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? :)

MASKED, Popsicle and Pecha Kucha

I haven't been blogging that much lately, but it's definitely not because I'm in hibernation! There's a couple of exciting things happening soon, and at the top of the list is Made of Awesome's first exhibition! This year we will be exhibiting as part of the tasty annual Popsicle event, organised by the fantastic team at OnWilliam. 

Partnered with Tu, we will be showing off new artwork, lasercuts and cards as well as old favourites. Come and enjoy cupcakes, drinks and artwork at our Opening Night on Wednesday 21 September, 6pm. We'll ALL be there and would love to meet you.

If you can't make it on the night (boo), the exhibition runs from 21 September - 16 October, so you've got no excuses! :)

A bit about Popsicle from the OnWilliam team:

Popsicle is Perth Fashion Festival's annual tasty treat. Popping up in 11 locations around Northbridge, follow the trail to taste test each flavour.

A selection of WA's exciting up and coming designers have collaborated with Northbridge independent fashion boutiques, giving shop windows a makeover and filling the shelves with their handmade wares. 

Hop over to the Popsicle website to find out more about the designers part of this years' event!

Popsicle runs from 21 - 27 September 2011.

Outskirts is also happening during Popsicle, filling Northbridge with over 100 events in 34 venues for a one day festival. The program is jam packed with street stalls, workshops, exhibitions, pop up stores and laneway events.. super exciting! You can grab a special Passport guide (pictured above) which will help you navigate through the excitement. 

Outskirts runs on Sunday 25 September.

Next to roll up is Pecha Kucha Volume 9, which is happening on the night of Outskirts to wrap up the event. I will be speaking at Pecha Kucha about littlemiso, my creative process and insights from running a creative business.

I'm not really one for public speaking, so this is definitely the most nerve racking thing happening at the moment! If you're interested in coming along to enjoy a drink and some creative talk, it will be held on Sunday 25 September at the State Theatre Courtyard, entry is $5 at the door. There will be 10 creatives in total speaking about their work for 6.6 minutes each.

To find out more about Pecha Kucha, head here for the international event or here for the Perth event.

On other news, I've started a new have full time job (yay!), am preparing for markets during CHOGM (more on that later), have been designing some new lasercuts (oooO) and have been preparing wholesale orders in time for Christmas (what, already?!)

I love September! :)

Not as good as you would like to be?

Ira Glass on Storytelling from David Shiyang Liu on Vimeo.

Yes, i know what you mean.

You Are The Map Maker

This is one of the best books I've read all year, and I am so excited to share this with you.

'You Are The Map Maker' is a project by Bernadette Jiwa, bringing together insights from 13 of the most creative and resourceful entrepreneurs on the planet. Jessica Hische, David Airey, Mark Bloom and Chris Guillebeau are just some of the creatives who have contributed their stories and their advice.

Starting up littlemiso and working as a freelance designer is one of my happiest achievements, but the reality is that it is not easy at all - and sometimes the smallest hurdle is enough to fill you with self doubt and slowly etch away your confidence to be a 'creative'. How many times have I started a project and not gone through with it because I didn't think it would work? Or even worse - I can't even count how many times I've had an idea in my head and thought it was brilliant, but never made it into a reality because of that tiny inkling of self doubt that eats away at my confidence. (Is it really worth spending $X on it? Is it really worth all that time?)

Reading these insights from successful creatives is a reminder that every hurdle I have been through or am going through is exactly what they have experienced through their journey - and through honesty, self reflection and persistence - they have gotten through to where they are now. Sounds like common sense, but when you're in these situations - it's the best type of advice you can get…and it's DESIGN related.

Working in a creative field is always going to be different in a bank or engineering firm. This book is filled with advice from designers we look up to, have the same mindset and similar likes and dislikes.

Now enough love for the book - just GO READ IT. For FREE.

10 lessons for young designers

Weiden+Kennedy are one of the coolest ad agencies I can think of. I went to Semi-Permanent in Sydney a few years ago and heard 2 art directors from W+K Portland speak - their approach to coming up with ideas is so different from what is taught in a book! 

Having said that, I found these lessons from John C Jay, Executive Creative Director of W+K (pictured above), very interesting. Although some seem like common sense, it's nice to have a reminder from time to time.

My favourite is: "Travel as much as you can. It is a humbling and inspiring experience to learn just how much you don’t know."

Read them here.

all about getting out there...

An awesome initiative by b+w illustrator Johanna Basford...she sent a self-illustrated copy of Creative Review to the magazine house mentioning that it was a copy of CR they'd never seen before...and it certainly got their attention! And here i was clicking on it, thinking it was a nice cover to buy..