Start of 2012

It's been a long while since I've updated my blog. Last year was fraught with some highs and lows. The best part is-I'm somewhat self-sufficient financially. Then my pc broke down and I replaced it with something better as well as upgrading my work space with 2 monitors :D Yep, it's plural :D So I'm pretty damn proud.

In the mean time, the past year ended and this one started tumultuously. This year's rule is about living a deeper, richer, more fulfilling life. Things are going to be different. After spending a hellish week in Calgary with a very angry and controlling person-puts a lot of thing into perspective. Then it was a month of flux and changes. At some point it leads to my asking the same question we all ask ourselves at the start of the year. What do you want to do? What is going to make you happy? One thing is for sure, morals and ethics is now a renewed interest. Got a new book, I can't wait to get to it. I'm still working through a stack of self-help books. This is the year I'm learning to treat myself and those around me better.

I'm still trying to answer it. For now. It's about meeting financial goals (clearing up my debts), making beautiful things and most importantly making time for friends and family. I know that another goal is to make art...possibly sculpture...definitely something interactive.

This time one year ago was a different situation. I was struggling looking for a job, I was bugging various temp agencies for work. Even administrative work to help me make rent. It took a long while before I got some help and started contacting my personal network hustling for work. That started a wonderful chain reaction that led to some really great projects with great agencies. I hope this will lead to something wonderful. The growth was definitely not without pain which I hope will lead to a new blog soon about making mistakes. Gawd only knows how I've made many many many mistakes. Success are about making and learning from our mistakes and being wrong.

Yea, it's been a long while since my last post. So far all I had been doing is taking on small projects here and there that pretty well adds up to my making about $300 in February. I hope that I get paid for an outstanding project where the client pretty well sold my skills for a nickel. That's the story of my life. Lately I've been finishing a website that runs on DotNetNuke platform. I've been nurturing it, pruning it customizing whatever module I can to keep the look and feel consistent. I sit on the board of director for this organization, NAAAP Toronto, the local and only Canadian Chapter. The website was launched Friday morning at 3 am. or so. Already a broken link is found, edit for image captions and the other technical directors from NAAAP National and an assistant is already wrestling design might with me about usability and design best practices. Yes, I'm used to butting heads with engineers, programmers and assorted IT and management individual who thinks my training is irrelevant. For individuals who wants to enter the design field, start building a tough skin and get ready to be undermined and under valued.

There are moments like this when I wonder to myself why engineering school doesn't provide a degree in Industrial Design rather, one has to go to trade college like Humber College or *gasp* a snooty design school like OCAD to learn the necessary skill set to become an industrial designer. I can't change how the market feels about creative professionals or even elevate any kind of respect for what we do. Yes we are thought leaders and agents of change as well as sales and marketing mavens that create products and brand experiences to seduce buyers and engage the market to keep the cash flowing in this retail and manufacturing market economy. And now, information market economy. I'm always up for a good fight (intellectually) but I'd rather pick my battles as I see it my job to render interactive productive to attract consumers or a target market. So why do these guys keep arguing with me? Is there no room for dare I say it...whimsy in such a serious business. A bit of wit and humour as one humanizes an interactive narrative (through a web site or a web-base application)

My Sisyphean Labour

The last couple of weeks have been wonderful. The evenings are spent on leisurely pursuits like an apple cake baking at midnight. Feeding my tv addiction with shows like the Ghost Whisperer, NCIS, and anything fun or interesting. The day time is spent being surly at my computer struggling on my website design. It is the worse when you're designing for yourself and having high expectation becomes another excuse to procrastinate.

I bought a book on Procrastination by Jane B. Burka and Lenora M. Yuen and had a dose of reality check. Looking back to my formative years I can now spot how I used to make excuses and procrastinated because everything had to be just so. I worked my bum off with long hours at the library reading through tomes to cite for references and defend my argument on essays that were always about 50 words shy of meeting the minimal word count. These essays and other big assignments were always handed in late because I was a perfectionist who also had serious issues with having my work presented just so. Yep, like any neurotic those anxieties held back my progress and life successes. In hindsight I am strangely aware of how I am fallng into old patterns and jeopardizing my future net worth by this inexplicable need to make things perfect. Or having a progression of activities to manifest at certain order. I'm not sure if this is a personality issue but dang...it's frustrating. Fighting with one's self to try to move on forward with my life but nothing short of an exercise in futility.

For the time being I'm juggling with several projects right now-two will hopefully come to an end soon so I can invoice and get paid. I can't help wondering if this blog is also another Sisyphean labour. Things to be done because since bills have deadlines too. But my website is like a monkey that never takes a vacation. I must get it done so I can get a job. Who is going to hire a designer who doesn't showcase their work-unless they're famous? To quote a past title, "Looking good isn't enough". In my mind's eye, it has to be perfect. This neurotic twitch isn't getting me any result. I know all designers struggle with their own websites who knows this could be a subconscious indication that I don't want any professional success in my life. Oh, silly aspirations.

LG Fashion Week...Wow Factor

It has been inspiring participating in the Toronto LG Fashion Week, the event is organized by the Fashion Design Council of Canada, spear headed by Robin Kay. So far, I have watched Lizares, Evan Biddell and Rudsak. I love that city is showcasing local talents and there is a ripple effect with many more fashion shows happening all around the city. What stands out is the affirmation of world-class creative talents here, progressive image of beauty-I haven’t seen such diverse ethnicity on the runway since watching the high school fashion show. The press noticed.

The Toronto Star
The Globe and Mail
Fashion Television
more...

I am writing about the show for blink magazine. While I was in the media room, I got to hang with the likes of MTV’s Dan Levy, amidst photographers, fashion writers, reporters and producers. I really missed the creative energy that comes from looking at a the line up of design work and walking among painfully stylish beautiful people dressed in black, colours, retro glamour and lots of black stilettos. I haven’t felt so at home nor enjoyed pausing to people watch. Something about this feels amazing.

While the city is recovering…I hope that there are more events like this to showcase this city’s talent and innovation. I should hit up on LG, RIM and a few new media companies to show case our technological innovations.

Looking good isn't enough

Whoa this past 2 weeks has been really intense with 2 NAAAP Toronto signature events happening back 2 back with months of planning and work to get it all off the ground. Little Asia and the Silk Road Gala was delivered.

As of late, I have been wrapping my head around the role of public relations to build a strong public exposure. Having the right content, art direction and design (look and feel) creates and impact – but to draw a strong public following begins with all things news related, the media. While our marketing guy sent out the press releases and I pushed on my tasks, as the visual and communication lead. I understand the issues involved to qualify the event and make it newsworthy. I can’t help wondering how we can attract a stronger media following and make that leap from grass root to something more established. After all, how one angles the press release to draw a media following is an art in itself. Look good visually isn’t enough, it still needs something to back up the hype. Being web/design savvy isn’t enough. I really wish that I am PR savvy as well.

I think it’s time for me to step back into the class room on the matter of public relations. Above is a motion graphic sample I did for the gala but in a much smaller scale.

Collective DIY to Innovation

This article goes along the same line in my views on technology and innovation. I could see the appearance of so many creative collaborative sites. Even with my favourite photographers, designers-no one works alone. Well, no successful project happens in a vacuum or in isolation. I’ve learned my lesson after working for myself for the last 9 years. When I had a business partner it was a double edge sword—what I really appreciated was her pushing me to raise the bar on design while each of us with dominant personality managed eachother.

As designers we have a propensity for DIY projects. Everything always starts there with some exploration, experimentation and, deconstruction. The advent of sites and magazines like Make, Technology hobby shops and dyi project site scrambles our established notion of how things work. Innovation in technology or creativity always comes from this kind of discovery. Why else would we have a passion to learn new things and be challenged or to challenge the notion of convention. Being open minded enough to allow another point of view in this process-wouldn’t it push this innovation to another level? I remembered once how a design teacher once told us, “there is no I in industrial design”. I believe that it holds true to all creative endeavors that doesn’t fear to hit the next level.

I honestly look forward to trying out this environment. Yes, I’m aware of the politics when working in a group-but isn’t that way there are project managers or mediators in a creative brain storming session?

Onward and Upward

Well, to say the least I’m on the mend. I set up a placeholder page for my new site, took care of the domain namespace and permission for the database. Tomorrow I will direct the old domain to the new site placeholder. Somewhere deep down there is still a lot of anxiety, the beast is sedated for now but the fail of failure is still there. So it’s onward from here and hopefully upward.

While I spent the day browsing I found a few interesting article in what appears to be a string of random tangent thoughts. It started with boredom. Looking for something to do—it’s Sunday I need to do something different. This started with the City of Toronto’s Event Calendar, then onward to free events at Luminato. This led to searching for an LED light kit for my paper lantern project that might lead to the formation of an art club. If you live in Toronto and are curious about it, leave a post.

From there, I checked up on the latest by my friends on Facebook and one in particular intrigued me about sustainable pre fabricated housing made of transport containers that led to one of my favourite design site that went back to Facebook who has a friend who is listed on as one of the Top 100 Most Creative People list in this issue that led to a really interesting article at Fast Companies. Then my sister came in and we had a talk about sorting out my workspace. That led to my searching for shelving solution at Ikea and looking at my desk thinking about what I want for my new box, and started looking at some new chassis and cpu fans. Then back to Ikea, Home Depot for organization ideas for this tiny space. And back to research for LED components..on and on…and at one point as I was going through the new product section, critiquing the design to myself and appreciating the company’s commitment to the environment. Then I had a thought while I was plotting on how to purge, I remembered how old computers are recycled…and found an article about it. How the components are striped by hands and thrown in an open coal fire in the middle of a small family town in rural China. The women are exposed to dioxin that is also passed down to their infants. You know the rest. This added another item in my life-to-do list to volunteer at a NGO to help these rural women to find alternative source of income. Providing them with choices knowing that there is always an alternative method or a chance, no one on earth should be going through this kind of downward spiral.

Changing the world by providing sustainable choices is a goal I hope to achieve in some way. I have a lot of respect and admiration for individuals who makes the effort from behind the scene.