My MAD Journey: Where Creativity, AI, and Innovation Collide
- Howie Chia
- Mar 17
- 6 min read
Updated: Mar 17
My journey at the School of Media, Arts & Design (MAD) is finally coming to an end. Standing inside the MAD GRAD showcase room, I watched my peers make their final adjustments, the air thick with jitters and excitement. I looked at my own booth and beamed with pride. It felt surreal to showcase my final-year project (FYP) together with my peers.
How it all began
After a successful internship stint with the UAE Singapore Business Council (UAESBC), the final piece of the puzzle was my FYP. Working alongside Nathania, Ethan, and Jiaxuan, our “mission” was to develop a campaign for K!dz Pop Con Asia (KPCA) to drive engagement and sales.
Through primary and secondary research, it was clear that the majority of parents wanted to have quality bonding with their children. However, many find it time-consuming to identify events that truly meet these needs. It is clear that Singaporean parents are able and willing to spend on such bonding activities - if such options were actually available.
The ultimate wingman - AI
From the moment we started ideation, AI joined the team as our invisible 5th member. From brainstorming to production, AI would be heavily leveraged to bring our idea to life. Although AI helped tremendously, it was still our final decision as to which direction we eventually went with. We finally settled on our campaign slogan, "Discover a New World," positioning KPCA as a whimsical, fun and immersive universe. Visitors to this KPCA world will have four different experiences found in four distinct zones (biomes): Land, Air, Sea, and Space. To guide our little explorers (target audience: 3-12 years), we created a brand new world with many new characters. One of which was M!lez: a series of mascots shaped like schoolbags, each with a unique personality tailored to their respective biome.
Bringing our vision to life
To bring our vision to life, my team created mock ups of the accessories that our young visitors will be able to take home. These prototypes range from badges, books to school backpacks. However, to really bring home the message of KPCA as a fun, whimsical new world, I took it upon myself to create a series of high-quality collaterals (map, A2-poster, character cards) as well as videos. To do all these under a tight timeline (2 weeks) and limited budget ($200), I turned to AI. Stealing a line from Mark Watney’s “The Martian” - “I'm gonna have to AI the s**t out of this”.
As the main graphic designer-cum-video editor of the team, I was given free reign to experiment and lead the visual style of this project. After research, I felt that using a Low-Poly modelling aesthetic best achieves our desired whimsical feel. To overcome the tight timeline and budget, I came up with my own hybrid workflow combining AI with traditional graphic and video-editing tools.
The AI-enhanced production process
My toolkit included:
Ideation: ChatGPT and Gemini for brainstorming.
Visuals: Nano Banana for high-fidelity character assets (using the CRAFT framework).
Motion: Google Veo and Kling for fantasy backgrounds and realistic human figures.
Audio: ElevenLabs for M!lez’s bubbly, gender-neutral voice.
Post-editing: Adobe Illustrator and CapCut to assemble everything.represents non-AI tools
These AI tools were key in allowing us to generate high-quality mockups and videos.
For mockups, we first used ChatGPT & Gemini to come up with bag designs that could appeal to young children. Next, I sketched out the idea and applied the CRAFT framework to come up with detailed prompts that ensure our characters remain consistent throughout. Be it on our social media posts, A2 board, and all 3 videos.
For our Campaign, Merchandise and Advertisement videos, we also used Gemini to review and refine our scripts and storyboards. Once that was established, I applied CRAFT once more to ensure that each AI-generated scene/ asset, from the scene’s background, characters, lighting, camera angle, etc. met our specific requirements.
After generating all the assets, it was time to put everything together. For mockups, I compiled the different assets as different layers in Adobe Illustrator. For the videos, the different scenes were stitched together via Capcut. I used its built-in effects like kiddy transitions and stickers to give the video some special effects. I also used Freepik’s AI-powered lip sync feature to match M!lez’s voice (generated via Eleven Labs) with the character. All these techniques combined gave our 3 videos a high level of consistency and quality.
Quick disclaimer: AI-prompting can do wonders but its output can hallucinate even with the best of prompts. So, sometimes using a simple effect like Illustrator’s “envelope distort”, is able to quickly resolve issues that hours of AI-prompting cannot. I know this because my team mates used AI in an attempt to replicate what I created, but failed.
Another satisfying part of this FYP was that I managed to draw upon many skills picked up from earlier years / semesters in SP.
My Year 1 technical skills in Adobe Illustrator and Capcut via Redefine
My Year 2 skills in video production via projects like Hertalks
My Year 3 (Sem 1) experience of leading a video production during my internship at UAESBC.
My Year 3 (Sem 2) experience of using the techniques for AI tools picked up from Mr David and Mr Luke’s classes.
In short, AI is an amazing tool but it alone cannot solve all our needs… yet. For this FYP, it was the right mix of AI and post editing tools that allowed me to create all of these within 2 weeks.
Showtime!
In preparation for the showcase, I created an “immersive experience” for visitors to learn more about each world when they selected their chosen biome. There are character cards at the side, showcasing the unique traits of the characters living in the KPCA world.
Dressed up in my explorers outfit, it was finally showtime. It was a proud moment for me to present our hard work to MAD’s industry partners, Ms Tham, Ms Yow and Mr Xu. I stayed in character and gave our guests my best presentation pitch. They asked many questions about the project, in particular about our use of AI. I explained how using AI filled the skills gaps in our team, allowing us to punch above our weight class. Seeing how engaged they were at our booth was rewarding in itself. When they took some of our character cards after leaving our booth, it was the ultimate "mission accomplished" signal!
Conclusion
While our team did not win the top MAD AI-Innovation prize ($500) award, it was still a nice consolation to win the DMC award ($100). Monetary rewards aside, I am proud that my efforts in pushing AI-boundaries managed to get us recognised as a finalist. Also, Ms Suhania has “confiscated” our A2 board, character cards, x3 videos and M!lez bag to be used for next year’s open house :)
To top it all off, I got to present my FYP (linktr.ee/KPCAexplorers) to my parents who came to my booth immediately after work. From their faces, I could see that they were proud of me, knowing how hard I worked on this project for the past few months.
What a ride it has been in SP over the last 3 years. Words cannot describe the gratitude I feel for the many opportunities MAD has given me. I not only learnt many technical skills (Adobe suite, AI-tools, Data Analytics, project management, etc.) but also developed many soft skills (presentation, communication, critical thinking, problem solving, etc.) as well. I fully agree with Ms Tham, who shared that if we are able to address challenges like AI hallucinations, data bias, and IP integrity, AI can be a great asset in creating high-quality work.
For my fellow SP friends reading this, congratulations on your MAD graduation showcase. As we embark on new adventures beyond SP, let’s draw inspiration from our four M!lez characters. Channel your inner Forest to stay grounded and resilient, find your calm like Diver, dream big like Sky, and stay curious like Eclipse.
Together, let’s keep exploring, navigating, dreaming, and innovating. Because with this Gung-ho spirit, anything is So Possible!
Howie Chia
12 March 2026 TL:DR Wrapped up my SP journey with a DMC award for my FYP at MAD Grad Showcase. Using a hybrid AI workflow, I was able to create high quality products while keeping consistency, proving that with the right mix of AI and imagination, anything is So Possible!
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