This is a continuation of the sketch from this post: 16mins Sketch
After further brainstorming, I decided to change the gender, age and species to a clumsy female youngling. I wanted a challenge. Neither acknowledged by humans nor Archaeopteryx, it has to learn how to live in the dangerous world.
I guess this falls into the survival genre.
It is not easy combining two species that have anatomies from both extreme ends. The way the human joints bend are the exact opposite of how the Archaeopteryx’s joints work in various areas.
Below are 5 applications that can make your life easier when using a PC. Personally tried and tested 🙂
Seer – Ever fancy MAC’s convenient preview feature with the click of one button – the space key to be exact? Then, take a look at Seer: https://sourceforge.net/projects/ccseer/
The 5 mins sketch above is a quick study on different types of houses.
Right, I have always done quick sketches but I just realised that my definition of a quick sketch slightly differs from the generic term of what a quick sketch is:
1. A hasty or undetailed drawing or painting often made as a preliminary study.
2. A brief general account or presentation; an outline.
My definition of a quick sketch
A drawing done as quickly as possible with mistakes and all but the outline and overview of the drawing can be easily recognised and gets the message across.
Hi guys! I have started working on a personal illustration again (after goodness knows how long haha – too busy yeah). In the meantime, what I’ve observed as a web design trend in 2014 was plenty of parallax websites.
I’m not saying they aren’t creative, it’s just that someone with a short attention span like me or just happens to have shitty internet, will not appreciate them as much and just want to get the nitty gritty details in a flash.
Hence in 2015, my prediction of web trends (to name a few) is as follows:
Parallax websites will still increase but probably not as much hype as it was in 2014
Simplicity is key; designs that are suitable for all screen sizes, responsive ones will be evident.
Typography. In the past due to limited web technology, there can only be so much choices for fonts until now. Larger text too. People are complaining about their eyesight. Jokes. Google Fonts will be your best friend: https://www.google.com/fonts
Emperor’s New Groove – It’s funny, it’s nice but not many has heard of it
The Rescuers – Animation is superb, so is the story yet not many knows this
Wreck-It-Ralph – Heartwarming and something different
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron – Inspirational; four-legged creatures aren’t easy to animate but this looks beautifully done
Balto – Strong animation, motivational story.
Overrated (Seen too much hype and fan stuffs on it)
Frozen – Sure, the animation is beautiful but the story isn’t worth the hype (or this is probably due to the singing). The story felt similar to Brave.
Rise Of The Guardians – It felt childish, definitely not recommended for adults. Animation and graphics are great. Typically, all other guardians look like weaklings as opposed to Jack.
Brave – all over the place and predictable story, cliche main character
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs – Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed it. I just don’t think it is worth that much attention.
Kungfu Panda – Insulting stereotype with an unappealing main character and predictable storyline.
First of all, I’ll like to wish everyone a Happy Chinese New Year! Second of all, let me tell you why it was not so happy for me.
I was greeted with Windows 7 crashing at startup AND safe mode with networking. It wasted my whole morning so I decided to post the solution here in case anyone encounters the same problem.
First, try to check if there is any software, drivers you have installed or updated recently that could be incompatible (This includes Antivirus programs).
Second, you need to go to safe mode. Reboot and press F8 before the splash screen comes up and go to safe mode (no networking). Then search and type device manager under start menu. If you have the same problem with me, that is crashing at startup and safe mode with networking, it could be your wireless adapter’s busted. Under device manager, go to network adapters, right click the wireless adapter and uninstall. It will reinstall once you restart. You can try a rollback too but that may not work. Furthermore, uninstall any drivers that has the yellow triangle on it.
It could also be a virus attack. Try doing a full scan with Malware Malbytes or any antivirus program. Of course, if this program is the source of your problem, it’s a different story altogether. Also, try to defragment all your hard disks as it could be a memory issue.
To do a clean boot: To restart without any startup background processes, type msconfig under start menu, deselect “Load startup items” under Selective Startup in the General tab. Under the Startup tab, select “Hide all microsoft services” and disable all or those you think that could be interfering with the startup. If none of this works, reinstall your windows driver but backup your files first (create a .bak file).
Ok, finally, I am going to enjoy the rest of my holidays. Good luck.
Know how people say art is subjective? Well, here is how to view art from a designer’s mind:
In order to design, first of all, we need to change our general way of thinking. For example, we do not view the art personally (this does not mean that we do not put in any emotion at all). What do I mean by that? Take a look at this scenario:
Mr.A and Mr. B were each given a photo of their friend to edit.
Mr.A: “I can’t do it, he keeps staring at me in this photo!”
Mr.B: “Oh, John’s gaze is intense. Hmmm, the eyes will need to blend in with this background though…”
See the difference? What Mr.A can do to think like Mr.B is to see the goal ahead, the purpose of this and what needs to be done. If designers think like Mr.A, they will be limiting themselves to a number of subjects. “I can’t draw ghosts, they are too scary!”. This is the design industry we are talking about, and by design, it includes entertainment and there are a lot of subjects.
Secondly, we thrive from constructive criticism. Yes, you heard correctly. Not just plain criticism without any valid reason behind that (you can disregard that person as talking crap). In order to improve, we need to swallow whatever pride we have and understand where the critic is coming from. You may or may not agree with the person’s opinion but keep all opinions in mind and do what suits best.
However, there are also critics that goes like this: “This looks weird but I am not sure why”. If the person do not know why it looks weird, ask them to point to an area as to where it is the weirdest. If that still does not get reduced to a more specific area, try and find out why it is weird. If the theme of your design is weird or abstract, then please disregard this.
If for whatever reason, you are on the other extreme (low self-esteem) and think all of your design sucks, fret not. This is where we thrive from good feedback lol. We all sucked when we first started unless you’re some kind of mutant genius.
A mutant genius like this:
Or like this:
Yes, I couldn’t resist. I’ll like you guys to check these videos if you haven’t already and tell me which you prefer (something like my own research).
What does these videos and all those that went viral (like Gangnam Style) have in common? They are either funny, random or unique in their own way. One danger of designing commercially is there is a risk of losing your own unique style while adapting to others. Having said that, flexibility and the ability to create other styles is good (It is important especially to do what the brief tells you to do.) but do not lose your own style.
How do you maintain that? Practice. It is something like not mixing work and play unless specifically asked to. How do you develop a designer’s mind? Practice.
With the iPhone 5C and 5S out, the shares of Apple has dropped by 5% last Wednesday…and I am not surprised. I have had my first smartphone for three years, HTC Desire HD has served me well (apart from that one time where I accidentally spilt sauce on it). So, I was thinking of getting a new phone soon (the current one also eats up too much battery) and there are a few phones in mind.
I checked the iPhone 5C and 5S prices and my jaw dropped. They weren’t cheap, which was the opposite of what was anticipated. iPhone 5C and 5S costed around $800 in Australia; I thought I would be better off with Samsung Galaxy S4 considering that it was around that price but with better specs.
It uses Snapdragon 800, a new processor which I’m looking forward too. I’m not too keen on the size though (Why do they keep getting bigger and bigger?!). Where one gets bigger and bigger, iPhone couldn’t make up its mind with sizes (a nano-sim, seriously?!). Soon, they will be so small, I would need a magnifying glass to look for it. Apparently, Motorola’s Moto X decided to join the bandwagon.
Rumoured to be out in Oct 14, I have only heard of praises for its predecessor, Nexus 4. I am hoping that some of the missing features in Nexus 4 will be available in Nexus 5 but with the rumoured price, it is a bargain.
Unlike some of my friends, I have had no problems with HTC. So, this phone is also on the list but probably not the top as it is quite pricey. I will also have to check out the latest, HTC One Max.
Sony Xperia Z1 has just been released and is around the same price ($779). I have not heard much about this phone but it is quite camera-heavy, a feature that is not too important for me as I use a separate camera.
This is probably the phone which I have done the most research in as I even went to the local stores to test it out. If only it wasn’t so pricey and always out of stock.
