This Blog Have Moved

This blog have found a better home. Or at least it seemed like it. Decisions are not final. But for now, this blog will no longer be updated here. It will, instead, be updated at tjhinn.wordpress.com

The First One Not-Late

Finally, I got it done on time for the first time ever! I have to admit however, that this is not quite done yet. Nevertheless, I don't foresee myself being able to work on it in the next few days so. Better submit it while I still can.

Tired seems to be the recurring theme carrying on from last week. But on another note, I've finally moved to Punggol! Will be interesting, but will definitely miss how easy it was to just go find ppl to east supper with. And Joo Chiat. And Katong. And Dunman. Cr*&^#$!!

An Extremely Shameless Plug

Dear David,

I recently found out about your graphic design blog from - guess what - another graphic design blog. I have to say I'm very impressed (and at the same time envious) at the ease with which you managed to generate traffic, design logos and brochures and the likes, debate about design and blog, design sleek websites, all at the same time. That's a lot of hat. Like, really a lot.

Anyway, this post right here is to talk about your recent contest, which I would really really like to win. I can really use professional help in almost everything, cause my knowledge as it is are limited to designing for print (maybe a wee bit of web design here and there, but not much).

Well, since I really really want to win your prizes (any one of it would be great), here's where I list your sponsors, hopefully in creative enough ways. Let's talk about the many things I can benefit, as a person, through winning your prizes.

First off, I get custom logo from you! That would be a great honor, tho if you don't mind I would really like to get involved in the design process also, me being a designer and all that. Still it would be interesting to do a collaborative work on a corporate identity design, don't you think? Usually collaborations are only done on artsy stuff like Illustration and Posters.

I also get a WordPress theme design. Which I will definitely need, seeing as to how I'm still using blogger's template. You know I actually tried my hand at doing a custom blog design template. I really did. I even hosted it up at my site and had it up and running. However, I was having trouble managing my blog easily through blogspot, and with archiving, user comments and the likes. In short, I sucked. I didn't follow through. I hate giving reasons, but I do have one. I don't have nobody to turn to for help. Google was being a bitch. Yahoo! was, well being himself - not much help.

A personal marketing/advertising plan~? Oh what~? Gee, I'm not sure about that. That sounds too good to be true. I mean, who in the world advertises their own personal site? Okay, all right. I guess you do. And a lot of other experts and the rest of the professionals in the world wide web. But you see, I'm still very much in the learning stages. Still, I'd take it with open arms *wink*

One year's worth of hosting and blog setup! Right on! I get to free myself from the shackles of blogspot! Yee ha! John, if I do win, I really have to apologize because the time you will have to kindly donate to help me set my new custom blog would probably be quite substantial, to say the least. But hmm, my portfolio site is already on Media Temple. Maybe we can join it up and the likes. *shrug*

Signed copy of Blogging Tips also sounds amazing. I'll probably read it in like, a week. I'm very proud to say that I finished Harry's latest adventures in about two days. I bought it on Sunday, took MC on Monday and finished it right away. Of course, I went right back in and enjoyed all the little things for the next two weeks or so too, but you get my drift. And once I'm done I can sell it! It's signed so that's at least an extra $1000! Much needed capital to pump into my excellent marketing/advertising plan!

Oh dear.

I thought I'm done with the prizes, but it turns out thats just the very first category!

Uhm, I'll just zip through the rest cause its really getting quite late now. But it's amazing how some of the 2nd and 3rd prize are actually things I really can do with also. SEO consultation for example, is something I would really like to know more about. Did you know that in this 'supposedly advanced' tiny island of Singapore, there are still many government and huge commercial sites that are not done properly? No SEO consultation and proper website design/layout. An example would be my mobile phone service provider. After I signed up with them I tried browsing around for new mobile phones on their site and I ended up crying instead. I lost my way and refuses to come near that site ever again.

An email interview also sounds nice. That should bring traffic, no? But then again my site's not really ready for a lot of traffic anyway, seeing as to how raw it is. Well, we all has got to start somewhere *shrug*

Free money! Who doesn't want free money? Gayla is hot and she knows it.

Blog review, WordPress themes, Expert WordPress blog help and the likes! Oh wow, even the bonus prizes sounds like a worthy contender for 1st prize. Coaching consultations sounds interesting. I've always wanted to go to these 'coaching seminars' and what not but at the rate I'm getting paid, I can't afford to go just yet. And business growth consultations! That sounds great, although I'm really not sure yet if I want to go full freelance by myself or with a team. Still, I will not refuse knowledge. Thats a cardinal sin to me.

Tammy's tele-coaching also sounds like some much needed help from above. I've always had the worst time ever negotiating over a contract and or pay. Challenging clients I deal with all the time, but a tip or two won't hurt.

Whee~! Art books! Design books! Branding books! I get to stuff my shelves silly! I approve with the largest possible grin.

Oooh, banner ad on a well-trafficked blog forum. But I'm a bit shy about advertising my blog. Maybe with all the help you folks are giving me with blog design, blog review, writing consultations and tele-coachings, I can have a properly managed blog that I can be proud of, yeah?

And even more online ads and banner advertisings! Okay! If I only win these advertising prizes, I sure hope I can keep it for future usage! I reckon it'll take me a few weeks or even months to really do up my site proper without professional help.

Amongst all the designers I'm probably one of the most thick-skinned one. I can't care much tho. I just hope I win something *evil laugh*

Thank you for reading this David. I love you!

The Dissapointing Showdown

Watching Rogue Assassin made me want to go to Film School and actually learn a thing or two about basic, proper and entertaining film direction. Unfortunately, it (the movie, Rogue Assassin) did so in a very unflattering way. It showed me all the things you should not do if you want to keep your viewers' interest to the film. Ah yes, time for the review—lots of space to grumble later on.

The premise of Rogue Assassin is to have Jason Statham squares of with Jet Li in an action-packed fight scenes too cool to be true. Sounds like a great combination–Li's beautiful martial arts brilliance and Statham's street-cool charisma. Unfortunately, someone forgot to properly inform the scriptwriter about this, and off they go writing a lame thriller-spoof that failed on all accounts of believability, thrill, deception and most importantly – cool factor.

Not to mention the horrendous dialogue. Like how in the middle of the movie, Statham's character suddenly felt a touch of family love and opened up to his wife about how scared he is. Or the dialogue he had with Jet as they faced off close-up for the first time. Ah yes, the review!

Statham plays Jack Crawford, an FBI agent whose partner and family was apparently brutally killed by a famed assassin Rogue (Jet Li). Three years later, clues to Rogue's presence resurfaced and Statham's world unraveled into a vortex of killings, killings and more killings. Mayhem erupted between the Yakuza and the Triads, with the mysterious Rogue seemingly at the epicenter of it all. It soon becomes clear that Rogue is playing both sides against each other, and it's up to Statham to find out why and stop him. Towards the end of it, the plot becomes a lot more complicated that it should and it simply did not deliver on all the promises it had.

Allow me to elaborate further as to why this simple movie disappointed me so much. Jason Statham has actually grown to be one of the largest action brand in the past few years. Combining his bare-knuckled, ultra-violent smack-downs with a unique bleed of style and street roughness, Statham has delivered in movies like The Transporter Doubles and the utterly out-of-control and ultimately extremely-entertaining Crank. Rogue Assassin unfortunately was way off the target. In this not-so action-packed movie, Statham barely flexes his muscle in a single sequence in a Japanese teahouse.

Jet Li fared no better. His martial arts brilliance, which he so often demonstrated in the likes of Heroes and Fearless, were wasted here. His only memorable sequence was sword-fighting several Yakuza assassins but even that ended far too soon. In the end, the long-awaited showdown between Li and Statham also failed to deliver, ending in a short 30 second forgettable half hearted duel.

The movie lacks visual punch and I was left wondering about the action scenes. Was it well done? Beautifully coreo-graphed? I can't claim to know cause the director decided to zoom in on them far too often, and I can barely tell who's kicking whose butts. The pace falters, instead of getting down to the action it spends a lot more time untwisting the knot it got itself into. It tried too hard to be cool, and slipped down towards cheesy instead.

What else is there to say? I was utterly disappointed. This showdown held so much promise, yet delivered so little. Jason, come Crank me up man! And Li, show me how Fearless you are! Next time yeah?

Monday Blues - The One That Was Very Late

The One With The Interview

This week I had the pleasure to chat with the very first designer ever hired at St James Power Station, Josaiah Chong. Affectionally known as Josh, this 24 year old is a story of happy accidents, luck and fate. But of course without exceptional talent and determination to one's craft luck can only bring you so far. Josh's story is a testament to what one can achieve with abundance of hard work combined with a little wink from Lady Luck.

Once upon a time in a galaxy far far away, Josh studied Engineering and Industrial Design. His passion however, clearly lies elsewhere and even during his school years he focused his efforts on his personal paintings, holding solo exhibitions here and there. In his own words, he did "a lot of fooling around *wink*, and it just made sense to work in a club when [he is] already working the club like a whore". How he got the gig however, was a sort of happy accident.

He was supposed to head to Zouk, but the management took too long to reply and with his own lease in Johor Baru running out he had to make a do-or-die decision. He took up the gig at St James even while they were still in the planning stages. As such, he's become the go-to-guy whenever St James needed anything visual and or graphical. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as the aforementioned gig allowed him to build up his portfolio, reputation and also forced him to learn video editing, a huge skill advantage in his current freelance practice.

Ever the informative and humble man, he deflected questions about him to talk more about St James and the designer they expect to see, in essence preparing me for the tough journey ahead. I took down personal notes as Josh deftly maneuvered his way to explaining the various characteristics of St James and its 9 outlets–I definitely owe him a meal or a drink, maybe both.

"A day in St James? Uh well, I'd go in at 10.30. Do a little artwork. Many times do fucking text changes, like fucking so many you can never keep count (*nervous laugh from me here*). Like 30 revisions of 1 stupid sentence. Figure out how their 10000000000000 stupid ideas will gel in without destroying the whole look of the poster. Bitch with co-workers, change posters, more last minute changes. Rinse and repeat"

"You'll be working with Keith if you do get in," he said emphatically. "He's a nice guy, very experienced with typo and layout. But not so much an Illustration kind of guy, so if you can do that it'll be a big plus." He also went on to explain how things works in St James, giving me the insider tips on how artworks get done and bitching around about managers and the likes, "you'll be in Marketing, the Marketing girls are great (*cue in huge smile here from me*). It's very informal, a very united department excluding the managers. You'll make real friends there."

That, along with notes of comments and encouragements from his quick browse through my portfolio, definitely sets my pulse racing. Nothing beats a nod of acknowledgment from a fellow designer/artist. "You're like me, you lean more to the art side. But do try to show a range, the last thing they want is for someone to be so caught up in his own style. It's difficult to work so many venues that way," he added.

In between talking some more about the shit-load of work, the laid-down atmosphere and the complaining about how he's got "the worst deal" (10.30am to 7.30pm officially, but you know how it goes), Josh also put the job into perspective for me, "it's a tough job, fucking tough. But if you get it it'll be real good for you. It will be superb for your portfolio. Plus it'll be great for your CV, because you'll be working with a very capable guy there(Keith). It's done wonders for my business now."

Josh was noticeably reluctant to talk about his current projects, like a rock-star that's just made it but still humbly rooted to the ground and not believing all the hype around him. His freelance practice now focuses on Fashion Editorials and Animation. A current project that's keeping him busy nowadays is the Toronto International Film Festival, and that alone proves my point about his humbleness. It's a huge project to be sure, but Josh was so casual and nonchalant about it, not making a big fuss at all.

I said my thanks for his time and chatted around some more with my new found friend. More advises and comments get sent both ways, before he had to leave for a meeting and finished off with this caution–"it'll be good if you can do club flyer, to show them you mean business. But if you do get the job, be prepared to lose all other semblance of your life! *wink*"

The Week After

Monday Blues

Ah yes, its the first Monday Blues after the inaugural opening, and already I'm late and unable to deliver. Nevertheless, I did something else that bears mentioning. I interviewed Josaiah Chong, freelance designer based in Singapore and previously employed at St James Power Station. Oh yeah, Josh was very cooperative when I asked for information regarding employment there. Bearing in mind the sensitive issues in discussion *ahem*, the interview will have to be heavily edited, and I expect it will only be ready on Wednesday or Thursday.

Reasons don't mean shit, but I do have one for this lateness. During the course of my 20 minute power nap last night the Lord of Dreams cometh upon me with his stealthy assassins. What chance do I have against such adversity? Nay, I fought honorably but was slain throughout. Only in the morning after a full 10 hour sleep, did I wake up.

In all I missed a lot of freelance work deadlines, but for some reason or another I did not wake up to find a throng of messages/emails asking for the promised work. Calm seas bellies angry monsters inside? The time of judgement shall cometh, it will be a long night tonight.

Regret? Change for the Better?

The past week has seen me assume a wide range of role in life. To those whom I have not had the chance to share this, my brother failed his exams–spectacularly too I may add, 3 out of 4 modules. There are no reason to hide behind this, and even he himself has openly shared this information with his friends. Immediately after that, my parents and sister asked me to go and make sure he is doing fine, and to take a good observation at how he is living his life.

As a brother, I can see he is very much full of regret about what happened. But at the same time I am concerned about how much this regret can spur him on his quest for his education-will this be enough? As an observer, one would probably point out at his slightly extravagant living and his need to suppress this. His average spending is at $200 a week, and very recently he's bought himself a pair of shoe for $300! If you're earning your own money, that's probably nothing. But for students, thats just a luxury you can live without, in other words–extravagant.

I was thrust into the role of an advisor, as my parents (separately) confided in me about their concerns and opinions. Unsurprisingly, both my parents do not see eye to eye on this matter, and they asked for my opinion. While I definitely do not want to see my brother spend another extra year in Jakarta, I cannot deny that this may just be the price he has to pay. And I fully believe if he were to do that (spend a year in Jakarta), it will not be in vain–he will have to work for his education, and work hard at it. That's a steep price to pay, but I do believe that it will be for the better. Naturally, I pray for another solution altogether, of that in which he can come back to Singapore and be changed for the better. Ameliorated. Look it up people, thats a new word I learned last week.

Closing

I do have to admit a slight twinge of jealousy. $300 on a pair of shoes~!? Last night, I actually tried spending that much as I scour Suntec with a colleague of mine. Surprisingly, it was not as easy as it sounded. I had to make sure whatever I spend is well worth it, but in the end I spent nothing. Zilch. It was not for lack of trying either. I was about to purchase this pair of Adidas "Porsche Design", $150. The one I tried was a size 11, but even that looked good. I was disappointed to find that the only available size left. There was a nice vest at Gap, but it was too expensive–$75. And a shirt at RalphLauren–$130. I was unable to justify spending my hard-earned money on them. The closest I got to making a purchase was at the other Adidas shop, in Suntec instead of CityLink. They have a new Liverpool sneaker! Street style instead of for grass! Argh~ I'll have to go back and get it.

For some reason I find similar meanings in the past Sunday's preaching as per the one I attended 2 weeks ago. Maybe it's an omen from above, telling me to really keep this in mind? And maybe last night, as I feel asleep with little to no worry, it was actually a blessing in disguise? Well, all I can do is plan my day and follow through as best I could. The powers that be will lay my path. It's great to feel this surge of energy as I wake up today–I felt wide awake, and very very full of excitement.

And let it be known also that Sunday was the day Eunos Bak Kut Teh received The Ungodly Curse! We shall thread that water no more, for we have found greener pastures. All Hail the Joo Chiat Bak Kut Teh!

Monday Blues - The First One

Well, it's double-post day it seems. After the 1 hour quick rest turned into a 3 hour power nap, I was able to play some more with this work in progress. I was then reminded of Ringo's scheduled output of work and how it adds a certain something to his blogposts. I decided to do the same, although definitely not as often as he did.

So here's "The First One" of "Monday Blues", a weekly output targeted at coming out each Monday. Enjoy!

Bug-Bitten

Rain has been making sudden appearances recently, heralding a sort of 'winter' feel in Singapore. In another town on another continent, the first snow would have just fallen, delighting its denizens with the atmosphere of festivities and celebrations that are sure to come. In Singapore tho it's all cloud and gloom, the dark skies have enveloped this little red dot unsparingly and turned me moody at times.

Rain Bug

My thoughts wander each and every passing day the rain cometh. Is it raining too over there? Did they had a chance to try out snorkeling, scuba diving, and the likes? Met anyone new?

Questions left unanswered, because its presence was painfully non-existent today. Even after lunch. It's weird, but at the same time, nice. A sort of warm tingling feeling that you just can't help but smile. And when others start thinking you're crazy, sick in the head or just plain creepy, then you know it's time to finally go through with the plan

Reds Bug

Even the rain however, was not able to quench our fiery Red. Six goals! While I agree that the opposition we faced were not a particularly established team, it's simply unfair to put the blame towards the team. As far as I'm concerned, we gelled wonderfully.

Pennant threatened throughout the match and looked very lively and threatening. Kuyt's techniques and touches remains below par, but as usual he more than made it up with his dexterity. Babel looked nervous with his first few touches, but then kept his cool to score a great goal with clinical finishings–that ought to get his confidence up. Torres was a constant thorn throughout, but I'm sure his coaches and team mates would give him ample warning that most Premiership teams would not be giving him so much time and space on the ball. All in all, a great team performance.

It means nothing to lead the table so early in the season, but it's worth noting that we have had a lot more successes in our away form this time around. It'll be interesting to see how the season goes along, with the title really looking to open up this time with Manchester United not performing their best and Chelsea slipping at Aston.

Art Bug

This one in particular, has bitten me hard, real hard. I've been scouring the web often these past few work days and am finding myself often breathlessly in awe of the beautiful works done by many. In turn, they inspired me to keep working on my own personal works, and not take any compromise in doing something I do not feel will work and what not. They certainly hit hard on my sleeping time, but I'm smiling nonetheless.

I'm particularly inspired also, to see so many local artists at the MAAD Show. Humbled I was by the awe-inspiring works many of our very own has churned. Inspired I was by the many great individuals who were extremely friendly and encouraging. Go self-discipline and motivation!

Jealousy Bug

One last thing I've found myself entangled and deeply busy with was FutureScape. And along with it, I've found myself deeply jealous with an ex-colleague of mine. He and his team set up this site, helping people arrange their travels. It is finally up with proper content, and although I'm still not sold on the idea as a whole, I still feel a twinge of jealousy at the finished product that he has glossed over.

It's really quite well done, and as I talked to him today and browse through the site, I truly wished we are as far along with our own project. No complaints however, they started earlier, and I do feel ours looked better. Work work work work! It makes me want to really really do that much better with our own project.

p/s: Something's not right. Hmmm. Gone missing on Monday?

Omens

Reading up this interesting book titled "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho has heightened my senses toward unusual things and happenings around me. I fancied myself 'reading' these omens, and predicting the future. Are these for real? Who knows, but it's something to ponder nevertheless.

The First Omen

The train I took today was hampered by various mishaps and delays. Quite unusually, the mishaps were plenty and the delays numerous. It's not a single delay where the train stops for a minute or two and proceeded smoothly. Instead, it labored on and stopped at least four times during the journey.

Perhaps this symbolizes the journey ahead for myself? Both in love and in career? I mentioned love because I was thinking of a particular someone, but there was another omen that strengthened my 'ponderings' – which I will reveal in due course.

The journey ahead in which I will often be stagnant, and make no proper advances/improvements – is this what lies ahead for me? Just the previous night I was wondering about the various local artists that had went ahead in pursuit of their dreams. And as I thought about them, a lingering doubt crept upon me. Surely it is too late for me to take off in pursuit of that dream?

Or perhaps it is merely a warning, for when you aspire for something with passion, all the universe conspires to make it happen, and this is merely an encouragement to keep advancing myself, and not be at rest?

Or perhaps it is a forewarning about the other matter? An encouragement to spur me on, and that the events of this coming Friday are merely one of those state of rest and delays but which I would eventually tide over and proceed?

The Second Omen

On one of those various stops during the train's journey, I noticed also a gentleman reading up on a book with great interest. What intrigued me greatly however, was how he took his highlighter and marked out important words (one can only guess) on the page. I was amused to note how he marked out practically 80% of the passage he was reading up on. Here is an example:

"The First Spirit is Love, which is manifested in:"

I felt this to be quite useless, because he is basically highlighting the whole passage instead of marking out important points here and there. Curiously, he lingered upon that passage quite a while, and I couldn't help but read through the first line of the page. It is shown above, and this I took to be another omen.

And then I realized that it was Thursday, and I made up my mind then and there to attend the night's gathering.

Gearing Up, Slowly and Steadily

Yeah, I'm getting ready for St James! Really really had to rush these two graphics, but all in all I'm pretty stoked up and raring to go. The sampler I'm doing for them are almost ready to go.

On another note, a reminder to self to take things easy, let things happens the way its supposed to be. Which is why I'm sleeping earlier than usual (it's still 1am but better than the few days before!) Which is why I'm not caring much about how I 'sort of' screwed up at work - ha~! Which is why I'm taking things easy on all fronts.

The deadline for St James application is very much nearing. But the way I see it, I'm going to just do my best, and if I can't finish it on time, I'm not going to force it. I'll just save it for others later on. But I do want to make sure I am happy with the sampler.

Ah well, here are two more graphics for the sampler.

Personal Goal

Why is it that every single design that I did for my own promotional purposes has always proven unsatisfactory upon closer personal review? I am slightly ashamed at the new site, build only recently. It speaks not of the passion I feel inside, of the height I aimed myself to achieve, nor the creative sparks and influences that has shaped me as a whole. Perhaps it is my personal quest for perfection, a never ending one. Perhaps it is simply the matter of me being picky. Perhaps it is my own conscience pointing out how I could have done better, and harder still I must labor. Nevertheless, the site is down, indeterminately.

Why this sudden, seemingly rash act?

Steve Pavlina

Steve Pavlina started it all. His e-Zine on Personal Development has got me hooked, and I've been rediscovering his excellent articles over the past few weeks, bit by bit. Overflow of information is as bad as lack of information, as you run the very real risk of simply forgetting various important points, nor do you give enough weight and justifiable thought to each piece of information. For that reason, I have waded slowly through this sea of insights, contently sipping a bit here and there. My thirst was great, but even greater was my fear of bloating.

One of his article on The Meaning of Life truly struck a chord with me. Even as I dove into the first parts of this series of six articles, I stopped myself and forced a look back and review of the actions I have taken so far. I am but 24, but already I have made several life-changing decision, if you may say so.

It occurred to me now that I have been often held back by a fear of failure, more particularly, public failure. It's something that's kept me in check often: is my drawing good? is my design exemplary? is my writing a load of bullshit? This is especially true I feel, as more and more of personal information, thoughts and whatnots are readily accessible. I have to thank Steve for pointing out this general fear.

I no longer cared.

I'm writing my thoughts so I can come back to them. A sort of personal diary and convenient log of thoughts upon which I can readily come back whenever I need to. And my drawings, along with my designs, are there for me to keep track of my work. A collection of good and bad, upon which I would one day collate and select only the best fews. A convenient portfolio.

As I look again on the new site and compared it with the greats like Joshua Davis, Mike Young, Cina, and the likes, I felt a deep sense of envy. Why do they get all the fun, exciting, interesting projects? Why do they get paid enough to travel the world, take part in interesting projects, and the likes? Why do they seem to get all the cool clients, those open to creative design works, showing depths and understanding of design?

Is this the path I must tread? If I follow these gigantic steps laid out before me, will I have the strength and qualities to reach the destination? As I look around, there are those within the local context already treading this path. Do I really want to join them in this quest for personal satisfaction?

Why is my site so .. bland?

Part of me wanted to go out there and explore deep into the depths of my graphic capabilities and churn them out one after another. But another part of me leers into the increasingly juicy pot that my freelance activities has afforded me with, and I can't help but not commit to any in particular.

But surely this is a decision I must make, sooner rather than later.

p/s: alas, even as I post this up, a client requested to see a web portfolio. I am forced to post my site back up, at least for the time being.

News, Or More Appropriately ... Juice!

My new site is up! At www.tjhinn.com! I know I have wanted to update my site for the longest time. Well, recent developments have practically forced me to do it, or else. I actually wanted to have it done by last Thursday, which was the start of the publicity event for
www.nationalkarting.org. Unfortunately, I did not get it done.

By the way, if any of you guys had the chance to, do take a pose with the poster if you seen any and send to me! Thank you so much! This new site was done in record speed of less than half a day. So any mistakes and whatnots, do let me know.

A Firefox Convert is Born

In the speedy process of production, I was dreadfully exposed to Safari's various deficiencies. It seemed like everything went wrong with this used-to-be favorite browser of mine. After spending more than 3 hours mucking around to no avail (and great distress), I decided to simply switch my choice of weaponry, and converted to the great Firefox. I'm glad to announce myself a full-blown convert to this new technology and my brothers-in-arms accepted me warmly into this small but growing congregation of Firefox preachers. It turned out that there was nothing wrong whatsoever with my coding and the likes. Safari was just being pouty and decided to spit out old versions of my sites. Firefox, on the other hand, was more than happy to put out and send me off to 7th heaven. I like.

Mike Ringo

Last week also saw the world lose one its most talented artist, Mike Wieringo. While I can't say I know Mike personally, I have been a fan of his work and his constantly updated blog posts. His sole dedication and love to his craft is just extremely infatuating and refreshing to see. While those who have known him personally takes time to mourn this sudden, shocking blow, my thoughts go with them along with a personal condolence. Mike died far far too young.

Tora Torres!

I should have known it was going to be that kind of day for us Liverpool supporters yesterday. Mike's news was big. Safari was being a bitch. Rain kept us trapped and unable to do work – time wasted. All this resulted in an unplanned over time last night. I'm amazed I woke up in time for work, but tonight I reckon I will be able to have a good long rest.

I do feel we had the match within our grasps. Our new boy Torres did well to score the way he did, and his movement and touches throughout the first half was very encouraging. The second half is something else, but I do feel his fitness has not reached its peak just yet.

Referee Rob Styles, however, gifted the point to Chelsea, and followed his unexplainable penalty call with even more questionable bookings here and there. Funny stuff, but I was unable to laugh much. Opportunity lost. But still, cheers to our new boy Torres, along with Babel who was looking very lively down the flanks. I must now see Voronin and compare for myself Benitez's attacking options.

Finally, Juice!

Before I got on to The Juice, I'd like to make two shout-outs. One is to a Mr Scholar, who came down to our place Saturday morning only to find out that I was unable to do work. For not remembering to update him, I am truly sorry, and I'd like to apologize once again.

Another shout-out is to a Mr Talk C**k (as his blog implies). Here's to hoping (against all odds, I know) that your 'future-planning' went well and off and truly does. See, Mr C**k here received some sagely advice from one of his friends from the opposite sex in regards to 'planning for the future'. This is something that all of us have constantly talked to him about, I believe. But naturally, when someone from the opposite sex brings it up, it adds that much more weight. Wakey wakey.

Juice, At Last!

All right! Time for The Juice at last!

StupidB*** (smiling): Nik,

*long pause to add impact*

StupidB*** (smiling even wider): I found something,

*even longer pause for even more impact*

/me gives a bewildered, quizzical, confused and interested look

StupidB*** (grinning now, from ear to ear): It's something called,

*the longest possible pause, for the largest possible impact*

StupidB***: a girlfriend

*cue in fireworks and flashbulbs blaring*

Little wonder Manchester United lost.

That's All Folks

Well folks, that's all for the day. Just remember, this Juice is brought to you by The Art of Pea. Fuck You Safari! Hurray Firefox! Rest in Peace Mike! Great Goal Torres! Eat Shit Rob Styles! Truly Sorry Teh! Wake Up Mom!

Congrats Bear!

As you can see, I'm fed up with work and have decided to stick it back to them by doing stuff at work yet still getting paid *grins*

VivoCity

I suggested going to Vivocity for dinner yesterday, a sort of relaxation from the usual hustle and bustle at work. Surprisingly, almost all agreed, and we had a great dinner at Modesto's. We had the pleasure of trying out a wide array of food, from pizza to lasagnas, to pastas and even this unique Italian appetizer in the form of raw thinly sliced beef. Sashimi style! My lasagna was very fulfilling, and I also tried bits and pieces from others. Highlights include this spaghetti pasta marinated in squid ink – totally black. Combined with a generous dose of seafood medley, it's truly a fare that brings you closer to the sea. Another is the pizza topped with a special Italian Ham (or was it Bacon?). Deceivingly simple, yet surprisingly tasty. Definitely a restaurant worth going back for, if only for the unique appetizer!

After dinner walk-around revealed many hidden gems of unique restaurants in Vivocity. Some I have tried, some others not, but it's becoming more and more apparent to me that Vivocity is quickly turning into one of my favorite places. It's got a great and complete bookstore (Page One) when I need instant inspiration. It's got a great atmosphere to bring your date along. It's got a quick getaway towards which you can bring your group of friends (St James). And most importantly (for me at least), it's got a great selection of good food.

Here are several of the restaurants I have had the pleasure to visit recently:

Sushi Tei

Sushi Tei in Vivocity does not offer much surprises. It's standard Japanese fare are one I have grown accustomed with, and with prices that doesn't break the bank, there is really nothing to complain about. Unfortunately, I do not have anything to rave about either. The sea view is definitely a plus point, but in Vivocity it becomes the standard by which all restaurants are judged on, and here it does not offer any better view than the other restaurants I tried.

Aji by Hanabi

Excellent, excellent sashimi fare – but beware of your budget, my last visit here came up to $100 for two! Considering what we had however, it's probably only fair. We had a sumptuous spread consisting of 1 plate of Sashimi (3 different types of fishes), 3 rolls of Premium Sushi (Dragon Roll, Soft-Shell Crab, and another), and 1 standard California roll. What really clinced it for me however, was the outside seats, located near the yatch harbor instead of the ferry terminal – much better view.

HK Kim Gary Restaurant

Not unlike other Hong Kong Cafes, Kim Gary offers a good selection of Contemporary HK Dishes. These modern interpretation of traditional Cantonese fares – often combined with Western influences – are very tasty. My favorites are the Baked Rices, tho it's really nothing special considering the many HK Style Bistro cum Resto that has cropped up all around Singapore now. The interesting drinks also on offers makes this a good spot to relax and source for inspirations, and the prices are also decent for the pocket.

Shin Kushiya

Another Japanese restaurant, but this time specializing in grilled Japanese cuisine. My personal favorite however, is the Raw Salmon with Roe on top of Japanese Rice – fresh thinly sliced Salmon pieces on top of Japanese rice with a generous side addition of large salmon roes. For a restaurant whose name implies expertise in grilling, the two BBQ pieces we did order were not one to crave for. In fact one was truly inedible, an over-cooked piece of chicken skin that was too tough to chew and enjoy. Surprisingly dinner for two came up to about less than $50, but that's probably only because we saved space and didn't order dessert

Carnivore

An interesting Brazilian concept restaurant whose main attraction are meat – of various flavors, kind and tastes. It's a buffet to a certain extent, but instead of going towards the food line to grab your choice of eats, the waiters would bring a selection of meat around the restaurant. Naturally, he comes back right away after than, with a different type of meat. Extremely fullfilling, and only for the meat lovers! Approximately $40 per person.

Terra Cafe

Located right next to Page One, this mid-range restaurant offers standard Italian fare. Perfect for a quick and simple lunch, and the milkshakes is one of my favorites. One good reason for me to eat here is 10% discount from the Terra card given free some time ago.

If all else fails, the Food Republic at the top floor offers a wide variety of successful food elsewhere in Singapore. Just be sure to take a walk by level 3 and enjoy the refreshing rush of sea breezes!

p/s: I wish I have a better camera phone. *sigh*

One Last Breath

Hold me now, I'm six feet from the edge, and I'm thinking, maybe six feet, ain't so far down...


Most probably still a work-in-progress, unless the following week caught me overburden and unable to focus on it some more. Definitely possible. I wanted to capture the feeling of Death, of that last few minutes of peace that came upon one as he transcends this mortal life. It's a romantic notion at best, knowing how easily and stealthily Death creeps upon us, but I'd like to believe that even as He inevitably cometh and claims His bounty, He'd allow me that few seconds of peace. Perhaps He will look upon this offering of mine, be pleased and grant me this little joy.

There will be more, as promised.

Red Bull Experimentation

As I sign off, I'd like to share a recent experimentation I did concerning Red Bull and Grass Jelly. Taken separately, one is a potent energy booster, while the other a soothing herbal concoction. Combined together, they make an inconceivable mixture of sweetness and caffeine. Side effects include a constant feeling of nausea and sudden urges to puke. Intense bloating and a general eeriness of uneasiness follows. I felt unhealthy, sick as a drenched child on a wet rainy day. There was also the constant taste of bitterness on my tongue, a sort of overloading of flavors, pushing the taste buds to its limit. It felt numb beyond words, and everything else I swallowed thereafter tasted painfully plain and bland.

The flip side though is that it works. As I walked through the MRT Tunnel, I noticed mere human lagging down behind me at half the pace I went through, and I wasn't even trying. I actually had to force myself to slowdown as I bumped into a colleague and walked alongside her. Most importantly, my eyes felt this sudden urge to simply stop closing. Blinking was painful. Sleeping was unimaginable. Staying awake was curiously effortless.

You have been warned, try it on your own risk.

John Maxwell & Page One

One of the best things about working in my current place is the peculiar collection on books that we have amassed throughout the years. Fortunately for me, most staffs decided to leave their treasures behind as they move on (hopefully to bigger and better things), and I have located many books belonging to no one in particular –  just sitting on the shelf waiting for a curious cat to pick it up and devour its content.

That I did.

John C. Maxwell

The book I'm currently 'borrowing' is titled 'The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership' by John Maxwell, which has proved to be quite an interesting read. My initial attraction was two-fold: the topic of the book (leadership) is one that I felt a strong attraction towards, and the name Maxwell was one that I distinctly remembered as one with a reputation.

As I perused a random chapter from the book I was amused by his thoughts on Apple's very own Steve Jobs, and how his intuitive leadership turned Apple around and "gave them a fighting chance":

"Prior to Job's return, the company had posted net quarterly losses the previous year totaling more than $1 billion. However, in the first fiscal quarter of 1998, Apple finally recorded a net profit of $47 million. In the long run, it's hard to know whether the company will ever recapture its former success. But at least it now has a fighting chance"

And then it hit me – this book is old! A flip through revealed it's published (or written) in 1998, about 10 years back. And then I realized that Maxwell is writing good things and applauding Steve's leadership qualities even before it was evident. Even before the iPod. Even before the conversion into Intel-based Macs. Even before many others talked about Steve's charismatic presentational skills – interestingly, there's even a 'name' for this particular skill of Steve, it's called the 'reality distortion field', how cool is that? That's when I really wanted to bring this book home and read through this. If the guy could speak (or perhaps predict is the right word?) good things about Steve and Apple at a time where PC's were so totally dominating the market (97% market share). I really wanted to see what else he's got to say!

Page One

On the more 'legal' side, I have been buying books left and right recently. It's the newer influences that keeps pumping me up to create visuals, a lot of very inspiring new artists out there, and thanks to Page One in Vivo City, I was exposed to all this wealth of talents. A recent outing there saw me forking out SGD50 for this design book by :phunk studio.



Pimping hot local artist! Blind UV Spot, Black on Black! Unique binding! How could I resist? They had me at "Japanese Binding with 5mm Cardboard Box"!


And not long after that, even after spending hard-earned money in Batam, I saw myself forking out another SGD60 for two books (which I felt was, like, damn totally worth it. Totally) – one by the always amusing Monster Children, and another by Pie Books, a compilation of who's who of Japan's illustrators.



One hundred and fifty of the hottest illustrators in Japan today. Need I say more?



I've always loved this Australian Streetmag. Plenty to admire – the photography, the lifestyle, the stunts. It's basically the Australian version of Juice, with the addition of Extreme Sports and directed by a Kick-Arse Art Director. The result of this blatantly unholy union of perversion and psychotic sensibilities is a Child that is so Monstrous, he embodies the word itself. Thus the name Monster Children!

I've been drawing too, and was very lucky to find this 12 pieces of COPIC markers. These babies are high-grade markers, each costing up to SGD8, and once again, I was fortunate to have neglectful ex-colleagues. And luckily, I am the 'Designated Illustrator' in the office, so naturally these delightful resources were mine by right of heredity. Watch this space tomorrow, I'm going to post another piece. This time done along to the tunes of Creed's One Last Breath, definitely one of my all time favorites!

The Importance of Being – True to Yourself

Freelance & Work

These past few weeks have seen me devote ridiculous amount of time towards the coming National Karting Challenge – a fact that has not gone unnoticed by my mates. In fact, even several colleagues at work should have noticed me working on this project during off-peak hours. Not good, but I do believe this will all be worth it, and especially so since I'm basically the solo designer responsible for every single visuals. I'm not one to quit halfway, so even tho these guys are asking for more than they deserve (or mentioned towards the beginning of the project) I'm really quite relishing the coming week. By then all this crazy deadlines will be over, and the posters will start cropping up. I look forward to sneaking around trying to catch a glimpse or two of them!

On another front, our team has dwindled even further at work, with one of the Senior Account Executive leaving the team (4 years worth of experience – or should it be considered a waste of time?) and another new face leaving (Indonesian girl – a shame she's gone). While this pose no surprise to me, I'd be amazed if that stuck up boss of mine doesn't feel even a slight suspicion towards the general feeling at work. More and more talents leaving and surely he must know that something is wrong with the procedures and structure he had implemented at work.

St James Power Station

Alas, I myself have had my efforts diverted elsewhere – towards the karting event, and towards another, more intriguing development:

St James Power Station is looking for a Graphic Designer. Application deadline: 30 August 2007.

Holy smokes!

Unfortunately, my portfolio isn't exactly tailored to appeal the aesthetic style of St James – I doubt they'll be interested at all in Annual Reports nor Newsletter. The good news however, is that I'm very psyched about this particular design style – and I've been doing a ton of digging up old works, along with new works that I feel would appeal to them. I really just have to keep focused and get this month over and done with!

Iris Judotter & 33third

One of those newer projects is one that I will be featuring in a short while. It all started with an innocent conversation I had with a colleague of mine. She owns a small local record label – started with her friends. One thing led to another and I find myself volunteering my services to help her "star" artist with a small job – a brochure/flyer to promote her new album. Her name is Iris Judotter, and she is really quite talented – do check her music out at www.myspace.com/judotter. Solid local talent, and I was very psyched to help her out.

While I look around for inspiration and the likes, I stumbled upon this interesting music-related series of books called 33 1/3 (33third.blogspot.com). Each book in the series is titled upon an album of consequence throughout music history, and are authored by different writers. The style of writing and what the book is all about, are all totally up to the writers' imagination – and amazing imaginations they are! Some talked about the album's significance towards the generation, or about the story behind the making. Some talked about the style and essence of the album itself, or about the lyrics of each songs. Some pushed the boundaries of music literature even further, like what Kate Schatz did with "Rid of Me". Here's an excerpt about that particularly intriguing book:

"Rid of Me" is both romance and psychological horror, its chapters shifting perspective between Mary and Kathleen. Both are escapees from oppressive men and a small town. At the opening, Mary kidnaps a willing and complicit Kathleen -- blindfolding her, binding her wrists and leading her to their new home in the woods -- woods that women are told never to enter.

Instead of talking about the album, or the music, or the band behind the album (PJ Harvey), Schatz chose to 'collaborate' and alternated herself between the music and the writing process, letting the album take her away and writing along an excellent thriller as she rubs the music into her brains. Take a peek into the story here: http://www.amazon.com/PJ-Harveys-Rid-Me-Story/dp/0826427782 and enjoy the amazingly creative style of writing!

I wanted to do the same with Iris, and as I perused through her album, I found that one song which I really fell in love with – Four Leaf Clover. Her honest soothing guitar melted beautifully with her subtlety angst-ridden and heartbreaking lyrics. And then she hit me again with a distinctly evolved remix of the same song, showcasing her versatility and evolution.

I listened, I drew, and I produced:



I do hope she enjoyed my visuals as much as I enjoyed working on it with having her catchy tune play over and over again as I labored. I wanted to visualize her emotional lyrics, depicting her as a silhouette melting into swirling waves of ecstasy and beauty. This is very selfish of me, but I care not if she likes this or not – I will be putting this up in my portfolio. And should she ask for another, I don't think I would mind working on a different concept – but naturally I'll have to break away from this image first. In either case, I'll have to work much harder and produce more posters for my St James application!

15% Profit Margin

My boss has a tendency to 'preach'. Admittedly, he is successful and charming – definitely a negotiator that can tackle hard agreements, spout influential bull crap and yet still come out looking fresh and good. He talked to our now isolated team – 1 Art Director, 2 Designers, 1 Account Exec and 1 Editor – about the story of L*****, about how he wants us to grow, and of course about his promise of abundance and profit sharing. In the process he managed to somehow make it look like the company is not doing well at all.

His lecture today was based on calculations made on the spot that I do not feel justified. This calculation is made to compute approximately how much sales is needed to justify hiring an extra person.

Average Salary = $2000 x 12 = $24000 /annum
13th month = $2000
Costs = $500 x 12 = 6000
Leave + MC = $1000

Totaling to $33000 – add CPF to that and it's roughly $37500.

Now comes the shocker – which should not come as a surprise to those actually reading – 15% profit margin!!

Judging from that, it means that one extra head would need to raise the sales target by $250000!!

He then went on to show how the company is doing fine ($1.6 mill last year in sales), and with us 6 people ( = $1.5 mill) so its quite right there – he's earning a mere $100k. But now that one has left and another two is coming in, we will have to work harder and try to raise the bar further.

$250000 per person per annum = our compact team (lets count it at 7) will need to raise $1.75 mill in sales, amounting to $145k per month in total sales. So his proposal was that we set the benchmark at $140k, and there will be another benchmark every $20k onwards. Every extra $20k that's earned will be divided by 2 (zipper through this, not explained why) and then the profit (15% of that) will be divided equally amongst everybody. If we reach $160k for the month, we'll get $1500 divided equally. At $180k, we'll get $3000 divided equally, and on and on. Nothing is concrete of course, as he himself mentioned how this is the way it'll be done if he's "generous".

I can't help but feel a need to correct him, even in the blogosphere – even as I know with certainty that he won't care, don't care. Surprisingly, when he was talking, I actually felt myself admiring him – his style, his confidence – the marks of a successful man. And I can feel the audience – my colleagues – being captivated by his intentions, and I know for certain that they feel not what I feel, or perhaps they do so too, but those feelings of injustice and unfairness are buried deep deep down, so deep inside them it'll take a real hard slap to wake them up from slumber.

Allow me to at least try it, or at least reveal my version of the calculation.

My initial reaction when he mentioned that 15% was one of outrage and disbelief. I cannot believe that the company is charging a mere 15% profit margin to cover costs, design services, expenses and what not and still be profitable. Obviously I was wrong, as even that small profit margin is enough to cover all of the above and more – earning our director the minimum 6 figure sum yearly, with little to no effort.

Nevertheless, I was sure that the profit margin charged by my company is way more than 15% – at least double that. A quick browse through past quotations and proposals proofed my suspicion right. The company charges between 50% to 20% on design charges alone and not including markups earned from printing and the likes, our profit margin should average around 30% to 40%. For the purpose of this calculation, I think its prudent to assume the worst – 30% profit margin.

First off, I'd like to calculate the amount needed to sustain an extra person. I also felt $2000 average is a bit low, so I raised it to $2500.

Average Salary = $2500 x 12 = $30000 /annum
13th month = $2000
Costs = $500 x 12 = 6000
Leave + MC = $1000

Totaling to $39000 – add CPF to that and it's roughly $45000.

That's quite a lot more than the initial $37500, but lets proceed and calculate the sales required to necessitate having that extra employee. $45000 / 30% = $150000.

That's a stark contrast to his lecture. One employee can easily earn $2500 and yet will only need to raise the sales by $150. In fact, lets even add to that and give everybody $3000.

Average Salary = $3000 x 12 = $36000 /annum
13th month = $2000
Costs = $500 x 12 = 6000
Leave + MC = $1000

Totaling to $45000 – add CPF to that and it's roughly $50000.

$50000 / 30% = $166666 – rounding up to $170000.

Still reasonable and achievable, considering his calculation of needing $250000 per extra head.

Based on that, the company is doing exceptionally well with $1.6 mill last year. $170000 per head amounts to $1.02 mill (6 people), lets even add additional costs here and there, rounding it up to $1.1 mill. The company is in the black, by $500k! Pah! What crisis!

There is a gem of a lesson behind all this however. 15 is the magic number. I can easily imagine him justifying that 15% profit margin, because that is most probably the profit margin that he started with, when the company was brand new. As we plow through our 18th years however, that 15% is obviously no longer appropriate, and we charge a premium for our margin –  sometimes as high as 50%. This 15% profit margin would serve a good benchmark for me to gauge my design fees in the future.

More Daikin Stuff

Ok I'm sick of the cute blue droplet ...... gaaaah ...... need ..... airrrr .........

Daikin Chinese New Year Proposal

whee, work is fun for once!

SmooveJump

Whee. Now not sure where to put the typo in.

Cannot Die 4.0 - A Review of Die Hard 4.0

This fourth installment of the flick doesn't offer anything new in the way of plausibility, but fans of the series should be well entertained by the series of impossible scenarios and stunts that came crashing wave after wave, each trying to top out the one before, and succeeding. Make no mistake about it, this movie is simply a whole load of fun, and it makes no pretense of being anything but that. In fact, I spent half the movie stifling my laugh at how impossibly crazy McLane is, but the one thing I can't deny was that ‐ it was a whole load of fun!

Willis slips easily into his role as John McLane, super action hero, and tho he is visibly older and grumpier, his indestructibility is obvious avnd his devil-may-care attitude endearing. Throughout the movie, he proceeds to defy all laws of nature, physics and common sense, and delivered non-stop action right from the beginning of the movie ‐ OK, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but 10 minutes into it and you won't even remember the kind of real world you're living in.

As usual, McLane got assigned a seemingly inconspicuous assignment, tasked to bring in a computer hacker Matt Farrell (Justin Long) and somehow stumbles into a sinister plot of stunning ambition, orchestrated by bad guys exponentially smarter than he is. He arrives just in time to save Farrell from assassins, and proceed to escort and protect him from, you guessed it, even more assassins. When he ran out of bullet, he took up his car and flew it towards the terrorist helicopter instead. After that he somehow zig-zagged his lumbering monster truck (think Optimus Prime), and avoids F-16 missiles as he chases the bad guys. Jumping off from the top of the F-16 (and surviving), he proceeded to mop the remaining bad guys with his trusty old Glock with a resounding "Yiipee-Kiy-Ai-Yeah!"

Give your tired brains a good old fashioned treat and remember to leave logic by the door, it's an entertaining ride that's well worth it. And just for the record, John McLane can kick Optimus Prime's ass twice a day, any day of the year.

Current Work-In-Progress - Japan

Plagiarism is Overrated.

A designer colleague of mine asked for my opinion once in regards to showcasing his portfolio online. His simple question bellies a common fear shared by most designers when it comes to the matter of sharing his/her work - "Do you think it's possible to show off my works online, but not allow others to download it?" The answer is an obvious and resounding "No". Even with JavaScript hacks not allowing right-clicks and the likes, there is still such a thing called "Print Screen". And if the other person is even that little bit knowledgeable, he/she won't even need to do that to plagiarize your work. All they need is a sneak peek, a glimpse even, and off they go cloning away your proud babies.

In this day and age of the world wide web, nothing is personal and uniquely owned anymore. For all you know, that amazing illustration you did last month could well be used by another designer for his proposal pitch. And that great idea you had for that French Festival? It's printed already! For a t-shirt design celebrating the French Revolution, thank you. And the best part of it? You don't even know it!

Even in countries that are supposedly 'stricter' in enforcing their laws (like Singapore), rip-offs still happens regularly. Some cases are pretty fricking blatant. An example would be this t-shirt design a friend of mine did for Threadless. It didn't get printed, but instead a local (Sg or M'sia) street-wear brand took the design right out, slapped their brand name in the design and printed the shirt. Note that I'm not even talking about those shady road-side stalls selling trendy youth wears. I'm talking about a proper boutique shop with a known brand with more than 2-3 boutiques over Singapore. They claim to be "Fresh", but now we know better don't we? - hint* -

Personally, I feel that designers are starting to branch themselves out into two different sub-cultures when dealing with plagiarism. There are those who are perfecting their craft to a certain extent that it is no longer just that, it becomes an art in itself. With these guys, the lines differentiating Design and Art has truly blurred, and they have merged with Artists, Scupltors, Illustrators and the likes. These are guys like Joshua Davis , Marian Bantjes , Nik Ainley and the likes who have developed and perfected their own unique style.

To them, protection would be quite irrelevant for the sole reason that the promotion they receive from their sites is such that they are now identified with these unique styles. I don't think they'll mind people copying their work because they know that 'proper' clients will see right away that the person copying is doing sub-standard work, and or not doing it properly.

Another sub-culture of designers are those who thrives on relationship and advice instead of simply the strength of their work. Does this not sound familiar? A company wants a rebranding, reimagining of their corporate identity but the person in charge of the corporate communications are reluctant in injecting new blood/starting a new relationship with a new provider. Instead the keep coming back to their current designer, based on the fact that they are "comfortable" working with them.

I'm not saying these designers are not strong graphically and the likes. I'm just pointing out that the job scope of the designer has evolved to such an extent that we no longer just make things pretty, or communicate a message. It has now expanded into communicating with the client about how their 'message' should be, maintaining a proper working relationship with the client, convincing the client that what we're trying to say with our visuals here is proper and good for their company.

My current company is quite a good example of this "working relationship". It doesn't matter if another company takes our design and copy it, because more than 50% of our clients are repeats. Meaning they come back to us because they are happy with our services in the past, tho I seriously just think that it's because we keep giving in and saying "yes" to whatever shit they ask of us.

Bottom line? Plagiarism is overrated. While it's not cool to have your work copied and all, at this day and age, we'll just have to live with it. Those who are afraid of embracing the internet as a mean for promotional and exposure will probably do just fine, but when I look at the payoff of having my works showcased and available to such a huge (amazingly huge) audience, there is really no way I can say no to that. The potential gain far outweights the risks, by more than a mile, so the best advice I gave to that colleague of mine was a white lie - "Yeah sure you can. There's a JavaScript hack that disables right-clicking".

Reminders & Work Stuff

Indo CG Submission Noise Singapore

Personal reminders to submit works to these two competitions. Shitzor mah boxzor. Dead tired. My hands felt numb. Fingers finding it hard to move the mouse and clicking the left side. Reason is because of this.





Posters for Ministry of Manpower. Of which I still need to do another one, by the end of the day. I'm so fucked.

On another note, I did some more digging around at work and found this (below, below) - one of my favorite cover design I've done so far in Lancer. It's for SuperBowl, who is quite a large entertainment company in Singapore. They mentioned how they did not want to point too much towards bowling and wanted us to shine the spotlight on their other ventures, like the country club, properties, etc etc. My concept was to show a sort of pinball machine layout, with all the bright colours and illustrative icons to represent each of their various ventures. The idea was how pinball machine is a very common fun machine and while playing, you bounce the balls through various sections to earn more points. As such, its quite similar to how the shareholders and putting their trust in SuperBowl, who in turn 'bounces' (invests) in various ventures to earn more profits.

Fun. But of course, it didnt get selected. And you know which cover they selected instead? A cover design showing a bowling ball, rolling down the alley..... What. The. Fuck.... -_-

Zapfino and Times New Roman

I'm not sure how you guys felt about Field of Dreams - the closing of National Stadium event - but I personally enjoyed it~! Hope you guys feel the same! It was a damn shame tho, Jun Wen, Wen Jie, Lamb, Mom and Shu Yu couldn't make it. Hopefully we can organize another similar outing yah~ in the new National Stadium .. maybe, Singapore vs Indonesia? This time around, I will 'locate' the proper supplier for face paint from way before the event =D

I have to say that my own personal memories of the stadium aren't much to count for. But at least I actually experienced NDP there, in the stadium. Once, from the spectator stand. Once, with the Boys Brigade. And that last competitive match, Singapore vs Thailand - is a great memory unto itself. The crowd was amazing, the real Kallang wave - all complete with the earth-shaking thumping~ I remember how the Thai supporters were sectioned right next to our left, and there were plenty whistles and and not-so-friendly cheers and jeers from both sets of supporters (but that's how it's meant to be yeah). Fresh in memory also was how a group of ang-mohs was having lots of fun, dancing and cheering around - they really know how to let loose! And the group of nine with painted shirts, spelling out 'S I N G A P O R E' - And the Malay uncle who came walking past our section - towards the Thais, chastising, swearing and cursing - before turning back and having a laugh as the rest of us voiced our backing for him~! Well, can't wait for the opening of the new stadium is all I can say!

One thing I can't help noticing was how the Singapore Sports Council decided to use that particular font for the headlines in promoting the event. It's a font that's actually a favorite of mine, so I can't help smiling when I recognized it's sexy curves =) Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, ... Zapfino!



This very Shakespearean font is perfect for that night out on a classy beach-side restaurant. First class and by the sea, accompanied with an elegant live band performing classics from the all time greats. Follow it up with an inspiring play in the theater and then off to a cozy setting to round up the perfect date. Basically, when I think high-class, elegant and or classic, I think of you, Zapfino. My only complaint is that she can do with a little more bulk, her thin frame can really be quite drastic and dangerously close to being invisible.

----------
Here's an interesting article that once again proves Designers to be .. well .. designers. We don't do things the normal way .. =) I'm off to design a poster for a faux artist performing at a faux event in a faux country!

It probably also explains my undying attraction towards poster design. A part of me wants to call my poster designs 'art', but another part chides me for being so naive and shameless. Getting paid to do something so fun has got to be a sin! But as I browsed through my old works today I surprised myself with how much work I have done that I can't even remember of. A lot of fun stuff that I really should be quite proud of~ (not surprisingly, a lot of poster designs). A part of me really really wants to go back to those old days working with (fake) clients that really allows me to let loose, and just go crazy with whatever is in my head. Is there such a job out there in Singapore?

Here's some of my extremely early poster works for promoting Times New Roman. My bullcrap reasoning was that Times New Roman being the standard font used in newspaper, magazines, and word processing softwares - it's gotta be quite legible. In fact, the very first thing that comes to mind when you mention Times New Roman are words like : standard, simple, strict, legible, normal, and most of all - boring. So I set out to disturb this perception of Times New Roman as all of that. I set the fonts up, tore them, break them apart, randomly stack them amongst each other and just had a little too much fun to call it work/study =) The end results are a set of posters that portrayed the font in a totally different light, which I feel works well to promote it amongst designers. My aim was to have them look at these posters and goes "oh hey, thats an interesting way to use Times New Roman,"






Hmm, I actually bullcrapped my way presenting works from 5-6 years back. Apparently I have reached a new level in bullcrapping .. +15 Intel

Finished - C&C Time

Finished. Or at least as far as I can push it. Will post on DeviantArt for C&C, will be interesting.

Short Term Goals

Art - Personal
Further my education into 3D Animation/Game Development. Develop my Illustration/Drawing technique into such a level that I can break into the Illustration/Comic/Art industry comfortably. Participate and win an Art/Design Competition/Award. Get featured in a magazine.

Ventures - Personal
Continue working on this current project I'm involved in (FS) and see it to the finish. Develop and learn new business skills as I work with two others who are (arguably) more experienced in the business side. Setting up a milestone to ready the prototype (design wise) in the coming month or two. Start working on other projects.

Work - Career
Advance my current position in Lancer Design. My boss has been talking about picking out me and two other designer to form a new unit, which will focus on something else altogether. Rendy (another Indonesian designer) will head that team while me and the other designer (Edmond) will assist and support him. This will be interesting, and if I do stay till this came around, I will hope to make it a more conducive environment to design and work. If it doesn't work, then I aim to at least obtain a PR Status - and then get a better job.

Portfolio - Personal
Work on finishing a portfolio site that I can be proud of, and update it regularly. Start printing newer pieces. Apply to 20/20.

Health & Personal
Exercise! Continue Sunday morning sports activities, when the weather permits. Set out at least one hour each day to develop my drawing skills. Maintain and update my blog!

Day 8 - Reminiscence

According to my day-to-day .JPEG savings, this is currently the 8th day in which I worked on my drawings. I'm personally quite pleased with it, and tho its far from finished, I'll be working on other things in the next 1-2 days. I have something in mind for my brother and his mates, the SmooveJump team. I'm gonna try out some other styles/techniques with that so it'll be interesting.

On personal note, she came online today and as usual, bear toyed around on MSN - chatting her up and teasing me (he's a bugger). Shit~! This is a weird feeling, actually it's quite a lot like when I fell for this HK girl back in the States. It was the same problem, she (lets call her V) had a boyfriend, much like NL (you know who). And much like NL, whose boyfriend are away in NS, V's boyfriend was in HK (long-distance). Things happened pretty fast back then, we went out a few times (in groups and also just alone at times) and chatted a lot. But then I backed out. She had a boyfriend after all and .. umm .. well, things just didn't work out.

I didn't even try much with NL this time round, but what felt eerily similar was how me and V got really weird towards each other after that. Maybe it was just me thinking too much, not knowing how to act and stuff, but we never really got to be friends like we used to. With NL, it's not like we're good friends or what not before, but at least I could talk and act normal with her. Now, I feel like I wanted to scram, dash out and hide whenever she's around. I'm pretty sure I'm just putting too much thoughts into it, but when she came online today I really really did not know what to say to her. So I bummed out and kept myself busy instead. But boy it sure brings back memories - of what could have happened, and of what did happen.

What the hell is wrong with me~!? Ah boo boo, touch luck, who the heck cares? We've got FS meet tomorrow. Will also have to find out more information in regards to POOR.

Watch out ...

Logan's got claws now~!

And Dare Devil ...

is colored out .. the easy part is done .. I'm excited about Logan .. mmmmMMMMMMM

Wahoooo

I'm loving my WACOM :D ~! Daredevil + Wolverine rocks! I'm aiming to finish this by the end of next week (29th June), hopefully in time for sending off my Dutch colleague. If not then .. never mind I'll just keep this for my first ever digital painting piece. I'm loving my tablet! The red also turns out pretty nice, and I was really worried I'm not doing things proper cause when I started it was just ugly plain flat red. Looking back at it tho I'm gonna have to work on the stick properly. It's .. not working~ .. :|

I do like how my pencilled Wolverine came into the picture tho~ muaha .. that's an hour I took from work! If I have the skills I would add Spidey towards this mix, one of my fave triple-team. But .. Spidey is really hard to draw. His posture, his costume .. I'm gonna have to pass for now as I keep practicing.