~- Blend Me -~

I practiced blending with my own pictures. I like the Moth brush in the exercise so I made it big and put it cover half of my face. Adding more layers with 2 different parts of my face. I like my nose and my mouth going together: one for this - and one for my half top face with just the eyes.

I found Eraser is a really effective tool in blending, you should try it in some way, really made your pictures blend into each other and naturally "erase" the pictures' edges for you.

Blend Exercise

I didn't satisfy much about the colors in this pictures, but after many times redoing, I think this is closest to what I want it to be. It's too green though, i think but green is the main color for this so let take it strong to express the mysterious, cold and scary for the picture. Please give me your comment to make it better.
Thank you

--- Blur and Motion ---

When I still got stuck with choosing pictures to practice what have learned in class, I suddenly find the picture below.

At first sight, I just look at the final picture and thought it is a kind of orchid. See it the second time, there it goes a beautiful vision for the life of a tulip. Even with the moment it leave the world, it still has its own beauty.

Then I quickly thought of a motion - creating motion with blur and depth with shadow. Began to play with cropping and layers. Many layers to take care of, the shadow and colours transition, blur proportion. It brought me the final work after 4 hours. The last flower cost me much time in cropping because there are many separate and different color areas. I made it a challenge to practice cropping with that. It doesn't seem to be perfect this time but I can feel my skill in using pen tool has been upgraded :)

My final work

Special thanks to Selester for the picture.

Orchid Business Card

Before the lesson about cropping - I didn't know how to use pen tool in Illustrator and Photoshop. I often used Magnetic Lasso Tool to crop my pictures but now i find this new method even more efficiently. I read many tutorials about cropping using pen tool before but it seemed to be hard to understand and do like it said word by word. Only practice will bring you success. And now I can do it. Applying the ZEN theory, I can feel pleasant not to do it hurriedly. A way to practise patience :)

I first use black for the background but then I found a more attractive color for the card, dark purple seemed to be better suited.

The picture above is the original size (the required size for the card): 5.5cm x 9cm

Below is a bigger size for a clearer view on this card.

Gestault

The circle of the flower's shape inspired me most in this design. People easily feel love when see something curves than straight lines. The softness is also felt in this kind of flower so I think it's most appropriate for the text's meaning to be developed in visual.

I grouped each text group into circle shapes like smaller flowers flying high. Arranging them up - down so they seemed to fall into one another, making the meaning of the title to be clearer when mentioning about sex life of plants. The last group of text is arranged as a balance for the whole design. We need balance in any situation and therefore the circle of sex life also needs to be balanced.

Sun & Moon

I often relate what I've learned or seen with my own situation, my memory. Here it goes with my exercise about the Moon and the Sun. My birth year belongs to fire element and the animal represent for me is the lion. From those facts, i want to link the symbol SUN(hot) and MOON (cold) with the Lion Face.

The sun is considered the important factor for our system and the lion is the king of the forest. The moon, in the other hand, is represented for something more calm, but it doesn't mean that the moon is nice and silent. It still hide something, mysterious and dangerous.

I retouched the photo of a lion i found and made it look like more "human" to be a saint for both Sun and Moon.

Picture Source: Lion Face

COFFEE

This is a flash that I made for a simple website last semester. I had to search many sources to create effects over the images such as the blur, fade in, fade out and the way the branch move to best suit the Website about Coffee. Leave your comment when you see the flash and give me your opinions. Thank you.

It can take time, but it will work.

Interface for real life

Sticking our eyes on the computer screen for hours becomes normal in this current life. Pressing "turn on" and my morning began. We frequently see that the desktop is designed to look like a place where we can put our documents and do things on that. I found another type of design that display in a reversed way: imitate the interface on desktop and bring it to real life. Impressive reverse interests ones who addict computer as well as create a new way to make you feel different. Below are some pictures about this type

Hans Gremmen with Monique Gofers, Empty Trashcan, 2004


Jan Robert Leegte, Scrollbar, 2002


Liron Ross, Masking Tape Folder, 2002


Cory Arcangel, Disassembling 48K, installation view Migros Museum, Zurich, Switzerland, 2005

Sources:
Design Observer, Interface Space, Dmitri Siegel, 02.01.07

Creativity Process and Reality

I currently had my first design work launched in December, 2006. This is my first time working with a group to promote one big event in my school. I joined to have more practical experiences in designing and practicing technical terms I have learned in class. I had learned many more things from the higher semester students, also had chances to see more hidden problems in preparing a marketing plan. I had to face not only the graphic problems, I mean ... technical problems while working with Photoshop, Illustrator or iMovie , I also need self-confidence, determination and stand point to protect my work after it's finished. To me, receiving feedback made me have 2 different feelings, the feeling about feedbacks coming from the ones that know the sensitiveness of the maker and the ones who don't. I don't mind explaining my choice for the layout or colors in my work but there are barriers and distances between the maker and the viewer's viewpoint and purposes. As a result, your final work can be totally different from the original one if you cannot protect your viewpoint and persuade others to accept it. It's really a big deal.
This made me think of the future when there is money and position that can bend your mind and make you loose your determination, loose your style, and over all, loose the concept. I worked with design student and also commerce ones. So there are two different thoughts and it's hard to pleased both of them. That's what I should encounter.

I wrote this entry just to share my first experience after my first work was launched. Reality is really different from theory and can varied in steps and process. It won't work with just design and concepts, it will be consensus, fighting, protecting and fixing. What I want to advice you in doing design work with a group is trying to protect your work, listen to the feedback that can help you improve your work and never give up.

Step to a new world ...

Where is the border between a child and a mature one? 18 years old (according to Vietnam law) is already a mature. However, mature or not, depends on your own life. I’m not 20 though I am really in now. Comparing to friends in other country, maybe I’m just 18 or … 12.

The social life in Vietnam made you feel pleased or frustrated? The viewpoint of Vietnamese people is somehow hard under foreigner. But to me, it’s quite easier than before. The limitation is always needed to control. I study design: A decision totally changed my life. My childhood life was closed and silent … Hardly believe this field could create a different me. Is that the opposite or just a reveal J I’m still wondering.

I study here, absorbing new thoughts, new visual views and also new life, new friends. I’m struggling with the suitable way for me – finding the overlap of Art, culture and my favor is a hard thing to do.

2 previous DIM courses really upgrade my critical thoughts and passion on studying design. I'm curious what I would study in this course also. Good luck for me and my friends.