad things about your competitor(definition)
A: Yes
Q: PLAIN FOLK?
definition – using ordinary people or trying to sound ordinary to sell something or persuade you to vote or support an idea(definition)
A: Yes
Q: GLITTERING GENERALITIES?
definition – employ vague, sweeping statements (often slogans or simple catchphrases) using language associated with values and beliefs deeply held by the audience without providing supporting information or reason. They appeal to such notions as honor, glory, love of country, desire for peace, freedom, and family values.(definition)
A: Yes
Q: TRANSFER?
definition – a technique used to carry over the authority and approval of something we respect and revere to something the propagandist would have us accept. Propagandists often employ symbols (e.g., waving the flag) to stir our emotions and win our approval.(definition)
A: Yes
A propaganda machine – a vehicle of anti-communistic patriotism and ethnocentrism in my childhood.
1. Size matters – intimidate or dominate.
2. Provide good protection.
3. The detachable control center (Cockpit) provides mobility and bail-out exit.
The Control Center
3D Mirascope Illusion Dome with Frog
Create a 3D hologram image in our Mirascope Illusion Dome. Place an object in the dome and the 3D image will appear on top, but you can not touch it! The black plastic dish and dome produce an instant illusion with its internal parabolic mirrors. Our 3-D Mirascope includes a little plastic frog that you can place inside the device to produce the floating Hologram on top of the dome. A classic mirage making a toy from the twentieth century.
Price: $9.98 $6.98
Main control center AKA Cockpit of the propaganda“LABOR-X” prototype
1. Illusion Producer
2. Re-writable surface
3. Agility
4. Inconsistent movements between top and bottom
Everything that we have imagined yesterday is happening today and tomorrow. Technology allows us to fulfill our dreams. Today we can buy a pair of glasses that connect us to the Internet of things. Cars drive without a driver. Drones will soon deliver packages that we order from our smartphones to our houses. However, one great dream that I have been most eagerly awaiting will not happen in the near future. I wish for a giant robot to save us from enemies in an unknown world. Unfortunately, I have learned that people don’t produce without a large demand. People call it the “economy,” making things cost money. If the thing does not guarantee a return on the investment, people call it a “wasted” effort. In the 70s’, Korea was in the golden age of the Japanese giant robot animations. There was the Mazinger Z and Gundam. In 1976, the first domestic giant, Taekwon V, was introduced. It immediately became a mega-smash hit. The movie was described as a “gift for a million children,” and it was said that the “robot stunned the world.” Today nobody talks about giant robots anymore. In today’s technology, it is possible to make one, but I also see absolutely no use of the giant in this world and this new type of warfare. We are too far away from a threat from extraterrestrials. Also, this giant would be way too big in its human scale conflict to fight against terrorism.
However, I see now, the Taekwon V had a different use in 1970s Korea. This blockbuster hit animation has met its own demands. It was made in Korea, not in Japan. The robot practiced the Korean martial art Taekwondo!! It was a giant propaganda machine!
I am in the middle of an identity crisis as an expatriate from Korea. While having this nostalgic moment of thinking about being surrounded by my people in Korea, and searching for the meaning of who I am in this new world with new people at the same time, I found this Chinese restaurant in both places. Even though they serve a totally different set of menus, I felt that the experiences are too similar to dismiss. I’m no lover of Chinese food and have no deep relation with Chinese culture. I found this notion of a “Chinese Restaurant” can be used to build a bridge between my past and today. Korean-Chinese and American-Chinese food are not recognized as Chinese food in mainland China. The menu, taste, and language are all different in different countries, but we call them all Chinese food. No matter what, Chinese Food is Chinese Food. Maybe I am a kind of “Chinese Restaurant.”
I missed home but I knew that I could build a home 6,863 miles away from my old home. It may not feel like home, but I can make it feel like home. I may need to learn and adopt a new way to inhabit this house. It cannot be my ideal place, however, I can belong there. The house has no history, but it has new materials that I can interact with. I like this place because it has more land and Do-It-Yourself culture. Yes, this is my first Did-It-Myself House, made 6,863 miles away from home.
How to Build a House in 7 steps.
Building your dream home can be one of the most exciting and rewarding projects you can undertake. Getting the opportunity to plan out each step of the process and make the decisions about your building project is a big responsibility, and can be overwhelming for even the most experienced do-it-yourselfers. Taking the scope of the project into account before you get started can help make the process go a lot more smoothly. Learn the proper ways to find the right location, design your home, acquire the correct permits, and start breaking ground. See Step 1 to learn how to get started building your own house.
http://www.wikihow.com/Build-a-House
The carpet samples were free. I grabbed many different carpet samples from Home Depot. I took my time and felt each carpet texture carefully. I didn’t have carpets in my house in Korea. I drew a picture of myself interacting with these new materials that you can find in every American home. I think I may like these textures.