Background

In a multi-racial, multi-lingual country like Malaysia, when new slang words appear, it sometimes confuses many people, because these words can come from a number of languages, a combination of languages, or coined out of thin air. They’re not found in traditional dictionaries, and different people have different interpretation of its meanings. FIXI Books, Malaysia’s largest independent book publisher, wanted to help Malaysians understand what these words mean, and preserve them for years to come. One that every Malaysian can learn from, appreciate, share, and contribute to. We also wanted it to be dynamic enough that it can easily be updated, accessible enough that everyone can get to it, simple so that everyone can understand and appreciate, and visually beautiful so that everyone will come back for more, and share with others.

Describe the creative idea (40% of vote)

MySlangBank was designed to be Malaysia’s first visual-based slang dictionary. Not only visually stimulating, but also a place to have conversations about local slang, as well as a place to learn from. The target audience was young Malaysians (below 35) and the young at heart. Those with an appreciation for slang words, and those who use them daily. We chose Instagram as it is a visually-led social platform, and is used most by our target audience. We created a theme for each week, based on what’s happening in the country – closer to election, the theme was POLITICIANS, during a festive season, the theme was EATING. When there weren’t anything significant, themes touched on Malaysian characters or idiosyncrasies, like HIJABIS, MOPED RIDERS, REGIONAL WORDS etc. Each post should entertain, from how it was designed and how each sentence was written. We wanted it to sound like a regular Malaysian.

Describe the execution (40% of vote)

To bring each word to life, and for it to stand out against each other, we decided against a standard look. We allowed each one of our designers to use the style they felt was best to bring each word to life. The only brief was that the designs needed to help people make sense of the word, using our three-panel method – the first to captivate and introduce the word, the second to define what it means, and the third is to show how it could be used. The designers took their inspiration from Malaysian elements, childhood memories, and various pop culture references. The uniqueness of each design kept our followers interested, and injected a sense of freshness (and cool) to each post. In addition to educating Malaysians about slang words, we indirectly helped expose them to many forms of illustrations.

List the results (20% of vote)

Our follower count grew steadily, despite not being promoted on any news media, paid media, or use of KOL. Relying solely on word of mouth, we have steadily grown our followers to almost 2,000 in about 10 months. What we loved, more than most, was that engagements happened with each post – they were either being shared, questions were raised about how else a word can be used, suggestions for new words, and praises for the designs. Many also commented how they love how the account is bringing people together via the power of slang words.