House of Cards (Amsterdam)

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It’s been a month since the final night of the Amsterdam Light Festival and it’s crazy to think that being a part of it happened in such a short period of time. It was on one busy day at uni when OGE and Ryan contacted me to get a drawing done within one and a half days….one and a half days! I planned on doing uniwork that night but after seeing OGE’s proposal, I knew the artwork was worth the investment for a grand installation. Each card stands at over a metre tall and everyone had to draw a card of their choice to fill those 120 spots. I wish the giant card was in my possession right now but I think  OGE are keeping it for promotional purposes.

 

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My card isn’t visible to the visitors walking on the street but it can be seen  on the Water colors boat ride.

 

 

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This was the full artwork, the King of Print for the King of Hearts 🙂

 

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I know I’ve been missing for the past how many weeks or so, November/December are always the busiest months of the year and this December is probably the biggest month I’ve had in a while.

 

• Graduation

• House of Cards exhibition

• An online branding site

• T-shirts

• Birthdays

• More birthdays

 

Proud to say that I graduated last week! Like everyone around me, I initially had one goal when I started uni; to get that piece of paper. That slipped away as soon as I finished 1st year, I knew it wasn’t the right goal to chase. I’m at uni to learn how to use Photoshop better geez! No not really actually, my photoshop skills are about the same as when I started.

 

Communication Design isn’t graphic design. Graphic design is part of our job but we only consider ourselves to be “designers” because adding the term “graphic” isn’t enough to describe our new profession. I took this course because it covers areas including art, fashion, marketing, media, advertising and business. These aspects contribute to what design is today.

 

When I was approached by Jin & Co. to do an illustration in 2012 I started thinking seriously about freelancing. He took me seriously therefore I took him seriously and we both took the job seriously. It was my first time in the “professional world” and I was such an amateur. The first ever briefing we had I brought nothing but myself and a bag with my phone in it. “Bring a notebook and a pen next time, you need to sketch and write notes down” Jin said.

 

There are 18247982377 small businesses offering design services out there and I’m one of them. I already knew beforehand that this industry is one of the most competitive but I chose to do my freelancing anyway. You begin to wonder, if there’s tonnes of design firms and artists out there then why do people still come back to you? It motivates you and pushes you to work harder because you’re confident the service you give to your clients is the kind of service they expect in return. You go out of your way to work on any given day.

 

I’ll never regret the experience of uni, I mean, it wasn’t all rainbows, fairies, sunshines and glitter. It was painful in the most good and bad ways. I won’t go into that but it’s helped me focus on my passion for working in the fashion industry even though the course wasn’t directly related to fashion. Whether I land a job in a fashion studio working on a magazine or designing clothes and doing fashion illustrations, Communication Design has helped me merge art and design into everyday life despite it being two completely different areas of practice.

 

Ok now I’m starting to feel really nostalgic. I’ll post some old work from uni as my next post. Stay tuned…

Rive Gauche

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Rive Gauche is a hypothetical brand specializing in high end fragrant reed diffusers. ‘Vivid Lavande’ is named after the French-inspired Lavender scent which is designed to fill your home with a long lasting scent using only the finest fragrances, essential oils and natural diffusers. The exterior of the box was originally going to be in matte black however the gold omnicrom foil didn’t stick too well. Omnicrom works super well on glossy paper but problem is, there’s no printable black glossy paper anywhere in Melbourne. In the end I thought the black exterior reached a dead end and I used gold paper instead. I was actually happier with the gold than the black. This was the last uni project for our folios and I’m glad it was the last because out of everything we’ve done the last 3 years, this one had the most blood, sweat and tears yet it’s my favorite packaging piece to date.

 

It was a bit of math, engineering and of course, money. The box is made of a combination of wood and pasteboard then glued together with PVA glue and finally covered in black wrapping paper (used jac paper to apply the paper to the box). The glass, reeds and refill were sourced from an online supplier. More photos will be added to my website late next month after my USA trip.

 

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A right-brainer by day and occasional blogger by night, you've landed on a place where I document life in the creative field and endless travels with friends and family

Design had evolved naturally, as a passion and a lifestyle beginning at an early age when I made trips back to the motherland, Indonesia, I experienced the surroundings and the lifestyle that was vastly different from what I was used to. I found myself passing by villages where children made their own toys with whatever was left around them; scrap metal, bits of cloth, banana leaves, and even cigarette butts. Despite this, the children were happy and proud with anything they created.

This image struck me and forever inspires me to contribute my skills to places that need it the most. Design helps me make decisions, while art helps me take risks. Both areas reward me with opportunities to create something impactful and everlasting!