Design: Streams of consciousness.

Latest piece. Click for larger view on DeviantArt.

Been working on it on and off for the past couple of weeks, but we went to Italy and had a crazy project to rush the week before so I’d only just had time to finish it.

Pretty much experimenting with different vector styles now, as you can tell from the varied body of work I’ve been posting.
Still trying to define my own style I guess. Most of my typography in the past couple of years has developed a characteristic style but it’s time to bring my work to a new level..

Of slightly more exciting weeks in Lugano

So generally we don’t do very much in Lugano. But the internet in our hostel died over the weekend so some of us actually ended up going out (WOW!).

Visited the quiet town of Mendriso and didn’t do much, then took the Funicular (the little tram services that take go up the hills/mountains here) up San Salvatore (one of the little mountains in Lugano, only over 1000m above sea level).

Then sometime a couple of days ago I baked my favourite Dorie Greenspan Oatmeal Chocolate Peanut Butter Chipsters, yes the one I always bake in Singapore.

And even had time to design a little and play with vectors.

So overall it’s been a fruitful few days.

Pictures below!

Cookie batter.

They ended up spreading out a lot more than usual. Might be because of the baking soda. They sell them in strange little packets here and I didn’t have proper measuring equipment so a lot of it was guesstimation. BUT they still tasted AS awesome even with the cheapest possible Swiss chocolate.

How Lugano is starting to look now that Spring is approaching, everything is greener and bluer now.

Church in Mendriso.

Friends lazing in the sun outside the church.

Easter decorations going up in Mendriso. A lot of them were really kind of morbid.

How you know Spring is coming. Flowers!

Funicular queue for San Salvatore. It was this long because it was the 120th anniversary of the Funicular I think, so it only cost 4CHF to go up (I think it’s normally about 20CHF)! Long queue and the funicular comes every 30 minutes but it was worth every bit of the 4CHF.

As always, cute angmoh kids in abundance.

When they’re really small they’re cute. As they grow a little older they get more surly. When they become teenagers they generally turn into SGN (si gi na).

Funicular up!

View of the surrounding landscape and Lake Lugano from the top of San Salvatore. These are some of the smallest heights in Switzerland, mostly around 1000m. Mount Pilatus that we went up in Luzern is more than 2000m above sea level. And Jungfrau, the highest point in Europe is about 3000m. Will be heading there with Sis when she comes up!

And USIhome 3rd floor southern wing residents! Well, most of us anyway. These are the people I share my kitchen with. And none of them are Swiss. Haha. And yes I am truly the shortest.

Yep, so that’s my fruitful, internet-less weekend for you. Working on designing though as usual many doubts plague my mind. Generally know where I want to go but am not sure how to go about getting there except just practicing now. But it’s not easy without a mentor and having to feel my way about on my own.

Will be going for the European Design Conference in May though! The 3 day conference tickets cost 168 euros (and this is AFTER student price + early bird discount mind you!), which Paypal kindly informed me was SGD$324 (faints). Things look so much cheaper in euros. But I’m writing this off as an investment and a good chance to go to Amsterdam (the conference is in nearby Rotterdam), one of the stronger places in Europe for design.

The designer dream feels so far away right now, but I’ll get there some day…

P.S. For those who have noticed (probably no one), my portfolio is up and clickable on the sidebar… (Yes I finally went and bought lizzaeh.com) My goal? To improve so much till I can replace as many of the existing pieces there by the end of the year.

Design piece: You can’t earn grace.

(C) Lizzaeh, 2010.

Alrights, so I’ve finally decided to get back into the groove of designing regularly. Too many things have distracted me of late.

Finally purchased my own domain (after procrastinating for so long, yes), for real this time and not just talked about it. For now it’ll probably just be a place for me to put up my current portfolio to get more freelance work. More details on that when I get it up and running proper.

If anyone is interested/needs design work/want to do collaborations I’m available for hire.
(Except for the bit on collaborations.)

Do support my cause and contribute to the Send-Liz-To-Design-School fund by hiring me or linking me up with people who might want to.

For the yet to be informed, I have decided to pursue design as a career (much to the chagrin of most obviously, my mother), and am looking into doing some foundation courses leading up to a Masters’ program in Communication/Graphic Design once I’m done with this degree. It will not be an easy journey, I know. I have no art/design background, I know. What makes me think postgraduate design school will accept a student with no background such as myself, I know. A designer’s life isn’t a walk in the park or the best paying job, I know.

But being away from home in the heart of art and culture, and being exposed to a society so vastly different from what I’ve been brought up to believe is normal, has convinced me to stop postponing my dreams and not be afraid to step out beyond the safety of my limited horizon.

So keep me in your prayers. And if any time I ever feel like giving up, give me a slap on my back and remind me to stick to it.

After all, dreams wouldn’t be called dreams if they were always easily attainable.

Have a good day my Singaporean friends… It’s bed time here in Lugano.

Sketchy things.

This is the notebook Jeremy gave Chiang, Shiu and I during Christmas.

Mine’s the Beetle cause that’s the car I want.
Shiu has the Jeep and I can’t remember what WL’s is.

I’m not much of an artist. Just doodle some. So here’s a few of the pages I’ve filled here in Switzerland.

Like I said I really love this stuff.

Doodled while accompanying Jun when she was watercolor-ing.

On the train passing through Swiss landscape in February when there was still quite a bit of snow.

All I remembered about Bern. The clock tower, nice windows, birds, and lots of tram lines.

I hate to say this but the Swiss army boys look really good in their uniforms. They do, really.

Badly referenced from one of the graveyard pictures. My com was in mid-hang trying to save or open something so I was occupying my hands.

(Mildly depressed but inspired after Prof’s mini lecture on “If you don’t know what you want to do with your life, someone else will plan it for you.”)

Conceptualizing for my mini personal type experiment titled How “I” loves “U”.

Final piece below.

Click for larger view on DeviantArt.

Saturday tomorrow, just spent about 4 hours playing cards with my hostel mates. And there’s a birthday party tomorrow where we’d be cooking curry. Pictures, maybe.

Another week gone by here in Lugano…