Wan Design | Graphic and web designer from Singapore

Random UI

2011-11-24T14:49:00.003+08:00

While dusting my computer, I found some random UI attempts in illustrator I did 4 months ago

Cup Noodle Packaging Design

2011-11-19T22:22:00.002+08:00

For school's module on Packaging Design.

Mr. Baker

2011-10-25T01:05:00.010+08:00

Creating without a real intention to create has the truest and most honest form in creations.

Mr. Baker was born from a night of "procrastimaking" with wacom. And he can't wait to say "morning!" when it was only 1am.

Ward off the evils

2011-10-20T23:20:00.004+08:00

Fiddling with wacom, getting my hands ~~dirty~~ clean on a new drawing method and also to ward off some evil spirits

Rebirth Crowbar finalist

2011-08-29T19:21:00.004+08:00

Topic on last flower, Rebirth got into Crowbar 2011 Finalist in the Design category, Editorial design.
=)
Next year will be my last chance to submit. time flies. Read my previous post on Rebirth

Final year

2011-08-04T22:19:00.006+08:00

Internship at Epigram is over. Final year at ~~Hogwarts~~ ADM is going to start soon.
It will be a intensive year but after working outside, I still realized I love being a student a lot. Everyone in the industry says they miss school. Even I miss school when I was working.

Anyway, popped some random self-portrait tonight... before school starts, and before the money-minded world (aka work) hits me!

and some new look for social media sites

Personal Space- finished

2011-05-29T14:56:00.004+08:00

A publication about the relationship between personal space and the 4 races.

Will pop them into my portfolio one day.

(Hand-drawn type, "This is my personal space" in Tamil)

Ideation

2011-05-23T21:12:00.000+08:00

Ideation is about generating ideas from a single idea. It is about knowing more from what we know and doing what we know to explore what we don't know.

Just vote and move on

2011-05-06T18:56:00.001+08:00

Tomorrow is the election day. My first time voting too.

Personal space

2011-05-02T17:06:00.005+08:00

A little heads up on a project investigating personal space in Singapore.
Semester is ending in 10 days!

9 Fountains: Artist of the week

2011-04-18T16:27:00.001+08:00

Featured on 9 Fountains, a local online T-shirt shop.

Perseverance

2011-04-06T22:55:00.000+08:00

Nothing will come by if you don't persevere till the end.

Patterns

2011-04-01T10:37:00.001+08:00

work in progress for patterns.

Japan's earthquake 2011

2011-03-19T01:14:00.011+08:00

A poster thought I came up with while I was flipping through JAGDA book.

But really, I am really shocked with how quick everything happened.. But at the same time, very moved by their civilized and calm attitude.

Gambateh Nihon friends! Mono no aware
Really hope their life will be back to normal soon.

Rebirth

2011-03-09T16:51:00.002+08:00

Latest project on the topic "The Last Flower".

In this fast pace life, we are often exposed to endless stimulations that require our attention. This continuous external stimulation has resulted in neglecting our meta-cognitive processes that is vital to one’s sustainability. The objective of the project is to push the boundary of visual communication using lotus flower as the source of inspiration and reflect on the metaphysical world through Buddhist philosophy. The solution aims to respond to our current pace of life by delivering an interactive book addressing on the topic of rebirth. The readers are encouraged take a step back to reflect on self, in relation to everyday life and nature.

Distractions

2011-02-28T14:25:00.006+08:00

We now live in a world of distractions we can't avoid. Emails, facebook, twitter, music, news feed, phone call, sms... the list just go on. Not only we have to handle external distractions, the internal distractions too.

Everyone says procrastination is bad. But sometimes procrastination leads to ideas and start of another project. It's like life, when we are at the bottom of it, something will spark and it comes back up.

When we are stuck at the point to break through, to experiment, to challenge, sometimes it is good to let go of that mindset and do other things. We always spend 4 hours thinking of an solution when we can just spend an hour for off time and come back with a eureka within 5 minutes.

Thus, from a certain point of view, I procrastinated and did some minimal type try out. In fact, this is a way to make sure I am online with my passion- Doing and trying without a brief or restrictions. In short to sum up: Randomness. Who knows all this junk done during procrastination might come into good use in future?

Self identity

2011-01-31T17:31:00.004+08:00

Self identity work in progress. Or rather, more of impulse stuffs.

The semester has started. Somehow, as if I had an enlightenment, (imagine me with a halo overhead) it seems that I am starting to figure out what I really want.

More more more to come!
But first, celebrate Chinese New Year first ;)

Photolog

2011-01-26T23:41:00.004+08:00

Started a photolog some time ago based on an iPhone app, Instagram. Hopefully to take photos everyday to keep myself sensitive to my surrounding and savor the beauty of the world.

And yes, I attempted to also capture how creatures from the nature savor the world, in a different manner.

Have a nice day peeps!

Bokeh

2011-01-16T12:02:00.002+08:00

Breath with the plants. Sway with the spider web.

Feline friends

2011-01-06T16:22:00.003+08:00

Interacting with these feline friends is one of the best distress methods.
Like what many say, animals are so much direct and honest than human. Yes they are. But that does not mean they are different from us. In fact, in my eyes, they are lovable furry human while in the feline's eyes, we are some non-fur cats except for that bunch of weird long hair on top of our heads.

They learn to read us and vice versa.
If learn to treat all creatures and plants like how we respect our family and friends, the damage done to our earth will be greatly reduced.

Hi 2011

2011-01-01T21:36:00.001+08:00

Fireworks said hi to 2011 and me while hiding behind the Marina Bay Sands.
still shy lah...

Happy 2011!

2010-12-31T17:21:00.002+08:00

And in terms of the chinese zodiac, next year is the rabbit year.
I remembered when I was young, I anticipated the rabbit year a lot. But upon the second rabbit year, sad to say, it doesn't represent anything other than growing old.

human. irony.

Branding festival: life

2010-12-22T00:05:00.005+08:00

(Book describing the festival and concept)

The branding project is for the Hong Kong Cheung Chau Bun Festival, which the project aims to inject the concept and philosophy that exist beneath the festival. Through rituals, they balance the Yin and Yang within the universe to live longer and thus, obtaining longevity.

(DM invitation)

With Taoism as the centric idea, life is balanced and cherished.

(Distilled water given out at the festival)

In each project, it is a reciprocal effect that while we attempt to understand its core meaning, at the same time, it also teaches us something in life we never knew. Even if I were to do the same project second time, I believe its another journey that will again teach me another lesson in life.

Living up to life

2010-12-07T13:43:00.006+08:00

- A spread from the branding project I am working on for Graphic Design III in school

Semester is coming to an end next week and everyone is in a mad rush.
But sometimes if we weigh the importance of completing a work versus doing good work,
doing good work smartly is still the key.

It's almost time for Christmas and reflection for Year 2010. I badly need them.
And I will continue to work towards rejecting my own work and doing it again.
I wonder if one day I would disown all of them and start off again like a piece of
mellotex paper.

Cat in school

2010-11-20T00:31:00.002+08:00

Cat in school, looking hungry.
They see the world goes by.
They wait for the day to leave.

The invisible systems

2010-11-19T00:01:00.005+08:00

Everyone are born into a world of systems.

Survival of the fittest...

When systems fail, changes take place.
But man nowadays are so used to the systems that they are so used to that they deny and doubt changes. How do you know the grass is greener on the other end?

Maybe systems moulded us to follow, which reflects the herd mentality. Where does the risk comes in? When one sheep decided to make friends with a wolf? Who knows that the wolf is a sheep in wolf skin?

Sometimes it is not that you are lousy.
Not everyone can fit in the same mould like your friends did.
Maybe instead of fitting into moulds that have been created, why not challenge them and make one yourself?
Isn't that what innovation is all about?

Living in a world of systems, when everyone is expected to behave a certain way, network and response with enthusiastic eyes, listening to buzzing-like voices that talks non-stop, it makes the little "us" in our body to make a form of retreat. A hope that all the systems will turn off just for an hour- to seek peace.

Or even just a peaceful moment, to reflect or to think of an idea that will make your adrenaline rush.
Just like the Yin Yang Taoism theory. Living in a world that never switches off, all of us seem to hang on the line, sunning.. till our skin crack and dries up. It is natural to seek Yin.. something like water to cool the active world.

Back to systems, I wonder if is it really even possible to not fit into any systems when we ourselves have one amazing system beneath our skin, pumping endlessly until the day you return back to the universe. So does that mean we will still never escape from the systems that we all hang on since birth?

Stepping backwards

2010-10-14T23:46:00.009+08:00

Been stepping back over the month. Stepping back to history, stepping back to a familiar yet unfamiliar territory (aka Singapore) that has been artificially preserved by people. At the same time, adding on more man-made histories, attempting to change the space every minute...

For once after ages, I am able to sit down and reflect on how many changes have been exerted on us by force unknowingly. How distorted history are presented to us because there isn't a existence of true history.
To put in layman's term, history are just bias facts.
I think that is just part of human race.

Is it a sign of age when one reflects and regrets on how little you know about your home, your roots?
I m starting to feel the age is crawling towards me.

Disjointed

2010-09-13T17:16:00.005+08:00

Besides an incompleted website reform, school started,
projects comes in, competitions drooling to join, finding time for life.
And changes left me feeling very disjointed.

And maybe as what many had said, "What you live is what you create."
This illustration I did, a little morbid, probably inspired from gore movies and games I did recently.
Finding life, finding inspiration.

It's never ending.

Noise House 2010

2010-07-18T23:56:00.004+08:00

Commissioned works for Noise House 2010 exhibition probably held in August.
And this is my favourite one out of 4 that was done.
Somehow, all a little eccentric, lame and stupidly cute at the same time.

Not forgetting that dark humor is juicy...

And the lightbulb alien represents me, energy low after working in day and trying to come up with ideas for this project at night, one word: sleepy.

Up there

2010-06-13T00:21:00.005+08:00

I think...

"One needs to feel emotionally attached to the subject in
order to communicate heart to heart."

(a cat I found in Bugis)

Your brain at work

2010-06-05T14:38:00.004+08:00

Borrowed this book to understand more about what goes up there at the tip of me.
Interesting to dwell on.

more infor about this book

Miss Taiwan

2010-05-31T18:54:00.001+08:00

Not because of how worth while this is.
I miss the culture, beauty of time and freedom...

Miniatures

2010-05-25T16:37:00.011+08:00

Since young (that reminds me I am getting old) I always love miniatures. Making them and also staring at
those scaled building models boxed up in glass barrier.
Fun never ends.

I realized I love spaces. And dream to become an architect. Later, I found that too ambitious, and decided to
go for interior design. I think I was only 8 then...

For 16 years, I grew up in an environment telling me art and design doesn't feed you,
(even now I still hear them, but I don't listen) and getting rejected to
take up Art for O level just because that will be 9th subject.

But on the 17th year, I took up design. Other than those reasons like loving art, it was also because I dislike GP and PE lessons in JC.
It's that passion who made the decision.

Sometimes, I looked back too much.
But these series of miniatures play, with the use of iPhone camera + Tilt shift app really
brought back that kind of true passion and drive I had 6 years ago.

Enjoying every true details and space imagination......in the eyes of a kid.

Overload

2010-05-11T20:56:00.005+08:00

New experiments. Working on new developments..

Had overloading of "learns" from the semester that just ended.

It's been long since I last updated. And I have been lazy to update my latest school works because of pure laziness. Or rather, is because of itchy hands and heart to get my identity and site a reform...

If you do realize some hints of my new identity, then you are observant enough. I am starting to enjoy illustrating, especially tackling all those minute details that most people don't see but makes the idea of "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts".

I realized that visual communication's amount of details is much more than in a product. (maybe I am not well-learned to say that.)
But guess the love for details is so far the reason why I chose design.
they just simply get me excited. just like when I was illustrating this bomb and something else.

Maybe it is only till a month ago, I am starting to understand what makes a good design works with an impactful concept as a whole.
It might be too late, but never too late.

Despite all these, for goodness sake, I am still not sure what kind of designer I want to be in 2 years' time. (or maybe 1 year's time)
Need to figure out that real soon...

Go with your feeling

2010-04-18T13:05:00.003+08:00

"Let our minds rest, and allow our hearts to take charge."

Cat fever

2010-04-16T15:32:00.004+08:00

Cats read Basheer books too!

Going through a cat fever nowadays.
I don't own a cat. But this neighbourhood cat is the cat I greet every morning and when I
reaches back home. Feels great going out of house and a cat says hi to you..

She recognizes me and show affection. A stray cat ends up so bonded with me that we can start poking each other. Or she will attempt to climb up my leg!
This special bond seems fated and many personality of that cat seems to also resemble myself. Maybe that is how life is.

Therefore, I think caring for stray cats is more important than adopting a cat. Everyday just for that 5-10 minutes, I hear joy from them and they love that moment so much that they would run to you for it. For this particular cat, she wants more love than food, that makes her unique and almost human-like.

Cats talk from me I know.
If I were to have a cat one day, cats from SPCA will be my choice.

work in progress

2010-04-05T22:22:00.003+08:00

peak period is here... although I feel I am luckier than others. 3 final projects and 3 exams to go..

Anyway, doing a cooking book for typography class and having correct pictures are starting to bite me a lot. In the end, I took shots myself. I was quite surprised my house kitchen has 80% of the stuffs I needed. There are more shooting to do tomorrow...

everything is in work in progress stage... I am pinning high hopes on this book to be added in my portfolio!

Came across this quote a few days ago and I realised its so true..

"A designer must be a committed individual with a strong, determined desire to do good work."

let's work hard.

Shoes Design- Noise Singapore 2010

2010-02-22T22:19:00.004+08:00

Submitting this shoes I drew for Noise Singapore exhibition that is held on
25th Feb to 11th March at Raffles City, Level 3.
First time cutting up cans and shoes. I just thought how
one could challenge the function vs aesthetics of the shoes.

I also derived a rather cheezy sentence for this design.
"If one steps on cans too much, the cans will invade the shoes"

On top of that, I thought this drawing is something I never drawn in my life. A little "ah beng".. probably not believing that a girl drew this. And I still don't believe I will do such things. Maybe in the mind of craze and desperate.

(Disclaimer: No intention in damaging or harming any brand in this piece of design.)

Mechanical bird

2010-02-09T22:34:00.004+08:00

Very random illustration drawn when I was bored.
Enjoying random pops of experiments in this phase of my life when everything I do is the first time I am doing it.

Recent design conference inspired me a lot. And of course Phunk studio did tremendous influence too. Also researching and reading up on Stefan Sagmeister and other few studios/designers are starting to reflect on my perception on things.

Hog a table

2010-02-04T23:40:00.008+08:00

Sneak peek on something I was working on yesterday, for personal satisfaction, again.
Hope things turn out the way I want.

I also figured out a strong presence of product and 3 dimensional works exist in my graphic works. I still can't help but sometimes think in surfaces and depth. Afterall, I had been made to think that way in 3 years of my life.

Design Culture Now

2010-02-04T23:31:00.005+08:00

Design Culture Now, a typography class assignment from school.
I was trying out things that I don't normally do and paying a lot of attention to the details that I once missed in the past.

Feeling lucky to have good peers who push and influence me to be better each day.
Thanks people.

You can view more details at my portfolio

Favourite letter

2010-01-30T23:45:00.004+08:00

I was working on my school typography stuffs and found out my love for the lower cap "g".
I ended up playing with it using the warp tool and was a little reluctant to continue on proper work.

Then, I played with fonts and warps still.. and found bodoni bold to be a perfect boldoni.
It looked so much like chinese ink spreading in water. Those feelers are tickling me a lot too.

They are just pretty random.
Sometimes we do need to take a step further to play with what we have.

You can view more of these play on Behance

Self portrait

2010-01-25T12:08:00.005+08:00

An attempt to draw myself. I think I drew this last year in July, after I got a new haircut.
You know, I don't exactly love to see myself "drawn". Still feeling weird about it. Maybe something is missing. Or the point is I am seeing myself up there.
Probably someone can comment and tell me what you think about it?

Took the pain to blob brush each line with a mouse to illustrate this damn face of mine. I told myself I am determined to get a intuos 4. But iPhone dream took over. oh wells. And now my mouse has gone insane and I am trying hard to live with it...

(inspired by Jared Nickerson, j3 concepts

Doing this also means the continuous questioning and in search of an identity as a designer and a Singaporean. It does not happened in just a snap of the fingers. I am prepared to take years or even decades to figure that out.
Its really not a finishing line but a journey.

The Design Society Conference 2010

2010-01-24T17:19:00.011+08:00

Had a good opportunity to attend the design society first ever conference yesterday. I think it's quite a good start to the year 2010 for both the design industry and me, as a design student.
(especially it was a free admission since my school sponsored us for the conference.)

I am born with this brain that remembering names is the hardest thing on earth. But at least, this session gave my head extremely hard knocks to make sure Singapore designer's names, background and their work get into my head.

Design literacy revolves around the whole conference. I think its not only targeting at non-creative industry, but even the creatives. I myself, for example, have changed perception over local potentials and had a good overview of how long they have worked to reach this status today...

Design literacy not only encompasses knowing design, but also understanding it, be aware of it, who did it, why they did it, what made them do it, how is it related to us and most importantly, respecting it.

Looking down 10 years later, I think Singapore will become a hub for art and design in Asia.
I think Singapore will be identified very differently from what we see now. A true label of Singapore design would probably emerge. And definitely, I look forward to the day when designers are treated and admired like doctors. Even nurses have better images than designers.

Aside from all the serious stuffs, what surprised me most was the informality of the conference. Really. Maybe that is Singapore's design conference- To talk in Singlish. Many local jargons rings a bell in many audience. Realized dead serious never work in grabbing attention. Laughters and being yourself brings out the brand of each individual, which is much more louder than 500 ppt slides. (of cos 500 slides means you are way too boring...which is also a brand of the person)

Something I still can't figure out is Singaporeans "speaking up" in public events.
I thought it must be the way Singaporeans think. The habit of ongoing questions when one responds to something does not exist. I often find my mind in blank when people ask, "Any questions?"
Not long ago, I had a discussion with my friends about this as well. We concluded that the education system had mould us such that we don't speak up. Recalling back to the primary school days, those who spoke during class are to put a finger on the lips. Those who spoke even more will be scolded and to stand at a corner.

I remembered when someone really spoke, all we get was something like "Weren't you paying attention in class?" Probably at the back of our mind, subconsciously, speaking up is a naughty and rude thing to do. Kids are labeled as BAD if you talk. Maybe because of that, our brain are not trained to prompt question continuously or even speak up.

Now, at this age, we have to start learning this skill all over again...

Welcoming 2010

2010-01-09T21:48:00.004+08:00

Although I am a little late for any countdown to 2010, but still, we are at the first week of the new year!
Last month had been a hectic month(in a different way) and despite that, I still get to have some rest too.
I find I have a split personality between school and holidays.

This split is between the commercial world and the dreamland environment. It seem that unconsciously I have stepped into the web and media world on the commercial sector. Yet, still learning the basic of graphic design and more tangible stuffs back in school. This split invisibly created a dilemma. But as well, hinting us in this new decade, changes are inevitable. The upcoming use of new media is something designers cannot run away from.

Now, trying hard to prepare myself emotionally for school next week. It's that engine that needs some warming up. What's more? I am going to make my hands black again with some charcoal drawing lessons this coming semester!

So much to do this year. A mixture of anticipation and unpredictability.

Grandpa

2009-12-07T18:05:00.001+08:00

Grandpa, and the fading memories.

Faded.

Calendar tree

2009-12-06T14:34:00.002+08:00

The calendar tree act as an object that we would spend time with, building it, using it and interacting with it. As each month comes, user would put up one new leaf. The colours will also invoke as sense of changing season and eventually, the awareness of the changes that takes place in nature and even ourselves. The reconnection between man and nature. We human are as one with nature, inseparable from nature. That's the message of the calendar.

Its my final project for this semester, on reconnecting man and nature. This time, I finally realized the factor in creating this connection as inspired from trips to nature and playing with cats at void deck. Time. Time would bond us. Time would change things. Probably, spending time thinking and experiencing life is where ideas would come from.
Isn't that so true for everyone?

Singapore food and Singlish

2009-12-02T18:41:00.005+08:00

Holidays are here. So I have grabbing this opportunity to explore stuffs.
Here, 30 minutes of fun with Singlish, Singapore food and illustrator. Just to kill my itchy hands syndrome.

Wonderland: The Washington Ballet

2009-11-28T16:58:00.004+08:00

Meticulously planned and creative sets by Jake and Pum Lefebure, creative directors of the very talented design studio
The Design Army and shot by photographer Cade Martin.

A few scene reminded me about Alice in Wonderland. And shown here is my favourite shot of all. Maybe because of its simplicity and the lightness in the air.
Should check out this link for more astonishing photographs.

Scroll clock

2009-11-22T19:56:00.001+08:00

If you haven't seen this coolest scroll clock, maybe you should get your butt up and start looking out for these creative use of codes.
My safari-on-pc didn't have that blueish scroll bars like Mac does, otherwise you will see blue bars moving.

I usually thought scroll bars are quite irritating. Especially the horizontal ones. These alive bars are changing my mindset.

See them tick in front of you!

Coke Announces Global Rollout of Plant-Based Plastic Bottles

2009-11-20T19:52:00.002+08:00

Nearly 1.6 billion servings of Coca-Cola-branded beverages are served each day. Now some of them will be just a little bit greener now that Coke has announced the global rollout of its PlantBottle, a plastic bottle made from a blend of petroleum-based materials and 30% plant based materials (derived from sugar cane and molasses). The new bottles stand to cut down on carbon emissions by up to 25% compared to traditional PET bottles.

The PlantBottle has a number of advantages over PET bottles and other plant-based bottles. In addition to its carbon cutting qualities, it can be processed through existing recycling facilities without contaminating petroleum-based bottles, and most importantly, it raises awareness of the need for more eco-friendly plastic bottles.

There’s just one problem: Coke is rolling out the PlantBottle for its Dasani brand of water. As avid readers of Inhabitat know, bottled water is anything but sustainable. Still, it’s a start, and Coke expects over 2 billion PlantBottles to have sold worldwide by the end of 2010. Next year, the company plans to expand the PlantBottle to its vitamin water brands as well. And eventually, Coke hopes to introduce bottles made from 100% recyclable and renewable materials.

Despite that I barely drink coke nowadays, I am feeling happier that even plastic bottles are becoming more environmentally friendly. At least we won't feel that much of guilt while consuming these drinks anymore.
hmmm.. wonder when they will spread into Singapore..

via Inhabitat

Bauhaus: Playground

2009-11-17T17:55:00.003+08:00

A recent work for History in Graphic Design. Suppose to imagine ourselves as
exhibition/event curator and come up with a written proposal and invitation
mailer for the potential people involve in the event.
(Above: That's the invitation mailer!)

Just how the proposal looks like, placed in the folder like this

And the inside...

I picked the one of the most influential movement in the history of graphic design (as I also did a presentation with my group earlier on) proposing that anyone can be involve in art to express themselves in any ways they prefer. Even for those who did not undergo any form of art training can do it too since the mission of the proposal is that art is born in everyone.

Because of different culture and way of life, art will be a exact reflection of the beings as an individual. With different way of life, our visual memory perception of objects is different too. Thus, portrayed in the invitation is the use of Bauhaus shapes as a representation of objects found in our daily life.

And they are stickers for the recipient to spread the "Playground" event to friends!

Type jumps over some noise

2009-11-09T12:34:00.007+08:00

Did a second experiment on typography some time back. Emphasizing on
the minimalism on how a type can be such that "it is jumping over
some noise". Haven't got the time to refine it..

Well, just some work to release some stress and get away from all the colours!
Don't be too serious about it.

Illustrate now

2009-10-26T17:25:00.005+08:00

A series of illustration done for illustration class this semester. Each week, we were given different themes to work on. I experimented mainly with paper cutting and interaction between the viewer and the illustration.

The illustration is only complete when a viewer picks a piece up to look at it. That is why the series is named, "Illustrate now"
The shadow and gradient created by the paper itself completes the illustration and gives it a dimensional attachment. Many of the illustrations consist of turning of page, opening and revealing of the drawing to fully understand the concept behind.

Some buttons

2009-10-22T23:45:00.005+08:00

Brought some very nice button badges today in school's bazaar. They were promoting
care for animals and I happened to see this set of buttons by electrocutie.
Not sure who is he/she/they but its sure some very pretty fabric buttons here.

I don't normally spend this kind of money on such stuffs. But there is this message behind, which made me think twice:
"All proceeds from the sales of these buttons contribute to the upkeeping of the welfare of our campus stray cats."

Well, besides the nice buttons, I eventually gave in to the poor stray cats.

The growth in relationship with void deck cats around my house made me feel more connected with stray cats. I think they should be given the same amount of love like house cats. Not only in terms of food but also patting and playing.
And meeting cats downstairs has become a nearly a daily family conversation, having a common point to share and talk about.

Probably the connection between man and nature is only possible through the means of spending time and building the kind of bond between us.

Oh yes. Building of love. The kind of pure love for nature.

Designing with a single letter

2009-10-01T15:36:00.002+08:00

As what the title said.
Typography project, learning to play with letters and composition. Afterall... I am still in Typography I.

Survival of the fittest

2009-09-27T15:12:00.003+08:00

Graphic design project on my Year 2050 vision.

Eventually I went with the none cut out idea. But if I have the chance to print in bigger format, cut out will definitely be done.

Understand what's going on here?

Bauhaus presentation

2009-09-27T14:12:00.004+08:00

Presented Bauhaus this week for History of Graphic Design. Since the topic was already discussed the previous week, we thought everyone would be familiar with it already. So we kind of decided to give a light-hearted presentation, hoping that our classmates will remember the period "Bauhaus" better!
We had quite a bit of things going on when we used cut-outs to do the presentation. Lots of work...

And I especially like this slide on how Moholy-Nagy believes that typography is a tool of communication!

In case you have been wondering what Bauhaus is. its a design movement that simplify things to its functional state and they are the ones who connect art+ craft+ technology together. wiki it and you will know more.

Yummy

2009-08-30T13:50:00.004+08:00

I didn't think it was yummy until I finished working on it.
It's just some vector graphic exercise. Still haven't started on proper project yet.
Oh well.

First type assignment

2009-08-21T21:19:00.004+08:00

Did my first type assignment. I was tracing typeface from Gutenberg's movable type to 17th Century. But I felt something more exciting should be done. So I send some of the types to scanner and started playing with them. Letter A from Gutenberg's Gothic Textura, B from Nichlos Jenson's 1st Roman typeface and C is Bembo. They all went through printer, scanner and my hands. The printed copies has cool enlarged printing dots and pixelated squares that I thought its interesting. Maybe I can further explore in these experimental stuffs soon!

School is back

2009-08-12T23:05:00.001+08:00

School is back. Holiday ends. Back to more presentations, intensive research, ideas, quizzes and fatigue.
Will have lesser updates, more actions.

But the excitment is in the air because I am finally learning and attending proper graphic design classes at a full blast, after 6 years of waiting...

Doodle365

2009-08-01T23:49:00.004+08:00

My Doodle365 site is finally up and running today! One of my biggest self-initiated projects for the holidays. I am aiming for a long run maintaining the web, posting new doodles and stuffs each day. And of course, that sounded like a heavy workload, so I got my friend, who is also a freak with doodles to collaborate on the contents of the site.
I came up with this idea during one of my school's lecture..
Because doodles are difficult to take up a place in our portfolios. Thus, having a blog with all the doodles makes it sound more proactive and lively. Afterall, its a journey of our daily inspirations and life.
Hope more people will join us and more contents can be posted each day!

On a side note, I was struggling with XML in blogger, on top of all the blogger bugs that has been living around for quite a while. With no knowledge in XML at all, doing doodle365 was a huge task. Took me sometime to think through what is going on and how should problems be solved. But still, I admit my coding skills is still pretty weak.

Afterall, its still up in the end. We were overthrilled with the opening of the site. Now, we can't wait to post things up there!

Pixelour, first type design

2009-07-28T21:15:00.004+08:00

Been missing in action for quite a while. Because influenza has been spreading around and
I am one of the victim. But sometimes its weird that better things are produced during high temperatures.

I did my first attempt on type design. I kept thinking what are we going to do when
typography class starts next semester. Haven't been through a proper type class, but
I really want to know more about how typography works and the beauty of type design.
Been reading on typography books, but it doesn't seems to be enough.

I named this type "Pixelour". Intended to play with CMY and not K. And wanting to create
the interest in overlapping colours to bring out the letters.

I just feel like cutting with my new blade randomly

2009-07-22T17:38:00.002+08:00

Yep. It's verified that its sharp and good.

Beauty of messy workspaces

2009-07-15T10:39:00.004+08:00

Had an adrenaline rush to take photo of my workspace last night. I haven't really spend a lot of time trying to get my workspace pretty nor did I bother to tidy up and get a nice clean shot.

I think... messy workspace speaks louder than sparkling clean ones. Not the negative side of it, but the positive ones. Besides the bed, workspace is the place we spend most of our life with. They represent us. And maybe the messier it is, the more "ongoing activities" are happening at your space!

Well, mine is considered not that messy now since I am on holiday period. When the school sem starts, I shall take another photo of the battling ground.

Below are a few picked MESSY workspaces I found, interesting and inspiring. At least they don't look like showrooms where no traces of life is found!

Love messy workspaces? ;)
I do.
How do YOUR desk look like?

ornamental typography

2009-07-13T15:27:00.005+08:00

Recently I am addicted to types and just wishes to know more about them.
I couldn't wait for my typography class to start.

So I did some ornamental tracing...hoping to start appreciating the details of a well designed type. But really wonder if this is a design or a doodle. or just a drawing?

By the way, say hi to type Garamond.

Birthday card

2009-07-09T14:09:00.006+08:00

It has been a good holiday this time round and I did quite a bit of exploring and designing. Last month, I did this birthday card for my friend who celebrated her 21st birthday. Went to her birthday party too! Was a memorable one.
But before going, I was pressing myself to make a card last minute (probably like a few hours before sleep). The result turned out to be quite suprising to me.

Meanwhile, it was an attempt to test on my new laser colour printer. Making good use of every single resource.

I think sometimes art and design is really an impromptu science that no one can expect.
Of course, many things still need planning but maybe we should also learn to let go and see things work it out themselves.

New look, new start!

2009-07-07T23:32:00.001+08:00

Finally after a month plus of hard work, I finished up the 3rd version of wandesign that was started about 1+ year ago. Wan Design is a personal site and portfolio by Quek Teng Wan (that's me!) where its a platform for me and YOU to exchange and interact... I will also share juicy design inspirations on my blog with everyone! If you would like to keep track of me real time, I am pretty active on twitter.

Feel free to poke me at tengwan@gmail.com if you have any critics or comments about the new look. I will appreciate your helpfulness to the most!

Will keep everyone update soon!

Portfolio Updated

2009-05-01T21:21:00.000+08:00

My first year in university is over. And now comes the holidays. Decided to update my portfolio which mainly comprises of semester projects. Meanwhile, I also participated in the Pameran Poskad and Noise Singapore 08.

Have some plans on hand hoping to further myself in certain fields. But before that, I need to get out of the country to restart my mind and come back with a fresher mind.

More things will be updated and released during the holidays!

-wandesign

Grow Earth

2009-04-28T15:38:00.000+08:00

The last project submitted for the this semester.
Grow earth is a simple concept using crystal soil as a material to repackage as a new form and purpose.

-wandesign

Publication Design

2009-04-28T00:35:00.000+08:00

Publication design as a compilation for 2D module projects done over 2 semesters.

Concept was inspired by Jean Arp and with the idea of white on white and casting of shadows to create depth.

-wandesign

Sewing books.

2009-04-01T16:59:00.000+08:00

After reading "The Encyclopaedia of Papermaking and bookbinding by Heidi Reimer-Epp and Mary Reimer provided from my prof, I finally fulfilled my own wish of binding a book.

This is actually for one of my school project. I am using this opportunity to learn binding. But of course, the concept of the project is more important...

Will update more once my school semester is over. In a mad rush now with projects all due next week.

-wandesign

Tactile Colour

2009-03-13T22:50:00.000+08:00

A 2D foundation year Tactile Colour installation done in school.

its not a photoshopped nor illustrated. its the real installation hand-pasted with tapes.

it is real. not illusion.
Although what we want to achieve is an illusion of falling into the hole while walking down the stairs. (illusion art was inspired by Victor Vasarely, Vonal KSZ)

What we got from this project: backaches, neck pain, cramp feets, hungry stomachs. Level up on handling tapes, measuring the cement floor and cutting tapes.
And the joy of throwing things down the stairs.
Thou we caused a lot of inconvenience to people because that was a common walkway.

And I thought its fun to take it from another angle. When the photo question the us about illusion and reality.

-wandesign

Shoes Design Doodling

2009-03-10T23:48:00.000+08:00

Something I drew during my holidays for Noise Singapore 09 exhibition. You will see it down at Far East plaza level 1 till end of march!

This was actually nearly done, but not yet. The best thing was that I forgotten to take a proper photo after I finished drawing. I was waiting for natural daylight the next morning so that I can get good photos. Yet in the end I totally forgotten about taking pictures of it.
Now I really hope I can get the shoes back.

Anyway, my first attempt to draw on the shoes, but instead, I end up doing random doodles on the little canvas and totally threw away all the pre-drawings of my ideas. As you can see, I am trying hard not to think like an engineer while creating artwork.(we were being emphasized on this point every week)
So if you ask me to explain what it is, probably the viewer will have better view describing what it really represent.
Although from my simple point of view, they were supposedly animals and creatures with a sub-conscious mind of evil genes.

-wandesign

The Prado in Google Earth

2009-02-11T18:21:00.000+08:00

Oh man. I was so thrilled when I saw this.
With the concept of Google Earth, viewing every single detail of the Earth, now Google has come up with viewing the details of the famous painting. They include Velasquez and Rembrandt (Artists that I have been studying this semester)

I am so going to download this on my computer and enjoy it

The Prado in Google Earth

Now we don't need to spend thousands to fly over to the museums to look at the details!

Catch more on another article, which they introduce it to us in details.

-wandesign

Happy Chinese New Year

2009-01-25T13:40:00.000+08:00

Today is Chinese New Year's Eve. Wish everyone who celebrates Chinese New Year have a fantastic year ahead!

-wandesign

Spoon & Tamago

2009-01-22T22:45:00.000+08:00

I stumbled across this art blog while doing my research for spoons. And I thought it will be great to share it up here.

Here, I hand picked 3 inspiring wood-like designs from Spoon & Tamago which is good for a Chinese New Year furnishing or some spring cleaning fresh ideas for this coming year.

This is really one of my favourite among the 3 that I have chosen. The use of different grade of wood and colours turned an ordinary looking cupboard to something like an art piece. Despite that the shape of the furniture isnt too experimental, I like the way how things are simply placed. In a manner we expect yet not too conventional.

Wasara showcasing their beautiful line of disposable kitchenware. I admired their sensitivity to light, material and environment. Their website is elegant too.

Coming up next is Ekubos which means "dimple" in Japanese.
I would love to have one piece lying on my table...
somehow it reminded me of my poly days sanding wood in workshops...

Anyway, this blog is right going to my google reader subscription!

-wandesign

The Ox Year

2009-01-19T23:58:00.000+08:00

Chinese new year is coming! And I can't wait to celebrate. All the steamboat with family, gambling, the noise..

I haven't been very conscientious about updating my design blog. I mean I have seen many cool things that I thought I wanted to share. But since I have started my new semester in school, time has been always a problem.
Also left google reader to rot these days. More into google search and updating with ideas.

I hope I can post some stuffs up during the chinese new year!(this coming weekend)
Cheers!

-wandesign

A Birthday Card

2009-01-11T14:07:00.000+08:00

Made a birthday card for my friend's 21st birthday.
I barely draw birthday cards at all since after my primary school.

-wandesign

Beard Font

2009-01-05T21:08:00.000+08:00

Cute and funny font.
I thought I saw Jesus at first.

from source

-wandesign

Ink Smudging Typography

2009-01-03T13:32:00.000+08:00

Wasted some green ink that day. Letting them smudge on their own on paper.

Zoom in version of jerky ink.

-wandesign

Mike Perry & Jim Stoten "Number 10"

2009-01-01T09:00:00.000+08:00

This week from threadless, I picked up one amazing design to post it up.

-wandesign

Void deck trip with camera

2008-12-31T16:10:00.000+08:00

On the last day of 2008, i made a void deck trip with my new D90 camera around my house estate. Also, I went hunting for the usual cats that I always play with. Although many seems to disappear or not around in the day.

This composition is right at my face when I had my walk.

Spotted quite a few cool looking plants too.
Was trying out and learning to use my camera too since I haven't brought it out for a photography session before.

I often read books published recording the beauty of Singapura cats. In fact, I have grown to love them running around the void deck since the start of this year. They would react to my call and come to me to cuddle and waiting to be pat.

This cat is a pretty one. It used to be pretty timid with strangers. And now, it happily played with me and even playfully bite my leg.

But the main point is that, I need to brush up my photography skills so I won't get blurred cat's face. On the other hand, animals seems quite hard to capture. They just can't stop moving. This recall back to my drawing lesson at the zoo. We've got to capture them in our brain with lightning fast speed and get them down on the paper.

-wandesign

Milk Packaging Design

2008-12-31T00:33:00.000+08:00

This one just couldn't get my eyes off it.
Seems like new inspirations are on the way..
I see cross-stitches on milk.....!

I thought this reminded me of a previous post, the banana milk packaging which was equally surprising.

By the same designer,Hattomonkey, they also had
milk collection 2 and batman milk

Now kids shouldn't be screaming and running away from milk.

-wandesign

Zopim Website Design Revamp!

2008-12-30T10:30:00.000+08:00

Went back to Zopim to work during this winter holiday. Other than the usual interface design of their products, I did my first piece of proper web design for them.

The designs are actually based on previously designed webpage by another designer. So in fact, I wasn't working it from scratch. But there were pros and cons to it. The process was quite tedious because the design is constrained by a set of fixed width and colours. Of course, for a beginner at web design, it was a good start because someone started for me already.

A few other pages I whipped up for them as well are learn more page and pricing page

Personally, I preferred the feature page most. But my designs seems to go out-of-date very quickly. Probably looking back at the number of hours spend on them makes me think negatively about it.

Without a proper training in web design, there are still a lot to learn ahead of me. So feel free to drop critics and comments so I can work on them better!

On a quick note, do visit Zopim and look around!

-wandesign

Tree shelves by Vadim Kibardin

2008-12-30T00:28:00.000+08:00

My eyes just couldn't get off designs that associates with trees.
At the first look, it didn't appeal to me.
But the more I look, I started imagining myself using it.

design by Kibardin

-wandesign

Remember designing with risk?

2008-12-27T01:30:00.000+08:00

Recently, I read an article on Smashing Magazine that I thought it might be good to share with people especially designers (or going-to-be-designer)
Below are my 2 cents and opinions in reflection to the article.
If you hadn't read that article, it should be an article to read before 2008 ends!

Briefly, its about designers having a fixed set of style and technique which eventually led them to a static state when clients always request for their set of style. Designers would turn static or over confident over what he/she have been doing all the well. We thought this is good enough and never see the bad points.
Growth? no.
stagnant? yes.

Unknowingly, you felt you are lagging behind time with the latest trends and ideas.

As said in the article

"In your personal comfort zone you feel confident. You know you can perform well there. But if you find your design work to be comfortable and easy, it means you’re not growing."

On a second thought, it seems not only apply to designers. But every single profession. Even on the aspect of life. Everyone wants to stay in their comfort zone to attain a certain level of self-esteem. It's always the uncertainty of risks that stops us from taking them. Being informed of these risks are not enough. Taking up risks and try it out will always teach us a valuable lesson rather than staying in our 9-5 comfort zone.

I admire people who constantly have the courage to take risks in all aspects of life and work. I myself still have huge set of risks that I know but I am unwilling to step out. Time is really needed.

Well, back to designing with a certain style over time, Smashing Magazine recommended us a few tips.

1. Identify the boundaries of your personal comfort zone

It is like knowing yourself before you want to be others.
You need to know what you are doing now in order to step out to change your styles.

"Admitting you’re lousy at something is the first step toward getting better at it. "

2. Set Specific, Attainable Goals
Goals?! Are you kidding? I know its easy to kick out goals but hard to score them goals. Or maybe they might be just a new styles you want to try out this week. Why not?

After reading the article, I added a new goal to my New Year Resolution list

"Explore at least 4 styles in year 2009"

So that will calculate down to 3 months, 1 style.
It is important to know what things you are trying out and keep in touch with the creative industry.
Many resourceful design forums and blog out there really help a lot. I find most of my learning on them rather than in school. Spend weekends at exhibitions and galleries will pretty much inspire you with much more ideas and styles.

Therefore, this actually led to the 3rd point.
3.Get Passionate About Change

Spotting your weakness to working hard to discover new styles, experimenting like how we had in school. All these really need your passion to be around.

"A quick flip through a few portfolios can be incredibly enlightening. The designers you think are top-notch probably weren’t always so amazing. If you dig back a few years, you will be able to see their progression. They had to stretch too. Pick a few role models to remind yourself what all the hard work is about."

In fact, yep, I do have a big folder of bookmarks of inspiring portfolio. It's a unstoppable thing do. On top of that, using vi.sualize.us or FFFFOUND is also a good way to keep yourself updated with new information each day.

Lastly,
4. Dive In and Do Something Differently

After going through so much of experimenting and hardwork, its also time to just do whatever you learn. I somehow believe that doing and trying things out to see if they can work rather than procrastinating and being unsure whether things work. I used to be those types where would just continue digging down why things don't work when I haven't even do it. I saw this point and worked on it. Things got better now.

"To really maximize your learning, start big instead of just dabbling. Don’t be afraid to dive headfirst into the style you’re trying to learn. Chances are your first attempts won’t be completely successful, but you can always reign it back in later on. Now is the time to forget about failure and give yourself a free pass."

based on smashing magazine article

-wandesign

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T00:00:00.000+08:00

Merry Christmas everyone!!
5 santa-deer with very different personality just happen to walked by my blog!
Yep! I illustrated this a few weeks ago and drew with pencil a month ago...So now you know I really couldn't wait for Christmas to come..

click on picture to go DA to view larger resolution

-wandesign

another doodle

2008-12-17T21:16:00.000+08:00

Colours and monsters

2008-12-08T22:08:00.000+08:00

Illustrated this piece today.
That took up about my public holiday. But is for what I like=)
A illustration just to satisfy my urge of drawing something.

Used black pen and markers. It had been long since I last used markers to draw.

View more at Deviantart

On top of all the drawings, I hope I could really update my portfolio site and do up a skin for this blog by the end of this year! I mean it!

-wandesign

Desktop

2008-12-07T14:25:00.000+08:00

I was bored yesterday night and didn't have any mood to do anything.
Drawing is the best thing to do then.
aimlessly, i started drawing things in front of me.

used the "draw what i see" technique straight from pen.
the rawness and distortion makes it look very personal.
and yes, its a personal thing afterall.

See larger resolution with details at deviantart

-wandesign

illustration

2008-11-30T13:02:00.000+08:00

my pencil holder.
some get back of pen tool work in illustrator from photograph

-wandesign

Pameran Poskad Exhibition

2008-11-26T19:32:00.000+08:00

On the 6th december, me and my friends (and prof) are showcasing our postcards at the Pameran Poskad Exhibition at Dempsey Hill.
Refer to the Pameran poskad site here

I will be putting up 10 postcards (the max already). 8 of them are from my 2D postcard project and 2 made during this few days.

here are two of my postcard I did specially for the exhibition.

-wandesign

as real as it gets

2008-11-08T22:32:00.000+08:00

source

Photoshop in real life.
Great details.

-wandesign

Physical Workout

2008-11-08T21:00:00.000+08:00

Spotted this bunch of balloons in replacement to the person's face.
good effects of having workout with that image cos' you will feel happy, funny and opens up your heart.

I guess it's a workout for your emotions, rather than physical

Check out more at Hort

Retro Radio

2008-11-02T22:25:00.000+08:00

Some random ideas popping out from my mind.
Corny words. ignore them.
was trying out some kind of retro feeling.

Original. Radio is draw using illustrator and edited in photoshop

-wandesign

Random colour typography

2008-10-27T12:55:00.000+08:00

while in the mist of mugging...

-wandesign

animal hero rescue

2008-10-26T22:59:00.000+08:00

paper mache by mumbleboy

besides the colours that really attracted me, its the animal shapes, the simple and cute shapes.
it makes me feel like making one over the holidays!
dominant by red but has fluorescent blue to strike out the red.
i really like the light blue used. totally lighten up the whole mache.
and of cos not forgetting how clean cut the edges are obtained by painting.
chop chop! i love clean edges..

-wandesign

Monster munch

2008-10-25T11:52:00.000+08:00

It's a design base blog updated by Nicky.
He also post many other interesting design stuffs.
oh god.. so many cool ideas!

Check out monster-munch!

-wandesign

Portraits

2008-10-23T23:56:00.000+08:00

Exciting portraits by Stephan Balleux

-wandesign