look, up in the sky...

it's a bird. no, it's a plane. no, it's superman!

superman flying - pop art design by one girl creative 2010

yes, that famous superhero that we all know and love has brought back a renewed sense of nostalgia for me these past few weeks. don't know why exactly, just know that i love the whole superhero concept and anything related to it. because let's face it, in this day and age of technology du jour, i love the simplicity of a comic strip superhero.


many of us have not grown up with superman, et al, but we definitely are familiar with their origins and what they represent. show a picture of superman to a 4 year old boy, and i assure you, he'll just GET it. his reaction and excitement will not only surprise you, but enlighten you at the same time.


how can something so simple and fictitious create such happiness to a young, naive little boy? because as a little boys, they understand what it's like in all their dreams and their glory to become the perfect superhero (even if only in their mother's eyes at that time in their life).


even though i didn't grow up watching these superhero shows or cartoons, i can appreciate—now as an adult—what they represent to our culture. for me, they represent more than just a cartoon or a superhero, but within our pop culture of our own unique universe, something that is beyond innocent and timeless. i love what it represents, because personally, its meaning is an art, a timeless art. if you flip through the pages of any comic strip—old or new—you immediately get a sense of being thrown into a time machine and going elsewhere in your existence; an existence that only you can comprehend.


for me, it's about childhood and being born all over again. feeling that while your life starts anew, you can look forward without trepidation about the mundanes of everyday life, but your happy childhood instead.


don't grow up. enjoy your life.

black and white color

what, black and white color??? what does that mean? what it means is, i love creating black and white photos and then adding splashes of color here and there to 'spice' up the image. 


sometimes, having a black and white photo may seem dull, but with splashes of color juxtaposed with the black and white composition, it can really add life to any photograph.


i recently started experimenting with a few photos of my own so here they are. hope you like them!

i came across this cool 'sculpture' in front of an unidentified building in london

jubilee bridge in london

apple store in london 

i had the pleasure of seeing one of these retro double-decker buses in london, and 

since they have recently been 'retired,' it was a rare find

doubles champions - 2010

a loft and a pug

my kitchen

simple photo of lady bugs

common design crap

i recently came across this little bit of news via twitter (gotta love the whole tweeting thing) about iStock soon-to-arrive stock logos. are you kidding me, iStock??? how is the whoring of commercialized logo design a positive direction? not only will this give clients/business owners even more credence to purchasing cheap logos in lieu of good valued logos designed from a reputable graphic designer, but it cheapens our field as a whole. so what else is new?

as if we don't have enough to worry about, this just only adds a whole new dimension of people wanting to belittle our field even more.

i've never been against the internet, in fact, i love it. i love the whole social networking idea as a whole—as long as it's not taken out of proportion (mafia wars, anyone?). and i admit, i have even used stock photos for ad campaigns out of sheer urgency and of course, when i can't as a freelance designer, afford to hire a professional photographer myself.

but stock logos? come on. as much as i'd love to admit this is the same thing, it truly isn't. there is a huge difference when needing to hire a photographer for photos and setting up a whole photo session than hiring a graphic designer to design a logo for you. so i ask, how is iStock going to pull this off? will they submit homogenized logos that can be interchangeable and requested by the purchaser? obviously not everybody has the same business name, so how will this work?

apparently iStock will only sell these logos as a one-time gig. meaning quite simply, that once a customer purchases a specific design from their website, that particular logo will no longer be available and will be listed as "sold." ummm...ok.

but here's the catch, for the designer that created the logo, they have to adhere to iStock's copyright policy in order to sell said logo. so for the graphic designer who is creating the logo, how is this a good thing?

seriously? and the customer actually thinks this is worth it? oh, and i forgot to mention that according to iStock's website, they will be selling these logos for a lot more than their average vector or photograph—their reasoning of course being that since it's a one-time deal, it's supposedly unique.

i'm still trying to figure out how this is advantageous for the business than just finding a good, talented graphic designer to sit down and go over your needs for your next logo project, and having that personal creative touch to your logo? no strings attached.

please, someone enlighten me here.

as anybody could imagine, i'm having a really difficult time accepting this new 'trend.' it's bad enough i have been unemployed for several months now due to the economy and let's face it, a saturated design field, but now i'm competing with stock logos online???

this definitely will bring a whole new dimension to graphic design. will it be for the worse or the better? only time will tell, but i'm afraid it won't go away anytime soon. as long as there are customers out there willing to spend money on this shortcut design, then it'll continue to flourish.

for now, i'll just continue to plug away and hope that my clients appreciate good, authentic and personalized graphic design instead of this common design crap.

live and learn

who would have thought that my own personal advice would come back and bite me in the ass. a few years ago, i wrote about how we as artists shouldn’t fall prey to spec design. spec design is quite simply, doing the work before you’re compensated for it. i have always been confused by this ongoing problem with graphic designers, but it seems to be a common problem in my field.

this baffles me.

i won’t jump on my soap box just yet. what i wrote about a few years back in 2008 still holds true for me. unfortunately, given my recent vulnerability due to my unemployment status, i figured I’ll do a little bit of work just to make sure the client knows what they’re getting from me is not only good work, but so they’ll ultimately be 'wowed' with the finished product.

i was recently contacted via email about a company wanting to hire me to design some pop art images for their soon-to-be opening boutique in florida. this company sells couture designer items that have been pre-owned and at a much cheaper cost than buying them brand new.

the owner loved my pop art pieces of louis vuitton and chanel handbags, and wanted me to stick with this same concept of using designer items to hang throughout his boutique with a pop art twist. the only difference between my original designs and the ones he wanted for his boutique are a change of colors to reflect the colors in his logo and more designer items to add to their overwhelming assortment of items for sale.

when i spoke to his partner on the phone, he said he wanted me to come up with some designs to send his way, and if they like them, they will then allow me to “go to town” with whatever designs i wanted. 

i made it very clear that typically i don't do spec work without some sort of compensation beforehand, and as he started to say he was ok with that—me like the weak person that i am, went ahead and said i would send him a design or two without an upfront deposit.

what was i thinking? because i got tongue-tied in the process, i assured him that i will only do a few pieces to send his way as jpegs. ugh!

here is where the frustration begins.

naturally, i went ahead and created a few designs—which thankfully didn’t take too long of my time—and immediately emailed to him.

next day—nothing.

day after—nothing.

day after that—nothing, so i decided to get proactive and i contacted him to let him know that if either of the designs that i sent him were not acceptable, to please let me know and I’m happy to change whatever colors or designs he wanted.

still, nothing.

it has now been almost a week and i have yet to hear from either of them.

yes, again i was screwed over. for whatever reason, i don’t know. all i do know is i didn’t get compensated for my time, nor did they even have the courtesy to get back to me to say yay or nay. nothing!

like we always say—“live and learn.” if only i had followed my own advice (as well as many others in my field) and not accepted it without a deposit up front.

so even though i didn’t get compensated, nor did i get to “go to town” with designs with this particular businessman, i will now learn by this mistake and move forward and hope that whatever business venture or client comes my way, i will continue to present a contract to them and require my typical 30–50% deposit up front before i start the work.

i'm mad, and i could kick myself, but at this point, you just have to learn from your mistakes and move on.

http://www.no-spec.com/

Louis Vuitton Speedy

Louis Vuitton Mini-Noé

bond, james bond

those of you who know me, know that i have an unusual love for anything and everything james bond. i own every single move on DVD—except for diamonds are forever (but i'm still on the hunt for that). so much, that i recently spent $$$ to change 4 of my character's names from my world of warcraft account to reflect any female or male character from the james bond series from its original big screen inception of dr. no in 1962. now all 6 of my active characters each have james bond-related names—kissysuzuki from you only live twice, rogermoore, camillé from quantum of solace, vesperlynd from casino royale, tiffanycase from diamonds are forever and of course, our favorite, høneyryder from dr. no.

i even have a series of james bond pop art designs i created as my personal tribute to the super-manly agent.

what is wrong with me, you ask? simple. i love james bond. i love what it represents. the retro-lifestyle of living as a secret agent and traveling all over the world fighting 'bad guys' is a fantasy i have always envisioned. will it ever come true? of course not. but it's fun to daydream about, isn't it?

fantasize about someone like daniel craig emerging from the water wearing nothing but tight, slim swimming trunks are to every girl's fantasy. so who wouldn't want to be his go-to gal? minus the typically dying at the end scenario, i think it's the perfect dream come true.

dashing off to europe on a moment's notice while in tow with my superhunk to protect me sounds so exhilarating, doesn't it? And when we head "home" after all of the traveling, we arrive to our mid-century modern home equipped with the latest technology and sportscars in the garage.

Ahh, if only life were this simple.

daniel craig as james bond 007

sean connery as james bond 007

george lazenby as james bond 007

roger moore as james bond 007

pierce brosnan as james bond 007

timothy dalton as james bond 007

more world of warcraft screenshots

as promised, i am adding more screenshots that i have taken this week. enjoy!

blood elf paladin, vesperlynd - (level 22) - silvermoon city

draenei hunter (with raptor pet, goldfinger), rogermoore - (level 36) - darnassus

night elf druid, høneyryder - (level 80) - felwood

night elf druid, høneyryder - (level 80) - un'goro crater

night elf druid, høneyryder - (level 80) - on flight in isle of quel'danas

night elf druid, høneyryder - (level 80) - sunset in scholozar basin

night elf druid, høneyryder - (level 80) - maestra's post, ashenvale

night elf druid, høneyryder - (level 80) - duskwood (in front of boss)

night elf druid, høneyryder - (level 80) - isle of quel'danas

night elf druid, høneyryder - (level 80) - hinterlands

night elf druid, høneyryder - (level 80) - darkshore, auberdine

night elf druid, høneyryder - (level 80) - netherstorm (outland)

the world inside world of warcraft

it was the end of january of this year, and i was bored. unemployed and bored. the weather was cold and wet, and since my daughter was in school for most of the day, i needed something to occupy my time. i have never been one of those people who can spend their entire day at a health club (not that i shouldn't, however), but always had a passion for video games. yes, i admit, since the age of 14 in 1979, while stealing quarters from my dad's change bucket and heading to the nearest pizza shop to play pac man, i have always loved video games.


i just chalk it up to the fact that i am a graphic designer, therefore i have a special appreciation for anything that's computer created.


fast forward to this century and with video games being everywhere—whether you play directly from your computer or a console—they have become the fastest-growing and most popular industry that we know of today.


now keep in mind, i have a mac. i love my mac. can't imagine my life without my mac, but if you're a video game junky like me, you soon realize that your options are unfortunately limited for this platform. sad, but true.


so by the time i exhausted my play of the first person shooter game, no one lives forever, i needed another outlet to enhance my appreciation for video games. but which one? it seems anything out there are army related (hate it), alien related (hate it), or worse, crime related—definitely hate it.


a virtual friend of mine who is also a graphic designer (thanks, nate) recommended world of warcraft—but he soon warned, it is very addicting. well, since on the average, i would play a video game for maybe an hour at the most, i figured i could handle it.


boy was i wrong, and he was right. ever since i started playing, i have been glued to my computer ever since. sad, but true. but it's not just playing the game itself that caught my attention, but the world within world of warcraft that piqued my interest overall.


i couldn't believe how detailed and expansive this world was. and i felt it was never-ending. even after 7 months of playing religiously everyday, i still have yet to visit every single area in the game.


since i'm mostly an alliance player (for those of you non-world of warcraft fans, i won't delve into what all of this means for the time being), i am not that familiar with the horde areas within the game. and since i have two level 80 characters and several more that i'm working on leveling, the alliance areas are mostly what i'm familiar with at the current time. however, since i recently created a horde blood elf paladin, hopefully i'll soon be leveling quickly in search of the unchartered horde territories that i now know.


in november of this year, blizzard (creators of world of warcraft) will be releasing a much-anticipated expansion called cataclysm. it's supposed to be their biggest expansion yet! i'm excited, yet bittersweet at the same time. most of the classic areas of world of warcraft—known as azeroth—will be completely altered. will it be for the best? i don't know. only time will tell. but for now, i wanted to capture as many screenshots as i could as a keepsake of what azeroth was like before cataclysm ruined it all.


so even though i discussed my love (a.k.a. addiction) of this game when i first started playing, and my night elf druid was my one and only character at the time, i wanted to give a much-needed update to my playing experience.


so please enjoy these screenshots that i have attached. i plan on making this a work in progress until november to try and capture most (most likely not all) of the azeroth areas. and now that i have a horde character, hopefully i can explore farther to give a much broader perspective of the game.


i will post more screenshots as i go along in the game.


enjoy!

my night elf druid, høneyryder - (level 80) - teldrassil

my night elf druid, høneyryder - (level 80) - darnassus

my night elf druid, høneyryder - (level 80) - moonglade

my draenei mage, kissysuzuki - (level 50) - bloodmyst isle

my blood elf, vesperlynd - (level 15) - silvermoon city

my draenei death knight, camillé - (level 80) - crystalsong forest

my draenei death knight, camillé - (level 80) - coldarra

my draenei death knight, camillé - (level 80) - star's rest in dragonblight

my night elf druid, høneyryder - (level 80) - zangarmarsh

my night elf druid, høneyryder - (level 80) - sporeggar

my draenei death knight, camillé - (level 80) - fizzlecrank's flight strip in borean tundra

my draenei death knight, camillé - (level 80) - the storm peaks

my draenei death knight, camillé - (level 80) - dragonblight

work of art: the next great artist

bravo's new show is the latest stroke on the reality canvas. bravo has brought golden globe and emmy award winner sarah jessica parker and her production company, pretty matches, together with the emmy-nominated magical elves ("top chef," "project runway") and eli holzman, to produce "work of art: the next great artist," an hour long creative competition series among contemporary artists. work of art will bring together fourteen aspiring artists to compete for a solo show at a nationally recognized museum and a generous cash price of $100,000.


in each episode of "work of art," contestants are faced with the challenge of creating unique pieces in a variety of mediums such as painting, sculpture, photography, collage and industrial design. the weekly assignements on bravo's "work of art: the next great artist" alongside a new celebrated guest judge every week. through a gallery showing at the end of each challenge on bravo's "work of art: the next great artist," these industry select dictate which artists have successfully mastered the subject matter and creation of their piece, as well as whose concept leaves the greatest impact. - source: poptower.com


as i watched the first few episodes, i was intrigued. at first, i wasn't into it, but since i'm an artist, reluctantly i continued to watch. absorbing each artists' process was capturing, as well as intimidating. i almost felt like a voyeur as i continued to observe their neuroses, only to have the feeling of being able to empathize with their frustrations myself. sometimes i wonder if put in that type of situation, would i be able to succumb to the high-pressure competition of this caliber. would i succeed? or would i be eliminated after the first round? obviously, since i have no desire to appear on a reality show, i wouldn't audition to begin with.


all of that being said, i find it fascinating how any artist—who typically needs time to create their personal masterpieces—can even work in such conditions. i know i couldn't. but then again, i am in the field of advertising where—given if i was employed at the moment—i would be dealing with this high-pressure, deadline atmosphere on a daily basis.


but there is a fine line between fine art and graphic design, where graphic design deals with commercialism and its eye-capturing content to sell the latest product, and fine art is more subjective. it deals with each individual artist's perception of what they're creating, and whether or not it appeases them. something conceptual, however, can be very daunting considering that the end result is not necessarily an eye-pleasing work of art, but on the contrary, to capture a story from the artist's point of view, thus leaving the viewer confused about its subsequent concept.


i have a saying that sums it up nicely: graphic design is for the client, art is for the artist. meaning that from a designer's perspective, we create solely on what the client wants and desires, regardless of what we feel is compositionally appropriate. but as an artist, we create for ourselves, and nobody else. it's our choice and our personal masterpiece—whether it's appreciated and enjoyed, or not, is irrelevant. because in the end, it's for us.


regardless of what bravo's intent is with this show, i love it and hope it continues to thrive as much as their competitive counterparts (i.e. "top chef," "top design", et al), because if it's just one more outlet for an artist to showcase their work without the stress and worries of where their materials will come from for their next composition, then i am all for it. because you know, we are starving artists.


for now, i will continue to watch this masterpiece.


i will end this with a quote from one of my favorite artists, frida kahlo. "i am not sick. i am broken. but i am happy as long as i can paint."