Sunday, July 07, 2013

It's about time - littlemiso has moved!



It's been a long time coming, but FINALLY I'm shifting the blog over to my new littlemiso website! I'm really excited to have both the blog and website together on the same responsive platform. This means it's mobile and tablet friendly.

Please check out (and bookmark) the new blog: www.littlemiso.com/blog
and have a look at the new website too!

Thank you for your kindness and support so far, 
Janice.

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Windows of New York


Really nice project by Jose Guizar. Every week a different window is illustrated. Particularly love the colour palette. See the collection grow here.


Monday, February 25, 2013

Home, sweet home.


TITLE: A pair.
MEDIA: Watercolour, ink, pencil


Oh how I wish I could edit the lettering in the centre! But such is the nature of originals. I sneakily changed the gap in the 'e' (you can see in the process photo and the flat image) but it still doesn't work for me. Will have to practise more.

Saturday, February 23, 2013

hello electori


Pretty exciting news - littlemiso has been selected to stock at locally run, online hub 'electori'. YAY!
These girls are awesome. They are truly here to support Australian designers and have hand-picked a fine selection of labels - like Jessica Martino, On a Whim and Peppermint Milk. 
Check them out here. They also run a great blog with lots of foodie tips :)

Passion

'I’m sitting in the lobby of a hotel in Jamaica, checking my e-mail, two people walk by and in a harsh whisper a women says to her friend, “isn’t that sad? That guy comes here on a vacation and he’s stuck checking his e-mail. He can’t even enjoy his two weeks off.” I think the real question (the one they probably wouldn’t want to answer) was, “isn’t it sad that we have a job where we spend two weeks avoiding the stuff we have to do 50 weeks a year?” It took me a long time to figure out why I was so happy to be checking my e-mail on vacation. It had to do with Passion.'

Handwritten




Last week I had the opportunity to hand ink 500 words for a Campaign Brief submission. It was immensely fun to do - I already feel rewarded for it. Who knew a page of text on word would equal over 1.6m (my height) of writing? :)



Thursday, February 07, 2013


TITLE: Cherries
MEDIA: Gouache, ink


delicious, red, sweet, crunchy - cherries are in season over here in aus :)

Monday, February 04, 2013

Starry night

TITLE: Starry night
MEDIA: Ink


Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Sparkle


TITLE: Sparkle
MEDIA: Ink, gouache


A little bit of sparkle + soft, comfy loafers to liven up the grey :) the silver ink picks up in the light nicely.

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Valentines Day Cards - 6 for you!





I've been practising my ink hand recently, after I was given a calligraphy set for Christmas :)
I know I need lots of practise - but I am really enjoying the process of drawing, rather than the end product. 

Here are a bunch of Valentines Day cards I have done - which are all available for you to download, print out, and give to whoever that special person in your heart is. Feel free to share the links with all your friends! For personal use only. If you reblog, please credit littlemiso :)

Download these Valentines Day cards:

x


Saturday, January 26, 2013

two pairs = one pair

TITLE: A pair.
MEDIA: Watercolour, ink, pencil


I feel happy that I got my sister to hang a pun on her wall. ^^





Sunday, January 13, 2013

Beach Towel

TITLE: Beach Towel
MEDIA: Coral, Yellow, Silver Ink


You Are The Map Maker: Posters




Remember this post about the book you have to read? Well the same collaboration - UK design studio Believe in and Australian author/blogger Bernadette Jiwa - have produced some great typographic posters. Available here.

Saturday, January 12, 2013

Patterns

TITLE: Bungle bungle
MEDIA: Chinese ink + ink


TITLE: Scalloped
MEDIA: ink + gouache + silver ink


Patterns are nice to draw. It's calming doing the same shape over and over, and it still comes out different each time you draw it.

Wednesday, January 02, 2013

Please let's eat

TITLE: Please let's eat
MEDIA: ink


'Por favour deja comer' says 'Please let's eat' in Spanish. Drawn on old paper found at flea markets in Madrid. 

A simple piece for the kitchen.


Tuesday, January 01, 2013

Jars

TITLE: Jars
MEDIA: ink + goache


Happy new year! Hey 2013.

I've been doing some drawing (finally) for my sister to hang in her house. There will be a mix of different, smallish pieces so we can make a modular arrangement with different shaped frames.

This jar one doesn't fit in her colour scheme, but I just did it for fun. I think it would be nice near the spice rack / pantry? 

Will be posting more pieces later.

Saturday, October 06, 2012

Janice Hand





I put together a quick font based on my handwriting. It's pretty crude and unrefined, but I like the imperfections. Download it here for free. I'd love to see the things you create with it!

Image from here.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Best wedding invite...


Design of the times... a microsite for a wedding invite! But totally drool worthy. Beautiful type, illustrations, story telling and serious parallax action.  

Who else would it be created by, but the amazing Jessica Hische! (And Russ)

Check it out here - so worth it. 
(Make sure it's on your computer not a mobile device).


Monday, August 20, 2012

Hands on craft.



Building on yesterday's long post, I found this article on desktop magazine reiterate what I have found most valuable working in my current job, and also something that I have always felt;- that designing something 'hands on' is always the most rewarding. 

Veronica Grow from 'The New School for Design & Typography' writes:

"When we get the chance to incorporate a hand drawn illustration or work with a piece of paper and a pair of scissors, we really enjoy it. Working with our hands is a uniquely engaging human experience that comes from being both creatively and physically active, when a powerful nexus emerges between hands, head and heart, leading to the building of tacit or embodied knowledge."

Spending 95% of my time on the computer is not how I wanted to spend my time designing - and I'm sure for most of you, isn't what we signed up for when we said we would be designers. So let's pick up a pencil, fine liner, brush, whatever - and make something that is unique, something that has personality and shouts creativity from the top of your lungs.

Beautiful hand drawn type, 1, 2.



Sunday, August 19, 2012

On blogging.



It's been almost 5 months since my last blog post, for no real reason except that I felt like having a break. And once I got out of the routine of blogging; putting up things that inspired me, things I had found, things I had made and littlemiso updates - I just forgot what and how to say it. 

It feels like the internet is overloaded with content - I follow at least 100 different blogs through blogger, 84 pinners on pinterest, as well as updates on facebook and instagram and constant emails. Some of the content out there is fantastic - informative, well designed, thoughtful... and I just felt like I didn't have anything to add to that. Would anyone really read what I posted?

When I looked back through my blog today, I found myself reading posts and recalling what I had done over the past few years. I found the content so valuable to look through - tiny things, like how  looking at furniture and styling at Empire in November last year, made me remember how happy and inspired I had felt. 

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm not here to gain 100,000 followers and play the 'business' of blogging, and would absolutely hate to be labelled that way. I think it's important to remember that this is first and foremost a blog / diary for myself, and really it would just be an added bonus if these tiny snippets of my life and what inspires me, may inspire you.


On that note, here is a snippet of a post from Sarah Tolzmann of 'Note to Self', reacting to the 'business of blogging':

"...with all of these conferences, workshops and referral programs, I have a strange feeling that the blog world is coming to a boiling point. There are so many of us with thousands more popping up every day. And I'll be the first to admit that the longer you're at this, the harder it seems to get. We can get caught up in the competitive element and even start imagining rivalries. One day it's euphoric and friendly and the next it's stressful and personal. Ideas are duplicated, designs are duplicated, and the angry, passive aggressive Tweets start to fly (yup, I've done that, too). This environment is not what I want for myself, my blogger friends or Note to Self. I have to wonder: where will we go from here? Will blogging continue to be an individualist push for traffic and sponsorship? Or will it (as I hope) evolve into a series of strong niche collectives, lead by groups of talented bloggers working together?"

Read the full post here.


Further to that, Cassandra's post from 'Coco and Kelly' hit the nail on the head for me:

"But, what I’ve realized is that I really miss other parts of the conversation going on at the table. I don’t talk about books I’ve read because it’s probably been a year since I’ve actually finished one. I barely catch the news and can’t decipher politics these days for the life of me (I can only blame politics itself for so much of that).  I miss intelligent conversation, and yet I’ve forgotten how to have it. Or rather, I’m smart enough to know that I’m lacking the information I need to participate in those conversations on an intelligent level."

Read the full post here.


As much as designing, creating and making things is my passion, I enjoy immersing myself in other things, which maybe I'll blog more of over the coming months. I believe that it's beyond important to designing to absorb inspiration from other fields. Finding that subtle balance between design, design, design ....and the rest of my life will be my next goal, hands up, feet first.

Photos taken by Max Wanger, here and here.


Thursday, April 26, 2012

jon karen exhibition


Some of my original pieces will be exhibited by jon karen at White Studio in Singapore from 26 - 28 April. Wish I could make it!

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Finders Keepers Melbourne


I'll be flying off to Melbourne tonight with a suitcase (or two) full of goodies for Finders Keepers market! Pretty excited and worried at the same time :/

If you're in Melbourne, please come along to the Royal Exhibition Building on Friday / Saturday and say hi! Find all the details at the Finders Keepers website.

(Illustration by Joanne Young - isn't she talented!)

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Ponoko feature


it must be media month! here is a feature from my supplier Ponoko. There's a couple of Q&A's about my process etc if you're interested! :)

Monday, March 19, 2012

Sneaky Mr Frenchy MASKED


Mr Frenchy MASKED snuck into Korean magazine Tmax this month, featured alongside some beautiful  fabric necklaces by the likes of Homako! <3

Sunday, February 19, 2012


Eek! I've been pretty quiet with blogging these past few months, I think I've been enjoying the summer and spending a leeeetle too much time outdoors!

I have however been on Pinterest a lot, and have been finding some amazing typography, styling and food resources on there. Do you have Pinterest? Find me here and I'll follow you - I'd love to see what inspires and excites you!