The future looks sparkling~

As the end of August draws near, I can't help feeling more and more excited. There is a public holiday to be had and then comes the beginning of a brand new chapter in my life. *happy dance* I need to save more money, keep my finances in check but oh boy, there are so many things I would love to have!

I shall publish my wishlist here:

- Maruman Mnemosyne A5 Graph style notebooks: for layout sketching fun! I'll be touching more on publications with my new place, this would come in handy. :>

- iMac: I *still* want one. ;_; My CS5.5 lags on my miserable old MBP.

- Moschino Glamour fragrance: Smells inspire me.

- A3 drawing paper: I've recently been invited to join Artflakes, a platform for selling art prints. Would like to draw bigger so more details can be incorporated and finally sell art again.

As well as things to do:

- Complete ABC app

- Draw

- redesign my website (yesss, when can I do this...)

I've been reading up on various articles and books on design for the past few weeks, learning stuff as I go along. <3

Anyway, I look forward to spending my half-day off from work getting my hair cut as well as another attempt to tidy up my room. I want my cupboards neatened up and more useful instead of just there for storage and mess. *faints* TGIF! :D

sketch walk

Went on my first proper sketch walk with a friend this National Day (Tuesday). It wasn't very long before our stomachs protested, but at least we enjoyed the quiet time doodling this interestingly detailed building on our way to Duxton Plain.

Here's what I managed to do:

There were so many more buildings on our way to our lunch destination, beckoning for us to stop and draw them. We agreed that the next trip out shall begin at 9am on full stomachs as well as bags stocked full of sandwiches and water. :p

Since my last post, my portfolio look has since changed and I managed to find a new design job! Whoopee! :D I can't wait for the first of September.

changes, changes & more changes!

Alrighty, I think my website layout needs an update as well. The previous try seemed a little too cluttered. Will try bigger graphics again. How I wish I get a whole week off from work and I can devote all my time on the site and portfolio. Quite a few doodles to scan in and need to create more cute animal graphics for a friend's app.

Test-printed a few pages of my portfolio and I badly need to buy the Color Index books. :/ I need to hit that exact colour I want for my printed works and it irks me when it's not accurate. Pfft, I know, a student who studied design oughta know all these. Arr, I want them booooks. ;__; But I be low on funding for the month. -weeps-

portfolio in the works!

Bought an A4-sized cream white portfolio case from Kinokuniya yesterday for displaying my works. This will replace the bulky A3-sized black carrier case I had since school days.

The new portfolio design for this year is in the works and here are some of the pages I've been working on these past few days. :> There are still some tweaks here and there I'd like to do (the tags were inspired by the New Super Identity book I recently got). Can't wait to read Grid Systems in Graphic Design by Josef Muller-Brockmann. I studied him and the grid system in my school days, but it was just a superficial touch. Even did some layouts inspired from his grids for a project. I was most proud of them. Should go dig the scans out!

Mojo coming back?

Found a site called Pinterest, where people share their inspiration boards online with the digital images they see every day on the internet and thought I'd join in the fun. It just seems so convenient to 'pin' up online images for easy reference.

My boards and pins can be found here. Can't wait to doodle out the various shoes to compile into a complete piece great for hanging up on room walls. There's so much inspiration available and I like that I can easily refer to them on this website. Can't wait to use what I've found. :)

By the way, site layout was put on hold while I am busy with work and part-time studies. My pride would not like to admit this, but I fear the majority of brain cells necessary for the understanding of topics like Economics and Finance have passed away and the right-side of the brain is now the only side that's functioning. Oh, but the function of present and past (a left-brain function) works amazingly well for me.

Some information from this Herald Sun (just for fun; the first time I saw the dancer, I was full-on Right-brainer. After tweaking/blinking, I was a left-brainer... It's nuts!):

LEFT BRAIN FUNCTIONS
uses logic
detail oriented
facts rule
words and language
present and past
math and science
can comprehend
knowing
acknowledges
order/pattern perception
knows object name
reality based
forms strategies
practical
safe

RIGHT BRAIN FUNCTIONS *me!*
uses feeling
"big picture" oriented
imagination rules
symbols and images

present and future
philosophy & religion
can "get it" (i.e. meaning)
believes
appreciates
spatial perception
knows object function
fantasy based
presents possibilities
impetuous
risk taking

busy busy!

Started working on my new site layout and finally finished planning for one of the pages.

Here's a peek (I haven't finished aligning the arrows all to the right yet)! -

Hmm, looking at the w.i.p. shot up there makes me feel there might be changes to the layout. Oh well, I see things differently every day. Haha... Hopefully, the final layout I put up will be one I'm proud of.

It's going to be quite an ambitious layout. I want to put in more effort in displaying my works, as well as have fun working on my layouting. I've done a study on grids in school a long time ago and loved how it works. Josef Müller-Brockmann's such a genius with it.

Oh, darn, my macbook's O key is conking up. 3: Not now! I've yet to start saving up money for an iMac. It's been on my wishlist for the longest. Hope I can get it this year?

Arr, I'm so tired and sleepy already. Gotta wake up early for work tomorrow.

Can't wait to complete more pages tomorrow! <3

some music to get you going

Just last night, I discovered Korean girl group f(x)'s newest song Danger. The first listen didn't yield much emotion from me, however, after watching the mv and listening to it a couple more times, I was moving to the beat in no time. I like their side-head-bobbing and the zig zag dance moves. Listening to this makes me do chest popping a lot! :>

I also find it intriguing that they have a tomboy in the group. I've heard of Amber some time back when I was watching clips of Key from SHINee. I had thought she was a boy and a cute one too. She's famous for her boyish charm. It's great that Kpop has this genre of artistes too. More people will be able to identify with the various types of people in the entertainment industry. Other than the cutesy, the sexy, the girl next door, we now have the charming tomboy too.

Here are some screenshots from their colourful mtv. The Koreans always spend so much effort creating interesting and artistic backgrounds for their artistes. I'm not a fan of their clothes sometimes, but the overall style and feel works.

Can you see I'm partial towards the blond girl's style? Love the fuzzy hair and sparkly eye makeup.

The following scene had these members standing and with their clothes changing over and over. I wonder if they had to keep changing their clothes and go into the same position to get this done, or whether it was composited?

I hope they can become more popular and earn big bucks. Korean music artistes work so hard in their singing and dancing so they can give audiences the highest quality entertainment they can get. They practised dancing till they're soaked in perspiration, and their stamina would probably be one of the best because they can sound awesome singing AND dancing. It's not just simple gliding around, it's hip hop moves. This makes Kpop groups number #1 on my list of favourite pop groups around the world. No half-hearted slipshod moves and weak vocals from these folks.