microaggression

It gets on my nerves when people ask me what kind of music I listen to and then have the follow-up question, "Do you listen to k-pop?" And when I answer that I do, they have this sort of satisfied look on their faces -- something along the lines of "I knew it", and "Of course she listens to k-pop, all Asians do". It's annoying because they assume that that's the only genre I listen to, when I also love R&B, ballads, and alternative music. So just because I look Asian, it doesn't mean I (only) listen to k-pop.

book covers

One of my favorite books in the world is The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky. Visually, the cover is definitely... interesting. Compared to other books, this cover is a lot more empty and the title of the book is not big (in comparison to the author's name) and not as attention-grabbing.  In addition, the photo of someone's legs is at the corner of the book, not the middle or taking up more than half of the cover.  By having so much empty space, the cover is actually stands out more than if it had less space since not many books use this technique. The cover also reflects the story itself since the book is about a boy named Charlie, who is a wallflower--a shy or retiring person who remains unnoticed at social events. Like Charlie, the book's cover is also not purposefully attention-grabbing or flashy and the title of the book just seems to fade into other books on a shelf.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky

Five covers:

I really like the simplicity of this cover.  It's just a light hanging down from somewhere with a gradual black to dark grey background.  There are no honorary mentions or awards on the cover -- just the title and the author. It's not flashy, but simple and straight to the point. Also, everything is aligned in the middle, so it makes the cover look more organized and balanced in terms of composition.

One of the main reasons why this cover caught my attention was the effect of putting a picture behind a brush stroke. I used to love doing this effect for posters because it looks really clean but messy at the same time. I also like how the title and author aren't aligned at all since it gives the cover a spontaneous quality to it.

I really enjoy looking at the simplicity of this cover. It's true that there is a lot of blank space, but I guess that's one of the qualities I like about it.  It sort of gives the viewer a break from clumps of information and pictures. The designer also used three difference font sizes and two font styles, where the font isn't decorative or anything.  Also, the three designs are aligned at the bottom, which makes the composition of the cover more balanced.

One of the main reasons why I like the cover of this book is because of the fact that the image is upside down (which actually matches the title completely).  Upon first glance, I had to do a double-take to make sure I was not going insane and imaging the image to be upside-down. Other than that, the cover has no fancy fonts or flashy pictures and colors.  There's a sense of quietness to it as well because the designer essentially draws attention to what is aligned in the middle (title and author), which is only one font.

Lastly, I like the sketch of the ear since I am attracted to realism.  Also, the title is in bright green script, which sort of screams attention (hence the word "noise" with the sketch of the ear). The red font for the author is clever since it creates contrast between the title and the background.  Overall, I think this cover is extremely simple and clever.

The main reason why I probably like these covers is because of their simplicity.  I hate things that look overly complicated and flashy since I think all that extra work is unnecessary. In addition, almost all of these covers have one subject as the background, like a picture or a solid color. They also only use up to two types of font sizes and types and no more than that. However, one difference between them some of these is that some tend to be more colorful than others.  The colors are either more vibrant or more dull.

announcement poster (before + after)

Before

After

logo reflections

1. What was the most challenging aspect of creating your Logo design?

The most challenging aspect of the logo design process was trying to incorporate the elements of newspaper and MHS together.  I ended up drawing so many sketches and not even using any of them since I came up with a completely new design on Illustrator.  I was also trying to "think outside of the box" in creating an original design, but I don't think that really worked out.

2. How did you overcome the challenge?

I'm not sure if I fully overcame my challenge, but I'm sure I managed to deal with some of it.  Instead of putting so much detail in the newspaper like I originally did in my sketches, I decided to just simplify it.

3. What was the most successful aspect of your Logo design?

I believe the most successful part of design is the detail in the logo itself.  Everything was created by hand and I haven't created such an elaborate design in a while. I also thought that the font choice was better than the ones I used before.  This script font gave the logo a more elegant feel to it.

[ ◕ ◡ ◕ ] mid-winter break

Over mid-winter break, I was so unproductive in terms of homework, but I managed to spend a lot of time with my friends.  I celebrated my friend's birthday at Favor Taste 99 last Friday and it was slightly insane since we sat there eating for almost four hours straight.  I'm pretty sure we were the loudest table there, actually.  On Monday, I went clothes shopping with my friends, which I haven't done in a long time.  I still can't believe we shopped from 10AM to 6:30PM... My feet were screaming "RIP RIP RIP" after that.  I went bowling on Tuesday night and had Thai food for dinner with friends.  As for the rest of break, I stayed up almost every night talking.  I had so much fun during break that I really can't wait for spring break.

Scoreboard for the first bowling game hahaha. I came in third!

[ ⊙ ω ⊙ ] looking at art in nyc

"Untitled", created by Laura Owens.
Created usign acrylic, silkscreen inks, Flashe, oil, and gesso on linen.

1. This artwork was from the MoMa.  Around this piece, there are some more abstract, but simple types of work from various artists.  The pieces ranged from containing only a couple colors to a wide variety.
2. I really liked how this piece was similar to a children's storybook since it had some fairytale elements in it.  Also, the background of the piece is lined paper that children use to learn the alphabet.  However, the story itself was a little dark (for Children) and the appearance of this piece is a little... mismatched, I would say.
3. Laura Owens, the artist of this piece, was born in 1970 and is American.  Other than that, I do not know much about her.

[ ಠ_ಠ ] typography in the real world

The word "university" in this picture is an example of slab serif.  The
strokes of each letter are thick and there is no transition between the
 thickness and thinness of strokes whatsoever.  There is also a decora-
ive font used in the word "hardware".  There are no serifs, but the letters
look more handwritten than typed.  This was found near Columbia University.
The mix of different typefaces is appropriate for the store because it seems
that there is a mix of different products sold here.

This is also a decorative font.  The name of the shop appears to be
more handwritten than typed.  Also found near Columbia University.
Decorative fonts are appropriate for a nail salon simply because these
salons are able to "decorate" your nails.

This is an example of sans serif.  Obviously, there are no serifs
within each letter and the letters do not vary in thickness.  This
was found in the 42nd street train station.  I think that it would
also make sense to using serif fonts in the subway signs but sans serifs
also have the simplicity the signs need and are very clean.  This makes
it easier for people to read and obtain the information they're looking for.

The name of the company, Barron's, is written in oldstyle on this box.
There is a diagonal axis that hints at where the letters vary in thick and
thinness.  On the box, there are also sans serif typefaces, especially at "AP",
"2nd Edition", etc. since there are no serifs in the letters.  I found this at home.  Oldstyle and sans serif definitely fit this box of flashcards because
Barron's has a long history of being a good (up to your opinion) test-prep
company (hence, oldstyle) and many students still use their company's product today.

This is a modern typeface, since the vertical axis in the text
differentiates the thick and thinness of each individual letter.
I think modern typeface matches the card only because the idea
of Christianity and whatnot is really evident and you still
have a lot of people who follow that religion.

This is a script font.  The letters are linked together in with strokes,
which gives off a sense of elegance.  Lastly, the script font gives off the
elegance that people want when writing CARDS, so it's definitely appropriate to use script fonts here.

[ ◕ ◡ ◕ ] newspaper club questions + answers

Questions asked:

1. What key principles/ideas represent the Newspaper Club?

2. What are the club's main goals/purpose?

3. What are five words that describe the club the most?

4. When was the Newspaper Club established and how?

5. What are/were some of the hardships and successes of Newspaper?

6. What colors would represent Newspaper?

Established in 2003, the goal of the Millennium High School Newspaper Club is to not only provide credible information to the student body, but also to spread equal awareness of certain topics through reliable reporting. Members of the Newspaper Club are characterized as dedicated, passionate, driven, curious, and scholarly.  A challenge the Club faced before was trying to recover immediately after Superstorm Sandy hit New York City two years ago.  However, reoccurring challenges the Newspaper Club faces are finding students who are willing to work outside of class, maintaining a core staff, and completing the newspaper layouts.  The Club aims to publish monthly issues and contributing articles to each issue, especially at the beginning of each year, seems difficult due to the "beginning of the year" jitters and all.  However, the Newspaper Club has always ended up being successful.  Lastly, the colors that would most represent Newspaper and portray school spirit are red, black, and white.

[ ⊙△⊙ ] favorite logos

One of my favorite logos is from Apple.  I really like the simplicity of it and how it's easily recognizable.  The silverish colors used, in addition to the glass theme, creates a metallic effect.  This not only matches the company's purpose of making new technological advancements, but also helps makes Apple and Apple's products very iconic and authentic.

A logo I think is really well-designed is Antartica.  This logo simply features a penguin, which is an iconic animal that lives in Antartica.  Not only that, but the shape and design of the penguin creates an "a" that matches logo's font.  The logo also only has two colors: dark grey/black and white.  This brings contrast in the design and catches attention easily.

[ ⊙ ω ⊙ ] portrait transformation

Before:

After: 

Process:

First, I took various photos of my sister and selected one where she was making one of her "derpy" faces.  I wanted to incorporate penguins into the transformation (since they're so cute and fluffy) and decided that my concept would be about the interaction between a normal penguin and a huguin (human + penguin).  I used Photoshop to manipulate the two images, using image adjustments such as color balance and selective color, cropping and erasing, and then liquifying my sister's hair so that it would look more realistic.  Lastly, I placed my sister's head onto the penguin on the right.

This transformation turned out better than I pictured it to be since I was able to liquify her hair instead of just letting the hair look a bit faded like it originally did.  Also, with suggestions from peers I removed the collar of her shirt so that the penguin neck would show through.

All in all, I like the result of the image since it shows the personality of my sister really clearly.