What does music look like?

Unfortunately I probably won't get to do the illustration elective until 2014... woah. Hopefully they don't change the assignments too much by then because I'm really looking forward to doing the LP covers project. I know it's probably going to eat me choosing an artist and album though - at least I get the benefit now of exploring albums and sounds for a good year. In the meantime I was thinking about album covers which I felt extremely looked like what the album sounded like. I don't have many albums in my mental database but here's what came up for me for now anyways:

Trippy sounds and colourful tunes - like travelling through a multi-dimensional space.

Thanks Zazu for intro-ing me to this band. For me they sound like road-trips and nostalgia.  The colours and type is perfect.

folk-nurturing-inner-energy-in-the-woodland-wilds, textured sounds. aging colours.

Not only do they look what they sound like I also really love the album art for what it is. Three different styles but all beautiful nevertheless.

Storytime: Nobody Owns The Moon

I'm totally going on a blogging binge. I just changed my header lately as every time I click preview and see that old header of mine I cringe... as I feel its irrelevant and ugly. Besides "design + illustration" is probably outdated as I hardly post only those things. As you can see it's now a moon. So how is that anymore relevant? Probably not but the moon is a beautiful creature and it gives off a nice frequency attuned to my blog.

Actually, for this post I wanted to tell you about a picture book "Nobody Owns The Moons" by Tohby Riddle. I discovered it on one casual sitting at Kinokuniya randomly selecting books spines which tickled at my curiosity.

Apart from the mixed media cut-paper-collage which drew me into the book in the first place I was absolutely captivated by the narrative voice. There was something really powerful about the narrator's establishment of setting and characterisation. He really brought me (personally) into retro New York City life, all in the company of - in my imagination - Pop Jazz. The voice of the narrator has a matter-of-factly documentary tone (Somewhat like Shaun Tan's The Lost Thing). I suppose you can say Riddle does a similar thing with Shaun Tan in that he creates visual surprises. The opening sounds like something coming from a documentary on animals living in the city yet here you have a fox fully integrated with city civilisation. You don't often hear stories about foxes thriving in the city.

I absolutely love first opening pages, especially the "able to eat a variety of foods" part, where you have Clive (the protagonist fox) dining in a Japanese/Oriental restaurant - visual cues set up by the oriental bowls, soy sauce and bamboo.

It's quite interesting because the idea for the picture book actually came up for Riddle from reading a fact about foxes. I think Riddle does a wonderful job at creating the textures of the cityscape environment in terms of his writing and art.

This page of the picture book also made an impression on me. The writing captures the nature of factory really well.

I must say this book would've been amazing to study for HSC belonging as it looks into the themes of friendship, difference, and sense of place in a really engaging way. So if you happen to be in year 12 and studying 'Belonging' I would highly recommend this book!

In terms of the art Riddle uses a combination of mix media and collage techniques. Here's his process from his website:

And if you're wondering why Tohby Riddle or his art looks and sounds somewhat familiar then it might be because he is the author of The Great Escape From City Zoo

Also, I recently made a new tumblr all things related to the moon as I've been encountering many moon inspirations. Some of which include: Jonathan's Barnbrooks design of BOS17 (it was only a small feature of the design but I loved it anyway), a Korean movie 'Castaway on the moon' and my friend's absolutely epic find of a moon badge (which she recently gave to me! Thank you Bambi). And of course there was that wonderful Perigee super-moon event which completely blew my mind; it may just be a rock in space but there will always be something charismatic about the moon. I also noticed that I've had 3 design projects where I've featured the Moon. I didn't realise it before but I think the moon holds a special place in my heart.

Process: Pigeon Hole Magazine Masthead

Hamlet & Story (c) 2012

It's been a while since I've actually updated any progress on what I've been up to with projects at uni - the purpose of this blog in the first place. Pigeon Hole was the name of our magazine for our project where we had to design a masthead, cover, grid, article layouts and style guide for our invented magazine. The first step was to obviously choose a name then design the masthead for it. 

First stage was to sketch out all our ideas and possibilities. I tried to explore and exhaust the possibilities of personality for the magazine's identity juggling between traditional and modern. In the end I compromised between the two and embracing the idea of merging boundaries between old and new.

Initially I went with this design as it was quirky and different in its stacked and varied letter width approach. The pigeon silhouette was actually done quite roughly which took 2 or 3 minutes basing it off a picture of a pigeon I found on google images (I thought pigeons were generic enough and it wasn't like I traced every edge of the bird). In the end I never changed it at all haha. 

Even though I got the okay from za tutor with the need of adjustments of the 'O' and 'P, something just wasn't working for me! For me it felt too quirky and I suppose you could say 'cute' and that wasn't really the personality I was hoping for. Because I really wanted to create something I would like by the end of the project I decided to go back a step and re-do the design. Looking back at my old sketches I decided to digitalise very quickly the other ideas I had. I thought going back to the serif could help create a more classic feel but something was missing from that too! So taking the initial font I designed I reworked it so that I took away the varied letter widths in order to strip back the quirk-attack and found that something nice was happening. In the adjusted version I decided to try out the different positions I had sketched out.

Hamlet & Story (c) 2012

With the finalised font idea came digitalisation, adjustments and refinement of type detailing to ensure balance and consistency: 

The letter P was seriously a killer! Quite possibly I was staring at the screen for too long... but there was something not right - it felt like the bowl of the P had a dent in it, despite it being straight... Trippy things optics does. I realise I always struggle when it comes to designing the P. I remember it was brain straining when it came to P when I designed the Vintage Tea Font. Remind me never to choose a word with P again...

Can you tell the difference?

Lately: Books and Bobs

Lately I went a little nuts with book shopping and more specifically online book shopping. I now can finally understand the thrills of online shopping... spotting an item you like... realising it's cheaper than elsewhere... not having to physically witness the handing over of money (thus the reduction of your wallet)... and finally the surprise of finding it on your table on an unexpected day. I find the experience exciting it's like receiving parcels all over again - only you get choose what you receive.

  

1. 3 Wünsche für Mopsmann by Sebastian Menschenmoser (3 wishes for Pugman)
An absolutely hilarious book which made me angry at first but is on my list of faves. Again in German.
2. Ente, Tod und Tulpe by Wolf Erlbruch (Duck, Death and Tulip):
This is my absolutely favourite picture book in the original language German.

I probably couldn't find these two books in German language over here so thank book depository for that.

and of course my order of a mixed bag of old books from good ol' Archer&Archers.
I have to say this was the most exciting online order I've ever received! It was wrapped in gorgeous gorgeous vintage newspaper from the 70s which totally multiplied its awesomeness by kldhkflshlsdhfglkdfhgl% AND not to mention tied in string with a handwritten note attached!!!
I know I'm going to have some fun with these old books :)

Awesome Shakespeare Books with cover designed by Milton Glaser (The dude responsible for designing I <3 NY logo) with Hamlet included of course in the collection :)

Also some science books (awesome diagrams), learn german book (beautiful ageing happening there) and some neo-spiritual-science-self-help books? LOL

But other than buying things on the online realm, I also bought this book 'Poster Design' by Marius Sala which has a collection of poster designs from all over Spain, from the Coop bookstore which had this masssssiiveee sale that even book depository can't beat! Got it for 16.95 which is cheaper than any design book you can find at Kinokuniya... and not to mention that if I was a coop bookstore member I would have gotten 50% off this on the last day of its sale... dayum. I also absolutely love the slightly cream stock of the book. mmmmm

Already my bookshelf is getting bloated. I'm hoping that this will not turn into an unhealthy addiction... I really love print ._.

Parallels: Sea + Space

From the article An Aquatic Life in Smith Journal Issue 2 / Image by Daniel Patrick Lilley 

Buzz Aldrin on the Moon, 1969 / Photo taken by Neil Armstrong

It's been on the back of my mind for a while now and I really wanted to test this out (and scrapbook the idea) - of putting a vintage suited diver next to an astronaut. I find the juxtaposition really wonderful and hopefully this will evolve into a solid identity for Hamlet & Story / Voyage. Seeing as I have a thing for the moon, a post soon dedicated that way, the idea of incorporating an astronaut really clicked for me. Even though I have a solid name as an identity it's always been apparent that I lack a face. The header I currently have now was whipped up for the sake of having one and didn't really have any meaning. But I think it's starting to form together. Back in my early days of design I was leaning towards having an identity based on being a voyager at sea still discovering new lands going through and exploring the ups and downs of the sea. I like how the moon affects the sea creating the tides - linking well with the vacillation of moods in Hamlet. Also, in bringing in the moon I still get to be a voyager.

Lately: Happenings in the Kitchen

Ever since the winter air, quite suddenly, fell upon Sydney (and to my delight), I've been a little more active lately in the happenings around the kitchen. While I think its partially procrastination I've awfully missed those days cooking in the kitchen so I'm happy so get my hands busy again developing vegan recipes in style of good ol' home cookin'. Seems like the cold weather has made me go on a bake and soup spree. I've been wanting to start writing up and refining recipes but seems like it won't happen anytime soon so for now enjoy the food porn.

Tteok Mandu Guk (떡만두국) / Korean Dumpling & Rice Cake Soup: I've been caught on up with Nostalgia back in the non-vegan days when my friend and I had this soup at a local Korean restaurant, the soup was flavoursome and intensely garlicky. Till this day I've been trying to make stock to match up to that beautiful garlicky homestyle flavour. Still no success, I get decent soup but there's always somethin missin'.

Sigeumchi Namul (시금치나물) / Seasoned Spinach: I make this every time I have spinach in the fridge. Probably one of the most basic Korean dishes you could ever make. Simply blanch spinach, squeeze out excess water  and season with some minced garlic, sesame oil, soy sauce and/or salt and sesame seeds (you can also add sliced green onions). I always find mixing it by hand the best because the flavours are incorporated into the spinach better. Same method can be applied to a range of other veggies such as beansprouts.

Mongolian Soup: Probably one of the most simplest soups you could ever make with its throw it in style. Chop potatoes , carrots, onions, tomatoes, and mushroom throw it into a large pot of water and boil. When it boils add diagonally sliced celery and season with soy sauce and good amount of cracked black peppercorns. No need for artificial vegetable stock the natural sweetness of the veggies does that for ya. We eats it with some pasta. Also added some seasoned shiitake stalks when boiling the soup. Basically the longer you boil the more intense soup you get. The peppery soup is sure to warm your heart.

Mah good ol' buddy Bambi wanted some Moussaka, so that's what I made when she was over.  I didn't make proper Bechamel sauce cauz' to be honest I don't really like bechamel sauce... maybe it's because I've never had the proper homemade kind only the gross white goop you get from canteen lasagne. So I made my own twist and added some mashed potato layer (only very thin) so it's kinda like a shepherds pie now, some vegan cheese sauce I whipped up (vegan margarine, flour, vegan cheese, soymilk, Tartex vegan pate) and some vegan 'feta' i made by mushing some silkened tofu with lemon juice + salt (draining the excess moisture).

So the Moussaka didn't have as much eggplant as it should have but the dish was filled to the brim and we got ourselves  a hearty meal! I used mixed beans for the tomato sauce making it quite wholesome. As you can see we totally emptied the dish out.

Bo Lui Chay / Vegan Vietnamese BBQ skewers: Marinated seasoned shiitake mushroom stalks (which has been marketed as 'vegan lamb') in a lemongrass/five spices/onion/garlic/sugar/mushroom sauce/soy sauce/hoi sin concoction I'd leave out the hoi sin next time though made the paste super sticky and clunky when I was stir-frying the paste to get the aromas going. Skewered with onions and radishes, brushed with some oil and grilled on the pan.

Mini Quiche Lorraine: Again another experiment but I am super pleased on how this turned out! I think all it needs now is a better soft to firm/hard tofu ratio (I made the mistake of buying firm soft tofu rather than firm hard tofu) and less salt.

At first I wasn't sure if the blended acrylic-paint like consistency of the tofu was going to sog up the whole thing or not but surprisingly once baked it came out with a light & fluffy - egglike texture. So who said one needs egg to make Quiche? Not I that's for sure. I could probably make the filling less soft however.

Creamy Tomato Pasta Bake: I've been meaning to make a creamy pasta dish for a while now even though I wasn't fond of it before (because gee that stuff is waay heavy and to be honest tasted like nothing but I probably ate the wrong places). I ended up not doing a Carbonara (which probably should be called carbs-bonara lol) and going half half on creamy vegan bacon sauce and tomato sauce. Popped it in the oven with some cauliflour and pumpkin, topped with sliced tomato - voila! It was warming especially for a cold day and also for Mama's day.

I think I really need to start making a watermark/logo thingo on my images. One can never trust the internet.

Storytime: Here's to Maurice

It's been a while since I've posted on anything about picture books so I thought today would be appropriate to dedicate a post to Maurice Sendak. If there was one picture book every child should own I think it would most definitely be Sendak's Where The Wild Things Are. It's a classic that's perhaps a little dark venturing into the wild world and imagination of Max filled with frightful monsters & beasts, and a wild rumpus.

Despite its initial negative criticism when it was first published and released in 1963, almost 50 years ago, this book still lives on today as fresh as ever, never phasing itself out of the shelves of bookstores large and small. I actually never realised how old it is until recent years - goes to show how timeless this picture book truly is! Even though it was written and illustrated such a long time ago the illustration, the storyline, and the typography is still able to touch hearts; the morals and messages of the story we still can all relate to.

It also makes me think how it has always been a book I've been able to relive over and over, from being read by our librarian in early primary, studying and falling in love with it in year 8 English and finally adding it to my collection in late highschool. Its charm for me is and was the wonderful illustrations that is so full and rich of textures matched with storytelling that simple yet absolutely magical.

This book was the seed of my dream to publish a picture book and will continue to be magical as it was always. While Maurice Sendak has already departed this world his picture book Where The Wild Things Are will certainly live on in the hearts of both children and adults alike. Thankyou Sendak for bringing a beautiful treasure into our world.

I'll end this post with a  excerpt from a interview with Sendak via Hellogiggles; it made me smile :)