Progress Check

Umph.

Making the clothes for the Barbies turned out to be easier than I thought. The problem now is to find the materials I need to make the packaging. I will be going to Petaling Street tomorrow to scout for those materials. If I came back empty handed, it will be time for Plan C. Plan B is to think of Plan C. Hah.

Shall we have a little progress check on what I have done so far?

My workspace.

Little trinkets I plan on sticking on the dolls.

This is Queen Nur Jahan, an Indian queen.

This will be my Egyptian Queen, Hatsepsut. The only Queen who dressed like a Pharaoh.

This is Empress Wu Ze Tian, my Chinese queen. She's blonde, I know. This will be where my black marker comes in handy, ekekeke~

I need to really work it during this break. I would love to get things settled by this week. Keeping my fingers crossed! :)

Movie Review: Painted Skin

I watched "Painted Skin" today with Xiao Lu er.

I heard the review on 8tv quickie . It was said that the film is one of the most horrifying films of the the year. Being a sucker for good reviews, I was really fired up to watch this film. Donnie Yen in the starring role only made me want to watch this all the more. I thought he was fantastic in that kung fu film, dragon tiger something.

Xiao Lu er was not keen on watching this. She did not like the idea of watching horror movies at night. Furthermore, she was bored by all these movies by China which constantly ran around the same style. Anyway, I managed to persuade her to go watch it with me (nevermind the fact that there are limited choices in the Mines TGV).

This story was one of many in "Liao Zai" (I have no idea if this is the correct pin yin), a Chinese compilation of stories regarding the supernatural. Basically it was about this female demon who wore a skin and needed to eat human heart to prevent the skin from rotting.

Not that I had very high expectations on this. The film didn't disappoint but it didn't leave me in awe either. There's nothing horrifying about the movie at all. In fact, it seemed more like a romance drama. I was kind of let down not seeing Donnie Yen in some high flying kung fu stunts. Plus, he was not really the main character. The title role went to Zhao Wei, who acted really well.

The make up of the ladies in this film were very light. They all appeared to look pale yet attractive. Maybe it was due to me just finishing my photography assignments, I really appreciated the different angle shots here. Some of the scenes were beautifully shot.

Considering this being a Chinese film, I was elated to find that there was no artsy fartsy nonsense here. Nothing such as long quiet still moments all in the name of art though I would prefer a faster pace.

I had a good time watching this. Not bad but still left a lot to be desired.

There is Nothing

Nowadays I can't help but feel my own limitations. There is nothing to learn. For every project that I have, I take what I already have and try to expand on it. There are no new skills or new approach to work. I try and try to come up with new things everytime but it feels as if I am just expanding my own limited skills and not absorbing anything new at all. It is frustrating to know that I pay so much to study here but I got nothing worthy in return. What I have are lecturers who don't care, project after project, a lot of useless and senseless classes. It doesn't feel like I am going to school. It is like I am going through a circle studying on my own. I go to class, get briefs, go for tutorials, do the work, submit, get grade. Their job is to teach. All I want is to learn. It's not supposed to be this... confusing. I am not supposed to feel this... helpless.

Those Days When I Once Studied

I have just finished this TVB drama series: 尖子攻略 starring Bobby Au Yeung. Hahaha.. the drama was very funny and touching. The whole drama concentrated on getting three talented football players to achieve good academic results as well. I think their standard is equivalent to that of SPM. The thing I liked best about this drama is how it brings back all those memories of how I studied for exams last time.

Ah... the good old days. Being a student in graphic design now, the least of my worries is studying notes and memorising facts. All I have to be worried are on screen execution and quality of finishing. The last time I really studied for anything was in STPM.

There were times when I looked at the way Hooi Fong and Evelyn studied that I envied them. They are still getting together to study and motivating each other. They still have text books and the opportunity to study boring subjects like TITAS, a reminiscent of Sejarah. Many people have told me how they would like to relive secondary school years. I never shared their sentiment. But if you would to ask me now what is the thing I missed the most about those times, I would say the preparations for exams.

I remembered staying up late to study Biology. During SPM, I studied last minute for all my science subjects. At that time, I had a bottle of cold chocolate milk to keep myself from falling asleep. After all that, Hui Jing actually told me drinking milk will instead put me to sleep. What the...

Ah... I miss group studies. I miss shooting questions at one another from the Sejarah book and guessing at which part of the subject will come out during exams.

Evelyn once asked me if I missed Math. I do. So much. Math is like a complicated person that I have figured out a long time ago and was proud of the knowledge. But after merely two years, I now look at Math and struggle to remember the most basic of things. What is Theorem Phytagoras again? I cannot a remember a single sin, tan or cos equation. I cannot recall! I feel so inadequate now to be thinking about Math. I really want to pick it up again just for fun. I want to solve Math equations just like how people solve Sudoku for fun.

When I think about studying, I only think back to when I was in Form Five. The truth is, I doubt I truly studied in Form Six.

Ah, the joys of studying. I miss it so much. Text books, science note books, sheets of lined paper, liquid paper and ink stained fingers.

A Break?

Semester break is here! One week with no classes, no more chasing buses and no waking up at 8.30 in the morning.

I guess everyone is excited over this break. It's a chance to go back home, take a break and hang out with friends you haven't see for a long time. But I'm not going home. I want to so much but this break is an opportunity to finish up my work. I have so much to do. I know that if I were to go home, nothing will be accomplished. Not to mention, it is impossible to buy bus tickets now.

These are the things to do during break. Let's just see how much I have accomplished by the end of it.

1. Research Malaysian art history.
2. Look for glass suitable to be used in packaging. edit 2 oct: Done
3. Finish dressing up the Barbies. edit 2 oct: Done
4. Design secondary items for packaging.
5. Look for lights to be used in packaging. edit 2 oct: Give up
6. Do photo montage for Photoshop.
7. Think of ideas for Typo assignment.
8. Outline Ramadhan sketches for illustration.
9. Design a box for packaging.

And if possible, I would love to do this.

10. Learn Flash.


I miss home so much. Going home now is only going to break my strive. These are the people I miss the most!




These silly kids each with their own antics. Ethan has now learnt how to walk! When I go back in November, I wonder how much they have all grown.

防不勝防

I had a pretty free day today. One would have thought I would seize the time and use it to do my work. Instead, I slept off a good four hours from it.

I was blog hunting tonight. I didn't know what else to do. There was nothing to see on facebook, nothing of interest on deviant art, even the drama series I have been chasing after is getting boring. The thing is, nobody I already know update their blog. So, to blog hunt, I went to people I already know and clicked on the links they already have there. The result? A growing list on the left side of this page.

I was pretty hung up on this song by Eason Chan. I kept listening to it over and over again. More than ten times, I think. But this was nothing compared to the time I listened to Hins Cheung. More than twenty times back to back! Anyway, below is the lyris of that song by Eason. This is the kind of love story that never failed to touch me.

防不勝防
曲：張繼聰 詞：黃偉文 編：王雙駿

為何喝過 那杯咖啡 無故 失終了
家裡卻 彷彿 增添了 數本新書
為何你那 床頭玩具熊 再找不到
花樽的花 偏偏 天天 轉色

* 也陶o刻你 仍然 岩 發覺 家中有 這一個 訪客
時時 漫] 冒昧 探你 將瑣碎東西帶走 然後又放低
# 在你的唱機放低唱片是我
算是暗中 一起分享過首歌
從你的套房帶走被單是我
你睡過的 至少我都 睡過

為何那個 故障手機 無故 修好了
梳妝台 怎麼 這麼快 沒有香水
為何有雨 門前就突然 有一把傘
相簿的相 偏偏 天天變少

Repeat * #

從你工作間帶走廢紙是我
照著你的筆跡寫封信給我
在你抽屜中放低戒指是我
你就算知 也不毽Q 是我

Some parts of the lyric is faulty. I can't type in chinese, so I can't fix it.

What a slow night tonight.

Shooting A Model

This is my model/housemate, Angela.

It turned out that I have nothing much to worry about after all. All my worries about awkwardness and not being able to get enough lightings were unneccessary. Angela was not shy at all about modeling. Any directions I gave her she took it with good sport. As for the lightings, I managed to get to the studio rather early so I got all the lights I need. As a result, I finished my shoot pretty fast.

I'm feeling a bit ambiguous though. Should this be a personality or fashion photography? Any ideas? A mistake not starting off with a firm concept. I just shot.

Thank you, Angela, for all the fantastic help!!


p.s: This is it for the photography assignments this time around. All that is left is the final project and I think I have some ideas..

Still Life

It took me pretty long to get the lights right. But in the end, the pictures that I took were not as flawless as I wanted them to be. I tried gettting a neat image of the glass, meaning no unwanted reflections on the surface. It seemed that I can only achieve it by using brighter lights. Supposedly I have to measure the exposure, but in the end, I fiddled with the knob according to instinct. Still, a lot of my images were not sharp enough.

I Fear And Dread

I fear photography.

I have never been good in it. The still life I did in the studio the other day proved it.

I dread photography.

Will have to go in for the still life shoot on Monday, again.

I fear taking bad pictures.

Taking pictures have never been my forte. I simply do not know how.

I dread awkwardness.

I screwed up the still life. I do not dare imagine what's gonna happen when I shoot a model who I don't know and who seemed reluctant to help me.

I fear barbies.

I have spent too much simply buying the materials.

I dread doing the work.

The confidence of my last post when I first mentioned this packaging project is gone.

I Fear.

Too much.

I Dread.

Too much.

And I don't believe I can't tackle them all.

The Real Thing

To finally hold the output after weeks of dreaming, drawing and executing. It was satisfying. I like it.

This is how much I have spent for this crazy project:
Paper buying Round 1 : RM30
Taxi : RM5
Paper buying Round 2 : RM20
Petrol : RM20
Colour printing : RM70
Black and white printing : RM48
Perfect binding : RM40
Hot Stamping : RM8
Gift for the book (not used) : RM15
Taxi : RM23
A whopping total of RM279!!

Is it worth it? I don't know. I have spent too much and some times unneccessarily. (sorry mom, I know how hard it is for you to earn money)

Hehe.. presenting the FIRST book I have ever designed. I believe the same opportunity will present itself in the future.

Enjoy!

The packaging for the book. I have chosen purple and black SKIN paper to make the box to give it a touch of elegance (not very effective here if you ask me.) And I suck in tying ribbons.

A cutout of the logo and a motif using black sticker. Trying to achieve the UV spot effect.

Some people say the unpacking experience is a very important process. I take that opinion seriously here.

The colour printing quality is good. And expensive.

I printed the frame on transparency. So the reader can admire the illustration without any hinders.

See my face??!!

That's it! Conceptual Book project finished! Done and dusted!!

And Coming Up...

Now that the first project is done (well, almost), I would have thought I will get a breather. But no, even before the first one is to be handed in, the second one is already being given out.

The second project will be packaging. We are to find a brand and repackage the product. Supposedly, this is a pairing project. But a couple of my friends and I wanted to do this together, if not, one of us will be left out, so we formed a three people group. After that, the lecturer actually allowed this to a one-man show. Me being me, I'm incredibly tempted to take up this challenge on my own. So, in the end, I'm going to be doing this project myself. A total of six products to repackage.

Apparently, a lot of my classmates are doing this on their own. I don't blame them. It's really so much easier to work on your own. Recently, I find my own patience hanging by a thread. To secure the friendships around me, it is best that I do not do any group works in the near future. Tensions working in a group will only hinder the work. Unless unavoidable, I'd prefer to work on my own.

I'm really looking forward to what everyone is going to produce. I like listening to people pitching their ideas to the lecturer. I can defend myself saying that I'm interested so that our ideas will not clash, but the truth is, it's a way of checking on the competition. On the other hand, it really irritates me when people interupt when it is my turn with the lecturer.

There are all kinds of ideas that has been pitched so far. There are Gatsby, Nestle, IKEA, Radioactive, Converse, BearBrick (or BrickBear, I'm not sure) and so on. For some of the brands, the lecturer proposed my classmates to carry out a campaign as well. It will be a step above merely packaging the products.

As for me, what will I be doing? I was just complaining to Tze Yee and Stella how I was always doing stuff for kids. Like last semester, I did a CD packaging going with the concept of childhood toys. Then on my last project, I did a conceptual book on children's fairytales. For both of this big projects, I did a lot of illustration. I didn't want to do something like this again for this project.

I don't know if it's fate or stubborn coincidence. We were handed briefs and in those briefs, there are brands in which we can consider. My eyes dropped on the brand "Mattel" and my heart started pumping and my brain began churning. I did try. I swear. When I was mind mapping, I considered a lot of other aspects like Faceshop, Elianto, lingerie, drinks, liquor. But the mind map I did for Mattle toys alone was twice the size for the other mind maps!

Initially I wanted to do liquor. I really wanted to try a hand in doing something classy and elegant. But then again, it will be hard trying to find the bottels. Furthermore, due to the lack of technical resources, my ideas will be limted only to the labels of the bottle. I can't do anything about the material, shape, colours or functionality of the bottles.

Anyway, I was sitting in front of Sathish, my GD lect this sem. He looked over my mind maps while I talked about what I had in my mind. The moment I mentioned the name "Mattel", his eyes flashed! He got so excited wanting to mention something to me but restrained himself, urging me to finish before chipping in his own suggestions. Hesitatingly, I continued on about how I have done a lot of kid's works but if I were to do something on Mattel, I will instead take it from the grown up aspect instead. Then, I started listing the kinds of products available in the grown up line: Magic 8 ball, UNO, Hot Wheels, Barbie Collectors...

Chink chink chink chink chink! JACKPOT!!!

Yep, what he had in mind and making him all excited was Barbie Collections. He said how some people have done this before and what good work they were. One will have to come up with a theme that will be great to work on. I was so fired up by the things he said. Even more so by how huge and hard this project will be if I were to decide to take up on this Barbie brand. The challenges will be to come up with an amazing theme, makeover the Barbie all over acccording to the theme meaning the hair and costume, create a packaging and not to mention, the kind of money this project will cost.

Supposedly, this will involve packaging six Barbies, meaning I have to go out and buy six Barbie dolls. However, he suggested that I only package three dolls but also diverse my project to making a campaign. It's not a real campaign, but a virtual one. This means not only do I have to do the packaging, I will have to make campaign materials like posters, brochures, calendars etc. Anything that's involved in a campaign.

He was very supportive on this idea. The thing I am most interested in is that if I were to do this REALLY good, it's going to look really good in my portfolio.

After the tutotial session with him, I was walking around with a heady feeling. I wanted to do this SO much! That was how enthusiastic I was. I am going to do this!

But I did something this morning that is dousing my enthusiasm appropriately and putting my feet firmly back on the ground.

I was doing some last finishing touches on my book. I made a box out of the SKIN paper I bought. I wanted to make something classy to put my book in. After that, I also made a sticker cut out of the Penguin logo and some motifs to decorate the box.

IT WAS HARD.

It reminded me on how much I screwed up the last time I did something big and crafty like this. It was my Seni project for STPM. I had all these ideas for the interior design of a company. I dreamed big and fell hard. The prject was a disaster. Largely due to me procastinating and losing confidence along the way. The moment I start to lose time and seeing how my execution does not reflect my ideas, I got very demotivated. The thing bombed. I got a D that I will never forget. This was a lesson I never want to forget.

And I am remembering it now.

But I will still be doing the Barbie collection, remembering it. This time around, I will finish all other works and focus on doing this thing. I will work on it not only dreaming about how perfect it will be, but also knowing how hard it will be to be perfect. The fact that it will be hard will make my efforts all the more worth while.

Doing this project will be risky. I'm afraid I have bitten more than I can chew. It's really Do or Die. I have never even thought of fashion. Now, I will have to think of a theme and make clothes for the dolls! Not to mention the packaging and accessories involved!

It will be hard. This project is going to be huge!

I know I will be tempted to give up half way, or even before that. Maybe, in the end, this thing is going to crash and burn. But maybe, this is going to turn out to be something I will smile like a fool just looking at.

I don't know. But I will be moving forward.

Sleepless nights lie ahead. Pimple breakouts, starvation, headaches, shoulder aches, empty wallets, phone calls to my mom to ask for money, rushing to print shops, knife cuts, blood and tears. All these lie ahead.

And I'm oh-so-looking forward to it. :)

Conceptual Book - From Beginning Till End

A lot has gone on since the last time I posted. At my last post, I have just finished illustrating. Now, I have actually finished the layout of the whole book plus printing. Hooray!

Will share here on what I have done so far.

Illustrations

What I have chosen to show on the previous post were not of the right quality. I forgot for web I have to switch the mode to RGB. Those files were in CMYK, that's why the colour were so off.

These are ten illustrations I did for the book. They are The Emperor's New Clothes, The Little Mermaid, Princess on the Pea, The Nightingale, Snow Queen, Little Matchgirl, Red Shoe, Bottleneck, The Staunch Tin Soldier and The Ugly Duckling.

I was regretting my choice to illustrate in the beginning. When I started it, I hated it all the more for it felt as if all I knew was illustration. I wanted to do something different. I have been doing the same thing for many of my major projects since last sem. The result was satisfying for some of them. None of it turned out to be what I visualized it to be. I figured my visualization was too detailed. Getting the details right is something I have yet to learn. Once I have mastered the skill, I hope it will provide a different depth to my skills.

My favourites were the Snow Queen and the Bottleneck. I love the former for the illustration and the latter for the complimenting colours. These two are the ones I look at now and are still able to put a smile to my face. I believe it's the same case for a lot of designers/artist. The value you have for you own artwork will depreciate a little for every single time you look at it. So, for me to be still satisfied at those two, it means they are really something. (big head getting bigger!)

I hate the Matchgirl and the Ugly Duckling. Ugly colours, both of them. I don't want to do them anymore. I am most disapointed over the Little Mermaid. I tried many times, but it didn't turn out the way I want it to be at all.

Layout
I did a three column grid. I kinda like the way the block of text is positioned. The white space is meant to add a touch of elegance into it. I don't know.. I just thought it looked nice. Have any lecturer read my rationale here and my marks can just get flush down the loo.

Overall, my book is 90% text and 10% pictures. What a boring book, I know. But then again, I thought the whole thing looked kinda nice and elegant. The concept I have for the book is that it is a collector's edition. That's why I'm striving for a minimalist posh look, if you get what I mean.

Jacket
This is something which I have yet to get approval from Lecturer. I doubt there will be any problems getting the green light for this, so, here it is! The oh-so-important cover that can be left to rot until the very last minute!

Postcards

Since we are integrating both typo and GD, we are required to do a series of five postcards to promote our book. Not just any postcards, but typography postcards. For my series, I opted to use Andersen's works to promote his own biography. Therefore, in the title "Fairytale of My Life", which is the title for the book, I have modified them using elements found in some of his famous works. Paper
For this assignment, we actually went to a paper company just to buy papers to print on! Not that I am complaining or anything, truthfully, it was a wonderful experience. I never knew there were so many kinds papers! It really opened up possibilities and experimentations for future projects. From now on, printings are not restricted only to card/normal paper and gloss/matte. There are papers like Conqueror micro laid, Curious Collection Metalics and totally smooth satiny paper called Skin. Papers are not retricted only to whites but there are kinds like cream, brilliant white, transluscent, iridescent, gold, pearl and so much more!

Printing
Like always, this was a nerve wrecking process. I couldn't help but feel that all my weeks of hardwork is in a make or break situation. If fallen into the wrong hands, all kinds of printing mayhem could happen. My knees almost gave up on me when I found out the errors on the printed copy of my book. Not only do I have to go buy paper all over again, I have to also reaarange the pages. But luckily, the damage was not as bad as I thought it to be at first.

So, in the end, the book is printed!

All is left is binding. Perfect hard cover binding. Something that is going to cost me RM40. Something I have no control over. Somewhere I have to leave my book for three days without any idea on what has been done to it. Tomorrow. Something and somewhere is tomorrow.

Wish me Luck!