VISUALSANITY

Stay Young, Go Dancing II

2012-01-17T14:44:00.001+08:00

Had quite some (okay, a lot of) free time at work so I spiced this up much more (retro overload!), since I now have some awesome new fonts and brushes. You can still scroll down to have a look at the old one. Head over to Lost Type to have a look at their brilliant collection of such typefaces, their high-quality offerings have become pretty popular among the design community, and without fail they always turn out great.

Empty Memory

2012-01-16T11:35:00.001+08:00

This is nothing short of being one of the most sleek and stylish line of thumbdrives! With them being carried around everywhere by almost everyone, it's simply logical that it should look good just like any other accessory one might carry or wear. Empty Memory is a jewellery collection that works as USB memory sticks. Every single piece was cast in high-quality 316 stainless steel, hand-polished by craftsmen and finished with various colours. Each design contains a physical emptiness in its sculptural form, giving the metaphor that you can fill the space with your own memory. It would be nice if the memory component could be detachable and their covers interchangeable, but I guess the whole idea was to make each design unique and personal, like jewellery. Empty Memory is available for sale here.

Miri & Mulu

2012-01-11T15:02:00.001+08:00

Before the year ended, it was wrapped up pretty nicely with a holiday with family and friends. A little 5 day trip over to Sarawak, chillin' in Miri and exploring the caves of Mulu. So from now onwards, i think i'll make videos instead of taking tons of photos. I think making this video has helped me get into the habit of flipping out the camera quickly enough when I catch the first glimpse of something interesting, though I did miss getting a longer shot (sigh!) of the airplane flying overhead. Best viewed at a higher resolution on vimeo itself, so head over there!

2012

2012-01-01T14:52:00.000+08:00

Cinemagraphs

2011-10-25T17:24:00.000+08:00

The highest form of animated GIFs. Created by NY-based visual artist Kevin Burg and photographer Jamie Beck, dubbed "Cinemagraphs", these images float dreamily somewhere in between a photo and a video. Unlike a photograph it captures more than a fraction of a second by a camera shutter, and unlike a video it only focuses on small, subtle movements. Absolutely delightful.

Stay Young, Go Dancing

2011-10-12T01:23:00.000+08:00

Typographic Confessions № 2. Phrase taken from the brilliant song Stay Young, Go Dancing by Death Cab For Cutie, off their latest album Codes & Keys. It's been stuck in my head for weeks now, go give it a listen! They recently made a brilliant video for it as well. Did custom lettering for the word 'A' and 'Symphony'. Wanted to do it for the rest too but it'll be hard to achieve the letterpress feel as initially planned. Looking forward to how this will turn out on print.

Homework #10 & #11

2011-10-07T01:01:00.003+08:00

These are actually old assignments from my last semester for Multimedia Production & Projects. The brief for the first one was to create a music video, and with filming actors on a green screen. My group members and i were getting so darn fascinated by all the hologram animations on youtube (and Tron, and Daft Punk), we decided to take a step further and do so as well, instead of just pasting in a background. The filming was done in groups, even though the animation work was to be done individually, i'm glad each of us managed to pull this off.

The second video's the final project for that subject, brief was to animate a local comic book, not as fancy since i had to get it done quick to move on to another subject final. On a side note, i think i should get a vimeo account, youtube's player just doesn't look anywhere near as good.

Charlie Straight ID Tags

2011-10-05T15:38:00.003+08:00

via FPO

Absolutely gorgeous. These are some swanky ID tags designed by visualscream for Czech band Charlie Straight. The logo and colours are part of the visual identity which were done by visualscream too a few months ago. Most ID tags are usually mediocre and dull, and even with a good print design they usually come on cheap, unaesthetic material. Visualscream here took an interesting twist, they went for silkscreening on laser-cut acrylic glass plates, which they designed as well. The background colours are printed on the rear side of the plates, and the graphics and names on the front, resulting in an interesting pop out effect. The print becomes way more lively and dynamic, as it looks different based on viewing angles and light conditions. Sigh, why can't our college ID tags look like this?

Simon Ålander

2011-10-03T22:42:00.000+08:00

Amazing typography by Simon Ålander, who is currently studying Digital Media at Hyper Island in Karlskrona, Sweden.

Move, Eat, Learn

2011-09-30T23:19:00.000+08:00

I remember seeing the first video Move being shared just a few times over facebook some time ago, but it didn't quite catch my attention. Excusable, since there's plenty of pointless stuff shared there everyday, and it just got worse recently (does anyone else notice it?). But this video's been viral elsewhere on the internet. Until only yesterday i stumbled across it again, on The Fox Is Black, which meant it had to be worth watching, and only then i also found that Move was only one out of this three video series.

Commissioned by STA Travel Australia, these films were created by 3 guys, travelling for 44 days, covering 11 countries, by 18 flights, over 38 thousand miles. And all of it were packed into three one-minute videos, which sure can't sum up their entire trip, but you can easily tell that they had an incredible trip of a lifetime. Their effort was entirely worth it, resulting in these beautiful, inspiring videos. Eat is well, need i say more? I'm writing this with an empty stomach. Learn would be the most inspiring, it puts most of our holiday trips to shame. There's just so much more we could do while travelling. They have my absolute respect for their videography and editing in Move, with all the amazing destinations making me feel a huge sense of wanderlust. Take a few minutes and watch them, and i'm sure you'll feel it too.

Typographic Confessions

2011-08-24T02:27:00.003+08:00

I am just so relieved that the last semester is finally over. Almost four months of clocking into the computer labs for every class, and pretty much isolated from classmates since everyone was at their own computers and the workload was insane. I'm glad I never aspired to be a full time animator or illustrator, though certain tricks would come in handy.

With that behind and a more relaxed timetable this semester, I can get back to doing some of my own projects, which i never had any chance to in the past half a year! I plan to embark on a typographic series in the next few weeks, or months... or for as long as I have any free time in between. Here's the first of (hopefully) a few more to come, some minimal things to just keep the juices running and my sanity intact. Hmm, maybe I might sell prints too if anyone's interested?

Golden Ratio & Friends

2011-08-20T03:56:00.000+08:00

via The Fox Is Black

In mathematics and the arts, two quantities are in the golden ratio if the ratio of the sum of the quantities to the larger quantity is equal to the ratio of the larger quantity to the smaller one. Uhm what? Nevermind.

Carl Kleiner here used cut paper, and math, to create these colorful works of geometry. Titled 'Golden Ratio & Friends', this series is one example how math can be used to create something beautiful. Though math itself may seem beautiful to you geniuses out there, but oh well it was never my thing. Check out the rest of Kleiner's brilliant and diverse portfolio, it's great how every project of his is a full series.

Research Manifesto

2011-08-16T15:06:00.000+08:00

I'd definitely like to post up every image in this set, but there's about 17 of them and they all look just as great. A brilliant and well thought out project by Paul Robson for Northumbria School of Design, the Research Manifesto was made with aims to raise the profile of their research agenda and to celebrate the breadth and depth of their expertise and knowledge across the Design School.

The result is a pack made up of a series of visual cards. The front of the cards are dominated by headlines which identify a series of key Global challenges, and at the bottom, asked with a gentle shrug is the line 'But what can you do?'

The reverse of each card provides a part answer by explaining the issue in more depth and begins to highlight how Northumbria Design School, as a community, are beginning to address these issues through their research work. The reader is then given a direct url and QR code to link them to a landing page on their new Research Web pages that gives them access to various research projects that have been undertaken in relation to these issues within the design school.

Savage Beauty

2011-08-14T03:47:00.015+08:00

Stumbled upon the second photo while scrolling through Tumblr, and it was intriguing enough. Checked out the rest, and just from these few photos i have to say this is easily one of the most beautiful exhibitions i've come across. Recently ended about a week ago, the Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty exhibition, organized by The Costume Institute celebrates the late Lee Alexander McQueen’s extraordinary contributions to fashion, and was held in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Was hoping they'd put up a bit more photos though, but i'm guessing it wasn't a really big exhibit. Was reminded of last year's World Expo, it'd be pretty interesting if this had a pavilion on it's own.

Tim Navis II

2011-08-12T02:25:00.011+08:00

Tim Navis does it again, as usual. He's been updating pretty frequent lately, and i've been looking forward to every new post. Though the high key portraits above were bout a month ago, they're my favourite out of his model shoots so far. There's something calm, yet charming and elegant at the same time about this series. These are the photos that make we wanna get some proper lights and a backdrop, though i know i'll hardly use them. Hopefully the name transfer of the new place gets done soon (it's been over a year), then i'll at least get some chance to build a little home studio!

And a totally unrelated photo, but just had to show it too since it's so darn cool. Navis got to shoot Scott Hansen aka Tycho/ISO50 for some photos to match his new album. Taken on a dried up lake in El Mirage, here's the process (which doubles the awesomeness) as explained by Navis:

How we achieved this shot was pretty simple. We had talked silhouettes before and the sun was in in the perfect location. We also wanted dust but the ground was too dry and hard to kick up any amount of dust. I had my assistant Cameron drift his car around Scott for a few minutes to kick up dirt. That was hilarious. Et voila. Tycho.

Marius Roosendaal

2011-06-30T19:54:00.003+08:00

Marius Roosendaal - MSCED '11

Homework #9

2011-05-14T01:33:00.000+08:00

Kinetic typography assignment for multimedia class. Tip: for such purposes try not to search for audio clips from your favourite TV show, you might end up watching all 6 seasons over again.

Peter Bristol

2011-05-09T02:02:00.000+08:00

Pretty cool stuff i'd definitely like to have in my room - the cool-beyond-words Cut Chair, LED Shade Lamp, Established&Sons Corner Light by Peter Bristol, a lead product designer at Seattle-based product development consultancy Carbon Design Group. Pretty sure the Cut Chair got you baffled for a moment eh?

Leif Podhajsky

2011-05-08T03:27:00.001+08:00

There's just something about kaleidoscopic and symmetrical graphics, and these album covers go along well with the music it contains. Tame Impala artworks by Leif Podhajsky, a Melbourne based artist and Creative Director. His work explores themes of connectedness, the relevance of nature and the psychedelic or altered experience. By utilizing these subjects he attempts to coerce the viewer into a realignment with themselves and their surroundings. And go check out some Tame Impala too, a dose of psych dream pop's good for you!

Wasara Paper Plates

2011-05-06T19:24:00.000+08:00

via Co.Design

Yes, paper plates! It's about time some style and ergonomics were injected into mass-produced disposable products. With their sensual, sculptural forms and color, paper plates never (ever) looked this elegant before. Designed by Shinichiro Ogata for the Japanese company Wasara, these paper plates are made of a tree-free paper composite that includes bamboo, reed pulp, and bagasse, a byproduct of crushed sugarcane. These materials renew rapidly and are thus gentler on Mother Nature than the wood pulp used in most paper products. So no more cheaply printed paper plates at parties, and still environmentally friendly. Unfortunately not so wallet-friendly yet. Available here starting at $9 for a pack of 12.

3 Holiday Camp Promo

2011-05-03T17:31:00.003+08:00

Well, there goes another postless gap of a month. At least i was occupied with completing some pretty interesting and new jobs! Scored a small job for Nestlé Malaysia which is only circulated internally within their staff though, but if i'm not mistaken it'll be incorporated for Singapore too, but that rest's up to the agency. Latest work completed would be this video above, first time attempting animation. It's to promote a new holiday camp organized by the Inter-Brethren Assemblies (IBA) this year for Form 3s, so check out the video for more info! Do pardon the mildly cheesy introduction.

Guangzhou Opera House

2011-04-02T03:45:00.000+08:00

Photos by Iwan Baan. Photo above by Christian Richters.

I don't usually blog about architecture, but this is a gem. Another marvel by Zaha Hadid Architects. Shaped to resemble two pebbles on the bank of the Pearl River, the building houses a 1,800-seat theatre plus 400-seat multifunctional hall, rehearsal rooms and entrance hall. The main auditorium is lined with moulded panels made from glass-fibre reinforced gypsum to create a folded, flowing surface. The Guangzhou Opera House design has been particularly influenced by river valleys – and the way in which they are transformed by erosion.

More photos and info at Dezeen.

Motion Design by Eunice Kim

2011-04-01T00:00:00.004+08:00

Beautiful work by Eunice Kim, a recent graduate from Art Center College of Design where she received a BFA in Illustration with an emphasis on motion graphics. Check out all her brilliant work on her portfolio.

Homework #8

2011-03-31T16:37:00.001+08:00

Gotham typeface typographic poster.

2011 Letterpress Calendar

2011-03-30T04:01:00.000+08:00

Here's another calendar, a pretty awesome one! 2011 Letterpress Calendar by French designer Fabien Barral, printed by Lettera Magica, a Polish letterpress studio. 300 limited edition, 20x14cm, 600g cotton paper, hand numbered calendars for 2011 strictly for design enthusiasts. Costs 39€ + 10€ shipping, shucks that's like almost RM210.

Fabien also runs the Graphic-ExchanGE blog, which hosts a whole selection of sweet top-notch graphic and print projects.

Faltjahr 2010 Calendar

2011-03-29T19:10:00.000+08:00

Faltjahr 2010 pop-up calendar by Johann Volkmer, photographed by Kristian Barthen. Via Yatzer.

So we were doing some research on calendars for our final typography project (which i shall document in a while), i stumbled across this! This sure is some fine crafted work, believe it or not it's a calendar, each month has it's own pop-up sculpture and is A3 sized when opened. It's all white to ensure attention is given to the intricate paperwork. Would definitely like to see more paper goodness if a 2011 one was ever made.

More photos, see each month in detail and the making of the calendar at the Faltjahr 2010 website.

Typographic Note Cards

2011-03-16T16:49:00.001+08:00

by Tom Davie/studiotwentysix2

Felt like a kid walking into a candy store when i stumbled upon these! Pure sweet stuff, definitely my type of greeting cards for any occasion. Check out the rest of the range and the full product page here.

On a side note, i haven't been posting lately due to imageshack's registered-user-only policy, which caused all images to be replaced with the ugly imageshack frog if you are not a registered user. So i waited for a few weeks to see whether it went away. It's been fine lately, but the thing is i have an account.

So here's where i NEED YOUR HELP - for those who DO NOT have imageshack accounts, hope you guys can just drop a comment on this post stating whether or not all the images are visible. Just need about 10 secs of your time, and it's for the benefit of all readers. I'll switch to tinypic if the problem persists. Thanks! :)

Homework #7

2011-02-23T19:18:00.005+08:00

So the assignment brief for our latest typography class assignment was to create our own typeface, whether from scratch or by modifying an existing typeface. I've been facing geometric fonts, so i decided to make something a little more organic looking. This typeface is based on the ever-wonderful open source Gaia community project, mainly their icon styles.

Basically the idea for this typeface was to not just treat all 26 letters as a full set, but also to allow each particular alphabet to stand as an element on it's own - each of them having a slightly unique arrangement while using the same shapes. Maybe i'll use them in a wallpaper for a shot at a submission for Gaia 11, if they do maintain the 09/10 styles. Can't wait to slap these on some posters!

LimberUp Moscow

2011-02-11T15:51:00.013+08:00

via Yatzer

The LimberUp Moscow was designed by Onitsuka Tiger as a training shoe for Japanese athletes at the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Though the shoes never served it's capacity as Japan joined during the time US led a boycott against the games, refusing to send athletes to the Soviet Union. This historic shoe flowers again, wonderfully, after 31 years in the work of French born NY based Art Director and graphic artist Emeric "Takeshi" Trahand. Just look at the quality of the photomontaging and it's surreal beauty!

These illustrations are inspired by the flourishing of female talent during the 1980 Olympic Games and the Japanese Ikebana flower arrangement which honor their achievements. The three illustrations created by Takeshi not only reintroduce the shoes to the public, it celebrates his and Onitsuka Tiger's shared Japanese artistic heritage, and makes a striking, colourful tribute to the historical commitment to sports and achievement over controversy and politics.

Slow

2011-02-10T23:24:00.002+08:00

Life's a little too short to be rushed don't you think?

"Slow" series by Heystudio for slowstudio.tv

Tone Matrix

2011-02-07T00:00:00.003+08:00

via ISO50, the original ToneMatrix by Andre Michelle

Wheeee hoo hoo this is just pure fun and awesomeness. Up there for you is a bunch of squares, just click on any of them, fool around and make some music. Just for the enlightenment of non-musicians, the reason why it sounds right no matter which box is selected is because (correct me if i'm wrong) it's a pentatonic scale, used a lot in ol' traditional Chinese music. There you go, you made your own little CNY jingle!

365 Quotes

2011-02-06T01:50:00.002+08:00

The old "take a photo, apply vintage effects and write something in Helvetica" is getting kinda bland, but Julian Bialowas's 365 day project breathes new life into the quote-on-photo scene. A photographer and a graphic design student, he's made his images really interesting using well laid-out type, and the best part is, all those breathtaking photos are taken by himself. Wonderful post-processing too. The mixture of typography and photography seem almost seamless. This project of his is still ongoing, check it out unfolding day by day at his Tumblr, or see the entire collection so far on his Flickr.

Clashes in Cairo: Photos

2011-02-04T10:20:00.008+08:00

Photos by Dominic Nahr / Magnum for TIME

Photographer Dominic Nahr has captured some great photos that really portray the distressing situation of the past few days in Egypt. Not to ruin your mood of the Lunar New Year with these images, but it's also during the time of festivities that one might be oblivious to such events happening on the other side of the world. Even as we celebrate the new year, let's not forget the Egyptians and keep them in our prayers.

I've been intrigued by this particular protest somehow, maybe it's the scale of it, or the sheer determination and spirit of the people fighting for freedom despite violence against them. A few more interesting photos after the jump, and the rest can be found at TIME.com. Another gallery at the NY Times. Also, follow a live news feed of the events unfolding at The Telegraph. Included after the jump are some encouraging excerpts, picked amidst news coverage of the turmoil.

Edit: Just found this article [here] by an Egyptian student that tells quite a complete story, very different from what's shown on the news.

Dan Nolan, UAE correspondent for Al-Jazeera, tweets his experience sleeping out in Tahrir Square on Wednesday night:

"Got stranded in Tahrir Square last nite & had to sleep the night. Pretty terrifying night, protestors gave shelter as they defended all nite."

"Struggle for freedom is etched in their faces. Last nite u could also see fear - maybe the taste of freedom on tue is all they're gonna get?"

"Protestors w me were pharmacists, lecturers & students- nicest people u'd ever meet. One cried because I had to see his nation like this"

An interesting photo being shared all around twitter:

Christian Egyptians forming a human chain protecting the Muslims while they pray during the protest.

Nicholas Kristof of NY Times posting from Cairo:

"We Are All Egyptians"

Inside Tahrir Square on Thursday, I met a carpenter named Mahmood whose left arm was in a sling, whose leg was in a cast and whose head was being bandaged in a small field hospital set up by the democracy movement. This was the seventh time in 24 hours that he had needed medical treatment for injuries suffered at the hands of government-backed mobs. But as soon as Mahmood was bandaged, he tottered off once again to the front lines.

“I’ll fight as long as I can,” he told me. [Read the entire article]

Qube Konstrukt Design

2011-02-03T23:27:00.007+08:00

Great graphic design, branding and print by Australian studio Qube Konstrukt. More at Vectro Ave, LooksLikeGoodDesign and their website.

Interactive Display Window

2011-01-28T03:46:00.003+08:00

via The Fox Is Black

An interesting project by a group of students at Hyper Island. The brief was to connect the brand WESC to art and/or music. How it works is that when you walk along the display, a looped animation is played and follows your path, so you're kind of in control of the animation. At the same time the background patterns are uploaded by online users, with their names and info displayed along with their scenery. Seems this is just a concept, it'll definitely be great to see this in action on real store windows!

A whole bunch of info, how it works and behind the scenes here.

Homework #6

2011-01-27T00:25:00.000+08:00

Wire sculpture.

Lego Letterpress Printing

2011-01-26T19:12:00.002+08:00

via Co.Design

Seems Lego has grown up together with the people who used to play with it, to be more than toys. Physical Fiction, consisting of graphic designers Sam Cox and Justin LaRosa have put Lego to another unexpected, creative use by constructing a letterpress out of Lego bricks, creating these lovely handmade prints with a retro 8-bit style. All these are done by placing smooth Lego tiles on Lego baseboards, depositing ink onto the bricks with ink rollers, and pressing them onto paper creating the positive images.

“Some our work is definitely inspired by the characters, imagery, stories, and even sounds of old video games,” writes Cox for an interview by NPR. “I think working with pixels is always going to take people back to their old video games just because the pixel is such a crucial visual element in them.”

More of their prints can be seen at Physical Fiction, and are also available for sale. The last i checked most of them are already sold out!

Typographic Macbook Stickers

2011-01-24T00:00:00.010+08:00

via Design You Trust

As well as protecting the shell from scratches, these typographic messages entice users only to charge their laptop when necessary, since an overcharged battery deteriorates faster than a properly used one, and also probably uses twice as much electricity.

A collaboration of London-based studio Hu2 Design with French designer r.ferrer. A reminder looking this good would really work.

Typeface Memory Game

2011-01-23T00:00:00.002+08:00

This very attractively finished typographic memory game includes 25 variations of the letter ‘A’, each in a different letter type. Players attempt to find the matching A’s in the same letter type. The player who has the highest number of matching letters wins the game.

For the typophile in all of us. The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog Typeface Memory Game by ps.2 arquitetura + design, published by BIS Publishers.

The Sartorialist: A Visual Life

2011-01-22T12:58:00.004+08:00

Scott Schumann, or better known as The Sartorialist shares his visual life in this short documentary by Intel, as seen on his blog. It's been around for a while, still it's an inspiring video - makes you want to get up, move around, and do something.

Absorb, react, create. Live a visual life.
via Yatzer

Qlocktwo

2011-01-22T02:06:00.003+08:00

I was blown away by this! Designer clocks are just so fascinating, just like the Obligatory Designer Clock, this one is no exception, even more interesting i'd say. The Qlocktwo by Biegert & Funk makes you pause and allows a different view of time. The typographic LED front combines the moment with the written word and makes it a statement. This sweet timepiece comes in 5 colours, a steel model, and available in 14 languages. There's even an iPod/iPhone app of this. Man, this might look cool among a bunch of canvas paintings.

You Laike?

2011-01-21T22:44:00.005+08:00

Mmm.

Yup as mentioned earlier i was planning to make some changes here, and now presenting to you - 3.0. The really minimal look was getting bland so it was good to add in some chic, plus all the contents look better centralized and streamlined compared to being spread out all over an empty space. A little more tweaks and added content to come, plus i might have to resize all the images in every old post to 450px (gah!) but that would be crucial to reduce loading times.

Well hope you guys will enjoy your visits here a little more!

Being Too Nice

2011-01-16T22:10:00.001+08:00

I need to keep reminding myself.

Shouldiworkforfree.com by Jessica Hische

How It Works

2011-01-15T22:04:00.001+08:00

Forget All the Rules You Ever Learned About Advertising & Design: Including the Ones in this Poster.

Nice Poster by Iñaki Saiz Roiz

Homework #5

2011-01-09T02:02:00.004+08:00

20" x 30" acrylic on canvas. Principles of drawing final assignment.
With reference to a photo of a Tibetan boy by Steve McCurry.

I think i make the least smart of choices for photo selections to be used in drawing class. The last one having a leather jacket and curly hair, and in this case - a crazy wool hoodie and bead necklaces. Each part on it's own needed a single sitting in a day to complete, that plus no easle amounted to a good back (and butt) ache! But when asked to find a photo, i could only think of Steve McCurry's as his photos capture emotions of the eyes so well like no other, and i wanted to paint something which could capture that. First time attempting acrylic on canvas, so the start to end stretched over 5 days, but if added up it might have been just about 20 hours - I should never paint with my laptop beside me. Click 'read more' to have a glimpse of the entire painting process.

2011

2011-01-08T23:53:00.015+08:00

Photo by Paul Octavious (via Today & Tomorrow)

Time sure flies, so fast that i didn't have time to say a little something when it was new year's itself! 2011 is going to be the third year for this little space i've set up, and i've got some plans for it, in hopes you might enjoy your visit here a little more.

Updates have never been regular since my hands were full during the past few months, and final assignments to add to the load even up to this week. With all that done now, here's to more to come, plus a few updates of what i've been busy with. Also, i've just recently signed up for a Tumblr, which can be found by clicking here, where i'll be compiling/posting small bits of interesting stuff - but at an amount and rate which would be deemed too much to be posted on a portfolio (reblogging is so convenient). The content is great there, in which i'll be picking the best few to bring to you guys here. Anyway feel free follow up if you have a Tumblr account too!

This sweet new piece of Apple i've just got here also means i'll be hanging around more often, and hopefully back to making tunes with the monkeys soon.

Well this being the first post of the year, i guess it's still not too late to wish everyone a great year ahead! So cheers to everyone, i have a good feeling that this year will be one of productivity, change and milestones.

Temenggor

2010-12-30T02:50:00.002+08:00

Had a short family trip to the Temenggor Dam. The blast of fresh rainforest air was much needed to clear up the bad flu i was sadly having over Christmas. I was only able to grab a few shots since it was a short 3 days and we were always on the move. My favourite being the child at a small Orang Asli village among one of the lake's islands, when the kids just finished taking snacks brought by the tour group. It was a real lucky one since the kids were all running around in packs and the adults were staring suspiciously. She turned around to face the camera directly, probably curious.

Tim Navis

2010-12-29T17:39:00.003+08:00

Stumbled across a post of Tim Navis while doing my usual rounds of soaking up some ISO50. His landscape photos are especially breathtaking, which goes well with the good ol' vintage post-processing style which i enjoy so much. And his model portraits, really good stuff as well.

More at Navis Photography and his Flickr.

Glaciers Melting

2010-12-19T23:28:00.003+08:00

Here's what the monkeys' been up to in the past month. The Mac got fried while producing these, so do check them out!

The Asparagus Monkeys - Supermassive Blackhole (Cover)

The Asparagus Monkeys - Feeling Good (Cover)

Homework #4

2010-12-11T20:40:00.005+08:00

The Shanghai World Expo ended more than a month ago, while i was there about 6 months ago, still i never got to putting up some shots of what it looked like, until recently i had to edit some to submit as my photojournalism assignment. Here are some selected photos (mostly of people since it's photojournalism) from the expo, click 'read more' to check out the rest!

Rockin' It Out

2010-11-19T02:10:00.001+08:00

We The Asparagus Monkeys collaborated with Threeminutenights for the Volkswagen Polo Rocks competition, and we got to the TOP 10! Thank you to everyone who voted for us!

Do come and support the finalists and help us out at the finals this Friday (Nov 19) 6PM @ Piazza (open area outside Laundry) The Curve, we need audience support during the event to have a shot at the grand prize, it's based on 60% audience's votes and 40% judges! Share this with all your friends and see you THIS FRIDAY!

If you haven't known, this is our full band line-up for the finals:
Threeminutenights - Ho Ming Han & Chew Jin Yin
The Asparagus Monkeys - Ian Fan, Lee Yung Tyng, Timothy Ong, Alex Tan

Homework #3

2010-11-12T02:02:00.005+08:00

Zachary Levi on A2. Semester 2 principles of drawing assignment 1. With not enough moustache.

Chuck me, the last time i've ever attempted a portrait drawing was 3 to 4 years ago, and back then i swore that i would never in life be able to draw a human figure properly.

Jazzin' Up

2010-11-11T09:12:00.003+08:00

Wow been a month already since i've last posted here, and i haven't done much work lately mostly due to college assignments and a huge book project, plus i've been spending most of my time making music instead! Here's a quick update of what's up on the 'audiosanity' side in the past month.

The Asparagus Monkeys - Misery (Cover)

Did a quickie cover with the monkeys in the little room studio again, this time a laid back cover of Maroon 5's Misery, completed in 3 hours. Go get high on this.

AM also teamed up with Ming Han from threeminutenights to enter the Polo Rocks competition, don't forget to vote for us at the Polo Rocks page here! But don't watch the above video, watch the next one instead. We made for ourselves a much clearer recording since the Polo Rocks one was so unbalanced.

Remember to vote! There's until November 14th for voting.

The monkeys were also invited to play a 10 song set (which we cut to 8) at Ecoba last Saturday! Check out our finale song - a cover of Dancing in the Moonlight, something for you to dance to. Our other 7 songs at Ecoba can be found on YouTube. And also check out our FB page here!

It's Here!

2010-10-11T21:25:00.047+08:00

Remember, remember, the 4th of November.

Mindscrewed

2010-10-05T00:02:00.006+08:00

Well it's long over, but this is worth a look! If you still have no clue how the events unfolded in this hit movie, do have a look at this pretty cool infographics based on Inception. Definitely one of a kind which i came across in deviantart, by Neil Laws. Not to mention the neat sleek layout (ah...and the Gotham typeface). Particularly useful for the poor souls out there who still don't understand the movie up till now.

The totem dropped. Shut up.

iPad Light Painting

2010-09-28T00:55:00.000+08:00

Dentsu London, a creative communications agency, collaborated with BERG to visualize their “Making Future Magic” strategy in a movie. They made a stop motion animation with light paintings made with an iPad. The result is amazing - floating holograms! At the beginning they explain the process, but the real video starts at 1:40. Best creative use of the iPad since it's invention imo. The video is a MUST watch.

Via today and tomorrow.

Piracy Before Computers

2010-09-18T12:38:00.000+08:00

Long before torrents, before CDs, even cassettes, here's the ol' handmade way of pirating your favourite album. Things are easy now with downloading, you didn't have to make a frame, then a latex mould, pour the vinyl and wait for it to set. Troublesome, yes, well at least you can pick your own pirated LP colour. Can't do that with bytes eh?

via Top Cultured

IBA Unplugged 2010

2010-09-09T23:44:00.001+08:00

Walls of Jericho (composed)

Great is Thy Faithfulness (rearrangement)

Laugh

2010-09-08T01:40:00.000+08:00

...and you know you're a graphic designer.

from colourblinddesign

Anamorphic Typography

2010-09-07T01:26:00.000+08:00

By Joseph Egan and Hunter Thompson

RBS 2011

2010-09-05T03:13:00.006+08:00

6,861,459,225. The number of people on Earth. What makes you different? How are you special? Discover a life with a difference. Discover what it means to be chosen. Get serious with God. Get grounded in His Word. Stand out.

Those who attended IBA Unplugged 2010 had the chance to see the very first public display of the RBS 2011 poster, and here's for the rest! The prints will be rolled out over the course of the next 2 weeks. Created this poster with reference to the styles of Marius Bauer a.k.a imrik, since i felt that his style was really suitable for 'standing out'. What were the odds, i was browsing through his portfolio exactly when i received an email requesting help to create a poster, and i had ideas straight away - such is the wonderful timing of God!

For those 17 year-old Brethren-ers out there who are still considering whether to go, do go. Wait, may i rephrase that - you should definitely, really (really, really, really) go! I could write an entire testimonial about my experience in RBS 2010 right here, but i guess these will have to make do here [link] [link] :)

Obligatory Designer Clock

2010-08-19T01:50:00.002+08:00

Yes, it's a clock! No hands or even any marks, instead it has a loading bar that grows larger, until it switches to the next hour, and the process repeats. The Obligatory Design Clock by Saikat Biswas looks digital, but it actually uses the same mechanism of a regular wall clock, with the hour hand replaced with a disc printed with two colour graphics, and over that disc is one with thin slits to mark every hour. This is certainly unique, i'd wear a wristwatch of this concept.

Vroom

2010-08-19T01:35:00.003+08:00

The time between getting your driver's license and getting your first car, is the time when your imagination runs wild. My definition of a dream car isn't of crazy sorts though, i do consider a little bit of practicality ($), so it feels, at least, a little more 'achievable'. I'm never well-versed when it comes to cars, but i have to say the new Fiesta that's about to hit our shores is tastefully done, with specs to match. The one in the pics above with those yellow rims screams "Tron!" I want one just like that, but with lime green or cyan rims, heck make them glow!

But the car i'll probably be given won't have a price tag that reaches even a quarter of this car's.

Farewell!

2010-08-16T14:10:00.001+08:00

28 is so short of 56.

We're gonna miss you two loads, Angie and Ming Yue!

Array Bowls by Kirsty Whyte

2010-08-11T02:20:00.002+08:00

Array Bowls by London based product designer Kirsty Whyte.
Each bowl is made from one single piece of folded sheet steel that has been laser cut.

www.pure-whyte.com

Peace, Love & Ice Cream

2010-08-04T22:59:00.002+08:00

Some good ol' hand-crafted advertising installations, brilliant art direction! Now I dream of hand-making something of this scale too. This series of 4 ads under the campaign "Peace, Love & Ice Cream" were created by Ogilvy & Mather Singapore for Ben & Jerry's launch of some new products with crazy names (anyone fancy some Chunky Monkey or Phish Food?) back in 2009. These ads got O&M 2 silvers and 5 bronzes at the 2010 CLIO Awards.

RGB

2010-07-12T01:27:00.001+08:00

R+G+B

Finally the time to do some of my own projects. Wanted a few new artworks done for a college assignment, which was to create a corporate identity. So why not at the same time properly do my own business set? The plan was to add these works on the back of business cards, so I spiced up my old The Best Things piece, and made 2 more variations. Haven't been doing any personal abstract work since forever, last one being this, these have been a real stress reliever!

Zamar @ Beau Bristow & David Story

2010-07-10T13:25:00.003+08:00

Zamar @ Beau Bristow & David Story | Mosaic Community Studio | June 20

Zamar opened with 3 songs for Beau Bristow & David Story's concert recently at Mosaic Community Studio. We did a cover and medley of Kings of Leon's Use Somebody & Goo Goo Dolls' Iris, and My Heart Your Home. Do check the vids out! And of course do check out Beau Bristow and David Story, their performances were mind-blowing, mesmerizing, jaw-dropping, however-you-name-it! Unfortunately i can't find any videos of their performances that night, do head over to their youtube accounts to check out other materials.

HP - Invent

2010-07-08T22:52:00.004+08:00

Here's another epic video, this time with printers! This short film features your average HP Deskjet D1560 printer, 8 of them coordinately printing out an impressive display of kaleidoscopic graphics. This video was highly recommended at the 2009 D&AD Student Awards. Shot over a period of nearly one and a half months, this mesmerizing minute-long video titled HP - Invent was created by two Kingston University graphic design students Matt Robinson & Tom Wrigglesworth, with the recordings sped up and synced with Round Table Knights' Hold Me Back. They were struck with the idea while printing out work for a college project.

"Our brief was to present the an idea that promotes the HP Workstation's ability to bring to life anything that the creative mind can conceive. So in our film, the HP Workstation is the brain behind the operation, conducting a visual symphony in which the printers become an orchestra."

IGNITE

2010-06-27T00:18:00.002+08:00

Official poster. Collab with Timo.

Make sure you go!

IGNITE | Subang Rally 2010

My Dog Didn't Eat

2010-06-24T23:21:00.004+08:00

my homework.

Work got selected for an exhibition at Istana Budaya in conjunction with a musical, got blown up to 8ft x 8ft. Now that's a first.
Full view and more, plus something we're all not happy about, read on!

Woot.

All artworks revolved around the 1Msia theme. But...

Our group assignment. Original poster submitted on the left depicted how we should forget our differences, and just be called 'Malaysians'. During the event opening, some YB labeled the striking of the names as 'racist', and asked that it be corrected. And so our poster was edited without our consent.

Now the 'un-original' on the right doesn't make much sense anymore does it? The circling doesn't mean anything unlike the next poster which at least has arrows. But in the first place, how is that 'racist', dear YB?

Your thoughts? Do share.

Update: Found. Here he is. Sure want to talk to him about unity?

World Expo 2010 - UK Pavilion

2010-06-09T19:03:00.003+08:00

Just can't wait...

To see this

and so much more!

The Seed Cathedral is a 20-metre high building, constructed from 60,000 transparent 7.5-metre long optical strands, each of which has embedded within its tip a seed. The interior is silent and illuminated only by the daylight that has filtered past each seed through each optical hair; a quiet space in which to contemplate this formidable collection of the world’s botanical resources.

By Heatherwick Studio
Via vectroave

Homework #2

2010-06-03T01:14:00.000+08:00

Semester 1 computer graphics assignment 2

Scarlett Johansson

Homework

2010-05-13T23:54:00.001+08:00

Semester 1 computer graphics assignment 1

Project was to incorporate motifs of 3 different cultures into one pattern. 1Malaysia, yay.

Jenny (cover)

2010-04-28T19:51:00.002+08:00

Before Hayley, there was Jenny. An acoustic jazzed-up cover by Ho Ming Yue, Ian Fan, Timothy Ong, Lee Yung Tyng. The song's the deal, the video is just for fun (it's dubbed). Enjoy!

One night of recording, hours of editing, one night of filming, hours of editing.
This video is on my new YouTube channel account. Do subscribe as all new forthcoming materials will be posted there!

Adobe CS5

2010-04-23T06:44:00.000+08:00

J-J-J-JIZZ.

Officially launched by Adobe on 12 April, pre-ordering has begun but it's not on shelves yet. Wonder why I haven't seen much of it's advertisements around since then. But i'll be sure to get my hands on Design Premium CS5 after i receive my student ID. Any of you who just bought a brand new copy of CS4? Haha. Anyway this entry is to give a little insight of what the new Design Premium CS5 has in store, click read more to find out more!

The Adobe CS5 is a phenomenal release which enables you – our customers to create without boundaries while speeding the creative process from concept to execution. In addition to providing great design tools we also focused on helping you to achieve maximum impact by reaching the broadest number of customers possible. - Shantanu Narayen, Adobe Systems Inc. CEO

And here's a video of Terry White giving a demostration of a few new features in Adobe CS5 for design. The new features in Photoshop CS5 and Illustrator CS5 are just - well, phenomenal! I was awestruck when I first watched this, the new tools are just unbelievable.

Some new features in Adobe CS5 for Design includes:

Adobe Photoshop CS5 provides easier selection and moving of objects. Once you have selected and removed an object you can let Photoshop fill the gap in. It will intelligently figure out what would be there if the removed object had never existed in the image and then it will fill in the space. It looks amazing and must be really time saving.

Adobe Illustrator CS5. One of new features presented is the possibility to easily handle dashed lines. With one tap of a button dashes which don’t line up with the corners are perfectly repositioned so that to line up with the corners.

CS review is one of SC life services. You can easily share your comments online right from within your application.

Adobe InDesign CS5. You can see your animation and videos right within your application and test them without the need to leave InDesign.

Adobe Flash Catalyst is a new product which provides a new way to create interactive content. You can create interactive content from your native Photoshop or Illustrator files without having to write codes. So if you are a designer you now have possibility to create your websites without a need to hire a developer.
Via CS5.org

For more info check out Adobe.com and videos on Adobe TV

Graphic Design by Simon C. Page

2010-04-22T17:49:00.002+08:00

Simon C. Page is a self-taught graphic designer from the UK (self-taught!), who specializes in typography, illustration and geometric design. Winner of the Digital artist 2009 Award, he has also been featured in press such as New York Times and Wired magazine, especially for his series of International Year of Astronomy 2009 posters. Take a look at his graphic design works here.

Via Vectro Ave

Fruit Juice Packaging by Naoto Fukasawa

2010-04-21T23:09:00.010+08:00

Japanese industrial designer Naoto Fukasawa came up with a series of clever fruit juice packaging designs for the Takara Shuzo company. The packaging is meant to imitate not just the look of the fruit but also the same skin texture.

I imagined that if the surface of the package imitated the colour and texture of the fruit skin, then the object would reproduce the feeling of the real skin. - Naoto Fukasawa

Cool stuff indeed. And honestly I have never heard of banana juice before.

Via Toxel

Nike Music Shoe

2010-04-20T18:33:00.008+08:00

I really do enjoy watching well executed videos, having attempted at my own creation of a few (mediocre) videos here and there. And especially good advertising videos, ever since starting advertising classes in college. This video which was just released by Nike a week ago is just plain awesomeness, wait let me rephrase that - EPICNESS by the fact that they played music using shoes. The Nike Music Shoe video features Tokyo DJ duo Hifana playing different Nike shoes via bends, bounces, and slams. Certainly one of the most interesting and inspiring branding videos i've come across.

Here's a description of how the shoes work.

Vans ‘Neon’ Pack Fall/Winter 2010

2010-04-19T23:57:00.003+08:00

*Drools*

Provider Magazine offers a little sneak peek at the upcoming neon pack from Vans! We've seen the new waves of fluorescent colours around a lot, but on Vans? It just gives the colours themselves a more distinct look. There's just that something about Vans slip-ons and authentics that gets you hooked onto the designs.

Hayley

2010-04-17T23:16:00.000+08:00

Hayley - Ian Fan feat. Yung Tyng

Hayley, she got remastered.
What happens when we step into the little room studio hehe.

Awesome song written by Ian.

Copa IBA 2010

2010-04-11T00:35:00.003+08:00

I try to find common ground with everyone so that I might bring them to Christ. I do all this to spread the Good News, and in doing so I enjoy it's blessings. ~ 1Cor 9:22-23 (NLT)

Copa IBA 2010

Inter-Brethren Assemblies' annual evangelistic outreach sports event.

More details at the event blog and also the facebook event page.

Put Your Records On (Cover)

2010-04-07T16:54:00.003+08:00

My cover of Corinne Bailey Rae's Put Your Records On.

Been hooked onto playing this song for a long time, and i got a new mic, so record it!

Recorded 8 layers on GarageBand, played and sung myself. Please do excuse the lousy noise, it's just a cheap recording setup. And the small video resolution? Heh forgot to set the camera to 640 x 480. Listen to the song not concentrate on the video haha! =)

You can listen to it on my Myspace too.

Enjoy!

The Kinds of Things

2010-04-02T00:35:00.008+08:00

that remind us how great our God is.

From during RBS.

By the way that was the hugest rainbow and the most magnificent light rays i have ever seen in my life - period.
You'll have to be there to really know how awesome it was!

Have a blessed Good Friday.

Pulling Our Weight

2010-03-30T17:44:00.002+08:00

Beautiful song & video.

Josh Lambert

2010-03-28T15:31:00.000+08:00

My new favorite poster designer.

Check out more at vectroave here or check out his blog.

Earth Hour

2010-03-28T04:29:00.002+08:00

Rooted and Built

2010-03-08T23:44:00.000+08:00

"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness." ~Colossians 2:6-7

Building The Next Generation
SSGC Family Camp 2010

A3 poster. Handrawn illustration.

One Voice

2010-02-13T16:12:00.002+08:00

RBS 2010.

Miss all of you fellas!

Work In Progress

2010-02-13T15:50:00.004+08:00

Rob Shields

2010-02-04T00:00:00.002+08:00

ILLUSTRATIONS BY ROB SHIELDS

Rebecca Wetzler

2010-01-26T00:00:00.001+08:00

REBECCA WETZLER

Nostalgia XXVI

2010-01-13T00:00:00.002+08:00

2010 Cubelendar

2010-01-07T00:00:00.002+08:00

Well it's 2010. A new year, time for a new calendar!

But instead of getting one, i decided to design and make one for myself, and i thought i'd share it with everyone. (A little new year's gift!)

2010 Cubelendar by visualsanity

DIY - print, cut and glue yourself! I'm sure you know how a cube works. I printed it on an A4 sheet, you can go much larger if you want to. Looks great on thick gloss paper. Click on the image below to download!

Enjoy!

Twenty Ten

2010-01-01T00:00:00.001+08:00

2010

Happy New Year people!

It's the year of the tiger by the way.

VIEW FULL IMAGE

Creative Sleep

2009-12-29T01:13:00.003+08:00

This sure looks comfortable.

mysuitestuff.com

Whee

2009-12-27T00:49:00.003+08:00

Tis' The Season

2009-12-24T01:23:00.001+08:00

Have a blessed one y'all.

Mmhmm

2009-12-08T17:45:00.003+08:00

Well. Almost.

Noir et Blanc

2009-11-22T22:07:00.004+08:00

Noir et Blanc

A little creation to have a break from SPM.