Friday, September 13, 2013

Let's Make Habits: Schedule & Action Plan (Week 1)


Please bear with me as I write what has happened the last few weeks with habit-forming goal. 

Week One demanded the creation of a schedule and an action to accomplish the goal chosen. The following is my schedule and plan of action for the following weeks.

Schedule:

I was (and still am) hesitant to set a schedule in stone for two months. Instead I am allowed myself to take the schedule week by week. At the same time, each week focusing on a different element to fit better into my schedule or be handled better that week.

       Week One: August 18 - August 24, 
             Adjusting to Classes

       Week Two: August 25 - August 31,
             Food & Nutrition    
            
       Week Three: September 1 - 7, 
             House hold Duties

      Week Four: September 8 - 
             September 14, Trouble-shooting

     Week Five: September 15 - 
            September 21, Sleep Schedule

     Week Six: September 22 - 28, 
             Downtime 

     Week Seven: September 29 - 
            October 5, Include Exercise 

     Week Eight: October 6 - October 12, 
            AnalysisFuture 


Plan of Action:

I plan to carve out space from my Sunday to reflect, schedule, and plan each week out. Each week, analyzing what went well, what did great, and what performed poorly. With that information at hand, change and adapt to be better the week follow. 

I do not plan to pretend to have everything under control or even try to control everything going on. Life is a beautiful mess. But I can be punctual to each event in my life and finish my work on time. I am aiming for 80% punctuality and 95% projects completed on time. 

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Let's Make Habits: Chosen Goal


I am a bit of a late bloomer and was a bit shy about joining the written process of Jenny Highsmith's blog series: Let's Make Habits. This little series is about turning those goals and resolutions into habits. The series encourages the readers (and fellow bloggers) to write about their goals and follow along with the series with their own updates on their progress on their goals.

I had been following along with the series, while resisting to write about the process. I keep reasoning that I could do it without writing about but I think my progress with this goal would improve with some written accountability. 

My goal is to be organized with my schedule. My life is quite full with school, family, and things I want to accomplish. Without a well-organized schedule, things begin to fall apart and important things fall thru the cracks for me. I want the next two months to be different. I want to be on top of thins, instead of constantly lagging behind (which is my current habit).

If you would like to join, read more about this challenge at Jenny's blog (www.jennyhighsmith.com).

Be back soon with an Action Plan.





Thursday, January 24, 2013

Last of the Flowers



The title of this blog post is a bit of an extraggeration. It took too long for spring to arrive and it seems to be determined to leave at an alarming rate. I hope you are enjoying the spring as I am.

Best Wishes 


Thursday, January 17, 2013

Love Their Style: Fossil













































Through the company has taken an "older" approach
in the last few years. What I mean is that has changed
its target consumer to an older audience but I still
have a soft spot for its packaging and branding. This is
an example of their work. I saved this receipt holder 
because I thought it was too beautiful to throw
away. 

I intend to find some way to reuse this in the future some
how. I also find their catalogs to be example of great design.
There is some of their catalogs that I have hanged on to.

Best Wishes.

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Process: Nevershoutnever Cover Design











































I knew that Graphic Design is a tough discipline. I knew
that design of all kinds take an insane amount of time and 
effort into making a final product.

In anticipation of the new Nevershoutnever album "Indigo" 
and as an exercise, I set to re-design the album cover.










































The album cover art was released alongside with a sneak 
peak of the song "Magic". Beyond that, there was this little 
teaser.



























Even with all this to start with, it still felt I was going in blind. 
Even with the song, I still had no clue to the prevailing tone 
of the album. I wondered if the album would have the sound 
of the What Is Love album or continue in the path of the Time 
Travel album or if the album would go in a new direction.



























After massive research into Indigo (the dye and color), images,
band photos, band interviews, and font styles (the image above
was an possible idea). The experiment with photos, color, and 
its mood began. The experiments went from peppy to dark and 
somber to purplish blue. I ended up with a warm black and white 
photography and the imagery of forests, mountains, and fields. 
I wished I had included a good picture of the whole band but it 
was a month later when I saw this good photo.



















I would describe the album as somber and sober before listening.
That descriptions still kinda fits even after listening to the album.
The forest imagery fits since the forest is place where reflection
happens, where people go to find themselves anew, but it is 
also where witchcraft and magic happen.






































































Months later, my exercise is done and "Indigo" is out. The album
is much more than I could imagine and the cover art is pretty democratic.

Best Wishes



Photo Credits:

http://yumikohiguchi.blog105.fc2.com/blog-entry-219.html


photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/wearebirds/6202785020/">Kayla Underwood</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">cc</a>



http://altpress.com/features/entry/song_premiere_download_never_shot_never_hazel_eyes_acoustic


Thursday, January 10, 2013

New Project: Postcards













































Perhaps this is my new yearly tradition, new postcards for
each year. Here's preview of my new project. 

This year the postcards will not be made with traditional 
printmaking. Though postcard making thru those methods 
is quite fun but it is also a huge amount of work. I think that 
digital print method would be more suitable for postcards 
this time around. This would allow a greater number of 
postcards.

Best Wishes.


Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Years In Agenda














































Growing up, I did not like agendas. Agendas were 
cumbersome and exhausting. I did not use them
at all.

But about a few years ago, I realized I needed
order in my life and re-picked up agendas in 
new light. This is the fourth year and I am on the hunt
for a new agenda. I am still struggling for order but
I am getting there.

Best Wishes.