Sunday, December 28, 2008
The Calendar Girl.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Grapevine Fires
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Step and Go
The first thing that inspired me was CD album art. In particular, the album art for Billy Talent's second album, Billy Talent II, and The Used's In Love and Death. The CDs I usually owned mostly featured a few snapshots of the band or artist followed by the lyrics. It was often redundant and quite boring to see. In ninth grade, I saw the album art for In love and Death. Therein lied illustrations, handwritten lyrics and aspects of collage. I never saw anything like it. There was some sort of integration of methods to create something interesting. At the time I knew very little about graphic design. I was actually in a visual arts program then. But it was then where I thought, wow. I would love to do this.
So I worked throughout high school thinking about how I could possibly make my work stand out enough to be displayed in something like a CD album booklet. My drawing skills improved and I planned to somehow have visual art in my career. In tenth grade we had to take those tests that suggested what kind of career I should consider. Somewhere in the list I spotted graphic designer. I looked into it a bit but it didn't really catch my eye, or interest at that moment. At some point I decided to go into architecture. Despite my poor mathematical skills, I tried pursuing it. After a year of math and physics, I realized that architecture wasn't for me. I then turned back to graphic design as an option.
It wasn't until my last year of high school, working on my school's yearbook, where I became highly interested in graphic design and truly considered it as a career. While making the yearbook, we learned to use software as well as learn printing and typographic theory. All of which I found to be extremely interesting. Despite the high stress levels near each yearbook submission deadline, I still enjoyed doing the work. I realized that I really wanted to do something along those lines because I enjoyed doing something during a time where very few would.
When asked why I wanted to become a graphic designer, or what I would want to do once I graduate from this program, I still think about those CD booklets. The visual aspects within those booklets were certainly different than the norm and that's what drew me to it. Those aspects are what I was finding in, and expecting of, the YSDN program and I have indeed found them within it. Design in general is continuously pushing boundaries and constantly creating something intriguing. Although we get assignments and guidelines on completing it, that in no way hinders the creativity of the designer. In design, with one problem comes countless solutions.
By taking this course, I was able to look at the different aspects that make up design. In my last year of high school, I thought design was made up primarily of technical aspects like the proper tracking within a word or proper leading within a paragraph. Yet though each lesson I learned there was so much more. We learned history, linguistic origins and theory. It allowed me to analyze and question the designs we see on a daily basis and what others have seen in the past. Design is not just text and image. Through my lack of education in this field, I believed that for a long time. I learned that the analysis of design goes far beyond what we see. We have to look at the social and historical connotation of each piece to fully understand it. We discover the designer's intentions and the audience for which it was intended. Each class I was able to learn something new. Even if I saw certain images or heard about certain theories before, I was able to have gain a broader understanding and fuller appreciation for them.
Overall, I highly enjoyed this class. It allowed me to have a different view on my surroundings and to question them. Each class I was able to learn something new. It brought a new element to design altogether; more than what I expected design to be. I'm not only learning how to use design software like a pro, I'm also gaining more and more knowledge to better my way of thinking and approach to design. This class has surely prepared me for the years to come in this program and my eventual venture into a graphic design career.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Sleeping Sickness
Monday, December 8, 2008
How to fly
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Bowl of Oranges
Saturday, December 6, 2008
The Usual.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Wha-wha-what?
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Hm... you seem bored.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Slight observations.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
What have you done lately?
So this week was again, a failure. I suppose it's due to the fact that there really isn't any pressure to finish anything. I feel so uninspired. I know I have a bunch of things to do, I even have a list of things... I just don't want to do them.
Well, I did accomplish something. I cleaned my room... again. I find that it's so much easier for me to do work when my workspace is fairly clean. It's not fully organized, mind you, but it's clean enough to prevent me from ripping out my hair and crying.
Along with my sudden urge to clean, I also hung up some design posters I got for free. I got them in early September when I went on a downtown trip with people in my program. We visited the RGD (Registered Graphic Designers of Ontario)'s main office and got these. I think they're pretty cool. Hopefully they'll inspire me to do some work. Guess how many times it took me to take that picture? A total of about ...10 times. I even had to turn off my lights and use the flash on my camera so there would be a minimal amount of glare. It's not professional quality, but at least you can see most of the design without much interference. Also, click on the photo to see the details of the poster. I especially like the red one.
Alsooo, I found an eraser while cleaning. I can't say that it's the eraser I was looking for because the one I usually use was borrowed and lost by my little brother. However, this newfound eraser will prove perfectly sufficient. I'm still in the drawing mood and I really need to think of ideas on what to draw and make at Anime North.
Last night was officially day number 3 of sleeping at 4AM. I am honestly a few hours away from being totally nocturnal. What's really weird is that I was talking to my penpal the other night from 1:30AM to 3:30AM and he got tired before I did. By the way, he lives in Osaka and it was 5:30PM over there. Wow, there must be something wrong with me. As a result, I haven't been able to get out of bed before noon. My internal clock is officially screwed up. Yay! In addition, I've upped my caffeine intake. Well, okay, not really... I usually have 2 cups of coffee a day but it would usually be throughout the day. Now, I get 2 cups simultaneously right when I get up. So basically 1 cup, refill... yeah.
So I did a personality test, care of this wonderful little person and I found the results to be frighteningly accurate. So, I have actually tried to post this entry a total of three times to provide an excerpt from the website... but technology just isn't cooperating with my today. I will just provide you with this and you can see the result yourself.
Hm... what else did I do today? I uploaded a bunch of Korean and Japanese music videos to my ipod. I was on a downloading and uploading rampage. At least now, I won't be bored in the car.
And that's about it... I really should do some work. *sigh*
The End.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Seems like one of those days...
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Recalling a better time
Confessions
Friday, November 21, 2008
A night of epic fail followed by a day of instant win.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
All that worrying for nothing.




