'Who, when being loved, is poor?'

Hey guys, it's been a while.
How have you been?
Things have just been crazy ever since I flew back to Singapore.
Assessment for context 1, 10 days Supercamp, and more madness will go on until 2013.

I'm really glad for a short 2 months break in UK where I got to reflect and re-focus my priorities in life once again, before coming back to hectic sg.
So much has happened in just these 2 months, it makes my UK tip seem like 3 years ago. Haha.

So many thoughts running through my mind..

But I'm just happy to go to bed knowing I've given my 100% for the day, knowing that as I go to bed and rest, that God is working on that 100% effort I've sown and turn it into a 200% harvest.

Finances is turning out to be a huge stone weighing my heart down but thank God for bringing us this far. And I know You will always take care of us as we honor & put You first.
Money is horrible, sometimes. Or rather, the lack of?
(sometimes I wish I was living in a simple countryside farm where surviving on our own cows and chickens are the main way to live. yeah, just sometimes)

And then I chanced upon this quote by Oscar Wilde: 'Who, when being loved, is poor?'
Which I can totally agree on, esp since I now know what it's like to be not so well-to-do lol.
I am so blessed with friends who love me and am constantly encouraging inspiring me.
Just as they are always there for me, I hope they know I will always be there for them too.

So even as I'm riding on this storm in life now, I know I can get through this and at the end of the day still sleep with a smile on my face.. Because of love.
Though my material possesions (some studded clothes and a few boots, is all) may not be much, I feel like the richest & luckiest girl alive now.
Thank you for your love that builds me up, my family & friends.
Thank You for Your unconditional love that keeps me going on.

Your love is my fuel.

Wake up / Dream on

In this world full of confused and mixed-up signals, 

one of the most commonly-heard phrases to motivate people is 'Wake up'.

Similarly, the next commonly-used phrase to inspire people is 'Dream on'. 

Ain't that a juxtapose? 

And what if you were in a dream that seemed so real one day, that you have to grasp a faint strand of sanity in your mind to wake you up?

Or what if you are too awake and busy that you lose your dream in the midst of it all?

What is a dream and what is reality if the lines keep crossing?

This graphic piece is a reminder to keep both essences of the dream and the waking-up to a balance.

Just like how the words seem to blend into the background colors, sometimes all you need to do is to work a little bit harder to grab the message you need in order to get to where you want to go.

So as you peer and squint your eyes to read this poster, 

may you wake up.... to dream on.

Cheers.

your blood tastes sweet

Check out the awesome blood work Huyen did on my face.
I'd initially wanted to be the Black Swan. Then I didn't get my costume. So I said I'll be a fairy. With a flowery headdress and white lacey dress. At least that's something right?

Then I went for dinner with the awesome Halls Cluster people!
These people are always so friendly and funny and they've really been a big help to settling down in LU. (Halls Cluster is like CG here, small groups of people together)
Aww, gonna miss them even though it's just been a short while.
They're just so genuine and are so on fire for God, it's amazing. Esp when the culture here makes it harder to be a fervent Christian.
Really learnt a lot from them- just by hanging out with them!
Can't wait to share with you much more church adventures when I'm back in SG!

So yes, after dinner we went to Tesco and bought cheap ice cream to binge. Stayed in Chris' room til I forgot I was supposed to meet the girls for the Halloween party!
Rushed back home but didn't have time to change so I just put my flower headband on.

Yup. From Black Swan to Fairy to a girl with a flower headband. Hahaha what a costume.

But seeing all my classmates so dressed up, I got in the mood too and so that's how my scary blood make-up came about. It actually looks pretty real up close!

I came home after the party and my house mates got a shock. Muahaha. 

Great Wednesday night!
Now it's back to doing my project because my presentation is on Friday. *freaks out*
Wish me luck, guys! Xx

:D

I don't normally do this but my dear CG gave me a calendar b4 I left for UK and this is one of my task to do: 9 poses made into a collage for them!

Found my flower-spiked headband at Topshop during a sale for 2.50 pounds.. Score!

Okay I'm off to Club Mission now, thus ending this random post. 

Have a gr8 long weekend, singapore ;)

Designers are meant to be loved, not understood.

Someone told me about this list and I thought it was hilarious and should be shared for humor & irony's sake.

50 reasons not to date a graphic designer:

1. They are very weird people. 

2. There are billions of them in the world, like colors on the screen of your computer. 

3. They will analyse conversations in layers. 

4. You will spend the day assembling furniture from IKEA. 

5. They drink and eat all kinds of weird shit just because they like the packaging. (So true, I've wasted money on things I don't need or even like just cause it looks gooood) 

6. They hate each other. 

7. You’ll come out the last out of the movies because you have to see the full list of credits. 

8. They cant change a light bulb first without making a sketch. 

9. They screw up all the tables with their cutters.  

10. They rather study the paisley pattern on your outfit than listen to what you have to say.

11. They will fill your house with magazines and whatever is out there that has drawings. (We need inspiration everywhere, baby) 

12. You never know if it is really an original or a copy. 

13. They make collages with your photos. 

14. They do not know how to add and subtract, they just understand letters. (That's what accountants are for :) 

15. They idolize people who nobody knows & speak of them as if they were his colleagues. (So the other day I saw Yayoi's statue in London Selfridges and it so totally looked like her..)

16. They take pictures almost daily and all are cut in weird shapes. 

17. They ask your opinion about everything but they do whatever they want. 

18. Everything is left justified, right or center unless they arrive late. 

19. They hate Comic Sans with the same passion they love Helvetica. (I run away from Comic Sans, with the same passion I run to Helvetica & Baskerville) 

20. They use iPhone for everything, because everyone has one. 

21. You can not decorate the house without consulting them. 

22. They steal street signs. 

23. Always carry their hands painted with something. 

24. They buy dolls unfinished for them to paint. 

25. Everything becomes something other than what it really is: cards as tickets, cards as … (Because we love to get hands-on and crafty. Simulates our brains or something. Nothing to do with a short attention span. I hope.) 

26. When arguing, you will be nicknamed like the OSX spinning wheel (not affectionately). 

27. Do not know how to dress without consulting the Pantone book. 

28. They hate Excel. 

29. They read comics.

          30. They want to save the world only with a poster. (Guilty as charged. In fact, I'm    
writing my thesis on how graphic designers can save the world! But for the record, I want to save the world with not only a poster.. I'll need two posters.)

31. You will spend the day brainstorming. (Best way to spend a day working, methinks) 

32. On vacation they will take you to countries that you do not know exist and have no beach. 

33. Museums are their second home. 

34. They know more positions than the Kamasutra. 

35. They can’t go to a restaurant without secretly critiquing the menu design. (A little secret: When I'm ordering my food, I spend the first 30 seconds mentally designing new menus for the places with tacky menus. Sorry if I take to long to decide on my dinner.) 

36. They listen to music you have never heard of. 

37. They can´t cook a normal dish, they always have to experiment with new ingredients. 

38. They read rare books: stories of children, Semiotics … (Love Semiotics. And many other cultural books because it's time for designers to be aware of the world they live in right now) 

39. When they are going to tell you something, everyone has read it in their facebook and twitter. 

40. They have own iPods before you knew they existed. 

41. The orgasm they remember is when they heard that Adobe was acquiring Macromedia. 

42. They have their own shops just for them and there are the most expensive in the city. (This is so true. Hahaha. I sometimes wonder if people DO buy the stuff? Cause if they do, I'm so opening up my own store) 

43. They want to spend all the money in the Apple Store.44. You will never understand their gifts. 

45. They see ordinary objects and laugh. (I can't tell you why.. It just happens. *shrugs* Refer to point #1) 

46. You wake up in the middle of the night hearing them screaming “When is the deadline?” 

47. They see CMYK and RGB like Neo sees the Matrix. 

48. They dream of the day nobody will make a single change to their designs. (I dream of this every day.) 

49. They rather pay for a font than for a special birthday gift. 

50. They are always sleepy because they work 24/7.

So tadah!
That's the list.
The ones I made bold are the points that I think are true for me as a graphic designer.
Some others are just stereotypical and some make us sound like aliens.....

Nevertheless, I had fun reading this although I feel like I should say something, on behalf of all the graphic designers out there.

These 50 reasons NOT to date a graphic designer are exactly why you SHOULD date a graphic designer:

We are weird so we make your life mucho interesting. We will make sure you and your documents look good- best name card ever-. We will photoshop the person who was mean to you away and we can save money cause we're always finding new uses for old stuff like envelopes as wallets and what not.
As we tend to read thought-provoking books about the meaning of existence and art ('Art imitating life imitating art imitating life', anyone?), you will join in on the journey filled with beautiful visuals and revelations to see how graphic design or just design in general is like God's finishing touches to His incredible creation we call 'Earth'. 

I shall end with a quote I found whilst reading books on critical writings of graphic design:

Design can be art. 

Design can be aesthetics. 

Design is so simple, that’s why it is so complicated. 

-Paul Rand

Cheers ;)

In another world

So I had no idea that Loughborough Uni was this big on sports until I arrived.

It was then that I realized I stumbled onto a land of sports and Olympians and big dreams.

Did you know that this uni is one of the top few in UK or like the best for their sports program me?!

And like they came up with the world cup..

And that the female soccer team is the best in the country. 

And that they sent loads of people into the recent London 2012 Olympics games.

RESPECT.

On a lovely sunny day, Zie and I was walking around the campus and saw a match of football going on. 

Fierce display. 

Then we went to the basketball match where there was less excitement but you can really feel the whole sports vibe of the place.

I mean, I see guys practicing out in the field at 9pm when its freezing or raining or both. 

Once I even saw them punching the grass as part of their exercise or punishment. #hardcore

And the food they eat? Woah. 

I load my tray with as much meat and carbos as I can (think pasta, salmon, potatoes, chicken, soup, bread etc) but these sports people have sooo much discipline! 

Their trays are like full of salad, a couple of potatoes, smoothie and fruits.

Every time I stand next to a sports guy in the food line, I cringe at my own plate in shame.

Ah well, I might be the one designing their brand of sportswear or company in the future so they'd better not judge me and scoff at me too soon......

CLAWed OVER

When I saw this Lita, I HAD to blog about its awesomeness.
When I saw the Wacom tablet, I just HAD to try and illustrate it.
Turned out fun and sketchy but I prefer messy & raw than straight lines any day.
I wish I could call this Lita mine....... (But truth be told, it will probably be sold out before I even buy this and then the next hot shoe comes along and I'd get bowled over clawed over by it too.)

Travelogue: London 2012

Weather: We were lucky to have sun for the first few days but the locals were telling us it was one of the rainiest years in London ever. 

Temperature varied from about 12 degrees (morning) to 16 degrees (day) to 12 degrees (night) again. 

When we first arrived, we couldn't adjust to the cold wind! 

Everyone layered and layered all that we had! Haha okay maybe I exaggerate. Just like 3-4 layers?

But after a day or two, I started to appreciate the cooling weather and cut down on wearing my coat around. Because even though its real cold there, you still move around a lot and you perspire without realizing it (esp if you pile on the clothes layers). 

  Definitely much much dryer here in UK. So bring as much moisturizers as you can! 

My skin started flaking the next day and so I had to buy an extra moisturizer for my face- which gave me more spots :(

 Kensington Garden (just behind the famous Hyde Park) one sunny morning.

So inspired by all the artists' work while following the London Design Fest 2012.

Such a bustling art scene in this city, you wouldn't believe!

We also got to talk to some of the designers themselves.. And it was a great motivational time to see their passion and let it spread on to you too.

Really glad we made time to attend this festival!

Architecture: When we arrived, EVERYTHING looked like a photo spot. I mean, we hardly see such brick shophouses in Singapore! I kept taking my camera out to take all the buildings and its wonderful colonial style. 

But as the days passed, you kinda keep taking the same picture over and over? Because as my classmate said: 'It's just another same old building.'  

The novelty wore off and I got used to the idea that they rarely have high-rise buildings- just really lovely and quaint buildings & palaces & temples.

 Hello St. Paul's Cathedral. So majestic!

Oh yes, loads of awesome buskers around the tourist spots as well. 

Their bags/cases are always full of coins.. What a supportive town. :') 

Mandatory Tourist shot #1: Outside their famous park

 Royal Albert Hall

Jasper Morrison's shop. 

For those of you who don't know who he is, he is the designer who came up with this term called 'SuperNormal'. 

It means minimalism at its very best. An object that is so normal- it is taken for granted- but yet, we can not survive not using it.

For eg, the design of a scissors. Such a common and normal object & design but it still becomes a part of your life until you will be in quite an inconvenience when you lose it.

I don't explain his theory well enough.. Do google to check him out!

Fascinating stuff.

Food: OMG. My tastebuds died over here. I grew up eating oily and spicy goodness so imagine my culture shock when I stay in a country that does not serve chili on its menu. AT ALL. 

Plus its mostly sandwiches/salads/fish & chips/English breakfast/kebabs here.

Missed my noodles and rice and meat. Staying in UK has made me a healthier person lol.

So you can imagine our joy when we went to an asian restaurant called Wagamama (God-sent).

And of course I had the spicy chicken rice!!! 

---

Then it was back to my diet of bread/potatoes/baked beans and ham. Hahaha 

P.S. Portions here are huuuge. We could share and save the money (Because a meal costs about 6 pounds in London which is 12 dollars? Pretty steep pricings. I spent the most on food here). 

Mandatory Tourist Shot #2: Buckingham Palace!

Portobello Market: Vintage & artsy flea market!

Obviously there are way more pictures and stories to share with you.. But I'm getting sleepy and we have our first lesson tmrw! Sch is finally starting.

Oh gosh. It's like first-day-in-sch butterflies all over again.

A second part of my London trip will be posted when I have time (and not busy reading up in LU's massive library/ traveling around town to shop for groceries). Haha.

Tata and so long! :*

Come & remind me

In the midst of all the overwhelming experiences in London & Loughborough, a tiny nagging feeling was creeping into my heart. As much as I was enjoying myself in this new environment, looking around at the people who are experts in their fields and are confident of their work gets me doubting myself again. It was the same feeling I had when I had my first day of NAFA sch started.

What am I doing in this course? I certainly don't have the technical skills the other students have. I was trained in Maya and After Effects, for goodness sake. What is InDesign & Illustrator? What font height and space? What branding and advertising?
I only know Photoshop and have my own ideas on how packaging and printing should be done because of my work experience. (which by the way, is pretty subjective. depending on your printer too. some print template may differ and so I don't know the 'standard' stuff a normal design student would know)

Of course I'm not complaining or giving myself a pity party.
I choose this course because I wanted to branch out a little more into design. To me, design is the foundation, and motion graphics and films are the way you express that design. That's why I didn't choose to enter into another animation school but rather wanted to get my basic skills in design honed even more.
And only God knows how I got in this course. Haha it is truly a miracle and I am constantly amazed. My work is just average and so to be one of the 35 students in this degree course feels pretty special.

However, being human and slightly hormonal due to that time of the month, I sometimes feel inadequate and wonder just what the heck am I doing here. There have been times when I wanted to just quit the course and go back to work because I'm more comfortable there. (Haha, can you imagine? Work is my comfort zone and school gives me the nerves)

So I youtube-ed some worship songs, flipped to the Bible and read 1 Cor 1:27.
It was such a timely reminder to my soul.

God is in charge. There is a purpose as to why I'm in this course and I believe He will supply the grace and strength and creativity needed. He chose me, the rather foolish one in the world. So that if I should boast, I will boast in Him.
So that you can see whatever achievements or ideas or work that I do, it can only be possible because God is with me. Not by my own talents or skills.. But by His calling.

Shall not think so lowly of my work and ideas anymore but be confident to present them to my new lecturers and classmates!
Sorry this post turned out so wordy. It just became a reflective journal; now that I'm free in Loughborough to sit and type my thoughts out.

I hope this has encouraged you too and as much as you think you cannot make it, just remember that God has chosen YOU out of all the other 'better' people to shine for Him.. So go ahead and let that fire burn so bright for God!

*takes a deep breath*
LEGGO!

Heart's jetlag

So I'm typing this post miles away from home and about 7 hours back in time too.

It's 10pm here and 5am there. 

Just in case anyone didn't know..

I'm in UK for 7 weeks for a sch exchange!

Time sure flies and there are so many new experiences that I've gone through in the first week already.

(Freezing nights, supposedly famous fish & chips, getting lost in the Tube and buses, etc...)

Still trying to install Photoshop on my new laptop (finally haha!) so will post up a whole travelogue of London & my LU student life soon.

Check back soon! ;)

Missing the summer paradise that is Singapore already.

Layers

A lookbook from 5 inch and up x Nelly collection

Loving the whole style and vibe of the images. 

I really lke how basic the clothes are but at the same time with a little twist (like cut-outs) on them, and how nicely tailored they seem.

Amazing how a little good lighting, suitable location and ggorgeous styling can make things so desirable.

Reading up on consumerism and advertising now. So many thoughts running through my mind. Indeed, knowledge is power because I can see the veil being lifted from my eyes as I educate myself further into this shady depth of our consumer culture.

Don't worry, I'm not getting cynical of the world and its branding.... Yet.

Leather, lace and everything nice.

My faux leather vest is wilting away. :(
Time to buy a new one? Hohoho.

But even in this weather, I was perspiring like mad because of this vest. Singapore weather is hot like whoooo. But at least now that I've been through one of the toughest heatwaves, going to other countries' summer will be like a breeze~
Super excited to go overseas, even if its just a 7 weeks study trip, but carpe that diem and make the most out of it!
Travelling is as addictive as shopping.
Now I'm planning what to do with my salary (yes, before I even graduate) (yes, before I even start working full-time again)
Lol. I've always wondered what it would be like to just travel around like a nomad. But I don't think I can ever do that cos I'll be running home after 3 months. No place like home.
Still planning to go to Greece, New Zealand and hopefully New York for some project to improve my skills and then South Africa for humanitarian works and swim with the whale sharks!

I'll be the biggest customer in my own travel company hahaha.

I've been to detention way too many times.

White collared top? Check.

Skirt shorts? Check.

High socks? Check.

Shoelaced shoes? Check.

A little twist on a school uniform. 

Yeah I'd prolly get expelled if I went back to my secondary sch.

One thing I really like about studying in NAFA is its gooood location!

If I ever want to shop (which is like most of the time) then I can get a good bargain in Bugis Street. And if I'm ever hungry (which is like all the time) then I just need to cross the street for great food!

No wonder I'm growing rounder..... :O

 Take it from me, kids. Growing older does affect your metabolism.