Ode to The Handwritten Type

The first two are my entries for the AGDA Student "Words of Optimism" typography competition. The concept for my rationale is detailed below.

I remember owning a Speedball textbook when I was a little kid. I would copy the Old English Alphabet by hand and I would practice a lot until my version looks like the same version in print . Hence, my design piece "Ode To The Handwritten Type" is a tribute to the artistry, stylistic quotation, script and ornamentation of past forms and type faces which influenced me and my design. I think there is no modern typeface that could surpass a handwritten script and equal it's spiritual and artistic effect, as well as making the audience feel that they are reading a very personal message in print.

I chose these words of optimism (in relation to my professional future as a designer) - Make great ideas known, spread good words and then, come home. As a student/junior designer, I am really looking forward to my contributions in the field of design because it's such a great industry to develop great ideas. Creating designs is also a powerful opportunity to spread more words of optimism to a greater audience because every design piece creates a strong message. Lastly , at the end of all the hard work, everyone loves coming home. Those are the three things I am really looking forward to in the future.

The concept for the typeface is the handwritten script which was literally hand drawn from scratch. The idea or the effect is to burst so the message seems to spread to reach all sorts of people. Although the inspiration comes from the 19th century typography which was stylistic and embellished, I deliberately made the design a simpler version so the audience can still read and understand what the message is.

RM ANSETT LOGO | First Design Pitch

Those who know me well enough knows that I've recently taken up on the offer to do this design internship at the Swinburne Design Centre. It seems the way to go - to get my foot in he door. Getting a job opportunity as a junior designer without studio experience is as close as NIL. At the end of this program, I would have real work experience, I would've worked with fellow designers, I would've dealt with real clients, and I would've developed my design portfolio. At the end of this program, I would also most probably be broke, and I still wouldn't be guaranteed a job offer. I want to be optimistic though. They said the fact that I got a place at the Design Centre shows potential. It will also increase the prospects of me being able to find a design job after the intership. Who knows?

One of the first projects they gave me is to design a logo / brand identity for RM Ansett Trust. This guy pioneered the defunct Ansett Airlines and donated millions of his wealth to sholarships so that his fund will "assist children to take their place in life".

They said the brand could reflect:
- Sir Reginald Ansett the person (not the business Ansett Airlines)
- the main intent of the trust "assisting children to take their place in life"
- Sir Reginald's passion for flying, horseracing and innovation

My first three drafts are shown above. It will go through a design development process where we all will do a peer review of our designs and be given feedback by the lecturer. Then we revise, and then revise them again and possibly revise them again and again until we get it right and until Lucy (the head of communication design) is satisfied to present our work to the client. Who would've thought developing a logo is too much work and this hard???

OLD MELBOURNE

My Butterfly Story

I drew this butterfly but I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it. I had in mind a butterfly fairy floating in the woods but after a few failed attempts on photoshop, I gave up and I realised I need to do more research and self-study to achieve that effect. So I used my butterfly for a children's book illustration instead...

The cover turned out like this:

It's nearly 3 AM now. I'm off to get some sleep.

We are going to the snow soon!

Took these photos last year when the season ended...but I want to post it now cos we are going to the snow soon!!

Seahorse : My New Illustration

So I tried to give illustration a go. My original illustration below. Took approximately three days to complete. I realised that when you do want the outcome to be really good and if you want to create something as intricate as this, you shouldn't take any shortcuts. The whole process involves drawing an outline first, then creating a pattern in black and white, then scanning the whole image and then colouring every single detail in photoshop. I must remember I have to be more patient next time to achieve better results.

TO BE CONTINUED

THE MANDALA PROJECT

I am not very good at illustration. I cannot draw an image on top of my head. I have to be copying it from somebody else. However, I am realising now that I'm very good with patterns. Anything abstract seems to just flow when I start something on paper. For me it's like connecting the dots and placing anything that would look nicely to fit the consistency of whatever it is I've started doing. It's something I find so easy.

I've been inspired to start this Mandala project when I was applying as a student to get in the Faculty of Design at Swinburne University. The assessor, as I would like to call him, would be the one to decide on whether I have the design skills to get in. I scheduled an interview with him. So whilst my assessor was browsing through my works, he stopped flipping at one particular illustration and said "Oh this is nice, it's a Mandala.." and I was like "I didn't even know I was doing a Mandala". Apparently, a Masters student he was supervising was doing a thesis about Mandala/s. Anyway, after my folio assessment, he said I could enrol. So I passed!

When I got home, I googled what it is since I wanted to find out more about Mandala/s. From Wikipedia, it says that a Mandala is a sanskrit word for "circle". It comprises of concentric diagrams that have both spiritual and ritual significance from religions like Buddhism and Hinduism. It's often used as a spiritual teaching tool for establishing a sacred space and aid meditation... So I figured, oh so that's why in the movies, they always draw a circle and place candles and they go inside the circle to meditate.

Anyway, I've made a few more Mandalas (images above). Maybe when I get a bit more time, I'll illustrate one that's really intricate. But this'll have to do for now.

BRIGHTON BEACH

So I finally got permission from Tita Gi to upload these. It's one of my first ever commissioned photo projects! I hope there's many more to come. The editing took hours to complete. I had to google how to create that vintage effect in photoshop and I was so slow in figuring things out. Nevertheless, here it is. It was a good practice.

This is what I've been doing recently

You don’t know me. I am not known. Perhaps I never will. But let me introduce my creative and pedantic folio, the other side of me – the outspoken when I am quiet, the focused when I am confused, the disciplined when I am lazy. A positive thought in me where there is none. Pushing me farther and farther to go beyond limits even when at times, it’s easier to stay just where I am.

I am skeptical. I feel I am not that young enough to start this. A totally different pursuit in an unfamiliar field when those, who I know are undergoing career progression. Lucky are the ones who have determined early in life what they have always dreamed of doing!

I am not an expert at what I’m doing. An oil painting cracked. My colors come out blurry. I make mistakes and I try to conceal them in separate layers. I’ve a lot of erasures. A whole day’s work put in the trash. People criticize. I feel disappointed when they do. Ideas come and go and when they come, they come in heaps of haze. You think it’s very simple to transform them into actuality but it’s hell. I form concepts on top of my head – usually in abstract form: surreal and very aesthetic. I work on them and most often that not, my works using my imagination is so much better than what it is I’ve come up on paper.

Folio is one of my concepts. He knows how to dictate me. He breathes ideas into my mind prompting me to pursue what I am keen to do that’s why I want to bring him to life. He would be all of my works enclosed as a result of both my dreams and frustrations as an artist. I will work with him in hope that people may see our works as something beautiful even if not divine, tasteful even if not astounding and expressive even if not overly impressive. We don’t have a lot of works finished, Folio and I. Nevertheless, I am happy seeing little by little, works of completion.

Someday I know, just as long as I keep on working, my portfolio will be the key to get me a job so I can work as a graphic designer. It’ll be a bonus to get paid for what I love doing! I hope my passion for all things classified as art transcends as you flip every page.