turn black and white pic to color ! this is my grandpa

Sequential Design--Invitation

This is a project of the Sequential Design class, we have to make up an event and design a VIP invitation for the event, then mail it to our professor through the Post Office. So it is very open to us, and the only requirement is--- it NEEDS to be mailable.

My invitation idea came from the Chinese New Year. In the Chinese tradition, New Year is a time for family gathering, so my invitation is about inviting friends for dinner. During the family gathering, food, candies, and "Red Pockets" are essential parts of the new year gathering. So I based on these idea and designed my invitation. I designed and handmade almost everything. Yes, I built a box!!

Cover Box:

Inside Box:

Invitation Card:

Some motion

I started learning motion design this semester, and so far, it's going pretty good. I don't have any well done work to show yet, but I'm getting use to the program. Here is one example:

Glowing Flower:

Garden Fly through:

Since I'm studying motion lately, I have been watching lots and lots of videos. One of them in particular gave me a strong impression in doing art. "Don't fall in love with your first idea". It's so true. When we are not love with the first idea, we are willing to push that idea harder and farther. Then the better outcome it will turn out. I also have more opportunities to work with other classmates in groups, I'm surprised by the fact that not many of us are doing research. They don't see the need of researching and seeing others work. How are we going to learn and becoming better without knowing our competitors or fellows?

Onion Alphabet

Since it is still in the beginning of the semester, I don't really have any portfolio pieces to share right now. BUT, I did a project on founding alphabet last semester. I did it on Onion. It was quite an experience, but it was absolutely fun and enjoyable. So here is the result:

Finals After Thoughts

So after all the finals were done, I finally got some rest before it goes crazy again. Next semester will be quite a challenging semester. I will be taking 4 studio classes (Sequential Design, Linear Motion Design, Book Art, and Printmaking I ) with a religion class at the same time. And will be working 20 hours a week. It's kind of suicidal, but I am I will love it.

It's interesting that my mind keep thinking about how I can modify the final projects. To be honest, I'm not satisfy with them at all. It's lucky to have A- on all of them. I don't know why my teachers like them. I don't. May be because I know I could do better if I have more time. So it's time to do some reading, researching, and modifying again for my portfolio. I am going to turn them into portfolio piece. They have potential.

Advance Typography's Final Booklet Preview

This is my Final Project for my Advance Typography class. It's like a final "show off" for what we have learned during the semester. All the techniques and rules that we learned were required to be included into this 6" x 7", 16 pages booklet. Topic was opened.

Sometimes, it is better to have a topic given to us than having us to decide what we want. Unlike other classmates, I spent about a week to decide my topic, but it was hard to stay focus on it. New topics and ideas keep flowing into my mind. I almost wanted to change everything the night before it was due.

For this project, we have to use a display type, a san, and a serif. We also need to include a table or a graphic in someways. 8 images are needed with at least one handmade element. Also, we have to write our own 2,000 words essay for this booklet, and another 500 words for booklet 2 (learning summary and style guide). Besides all these design requirement, everything else is typographic elements.

My Topic is Hong Kong. I want people to see Hong Kong through my eyes, not some formal websites online. My other goal for this project was to break through my default style. I was too formal in style. So, I attempted to create a girly, crowded, active, and full of light environment.

But well, it looks better on the screen than the actual print. On the print, the side notes were too light, and the background was a bit too loud. My serif choice was awful. Didot wasn't the best choice for the middle size type, and putting them into a black box was a huge mistake because it lower the legibility. I should pay more attention on the paper choice, but I was running out of time. Also, I didn't style the type enough. I should have done better job than this.

However, considering the time I have spent on this project, I'm quite satisfy with the result. I only spent 2 days writing the essay, 1 day researching, and 2 full days (with no sleep) working on this final project. I have 4 papers and 2 finals going on at the same time).

Anyways, there is always room for improvement. Modifying and turning this booklet into a portfolio-stopping piece will be my goal for this Christmas. Updates will be followed.

Graphic Design Booklet

I have been lazy about taking actual pictures of my projects. But since the semester is coming to the end, I will for sure take some beautiful photos for them. As of now, screenshot is still my best friend!!

Here is a 16-pages booklet for my Graphic Design class!

This is the so-called "pet project". I'm so glad that it's all over!! In this project, we were given a "pet" in the beginning of the semester. And we need to take at least 10 pictures of it every week for 10 weeks. Then in our final project, we need to use those pictures and an article we found. My pet is the "rope", and my article is about cultural awareness.

I tired to use the rope to symbolic the unity of different cultures in our society. Therefore, my design it based on the different angles of the same post of the robe, and the different color represent different cultures.

According to my professor, I don't think I did a good job. At least, he didn't get the concept. Well, he actually likes the design and the concept, but I may just need to change another topic.