My portfolio is finally live. I’m no programmer, but I did my best to create a layout that displays reasonably well across different screen dimensions, as well as to introduce a degree of sophistication to how the text is laid out. This blog remains the place with the most current stuff I’m up to, but the portfolio gives a nice overview of my work. American designer James Victore once spoke in an interview that doing a compilation of his work was like packing his old stuff into a box. It was the only way to move on. The interviewer teased him by saying that publishing a book was the exact opposite of hiding things in a box, to which he pretty much laughed and shrugged. Joking aside, I think it says something about how one looks at his/her past. On one hand, I do kind of tire of certain old pieces of mine, sometimes not because of its quality, but simply because it’s “old news” (what that says about the timelessness of my designs I don’t know, heh). But for me, in a way, to get rid of something in my mind is to put my creations out there. So there is an interesting “keep it private/public”, love/hate relationship there. It really is the only way to move on. And that I’ll do. ?

My portfolio is finally live. I’m no programmer, but I did my best to create a layout that displays reasonably well across different screen dimensions, as well as to introduce a degree of sophistication to how the text is laid out. This blog remains the place with the most current stuff I’m up to, but the portfolio gives a nice overview of my work.

American designer James Victore once spoke in an interview that doing a compilation of his work was like packing his old stuff into a box. It was the only way to move on. The interviewer teased him by saying that publishing a book was the exact opposite of hiding things in a box, to which he pretty much laughed and shrugged.

Joking aside, I think it says something about how one looks at his/her past. On one hand, I do kind of tire of certain old pieces of mine, sometimes not because of its quality, but simply because it’s “old news” (what that says about the timelessness of my designs I don’t know, heh). But for me, in a way, to get rid of something in my mind is to put my creations out there. So there is an interesting “keep it private/public”, love/hate relationship there.

It really is the only way to move on. And that I’ll do.

?



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At long last: some proper design work.

I’m going to shut up first, and let it speak for itself (for better or worse).

I was going to incorporate this video into my post on the Cannes Lions, because my experience of working on this animation was very much affected by other things out of my control. This is one of the last projects I did for my student exchange programme here in Germany, and I really wanted to get it right. I’ve only done one “proper” motion graphic piece before, and was looking forward to getting my hands dirty again.

It turned out to be a torturous process, because it’s unbelievably taxing on the brain when you have so many emails and other business to handle, yet all you want to do is to sit down and just… create. I need time and space for my brain to go blank (before it can be filled with ideas), and there wasn’t much of either of those things.

I’m proud of the result, not because it’s particularly groundbreaking or clever. I was able to pour my blood and sweat into something quite purely “artistic” (there’s no “message” involved), and escape the insanity for a minute. It was cathartic, and a proof to myself that I am still doing things for my own enjoyment amidst the frenzy. All this attention hasn’t completely corrupted me yet. I hope.

Thoughts?



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Your Love is my Command Happy Valentine’s Day. Would anyone want this on a shirt?

Your Love is my Command

Happy Valentine’s Day.

Would anyone want this on a shirt?



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Made a poster with these strange unicode characters: Ḷ͈͇A̢̽̏͟͠Ą̷͞҉҉ Just for fun. No graphical elements were added. I only overlapped the letterforms. ?

Made a poster with these strange unicode characters: Ḷ͈͇A̢̽̏͟͠Ą̷͞҉҉

Just for fun. No graphical elements were added. I only overlapped the letterforms.

?



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I see a poster for a ballet/opera.



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Who knew an old sketch I did could lead to hours of fun?

Continuing to try out looser, rougher shapes.

Feel free to tell me the one(s) you prefer. These are just four (see the other post) of the many, many versions I did.



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Here for the Adventure As you may know, I’m going to Germany in March for my student exchange programme. Made this as part of my scholarship application. Still trying to loosen up and experiment with a more expressive, “raw” look. ?

Here for the Adventure

As you may know, I’m going to Germany in March for my student exchange programme. Made this as part of my scholarship application.

Still trying to loosen up and experiment with a more expressive, “raw” look.

?



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Ought to be shot

Many people were protesting outside the Dolce & Gabbana flagship store here in Hong Kong yesterday. They were upset about the fact that a security guard of the store tried to stop people standing in a public space from taking photos. But few of the online overseas news report I read got the point of the protest. The guard said tourists from Mainland China are allowed to shoot photos, presumably because they are typically far bigger spenders than the locals. Whether it’s outright hostility or passive-aggressive behavior, we’ve long been treated differently, and there’ve been other factors stirring up tension between the Hong Kongers and those from the Mainland.

The issue is obviously not just about D&G. The event just sparked off some longstanding grievances. It’s about inequality, the right over public space, cultural identities, and above all, our dissatisfaction with a government/society obsessed with money.

Thoughts?



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Happy Halloween! I lead an exceedingly boring life have a million design assignments piled up, so no costume parties for me. But how are you going to spend your day?

Happy Halloween!

I lead an exceedingly boring life have a million design assignments piled up, so no costume parties for me.

But how are you going to spend your day?



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T-shirt design for 蜂城 (literal translation: Bee City) — a play my friend is directing. The plot revolves around an alternative future, in which the human race depends on the survival of the last bee colony left in the world. The protagonist wants to keep the colony safe by keeping the queen bee in a box, and accidentally kills all the bees out of his ignorance. The character is then blamed by everyone else, when they are in fact originally responsible for driving the rest of the bees into extinction in the first place. When you have something with so many characteristics to draw from, it is very tempting to incorporate a visual pun or two into the design. Believe me, the bee stripes, honeycombs… I tried many patterns and other obvious visual references, but they just didn’t work for me. In the end, the broken wing of a bee is imposed vertically on top of the title. It’s not meant to be very clear at a glance, because I like that it doesn’t scream “BEE”. At its core, the play is not about the insects. It’s a dark tale about human nature, so I want the design to have a sense of decay and corruption. I feel that the wing intertwining with the characters suits both the “bee city” that is falling apart, and the air of desperation that people have as they struggle to survive. I promised to design this for my friend before my Apple logo went viral. It was really hard to sit down at home to focus on anything OTHER than Apple, when you were just done being bombarded with interviews and phone calls all day. I had no choice but to make this rather quickly. But I’m posting this here now, because I’m inexplicably pleased with it. Thoughts?

T-shirt design for 蜂城 (literal translation: Bee City) — a play my friend is directing.

The plot revolves around an alternative future, in which the human race depends on the survival of the last bee colony left in the world. The protagonist wants to keep the colony safe by keeping the queen bee in a box, and accidentally kills all the bees out of his ignorance. The character is then blamed by everyone else, when they are in fact originally responsible for driving the rest of the bees into extinction in the first place.

When you have something with so many characteristics to draw from, it is very tempting to incorporate a visual pun or two into the design. Believe me, the bee stripes, honeycombs… I tried many patterns and other obvious visual references, but they just didn’t work for me.

In the end, the broken wing of a bee is imposed vertically on top of the title. It’s not meant to be very clear at a glance, because I like that it doesn’t scream “BEE”. At its core, the play is not about the insects. It’s a dark tale about human nature, so I want the design to have a sense of decay and corruption. I feel that the wing intertwining with the characters suits both the “bee city” that is falling apart, and the air of desperation that people have as they struggle to survive.

I promised to design this for my friend before my Apple logo went viral. It was really hard to sit down at home to focus on anything OTHER than Apple, when you were just done being bombarded with interviews and phone calls all day. I had no choice but to make this rather quickly. But I’m posting this here now, because I’m inexplicably pleased with it.

Thoughts?



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OWS meets V for Vendetta Warning: dense text post ahead — read at your own risk. When my modified Apple logo went viral, somebody on the Internet suggested to me that I should design something for the Occupy protests. But this post is not really a response to that request. It simply reminded me of a thought I had concerning the relationship between a designer’s work and his/her intentions. I have done my fair share of designs related to current events. They are all things I care about, and it seems logical to say that my emotional connection to the issues compelled me to represent them visually. But it is not always that simple. Sometimes, I find my love for visual rhetoric to be almost disproportionately large, compared to my concern for the issue. Put simply, it almost seems that I care more about conveying a message effectively than the message itself. I may be over-complicating things. Something strikes a chord with me, and I really want to express it well. What’s the big deal? The problem is that, when, let’s say, I finally come up with a clever solution, the adrenaline rush I get appears to be purely about the design itself. I cannot help but feel a bit like a phony during moments like these. Back to Occupy Wall Street — don’t get me wrong, it certainly resonates with me. The general idea behind the movement is admirable. Resistance against social and economic inequality should be applauded, but the vast scope and variety of methods used in this movement makes it very hard to define. That leaves me without a clear stance, so does it give me the “right” to make a poster like this? Am I just designing this for design’s sake? Am I being irresponsible by making something with the potential to encourage behavior I don’t necessarily agree with? I haven’t figured it out yet, and I am not writing all this noncommittal nonsense to cover my ass. But the relationship between a design, the intentions/motivations behind, and its potential impact is worth thinking about. Thoughts? Obligatory disclaimer: I am NOT suggesting that I care more about my design itself than Steve Jobs’ death.

OWS meets V for Vendetta

Warning: dense text post ahead — read at your own risk.

When my modified Apple logo went viral, somebody on the Internet suggested to me that I should design something for the Occupy protests.

But this post is not really a response to that request. It simply reminded me of a thought I had concerning the relationship between a designer’s work and his/her intentions.

I have done my fair share of designs related to current events. They are all things I care about, and it seems logical to say that my emotional connection to the issues compelled me to represent them visually.

But it is not always that simple. Sometimes, I find my love for visual rhetoric to be almost disproportionately large, compared to my concern for the issue. Put simply, it almost seems that I care more about conveying a message effectively than the message itself.

I may be over-complicating things. Something strikes a chord with me, and I really want to express it well. What’s the big deal? The problem is that, when, let’s say, I finally come up with a clever solution, the adrenaline rush I get appears to be purely about the design itself. I cannot help but feel a bit like a phony during moments like these.

Back to Occupy Wall Street — don’t get me wrong, it certainly resonates with me. The general idea behind the movement is admirable. Resistance against social and economic inequality should be applauded, but the vast scope and variety of methods used in this movement makes it very hard to define. That leaves me without a clear stance, so does it give me the “right” to make a poster like this? Am I just designing this for design’s sake? Am I being irresponsible by making something with the potential to encourage behavior I don’t necessarily agree with?

I haven’t figured it out yet, and I am not writing all this noncommittal nonsense to cover my ass. But the relationship between a design, the intentions/motivations behind, and its potential impact is worth thinking about.

Thoughts?

Obligatory disclaimer: I am NOT suggesting that I care more about my design itself than Steve Jobs’ death.



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Hope — 10 years later ?

Hope — 10 years later

?



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International Coorporation This is really old work I did for a poster design project (I chose globalization as the theme). I posted a few drafts before, but never the final version. This is not the one I ended up submitting, but I like it the most. Thoughts? P.S. Look at the enlarged version for a small Easter egg in the “UN” crest.

International Coorporation

This is really old work I did for a poster design project (I chose globalization as the theme). I posted a few drafts before, but never the final version. This is not the one I ended up submitting, but I like it the most.

Thoughts?

P.S. Look at the enlarged version for a small Easter egg in the “UN” crest.



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Pixar Animated Tribute: an extendedsneak peek

I won’t show any more clips before everything’s finished — I’ve spoiled enough already. 2 down, 11 to go.

I love the way Tumblr displays YouTube thumbnails because a black rectangle is just so interesting

Thoughts?



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Happy April Fools’ Day! Any good pranks to share?

Happy April Fools’ Day!

Any good pranks to share?

(Source: jmak)



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