A fully hand rendered poster

Apart from the colored bit.

Astrid suggested that I use my map as the poster, instead of the ones that were created from Photoshop. And I like it better when I'm able to use my hands combined with traditional skills to create something from scratch. I don't think the computer is able to come up with such a result because of the lines and such.. I've to say that I like this tonnes better than my previous posters.

My hand holds the pen

Less than it holds the mouse... unfortunately.

I have to say that my regular daily routine involves getting up in the morning, then using my big toe to kick the switch to my CPU and letting the internet run even when I'm not always by my PC's side. It shows you how attached I am to my computer and everything inside it. If it were a guy, it'll be my husband, and if it were a girl, it'll be my twin. We can never be separated! NEVER!

And it's just too bad that much of my time has been wasted away when I browse through Facebook, hoping that I'll get plenty of notifications to see what's the latest news or gossip. Sometimes I anticipate a certain message from a certain someone from a certain democratic country... And certainly so, I'd get slightly down when the notifying box comes up empty.

It isn't just Facebook that has robbed me of my life. Photoshop and Illustrator has done it too... Whenever it comes to designing posters quickly, I rely on my bestfriends PSD and AI to get me through in a matter of minutes, for something that has to been shown the next day. But the quality gets compromised, and honestly so, I'm not too keen on playing with typography when I do not own good fonts in my PC. And I was taught a good lesson today when my three posters did not come through for me during my presentation in class. I could tell that Astrid didn't like it. But then a miracle happened when I showed her my hand-rendered doodle-map and her eyes sparkled from the pits of despair. I guess my style emulates the best of my personality and character and I'll be using that style to continue with my FYP.

Poster 02 - Systems

Inspiration - HDBs

I have been thinking about systems a lot. And someone asked me a good question - what is systems? I couldn't answer him entirely. But I had a pictorial image of what a system should be. Something organized. Something gridded. Very much like my life, or the way we are living right now. Everything has to be planned somehow as much as we don't want it to.
Here are two pictures of the same scenery from my window. Note how each home becomes part of a bigger whole, almost like the circuit of a microchip. And it really tells you how much we know about the people living around us right now - we hardly know our neighbours despite living in such a condensed environment. We go around with our daily lives, unaware of what other people are doing. But sometimes you really do wonder WHAT are these people doing... I've been hearing this distant electronic doorbell ringing from my window, and I do wonder which home has been irking me so much with this gentle sound, and who keeps coming and going from this flat.

But there are ways to look at the same surrounding. I kept my focus off in the second picture and the lights become hypnotic. They do not tell you anything at all. It becomes dreamlike And I think we often look through this lens. For instance when we daydream, or when we're thinking about our own thoughts (which happens all the time), we do not care about anything else. This describes a selfish situation, dazing off becomes an escape from reality.

Map System

Here's just part of the incomplete sketch of the 'map' of my life.

Poster 01 - Systems

I'll explain in detail tomorrow.

Simple Shapes

Here's a video of how the illustrator, Bob Staake, uses simple shapes to convey his message in his work. And this video obviously shows the war between the Republicans and the Democrats.. lol quite a funny depiction I'd say.

Anyway, the reason why I'm putting this video up is because things are meant to seen in a simple manner sometimes. After all I am planning to include symbols and type into my book(s), and I definitely need to remind myself that anything that goes beyond what the eyes can see and what the mind can comprehend becomes useless.