I am not dead, just distracted.
Greetings.
A very belated happy new years to you all! I realise I've been MIA for the last little while, and I do appologise for not writing very much... but I've been too lazy to pen down my thoughts, as usual. There is much to be said about what I've been up to in my absence, but I will not bore you with all the details. Here's a summarised version of the comings and goings of events in my life since I last wrote, on November 30th:
1) The completion of my YSL retail project
This was perhaps, my favourite project to date. Inspired by the YSL ad for their fragrance, Elle I developed a design for a cosmetic & fragrance store for the brand. Now, I realise that such a thing does not exist... but that was the retail category I was given--drawn out of a hat by my professor--and YSL does produce their own cosmetic and fragrance lines.
Essentially my concept was to recreate what you see in the ad--the continuous curves of the cursive script translates directly onto the floor plan, and the glint of glass w/ a hexagon inscribed in a circle was a reoccuring motif that I used in the store. Bright pops of magenta were used in focal areas to draw the eye and lead customers into the store--this was derived directly from the colour of the bottle of the fragrance.
The boards I created for this project do not photograph well at all. I had the title strips printed on glossy paper, and therefore no matter what I do, there's always some sort of glare reflecting back into the camera. And so, to give you an idea of what it looked like, I'm posting the photoshop mock-up of my board layout, and all the other components separaely. This is something I do before I execute any project, so I know exactly what everything looks like before I get it printed/taped down. This is not the final version... I changed the fonts a little in the end, but this photo conveys the general idea of what I did.
(i'm omitting the materials/samples board this time because I don't find it particularly interesting...)
2) New York, New York...
This is not news, but I went to NYC with my parents again, on the exact same day that we went last year... and the year before that, and the year before that. Suffice it to say, next December we'll probably be doing the same thing, providing that I am still unemployed and do not have prior work obligations. The only new thing we did this time around was to visit the Met. Call me crazy, but I've visited Manhattan at least once a year since '95 or '96... and this was my first time there! I really don't know why we put it off for so long... but I really enjoyed it. Especially the Greek pottery exhibition. (I took a half year course on Greek pottery during my undergraduate degree, it was nostalgic and wonderful to see them in real life) That being said, the novelty of Manhattan has somewhat worn off on me, and I no longer find myself extensively photo-documenting my travels there. The dSLR has been dormant, as of late. I didn't even bother to bring it with me! Which was just as well, because it rained non-stop for the entire day we were in the city.
3) New Years Eve hot pot
2009 marks the first new years eve that I did not spend with my family. I assumed for the longest time that I'd be attending a family party with my parents, but unexpectedly, and to my embarassment, my parents informed me that i was not invited this year. The party was being held by someone we're not particularly close to, and I believe my parents didn't want to impose our entire family upon them when they only expected my mum and dad. So that left me, and my three cousins, who were staying over the holidays, stranded at home. Unwilling to hole up in my room on the last day of the year, I called up Doro and we went to a cozy hot pot party at what she told me was a "mansion". It turns out her description is somewhat exagerrated, but the host did indeed live in quite a large house with lots of en suite bathrooms. And so, for the rest of the evening I embarassed myself by giving DDR a go after 15 years, and I rung in the new year with nine (?) strangers... it was an interesting evening indeed.
There's also some other news... but just incase that falls through, I'm not going to announce it until I've succeeded. Promise to keep you all up to date though.
Wishing you all the best for 2010,
p
A very belated happy new years to you all! I realise I've been MIA for the last little while, and I do appologise for not writing very much... but I've been too lazy to pen down my thoughts, as usual. There is much to be said about what I've been up to in my absence, but I will not bore you with all the details. Here's a summarised version of the comings and goings of events in my life since I last wrote, on November 30th:
1) The completion of my YSL retail project
This was perhaps, my favourite project to date. Inspired by the YSL ad for their fragrance, Elle I developed a design for a cosmetic & fragrance store for the brand. Now, I realise that such a thing does not exist... but that was the retail category I was given--drawn out of a hat by my professor--and YSL does produce their own cosmetic and fragrance lines.
Essentially my concept was to recreate what you see in the ad--the continuous curves of the cursive script translates directly onto the floor plan, and the glint of glass w/ a hexagon inscribed in a circle was a reoccuring motif that I used in the store. Bright pops of magenta were used in focal areas to draw the eye and lead customers into the store--this was derived directly from the colour of the bottle of the fragrance.
The boards I created for this project do not photograph well at all. I had the title strips printed on glossy paper, and therefore no matter what I do, there's always some sort of glare reflecting back into the camera. And so, to give you an idea of what it looked like, I'm posting the photoshop mock-up of my board layout, and all the other components separaely. This is something I do before I execute any project, so I know exactly what everything looks like before I get it printed/taped down. This is not the final version... I changed the fonts a little in the end, but this photo conveys the general idea of what I did.
(i'm omitting the materials/samples board this time because I don't find it particularly interesting...)
2) New York, New York...
This is not news, but I went to NYC with my parents again, on the exact same day that we went last year... and the year before that, and the year before that. Suffice it to say, next December we'll probably be doing the same thing, providing that I am still unemployed and do not have prior work obligations. The only new thing we did this time around was to visit the Met. Call me crazy, but I've visited Manhattan at least once a year since '95 or '96... and this was my first time there! I really don't know why we put it off for so long... but I really enjoyed it. Especially the Greek pottery exhibition. (I took a half year course on Greek pottery during my undergraduate degree, it was nostalgic and wonderful to see them in real life) That being said, the novelty of Manhattan has somewhat worn off on me, and I no longer find myself extensively photo-documenting my travels there. The dSLR has been dormant, as of late. I didn't even bother to bring it with me! Which was just as well, because it rained non-stop for the entire day we were in the city.
3) New Years Eve hot pot
2009 marks the first new years eve that I did not spend with my family. I assumed for the longest time that I'd be attending a family party with my parents, but unexpectedly, and to my embarassment, my parents informed me that i was not invited this year. The party was being held by someone we're not particularly close to, and I believe my parents didn't want to impose our entire family upon them when they only expected my mum and dad. So that left me, and my three cousins, who were staying over the holidays, stranded at home. Unwilling to hole up in my room on the last day of the year, I called up Doro and we went to a cozy hot pot party at what she told me was a "mansion". It turns out her description is somewhat exagerrated, but the host did indeed live in quite a large house with lots of en suite bathrooms. And so, for the rest of the evening I embarassed myself by giving DDR a go after 15 years, and I rung in the new year with nine (?) strangers... it was an interesting evening indeed.
There's also some other news... but just incase that falls through, I'm not going to announce it until I've succeeded. Promise to keep you all up to date though.
Wishing you all the best for 2010,
p