WIP: C.L.A.

Several months back, a friend of mine came to me proposing the creative aspect of his brand. Now, granted, I get a lot of design proposals from friends and family. Unfortunately, I'm not able to fulfill every single request. That would be crazy. But I knew he had a lot of passion into this project and if determined enough, it could fruition into something very promising. So I decided I'd jump on board and we've been brainstorming back and forth for a while now. Just recently, we met up and discussed what exactly his vision was and where the direction was going. Before, I didn't really have a clear enough understanding to really start on anything. I'm proud to say that we've finally got some ideas on deck now!

Tech For Thought: You've Got Mail.

56K. AOL. Instant Messaging. Ah, the good ole days. I don't know about you guys, but back in the day, email was the SH*T. And I'm talking like, before even AIM was a thing. Before instant messaging became a hit, all we had in terms of digital communication was e-mail. Whether you were engaging in chat rooms with random and potentially creepy strangers or just trying to update your relatives from across the world, e-mail was the prime way to communicate. 

Mood Board: YKM

Boy, let me tell ya, there is no greater feeling than having design work that is actually enjoyable. I kinda forgot what that was like for a good chunk of my career because I was used to the 9 to 6 grind. And there's nothing wrong with the 9 to 6 grind for the most part. I love my working environment but to be honest, the work itself is far from "fun" or even creative. It's much more technical and redundant. So when a design opportunity knocks on my door and yells "FUN!", I take full advantage of it (and trust me, it doesn't happen very often). I had a client reach out to me for a project that I pretty much jumped on in a heart beat because I love the field of work they do and what they are asking for. Actually, this is 1 of 3 projects I jumped on board! All of which I'm pretty excited to bring into fruition. 

I created this mood board based off the feedback I was getting from the client. She and I have similar aesthetics so I already knew things were hitting off to a good start. A good mood board gives you an overall idea of how the branding should be displayed. This was actually the second mood board I created for her because she wasn't quite feeling the first one. It's a good thing because we established something she did like and did resonate with. My professor throughout my first two years in design school always had us create mood boards with our projects. I loved making them then because I'm a completely visual person (obviously :P) and I still utilize them now in my career. In essence, they are just pretty inspirational images to look at. But it can also be used as a crucial tool of communication with a client. If you haven't started utilizing mood boards for any design works, whether it's at your job, for yourself or freelance projects, I highly recommend you doing so. And besides, they are a lot of fun to make. Time-consuming yes, but definitely FUN.

dbh mixtape O4: Synthetic Fantasy

SYNTHETIC FANTASY (22 mins / 8 tracks)

O1. FLUME - Sleepless (Cosmo's Midnight Mix)

O2. AlunaGeorge - Superstar (Cosmo's Midnight x Lido Remix)

O3. Foster The People - Best Friend (Wave Racer remix)

O4. Ghost Town DJ's - My Boo (Wave Racer remix)

O5. DCUP - Don't Be Shy (Wave Racer remix)

O6. Perseus - Shadow of the Beast

O7. Destiny's Child - Say My Name (Cosmo's Midnight Bootleg)

O8. SNAKEHIPS - Forever

Cosmo's Midnight, Lido, Flume, Wave Racer among other electro fusion artists are highlighted and collected into this mix.

How do I describe the kind of music in this mix? Mix up some electro sounds with tight 80's synths and trap beats. Add a bit of R&B, some 90's tunes with a new wave groove and you get something like this!
Fusion electro music is easily becoming my favorite genre. Most of these artists grew up in an era where nostalgia plays a big part in their own music making. You can tell by the old school tracks they use. Blending their own nostalgia with the new era of electro sounds, they create something truly unique.

I hope you enjoy this mix because it includes some of my favorite tracks of the moment.

WIP: Vector face

Ever since I've been searching for more artwork to put on my wall, I've had this itch to make some artwork myself. Now, I know that I'm a designer, but being a designer doesn't always mean we can do fine art. In fact, my fine art skills are terrible. I can easily copy an object or image that I see in person and transfer it over to my own canvas, but I don't come up with original art very easily. Perhaps I lack imagination......but I'd just like to think it's not in my technical skill to draw well. It's kinda strange because as a child, I was drawing all the time. But it doesn't matter because there's always vector art! Vector art is basically illustration for graphic designers. The art is purely 'vector' based, which essentially means creating art with lines in Illustrator or Photoshop. It's a bit complicated to explain, but vector art does not use PIXELS so you can blow the image up 1000x's and it will still look clean. This is my work in progress to revamp my vector art image for my own branding. The first image is the old art.

 As you can see, I cleaned up the image a bit so it has cleaner lines than the previous work. I also added subtle details while still maintaining that minimal look that vector art uniquely obtains. I figured it would be nicer to show that she has a nose and some details in the ear.

I made this girl more advanced because she has shoulders! lol The old image was just a floating head, albeit a cute floating head. When it's finished I'll display how I use this image in my own branding. 

Decorating: Prettying up my wall!

A few weeks ago I went to an anime convention in San Jose called Fanime. For me, it was more like a nice, relaxing vacation than anything else but I got a couple of art pieces from the Artist Alley there that I'm super in love with. I'm not one to try and justify paying a ton of money for art pieces, but when I see something I like I know I have to have it. Besides, cats from Sailor Moon and something related to League of Legends? How could I resist?

I posted this on my Instagram. It's sitting nicely above my desk. 

As you can see, there's not much on my wall. But that will soon change. 

Here's a close up of the artworks

(By CHIKADRAWS)                                                           (By JUSTDUET)

In previous times, I've always just put up random things on my wall but I kinda want to be more conscious of what goes up now. I loved framing these two and I think all my future artwork will be framed as well. Framing just gives it a nice, clean structure and doesn't seem so random. I've talked about it several times before, but I hate decorating when I know I won't be living in the same place for a long time. I don't know how long I will be at this apartment, but I don't want to fill my wall with a bunch of stuff only to have to take it down. At the same time, I want my home to be a place where I can feel happy and be proud to be at. Over time, I hope to collect pieces of artwork that I can really cherish for years to come. Of course, I'm not talking about Picasso paintings. Let's be realistic, even if I could afford a fine art piece, I wouldn't put it on my wall. I'd rather support not-so-well-known artists that create art pieces I really LIKE based off characters and places I actually admire.

Do you have artwork hanging on your walls? If so, what do they mean to you?