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? :)

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.

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.

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!

Image via

Erratic nature

Sibella Court is one of those people that can chuck a few things together, in a sporadic fashion, and suddenly make those items look like a piece of art.

I love the way she's styled her current exhibition 'Etcetera etc' (previously blogged about) at the Barometer Gallery - memorabilia dangle from twine and bulldog clips, photographs are tacked on with masking tape crosses, kraft paper hangs from the ceiling and breaks up the background, vintage frames sit on stools…

Her book feels like opening up a trove of treasure - there are so many things to discover, so many little details, not at all laid out in the neatest fashion, but instead brimming with charisma, individuality and life.

I'm writing this looking at the exhibition photos on her website - wishing I could go see it and take photos for myself. (So If you're in Sydney go check it out, details here.)

On another note, I've just finished up an Interior Styling short course, and although I enjoyed playing with textures, shapes, forms and design principles in a three-dimensional space, I found that the teacher and other students were often preoccupied with being neat and making sure everything matched to the T, in essence recreating a display home. I don't quite agree with this - I think it's great to be 'perfect' sometimes, but it can also be very stifling to creativity. This is what Sibella's work shows me - that sometimes you just have to let loose.

Social Design

I've spent a good few hours reading this blog, which nowadays is virtually unheard of with our heavily image reliant, skim-reading tendencies when browsing the internet.

Andy Chen is a young (really, who am I calling young ><), insightful graphic designer interested in social design that writes remarkably well about his experiences, understandings and questions on design. If you're starting out in the design industry, I would recommend you read this insert on his internship at Pentagram. The feelings of inadequacy, realisation of learning and moments of joy when seeing your designs in public all ring a bell to what I have been through and sometimes still am going through. 

This article on Design Observer written by Andy is also an interesting read: The Value of Empathy.

Gordon, Age 88

Social design has always been important to me, and I believe there is not enough focus on social design in Perth - through education or practice. Could it be because design is not as highly regarded or 'developed' in Perth, as compared to say, London?

Only when I studied for six months in London did I really understand the power of design - that design can change the way we behave (for the better), and bring attention to minority groups. Visiting places such as The Design Museum and learning of initiatives such as Design Out Crime made me realise how design as a practice could influence the world - rather than just how design could be used to increase brand equity.

The design briefs we received were a mix of difficult briefs tackling social issues as well as the typical graphic design briefs. I took one of these briefs back to Australia with me and completed it in my graphic design elective at Curtin. The brief required students to design a piece of communication to benefit older people experience, or vulnerable to, social isolation and loneliness.

My solution was a book of answers to the question; "What do you want to do in the future?" to raise awareness of the aspirations older people have.

I asked older people (aged over 60) and children (aged 7 - 12) to write down their answers, and found similarities between the two. I typographically arranged each aspiration and alternately placed the aspiration of older and younger people, in hope to highlight the similarities between the two and signify life as one passage, that each stage of life is not more important or less important than the next.

Valerie, Age 67

Anastasia, Age 8

Excerpts from 'Action for Age' project, 2008.

Although I am happy with the type executions and enjoyed exploring different media, in hindsight the solution was heavily dominated by aesthetics and lacked a unified message or call to action. That's not to say it's wrong - just that I would do it differently now.

Designing for change is something I've neglected in the past year or so, having been too absorbed in work, littlemiso and other commitments. It's something I would like to pick up again - because if tomorrow was my last day in on Earth, I would want to make a genuine difference in somebody's life.

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.

probably lost.

It's raining puddles the next few days in Perth, what better weather to splash around in these cute boots, cozy up with a hot hot drink and a very good book?

Thoughts

Here are the original 'thought cards' I wrote about earlier. They are all hand inked onto a card format, to frame up or send off to someone special.

Sold a couple on at Upmarket on Sunday, and will be posting the rest on my Etsy or the Made of Awesome shop opening soon!

$10 an original thought card, signed as well :)

Moss Bunny + Clock + Time Passing

This is how it all started...

I was never really into jewellery. I'm not the type of person that knows how to pull off heaps of accessories, I just like to keep it simple. A long necklace or a big brooch - that's enough to do the trick. (I haven't worn earrings for months, and now my piercings have closed up, argh!)

I started making jewellery out of found items, which I thought was great because nobody else would have the same piece as me... it got to a stage where I put a long chain on a miniature hammer? Strange, yes.

So when all the lasercut jewellery came about (at the time it was all acrylics and mirror) I was so excited - because you could cut out any shape, as well as engrave or colour (raster) on it! I'd had the idea of TEARS for a long time, but never knew what to make it out of or whether it was even possible! Finally it was, and on Oct 1, 2009 (after much drama because it was my first lasercutting experience), I launched TEARS and set up my online shop.

From then to now, step by step. 

Anyway this is a timepiece I found in Hong Kong recently, at a very cluttered shop on Hollywood Road (aka antiques road).. I'm not sure about it being an antique, but it has certainly worked out as a nice necklace :)  I haven't made jewellery out of found objects for a while, so it brought back a lot of memories.

p.s. How cute is Moss Bunny? He sits on my desk and makes me think of hopping through green fields.

Drawing on rocks

 

There is something so calming, solid and peaceful about a rock. I love the surprising amount of weight a small pebble holds...and to think they have been formed and shaped from hundreds of years of weathering...what stories they must hold.

The smallest objects are sometimes the most fascinating.

Easter rocks

Happy Easter little bunnies, may you all have a safe and happy 5 day break!

I've been drawing on rocks all morning collected from the coast of Ningaloo. I love the smooth matt finish on them, created completely by nature's weathering. What will you spend this extra long break doing?

a post that has been lingering for a while

'sometimes imagination is the only thing we can free. and sometimes we forget to let it go.' i remember scribbling this a few years ago in one of those little sketchbooks i have beside my bed, at about 2am when everyone was asleep and the world was quiet.

i've been thinking lately about where littlemiso is leading me, because it's all been happening so quickly. i've made over 450 jewellery pieces since October, participated in three design markets, illustrated, printed and hand packaged endless amounts of cards, wrapping paper rolls and illustration prints, delivered products to four retailers around the world, been featured in two newspapers, travelled for three weeks around asia... while maintaining a full time job. 

it's definitely amazing and exciting to think about what will come in the future, but i have decided to cut down the hours i spend on designing jewellery - and focus on drawing and illustration. my passion for drawing is where it all started - and these few months i haven't had the time to really sit down and freely draw something, without thinking or caring about the outcome or time spent, just purely drawing. 

i think it's the hardest to be creative when you try to live up to expectations, especially when those expectations are set by yourself. 

anyway i thought i'd just put my thoughts out there, incase someone wonders where the jewellery all went! this isn't to say i won't be doing any more, because i do love making things, but i'm just taking breather.

x