cookayyyys

we gotta lotta cookies for christmas and I couldn't help but catalogue them...

thanks to the grandmotherly neighbors of the Glen Ellyn Woods.

have a merry christmas!

print mag!

Word has it that my Ninth Letter class' Ninth Letter book design got into the Print Magazine's 2009 Regional Design Annual. Luckily, Hans Design subscribes to it! Woohoo!...check it out!

affirmative!...right?..........right?!?!

I find myself debating on whether or not to delete my facebook account and blog at times. It's like a World Wide Whine for help...but I realized that a lot of my negative perceptions on social networking is just me projecting.

People like me need to be weary of the internet, because it opens up doors for those of us who seek affirmation. Social net sites become outlets, where we can passively scream/express. It's like you can slip in just a little bit of thought in a sea of meta friends (who you cannot even keep track of)... and you find yourself waiting for one witty comment or even a little, blue thumbs up of approval.

Recently I've been thinking about the core of why I do the things I do (thanks to Pastor peter and his latest sermon). Strong design always begins at the core concept. My favorite part of the design process isn't the beginning or end result...it's in the middle... that "aha" moment where an idea is born. It's like your on cloud 9 and there's this snowball effect of excitement and ideas begin to stem from that original moment of clarity.

I've been finding myself frustrated at the fact that I haven't found opportunities to reach those "aha" moments. The work environment has been challenging and almost seems to debilitate creativity...but I'm starting to realize that my love for design does not stem from those inspirational moments of idea. God's design/purpose is far more valuable...and my tiny, inspirations are shallow in the scheme of things. This was when I realized that it's worth releasing my clenched fists in situations where crude design takes precedence over coherent design.

surreality of reality

I'm in the Philippines with my family right now. We've been island hopping like crazy so our sleep patterns have been changing a lot lately.

When I was taking a nap a few days ago, I was awoken by live, grand piano playing. It's such a strange thing to hear in the P.I. Manila is the most "Americanized," metropolitanish area in the Philippines, but it's still a very earthy environment. The streets are filled with pedestrians, pedicabs, jeepneys, etc. The buildings are strong and weathered from years of typhoons. The color palette of the environment is a bit gloomy from the overall eroded architecture and the overcast days of the rainy season, yet you could feel its charm and liveliness at the same time.

After waking up, I thought about reality's superiority to film and photography. If I were to juxtapose elegant piano playing with an unlikely scene to hold its sound, this movie wouldn't have the same powerful affect as actual experience. Yes, it may instill a slight emotion, but it wouldn't be recognized as an authentic oddity.

We take film and photography for granted, because they are artificially filled with constant holy moments. Decisive moments bombard each scene, where each frame is perfectly rendered.

It just makes me think of the trip to the Caramoan Islands. I was so busy trying to capture its essence (so that I could share it with ya'll)...but nothing could quite capture the true experience and grandness of those tiny islands, covered with lush palm trees and white, sandy beaches. Photography, moving image, and writing have their limitations. Beauty is captured and best felt with the eyes and mind given to us. If only my vision could screen capture experience. (I know...nerdy).

Catching Coincidences

Decisive moments are my favorite things to catch when composing a photograph. I haven't been shooting as much as I'd like to, but I have been "shooting" my screen...aka, screen capturing.


The web isn't static. Searches always change their order according to relevance. I happen to catch this juxtaposition in a Flickr search. It kind of looks like the girl's right arm in the bottom image is reaching up into the top image.


This one doesn't match as well, but it was kinda nerd-tertaining for me to see an eye mask looking piece of kelp right above an image with a guy's eyeless face.


I thought this was an interesting accidental diptych, a school bus and a wreckage below...it's like some ready made propaganda poster about school bus accidents or somethin related to youth and school violence.


Ok...sorry to exploit my past profs, but I couldn't resist! I tried my best to keep them anonymous. This isn't a coincidence, but it is a pretty entertaining catch. He meant to write "BFA catalog."


Another prof...


Lastly, my most favorite coincidence EVER. You will find 8 cylindrical shapes in front of this vertical, rectangular building. This is the silo. In the middle of the silo, you'll see a figure-like spec. That's me on google satellite!!!


...well, that's what I'd like to believe. There's no architecture in the middle of that roof, so SOMETHING is there...

work

Here's where I've been spending a good amount of my life for the past
2 months...


The hallway I walk through numerous times a day.


Here's my office. I like my white walls with the burgandy accent wall.


Conference room. Design books galore! I should start looking through more of them!


Kitchen with the coolest microwave I have ever used in my life. It has a button for everything!...and you can set the time by toggling this knob thing.



View of the hallway when I leave.

movement

I've been hooked on this tv show, called Lie to Me. It's about this scientist who helps with investigations by analyzing facial expressions and involuntary body language. I've always been into observing peoples' different mannerisms....but it's pretty cool how there's universal facial and body languages that we aren't even aware of most of the time.

Now that I'm more aware of those micro-expressions, or whatever they're called, I keep catching myself. ...like when I'm angry, my fist clenches or my right eye tends to twitch a little. Haha...ok, maybe those examples are a little too obvious. According to this show, you can sometimes tell how people truly feel by the way their lips move. You can also tell when someone is faking anger when it comes on too strong and fast, because true anger comes in phases.

It just makes me think of how a body is almost a prophet to our souls. I remember reading about how when we smile, even if we aren't happy, we can start to feel happiness. I guess body language can become a self fulfilling prophesy.

It makes sense why we're told to kneel when we pray. It's a posture that makes you realize that God is someone to be respected and revered. If you know how to read body language, you can understand what a person is communicating, whether they are aware of it or not...or trying to mask an emotion...weird...E-motion. If you watch someone's face in slow motion, who is trying to hide emotion, you can see their true feelings through their facial expressions.

From a design standpoint, I think it's interesting to become aware of this stuff. When communicating through visual mediums, every detail needs to be thought through. Yes...I just threw that in to relate the post to design. hehe...and this is how the post will end.

Modified

So this is officially my third week working at this design firm. It's had its ups and downs. I never thought my own design integrity would be questioned so often. It's like I'm up against time and the aesthetics of a very corporate, traditional design agency.

Suggestions of reusing past designs for other projects makes me cringe. Reusing any old design to be sold as templates is like saying design doesn't matter and that everything is generic. If you can reuse a design, that means you didn't research the client well and really display what makes them who they are.

Another thing that really caught me off guard was their dependence on stock photos. Somehow, I expected the firm to do all their photography in-house...and if they didn't, I would start that up right when I got there. It saves a looooot of money...so I don't see why not! I really miss doing photography too...and the picture can be customized to fit what we specifically need.

It's been tough in unexpected ways. Afraid I had become that elitist designer I assumed I'd never be..but I realized that I really just wanna make good work that the client likes and, work that's made with care.

Although it's been slightly challenging, I feel like each day is getting better! I got to make a video for Bosch in Germany, design a logo, and a web site so far. Yesterday was a breakthrough, because I had a chance to do what I wanted for the web site and they ended up liking it!

I also got to photoshop another designer's photo for this ad. Abbott needed a fully clothed woman. hehe. Here's the image:



I love thisssssss stuff

Realization...

Today was officially my last studio class.

I learned something today...life's easy when you work hard.

Creo Digital Ad

My last design project at school is to make an identity system for this Comics Research and Education Organization. Here is a digital ad that introduces CREO:



It took me about 6-7 hours to make this 22 second animation, but I couldn't be happier learning how to do this stuff. I am officially hooked on AfterEffects. Before work starts, I really want to spend the next two weeks learning how to use AE better.

The Forbidden Mac Fruit

During a crit a couple weeks ago, a few of my classmates and I were sculpting with an old, kneaded eraser. Karen made a tree near her mac, so I requested her to make the garden of eden! here it is...

doodling

It's official. Last week, I accepted a design position for Hans Design. They found my work at the Ispace show in Chicago. It's really great that I don't have to worry about the whole after graduation job search thing and I'm really excited to start working for them in late May! I'll definitely miss school and all, but I can't wait to start my full-grown adult life! :)

I was on the phone with Bill, my new boss. My macbook and portable laptop desk (which is basically a broken, wooden shelf) were on my lap. I'm not much of a phone doodler, but for some reason I was inclined to drawing on my pseudo desk...



People say that doodles say something about personality. I read an article that says phone doodling is like a freudian slip. A person who draws big tends to be introverted and reserved, wanting to be more sociable subconsciously. Someone who draws small tends to be neat and organized. Geometric forms are masculine and shows someone who's practical and methodical in thinking. Floral forms show femininity. Trees suggest thinking in the past. I'm not sure if I'm convinced of these interpretations, but I'm intrigued.

Whenever I doodle, I usually draw organic, abstract forms that fit into each other somehow. They aren't supposed to represent anything, but when I was on the phone, I couldn't help but notice that they resembled fish...loads of nasty fish, being piled on top of each other. I'm not sure what that means, but it sure was entertaining for someone who's not crazy about phone conversations.

design wit

I really appreciate this stuff.




thinkofthe.com

Facebook

News just in...my mom has gotten Facebook.

Should I friend her? Heck no, she's my mom! We had a very mature discussion about this. Mom was the first to say, "It'd be so awkward!"

So yes, we mutually agree that we cannot be facebook friends.

On another similar note, one of my uncle and one aunt has joined the fb cult and asked me to be their friends. Now I am just ignoring their requests. I'm not sure what can of worms this would open.

Educate Don't Incarcerate

They're complete.

Juvenile Justice

My latest senior graphic design project is a poster series for the Annie Casey Foundation. After researching the facts, I realized that the U.S. juvenile system is messed up. A lot of kids are being locked-up and mistreated. I was inspired to do a "confinement" series, showing scenes of kids being constrained in different ways.

The slogan is "EDUCATE DON'T INCARCERATE."

It's been a struggle to find kids in the Chambana area since I'm not from here. At first I tried getting permission through Pam's school. They rejected the shoot, because it was too touchy of a subject. After calling a bunch of other schools, Leal Elementary, a more well-off school, responded.

Princial Landsman responded quickly to my emails. His school was perfect for my shoot. I needed a classroom, a playground with blacktop, and an urban scene. Leal had it all! When I got to the school, Principal Landsman kindly showed me around, provided me a ladder, found a classroom, and gathered great models. He had great artistic intuition and antipication. Without even being asked, he even found me a room that was small so I wouldn't have trouble setting up the yarn! The kids he chose were strangely natural at being photographed, even though none had experience with modeling.

Although it rained, hailed, and snowed today, the timing of the outdoor shoots were perfect. I only had to deal with clouds and light snow. After I told the principal, "Wow, your school is perfect for my shoot! You have everythign that I need!"

Principal Landsman replied, "It's like I could feel some outside energy working for you and this photoshoot."

After the shoot, I thought to myself, " The only way this day could get any more perfect is if the class I ditched today were canceled." I go home and get an email from my design history professor. The subject reads, CLASS CANCELED THIS WEEK. Man, I am overwhelmed with these blessings.

Anyway, enough blabbering for me. Here are some shots that were taken.

Tactfilled

About a year ago, I received this pen from Japan. A friend gave it to me on my 22nd birthday. Ever since then, it's been my most trusted and favorite pen. Writing with it was pretty much like writing with butter.

Everyday, I'd be drawing happily in my sketchbook, minding my own business and enjoying my wonderful, buttery pen.

Then, a couple of months ago, I made the mistake of letting one of my classmates borrow it. I didn't even remember who it was until today.

When I was sitting in class, this afternoon, I turned to my right and found my beloved pen in the hands of a semi-aquaintence/friend. My gut told me to grab the pen out of her hands, but somehow I caught myself saying, "Hey where did you get that pen?"

"Oh...probably from home."

"I HAVE THAT PEN! I GOT IT FROM JAPAN!"

[Semi-aquintence/friend looks at pen]

"Hmm...yeah, this pen is probably from Japan."

The end.

I didn't want to call her out on stealing my pen by accident, so I made the mistake of the overly passive attempt to reclaim my property. The rest of the class period, I couldn't bare to see her use up my dear pen's ink.

Welcome to my blog!

I want to fill your mind with happy thoughts:

girleffect.org

This inspires me to make work that is both informative and uplifting. Political propoganda doesn't always have to take a negative spin to be effective.