#and teach me about typography

[wahgifs]

― somewhere only we know, keane I TOLD SUNSET ABOUT YOU (2020)

[kohakhearts]

For the fic writer asks: 1, 4, and 7

thanks so much!! <3

1: the last sentence you wrote

from the same wip as the one i shared in my last post!

In spite of his concerns, he has received only a few more minor shocks from Minun by the time they make it back into the city proper.

...which out of context, sounds incredibly silly xD

4: a story idea you haven’t written yet

i just answered this one but i'll answer it for a different idea! one of the other whumpuary fics i really wanted to write was for the prompt "i didn't know where else to go." this one was more of a future fic where goh meets mew again but finds it severely injured, and he doesn't really know how to help it on his own, so he seeks out ash, who i imagine he hasn't had like...a whole lot of contact with since they parted ways. the idea is like...i'd think that's something ash does with all his friends, but where ash doesn't really need the remind that they're still friends, goh kind of does. so long silences have made him bitter, which makes for a not-so-fun reunion...add the injured mythical pokemon into the mix, and...yeah. it IS a whump fic, after all lol

7: your preferred writing fonts

ah well...i'm still a high school english teacher at heart, so i do all my writing in 12pt times new roman, lol. justified alignment, the whole thing. my orig is even fully double spaced and everything (fic is 1.15 spacing. tbh, i'm not sure why i still do them in different formats, lol). the only time i switch fonts is to write poetry, which is...in garamond. so still pretty predictable hahaha

fic writer asks!

[mask-of-prime]

BIONICLE: Ta-Wahi Travel Poster - [PROTOTYPE]

In a graphic design course dedicated to Adobe Illustrator, we were tasked to make vacation spot posters in the style of the ones from the 1950's. Our professor said it could be fictional, or even a real place we're fond of. Part of the assignment was to use the Symbol Sprayer, repetition of shapes, and the Warp Tool.

First thing that came to mind for me was a location in Bionicle, such as Ta-Wahi Beach, the first place you wake up to as Takua in Mata-Nui Online Game.

I wouldn't be surprised if the assets of MNOG were made in Illustrator and/or Flash (which I think the latter once belonged to MacroMedia at the time if we really wanna talk about feeling old).

Will I make other posters for the other Koro's/Wahi's? Um... it sounds like having them all together would be really cool, but if I do, I kinda wanna revise this current one and learn to have an easier time making them and/or possibly make them a little more straightforward and easy to make out. Definitely should go for the classic TradeMarker font if I do (since this isn't an assignment anymore, let alone one being monitored/graded by a professor who also teaches typography :p)

Made in 2022.

[my-darling-boy]

It’s horrible how my design course has killed my enjoyment in creativity because all they want is finished pieces founded in nothing but a spontaneous mark just to hang at some concrete art gallery or to sell to some “join our revolution” comfy business-casual company with a prison cell wellness room. I’m not saying that it’s “not art” —cos that’s a different post altogether— it’s that the ethos behind this particular formula for art education is ruining the way we think about creation.

Design courses (and other art courses I’ve heard?) are no longer teaching artists or designers techniques, drawing skills, art fundamentals and allowing them to find their own voice so much as they are only instructing how to tic boxes alongside pushing corporate and classist motivated style/methodology bias aimed at producing workers, not creatives, not to mention providing Adobe with endless funds for their despicable scam programs. That’s it. My creativity is only a means to money for them, and if they can extract the process of creation from me without the complex creative intimacy involved in it, they know they can churn out products and services faster and it’s concerning some lecturers don’t seem to be aware this is what they’re teaching? Like they’re buying into industry propaganda?

And the whole time it’s sold to you like you can be some trailblazer when the irony is they’re usually either prepping you for cubicle work or for some misguided high horse creative team pumping out design solutions completely divorced from the reality. I’m tired of all the talks about sustainability in a vacuum with no conversation about nuanced designs that factor in broader social and economic perspectives which lack thereof is leading to sustainable products being sold at a price only able to be afforded by wealthier people who are causing said economic and social problems and contributing to the rapid obsoletion of trades and crafts. Lecturers and speakers don’t seem to think that’s any of our concern and should just worry about producing the design for the hypothetical Bluetooth powered organic hairbrush or using the twigs to make the pattern for the £85 fabric square.

Like? Can I please make something that actually resonates with people outside the circle jerk of egotistical creatives and corporations? Something charming and maybe idk something that doesn’t make me want to tear my miserable portfolio in half with my teeth? And they’re like Mm nope sorry it has to be an extreme close up of a mark making abstract leaf you made from a recycled trash bag inspired by a stalled urban space which we will force you to price at £100 during your exhibition 5 people will bother to attend and no you’re not allowed any other style cos this isn’t the Dark Ages :///

I think the worst thing my lecturer ever said was, while looking around the room of our class work reduced down to a series of cubes and splatters and abstract typography, “Wow, I love how you can’t tell what anyone’s [main artist discipline] is!” Like awww conformity at the expense of a person’s individuality to make pieces for airport hallways and rich people’s living rooms wow so cool heehee like girl that’s not good?? Why on Earth are you complimenting us for that? Like I get it, I thought this course would boost skillset as an illustrator (as we were told), turns out the degree is really not for me, fair enough to anyone thinking that, but forcing students to produce modern abstract art because you think it’s the ONLY Logical Pathway for the future of design, judging them intensely for doing a different style, and thinking producing financially inaccessible art + design is the solution to things like climate change and community severance is an objectively bad take.

[greyscale-enthusiast]

EPINAGI chapter 20 things im rotating on my mind

hiiragi was saying how it feels so good to destroy nagi’s natural (and sensitive?) genius with his logic

nagi kinda has a knack for attracting smart people who want to tell him how to ‘play’ only for him to end up rejecting them and angering them (reo, agi in the msc, and well this dude isn’t gonna get too far but he tried)

really, the curse of the lazy genius.

nagi was comparing hiiragi to isagi with his analysis and logic and to himself with his trapping skills. then he goes to ask what reo or isagi would do at a time like this…

and it happened around the time niko said how matches were so easy without reo or isagi around, too 😭

reo mentions in the chapter: 2 and in passing.

chigiri explains a different framework or perspective so they can overcome their weaknesses

the only one who stepped up 😭😭🫶 imagine trying to explain something to BAROU AND NAGI

the graffiti wall makes me think back on skater chigiri what with the misspelling and typography. queen.

barou and chigiri realizing hiiragis intentions

i mean zantetsu and niko both said they wanted nagi i don’t know what they expected. or did they saw how it was kinda exploitative and that’s why they don’t want to give him up?

hiiragi wants to get nagi into his team so he can teach him about soccer since nagi’s ignorant.

something about how that’s what’s so attractive about nagi to other people, his unbelievable talent with barely any background, but seeing it being expressed so explicitly in a way that sounds kinda malicious is just hyping me tf up like defend urself nagi!!!

do yall think nagi is going to relate hiiragis motivations to reo’s and get even more angry 🥺

anyways i will be microwaving these specific moments if anyone wants to comment on something feel free to and also here’s a size comparison between niko and nagi from the chapter

[ao3cassandraic]

Angels, demons, language, and culture: part 2

(Part 1, for those interested)

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." --John 1:1, King James Bible

A better theologian than I could perhaps write a meta in which the Starmaker is the Word. I'm not prepared to go that far, honestly. I am fully prepared to say that written words, in the GOverse, are very, very important -- but curiously neither angelic nor demonic. They're human.

I mean, watching s1 I noticed that there's not a whole lot of written words in Heaven, to the point that I was wondering whether angels are even literate. There's the Quartermaster's list (which now I'm wondering about again -- we don't see whether there are words on it; perhaps it's just pictures and maybe checkboxes?), and... and... um... surely there's more... there's got to be more, right? ... huh, go figure.

Word of Gaiman says that angels mostly don't read the Bible; it's not angelic, it's human, and as such rather déclassé. In s2, we do see Gabriel's name written across his file -- but inside it? Not forms, not written documents, but video. There's an Ursula K. LeGuin line -- I think from The Telling? or maybe Four Ways to Forgiveness -- about a society that's postliterate, having left the written word behind for video, and is for that reason extra gullible. Yeah, that line sure does remind me of Heaven.

No wonder Muriel doesn't get much respect from their colleagues or reporting line. If words aren't angelic, how can respect be due to a mere scrivener?

Jimbriel can read, though his grasp on the alphabet is a bit shaky. He can't really read, though -- just as angels can speak human language but not think human thoughts. Only someone who can't quite get his head around the idea that written words convey meaning would try to organize books alphabetically by first word. (Aziraphale does understand this, of course. "But nobody would ever -- yes, fine, go ahead." I love that line. Aziraphale would hate my metadata class -- or he'd love it, just to do the opposite of every organizational principle I teach!)

Hell uses writing, but very inexpertly: the typography on its signs is (with full Doylist intent) execrable, and in s2 we learn that most demons can't spell for beans. What Hell can do with written words, apparently, is contracts, like the one Crowley has to sign for the baby Antichrist -- and after the Job minisode and its miles-long bet contract, I don't actually think contracts come from Hell in general, I think it's Satan specifically who writes them. (Maybe Satan used to be the Word. That'd be interesting. GO theologians, start your engines.)

Hell does seem to have a lot of paper around, shuffled into various overflowing cabinets and stamped at various desks. Hell even has a Lord of the Files! Even so, Furfur relies substantially on a visual display at his desk, a camera, and a surveillance video display. Most of the paper seems to be for handling former humans -- once again, written words and humans are inextricably entwined in the GOverse.

As for angelic and demonic magic, I notice a substantial absence of grimoires, chanting, or incantation, and a whole lot of picture (as we see in the Starmaker's book) and gesture. The Starmaker says "Let there be light" (and so does Aziraphale in s1), but I don't think by internal GOverse logic it'd have worked without the pull-down gesture.

All of which is to say that Aziraphale doesn't need the written word to be an angel; the written word is distinctly unangelic. Writing has to have been something he picked up from humanity, and decided he liked. It's one more thing that distances him from Heaven, as we can see in Gabriel's open contempt for Aziraphale's books, and even the well-meaning Jimbriel's instrumentalist use of books as fans and flyswatters and gravity testers.

Notably, when Nina asks to use Aziraphale's books instrumentally -- as weapons -- she rationalizes it to Aziraphale by indicating that the information in the encyclopedias will still exist online. Aziraphale accepts this! Not without pain, but he accepts it. He, unlike Jimbriel, can separate the meaning of a writing from its carrier. Hi, hello, yes, I am a librarian and I have read my Suzanne "Madame Documentation" Briet and Paul Otlet and Michael Buckland. I've even taught them. Content vs. carrier is a Whole Dang Thing in the history of librarianship. (Also, I am now headcanoning liek whoa that Aziraphale learned French to better understand Briet and Otlet. If he ever starts waffling about antelopes, I will know why.)

But that still leaves @thundercrackfic's actual questions: what exactly attracts Aziraphale to the written word? and how well does he understand it? And my additional question: what about Muriel? I'll get there. I promise! But I still need to talk about rules.

[orion-lake]

Happy 2024! I hope you all have been celeb rating or at least enjoying the holiday season.

I wanted to shoutout my favourite posts from 2023 - that just means I reblogged them during 2023 and I like them.... ALOT!

You may have seen the posts I do monthly, I am going to continue to do so and I released the December one yesterday, you can find it here.

I scrolled through all my posts (archive...shhh!) to find my absolute favourites from this year. I am sorry if I missed you....I reblog a lot of content and I have about 400+ in my current queue. I can't wait to see what next year has in store because I am sure I won't remember a lot of what I have queued up for us all.

If you would like to draw my attention to any posts your create. feel free to tag me #usernae.

I want to say thank you to my fellow content creators that make this site such a joy to be on, and be in awe of. You are all crazy talented and I am always surprised by the style, concepts, and skill so many of you display.

But mostly, thank you for all the time you put into making these creations - I want to acknowledge the effort and resources put into this kind of fan art and content creation.

To get the show on the way...

(P.S. some of these posts have reblogs/likes so low it is criminal - have a look through these posts and show them some love.)

Please find all of my favourite posts from 2023 below the cut.

wednesday addams in green by @yenvengerberg

@lgbtqcreators creator challenge | shapes by @matlillard

1 year celebration: shuffle challenge day 3: color manipulation | typography | potc by @lady-arryn

TED LASSO APPRECIATION WEEK ☆ day 5: fave episode ↳ SEASON 2 EP 8 MAN CITY by @simoneashley

@pscentral event 12: take two AMANDA SEYFRIED as KAREN SMITH by @matlillard

Halliwell Sisters by @witchhalliwell

Tyler Posey as SCOTT MCCALL in Teen Wolf: The Movie (2023) by @tracystewart

TED LASSO APPRECIATION WEEK ☆ day 4: underrated character(s) you love [inspo.] ↳ THE PUB REGULARS + CHARACTER TROPES by @simoneashley

@userphotoshop event 9 | characters of color » Kathani Sharma by @anthonybrxdgerton

PARIS by Taylor Swift ⭐by @sadbeautifutragic

KUWTK SECRET SANTA + ELIO’S 2.5K PARTY for @sith-maul​​ ♡ happy holidays, soupmate! by @edwards-teach

MORGANA PENDRAGON in Merlin | 3.05 “The Crystal Cave” by @mazykeen

Here endeth the lesson. I  just wonder if you’ll like it as much as she did. by @payidaresque

EVANESCENCE, BREATHE NO MORE by @hauntedwhispers

[inkinada6327]

RUNE!IRISH

Irish

-Gaster's late wife died trying to defend her children from an unexpected attack while they were walking through the forest.

-Likes different colors and has studied the effects of elemental magic.

-His dream was to have a daughter, he promised Toriel that his girl would marry Asriel and that happiness would reign over the monsters.

-She was a great dancer and pianist, and she was the one who taught Gaster how to play and dance.

-She helped raise Asriel as a child, but he was very young and didn't remember her, but she created a song for him, the only memory he had of his beloved aunt.

-When Sans was born she tried her best to make him a happy child, singing, dancing, telling stories and jokes, for her the little one's smile was the light of her day, he still has vague memories of it.

-When Papyrus was born she treated him differently than Sans, she taught him magic and about the powers of her people, she felt a different power in him than Sans and decided to teach them in specific ways.

-His last request to Gaster was “Don’t cry for me, don’t let them cry, smile and I will always be alive in your hearts, take care of those you love and make them smile, I love you.”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

OBS:

Irish would be gaster's wife, this character was created by me, at first I wasn't going to post about her, I was just going to leave her as the deceased mother of the skeletons, but she is crucial to the story, And over time it gained more and more space so I decided to make a card just for it. I hope you like it 💕

And yes its name is based on a typography font too

This is the font I use in the titles of all content relating to the story of Runetale.

[tommykinrd]

hiii abi congrats on 2k!!! u are amazing and u deserve it!! 💖

can I do 🎨 + buck (and perhaps some noah kahan lyrics of your choosing if it inspires)

and also ✨️ + nymsedits / nymsart / nymwrites (plz feel free to just choose one of those to rec from I don't expect u to scroll through all three skdjsdn)

sending u lots of love I can't wait to see more of your amazing creations 🥰

meggg!! thank you my love!! coming from you this means so much 🥺

and guess what i'm gonna go through all your tags bc you're insanely talented and deserve all the recs <3 like you're actually a triple threat that's insane and ily

just some faves bc i love everything you do:

gifsets

this buck gifset is absolutely insane (in all the best ways) like i actually think about this all the time. the blending is impeccable, like you blended so many scenes together in each gif i'm in awe teach me your ways pls <3

yoyok + buck this is another gifset that i think about all the time like you chose the perfect scenes and i'll never get over that gif with the montage of kisses or the transition with the jeep. and all your typography is gorgeousss i'm obsessed

art

buddie + scars okay so i think we're coming to see that you live rent free in my brain meg. you're so insanely talented and this art punched me in the gut and burned down my home and made me watch. it's just so soft and tender?!? if we ever get anything like this in the show i will promptly pass away

memories that remain - part 1 original art too?!? spare some talent i'm begging. i loveee all the little details and the spooky/eerie vibe that comes across perfectly, and all the muted colours you chose as well

fic

i tear myself down (to be built back up again) i loveee a good buck character study fic and this just perfectly captures his psyche. i'd read 100k more words of this if i could <3 and i loveee how soft you write buddie

thanks for sending this in!! and your gifset request is on the list! i've got two songs in mind that i'm not completely decided on yet - one stick season song and one from his 2021 album - let me know if you have any preferences!

join my 2k celebration!

[crochetysquare]

Jester’s Hat Pattern

I meant to post this on New Year’s Day. Oops. Hello, all 5 followers that aren’t bots! I typed that sentence and realized I haven’t been checking for bots in my sideblog. To be fair, I haven’t been doing a great job of posting to my crochetblr at all since I started it. Let this be the beginning of a year of more-or-less monthly patterns! More updates on the quilt! More one-off posts! This is the year of crochet!

Some of you may have noticed that I changed this blog's title last year. I felt that "NotUrGrannySquares" didn't fit me. I didn't really like it at the beginning, but it's the all I could think of (and it wasn't too creative, since I only spelt it "Ur" because "NotYourGrannySquares" was taken--not to mention, there are plenty of patterns out there with similar names). As I began to collect a few pieces from my mom and grandma for my quilt, I felt more at odds with the blog name: these are my granny's squares! I posted this one a while ago, but the other two from her are waffle stitch samples. One is incomplete, using a merino wool yarn, and the other she fished out of the kitchen when I asked if I could incorporate the wool one into the quilt, and it’s clearly a polyester because it’s slightly melted in the center where it had been holding hot things. I’m obsessed with the texture that’s resulted.

I landed on “crochety” because I’ve described myself as a crotchety old man, the word “crotchety” shares origins with the word “crochet,” and I liked how Dictionary.com defined it.

crotchety adjective 1. given to odd notions, whims, grouchiness, etc.

I am given to odd notions and whims. That’s the whole thesis of my quilt, isn’t it? That’s why I haven’t been posting patterns. When I’m crocheting, I’m crocheting. I can’t stop every row and write down what I did. Worse, I can’t write it down and then rewrite it in a text document. I tried to teach myself coding last year because I was told it’s “just logic,” and being logically minded, I should be good at it. The thing is, it’s also typing, and I fucking hate typing. (You’re looking up at the past 4 paragraphs skeptically. This is different. Just trust me that it’s different. You’ll see what I mean when you look at the pattern and how poorly I’ve cleaned it up because something about typing shit like, “Ch 3, turn, sk 1st st, sc in 2nd ch from hook, sc in next sc, sc 15, ch 2, sc in next sc, sc 15, ch 3, turn, sk 1st ch, sc in sc in sc in sc in sc in next st and to end,” just itches my brain so uncomfortably. Crocheting is so intuitive for me, and translating it from the physical realm to the written kills me. It’s like when I would finish my geometry proof before everyone else, and the teacher would suggest I help the kid next to me, but I couldn’t put it into words. I don’t know, dude, you just put the things where they go. Just put the hook through the correct stitch. Just make it the shape of one third of a jester’s hat. That’s how you make a pattern. Just do the thing that obviously you should do. This is why I like diagram crochet patterns more, which I would like to get into on here in the future. However, this pattern reflects the madness that is my brain trying to type up patterns. When I started this blog, I thought I would do a bunch of patterns like that, maybe with a horror narrative evolving around the monotony and the separation between typography and craft, and then I realized how much tongue in cheek patterning that would require. Hmm. Maybe someday, though.)

So anyway, this is NOT your granny’s pattern because I bet she has better discipline than I do. She would have cleaned this pattern up to the necessary bits. I’m too damn crotchety for that.

All 3 panels will follow this pattern. I used (most of) 3 skeins of Buttercream Luxe Craft 100% Wool yarn. It is yarn weight 5, recommending 6.0mm crochet hooks, and for once I did what I was told.

It appears that Joann has rebranded it to Knit & Crochet, but it also seems I have moved to an area with mediocre Joanns which carry neither. Which is whatever; I have gift cards to better yarn shops.

You can follow the same scheme of adding stitches with different starting row counts. This ended up being a little more than 25 inches in circumference, which made it just a bit too big for me. I rolled up the brim on the underside when I wore it, which worked fine for me and my 21 inch head since it’s a nice thick yarn.

Key I'm using US terms. ch = Chain sc = Single crochet sk = Skip sc2tog = single crochet 2 together That's all you need. It's easy peasy, you got this, gorgeous.

Ch 31. 1. skip 1st ch. sc 30. ch 1, turn. 2-10. sc 30, ch 1, turn. 11. sc 30, ch 2, turn. 12. sk first ch, sc in second from hook. sc across. Ch 2 again! and turn. 13. sk first ch, sc in second, sc 16, ch 2, sc in next stitch and to end. (32 total, 16 on each side. We're gonna stop keeping count, though. I didn't, and it turned out just fine. You'll be fine, as long as all your panels are Shaped.) Ch 2, and turn. 14. Sk first ch, sc in second, sc 17. In 2 ch space {sc, ch 2, sc}. Sc to end. Ch 2, turn. 15-16. You know what you're doing. Sc to that chain space, and sc, ch 2, sc, and keep going. Ch 2, turn. 17. Now it switches up, but not really. Sk first ch, sc in second. Sc to 2ch space {sc, ch 2, sc}, sc to end. NOW. Chain 3. Turn. 18. Sc in second and third ch from hook. sc to chain space {sc, ch 2, sc}, sc to end. Ch. 3. 19. NOW it switches up. Sc in second and third ch, sc across. You hear me? Single crochet across! Skip that chain space entirely this time 'round! 20-22. In 20, you add the ch space in... um. shoot. This is why people keep track of stitches. Add the ch space above where it was in 18. IDK, you got this. ch 3, turn. 23. Hey, just skip that ch space again, okay. Don't argue (you can argue, change the pattern, idgaf). Ch 3, turn. 24. sc in second and third ch from hook, sc 31, ch 2 without skipping, sc 32. Ch 3, turn. 25-27. Same as 20-22. 28. Do that thing where you omit the ch space. Or don't. I'm not your mother. 29-30. Same as 20-22 and 25-27. 31. This is ittttttttt! Single crochet until that 2 chain space where I need you to use that one stitch in the key you forgot about? The sc2tog? Keep sc'ing to the end and fasten the fuck off, you did it.

Now you just have to do that two more times and probably in different colors. Maybe if you're fancy you could do stripes. Row 31 should have 92 stitches, but, like I said in Row 13, as long as it's Shaped, you're honestly good. As longs as the Shapes are Basically The Same, you are grooving.

Sew them up. I slip stitched them together because I'm more comfortable with a hook than a needle (and I think it looks nice). Don’t forget to affix something that jingle jangles. 🃏

[yegarts]

I am YEG Arts: Ray Dak Lam

Since taking the plunge into freelancing, Ray Dak Lam has made big waves as a graphic designer and illustrator. Known best for his signature geometric designs and vibrant colour palette, Ray is sought after locally and internationally with some big-name clients under his belt. In just a few years as a freelancer, Ray has embraced new opportunities from his first mural project to taking part in Adobe’s Global Creator series — this week’s I am YEG Arts story puts the spotlight on Ray Dak Lam.    

Tell us a little bit about yourself and about why you’ve made Edmonton your home. 

I'm an illustrator and designer from Edmonton. I graduated from the MacEwan Design Studies program in 2014. I got my creative career started working at a couple of advertising agencies and at a smaller design agency. Since then, I’ve become a full-time freelancer — that's what I've been doing for the past few years. I really like the creative freedom of freelancing, and that I get to explore more of my own personal style as well as choose my own clients and hours. 

I was born in Edmonton and have lived here all my life. All my friends and family are here, I feel like Edmonton will always be my home. Edmonton has also shaped who I am as an artist in many ways — the people, especially those I went to school with and have worked with, all my coworkers, friends and experiences growing up — I think it all inevitably influences the subject matter in my work and the themes that I introduce into my illustrations. And now I hope to contribute what I can to the city's creative culture. 

What drew you to graphic design and illustration? How did you get your start? 

During my first year of high school, I took a graphic arts program, and my very first project was to recreate a font or typeface. It was through typography that I discovered my love for graphic design. And that's when I began considering it as a career for myself.     As for illustration, drawing has always been part of my life. I was always drawing as a kid, and I was never really good at any other subjects in school. Art was the only subject that I was passionate about. It is what motivated me and pushed me to pursue it all through childhood until now. 

Tell us about someone who mentored you or helped set you on your path. 

One of my first mentors was Andrew Benson. I worked with him at my first job at an advertising agency. He taught me a lot about branding, design, and the advertising industry in general. He’s passionate about print design and illustration and taught me their importance when it comes to design. He really inspired me when he went off to start his own studio and I hoped for myself I could follow in his footsteps. 

Tell us about a big professional risk that you have taken and how it has influenced where you are today. 

I would say taking the leap into full-time freelancing. It was scary in the beginning. I got laid off during the beginning of the pandemic from my advertising agency job. And at least for me, it was hard to find another full-time position. I was only able to land various short-term contracts, and some freelance projects here and there. In that moment I saw it as an opportunity to try this freelancing thing full-time since it has always been a dream of mine.  

The pandemic and getting laid off were the push I needed to take the full leap into freelancing. It really changed my career for the better and it has opened up a lot of opportunities that I never would have thought possible. I have had a chance to work with and collaborate with a lot of clients that I had thought were unattainable. And I’ve gotten to collaborate with many other incredibly talented designers and creative people in Edmonton.  

Who's someone inspiring you right now? 

Someone who is really inspiring me right now is an illustrator from Vancouver, Tom Froese, he makes Skillshare courses, through which he teaches his approach to commercial illustration; YouTube videos, podcasts — all on the topic of illustration, and aimed at people interested in the creative industry. I've done a couple of his Skillshare courses and I'm attending one of his workshops at the RGD DesignThinkers conference coming up May 30 -31 in Vancouver.  

He inspired me to find a focus and explore it as deeply as I can. His style has a very distinctive voice and he mentioned in his videos that it was the result of repeating a set of techniques over and over again once he found something that worked for him, so this really inspired me to seek a similar path for myself in terms of finding my own unique stylistic voice.  

What does your creative process look like? Where or how do you usually begin? 

For me, it always begins in my sketchbook. I try to bring my sketchbook with me anywhere and everywhere I can. Especially when I'm traveling, during those long plane rides and train rides where I can just let my mind wander and draw freely — whatever comes to mind. After that I pick my favorite sketches and vectorize the artwork, then bring it into Photoshop where I use my drawing tablet to add texture to bring more of my own personality to the artwork.  

I enjoy creating abstract and geometric compositions because it's a meditative and calming process for me. I started a personal project during the pandemic called "Shape Studies", and it's been an ongoing project ever since. With a focus on the fundamental elements of shape, line, and colour, I explore freely within those basic fundamentals to create the most interesting compositions that I possibly can. I also use similar principles of geometry and abstraction when I'm illustrating other subject matter, such as animals, landscapes, people, etc. I'll continuously remove any unnecessary details and distill them into their most essential and fundamental forms. 

Tell us about one of the most exciting projects or opportunities you've had.

One of the most exciting opportunities I had last year was the chance to collaborate with Adobe on their Global Creator series. It was a series where they featured different artists from around the world and they decided to feature me. They had me self-shoot a ton of footage around my studio, capture shots around Edmonton, and create a short tutorial explaining some of the techniques that I use to create my illustrations.

It was both exciting and nerve wracking appearing on video, but I'm glad I did the project because I love the way it turned out in the end.

Tell us about a favourite local project and a favourite international project.

One of my favourite local projects was for Doughnut Party. They had me create a mural for their Ritchie location. I collaborated with Jennifer Konanz — she's a local mural and sign painter. She's incredibly talented and I feel grateful to have collaborated with her. She helped translate my artwork into a large-scale mural. It was really cool to see my artwork on such a large scale, which I don't get to see very often.

A favourite international project would be a commission for GoDaddy to create a set of illustrations centered around Asian Heritage Month and Lunar New Year. The project was really special to me because I got to express my own cultural background and upbringing as an Asian Canadian. Also, it was fun to illustrate dragons and dumplings in my own style.

What are you currently working on and what do you hope to explore next? 

I've just completed the 36 days of type challenge on Instagram yesterday and it was really satisfying to see it through from start to finish! The project invites designers, illustrators and artists from all over the world to create a letter or number each day for 36 days straight. It was my first time taking part in the challenge. I really love to explore creatively, and I feel it’s important to work outside of client deadlines and budgets. It’s somewhere I can freely express my voice and craft and refine my style.  

It was great seeing all of the other work from artists and designers that I follow, as well as discovering new artists to follow. Freelancing can be isolating at times, so participating in this challenge made me feel like I was part of this larger community all undertaking this daily activity together.  

What excites you most about the Edmonton arts scene right now? 

All the projects centered around Edmonton's Chinatown like Chinatown Greetings, created by Emily Chu and Shawn Tse, and Jordon Hon’s A Portrait of Chinatown documentary series. And many other creative projects that are supported by the Chinatown Transformation Collaborative (CTC). All these projects play a really important role in the revitalization of Edmonton's Chinatown. It's really inspiring to see so many people from different creative backgrounds coming together for a common cause. 

Want more YEG Arts Stories? We’ll be sharing them here and on social media using the hashtag #IamYegArts. Follow along! You can keep up with Ray on Instagram, Behance, Dribbble or visit his website. 

About Ray Dak Lam

Ray Dak Lam is a designer and illustrator from Edmonton, Canada. His work is characterized by its simplicity, utilizing vibrant colours and bold geometric forms as the basis for direct, communicative imagery. He works primarily on brand and illustration focused projects with clients around the world, such as Asana, GoDaddy, and McDonald's.

[wahgifs]

userdramas event 06: second time to shine — black & todd, not me (2021) | romantic homicide, d4vd

[midwestbramble]

Aradia Book Review

This review was originally posted on Pagan & Witches Amino which was deleted when I took down my account. I read this book originally because it has been such an influence on modern paganism and witchcraft that I felt, to really understand, I should read it.

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

Contents:

Synopsis

What I Liked

What I Didn't Like

Overall Thoughts

Conclusion

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

Originally published 1899 (this version published in 2010)

"If Gerald Brosseau Gardner is the father of the religion that calls itself Wicca, then Charles Godfrey Leland is the grandfather of Witchcraft as a religion in the English-speaking world, and his small book, Aradia, is that religion's birth-announcement. It is the first work in English in which Witchcraft is portrayed as an underground old religion, surviving in secret from ancient Pagan times. Until now Aradia has been a work more often cited than read. Its first edition (1899) garnered only one review, and sank from sight like a stone cast into murky waters/ it sold poorly and is now a rare book. By chance a copy fell into the hands of Theda Kenyon, who devoted a few pages to it in her sensational Witches Still Live (1929), thereby calling it to the attention of many readers. By the 1950s Doreen Valiente had read Aradia, and she incorporated some of its most beautiful passages into the Wiccan rituals that she wrote. In the '60s and '70s it was reprinted four times, but always from a defective copy of the first edition that had lost its last page. Only in the '90s did another reprint finally restore the missing page. Aradia has always been a controversial work, among Witches and scholars alike. Scholars have questioned whether it may be a fiction or a forgery by Leland or by his principal informant, Maddalena (Margherita Taludi). Witches have objected to it on theological and ethical grounds, since some of the myths that it tells are about Lucifer and Cain as well as Diana and Aradia, some of its spells work by threatening or coercing the Deities and spirits, and in its revolutionary fervor it does not shrink even from teaching that the poor and downtrodden should use poisons to destroy their feudal overlords. Despite all that, it remains a beautiful and compelling work. This edition has brought the format and typography up to date, while keeping the text unchanged. A modern reader will undoubtedly find this new edition of Aradia much easier to read than the original or any of its facsimile reprints."

-- from the inside of the cover

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

What I Liked

Right away, I noticed that Doreen Valiente took lines and inspiration straight from a translation of what Aradia supposedly says to her followers on page 7 for her famous “Charge of the Goddess.” [You'll also find the lemon hex that was going around a couple years ago in here.]

In this version, there are several small essays from practitioners from the early 2000s and earlier who were impacted by this text. While I’m not a fan of some of these authors, it was interesting to see what they had to say. Some of them also revealed the names of the Wiccan god and goddess in Gardnerian and Alexandrian sects, so good job on those secrecy oaths guys.

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

What I Didn't Like

Very randomly, at one point in the book, Leland goes on a tangent about how writing in a book or folding down a page “is a sin of vulgarity as well as morality” (pg. 93). Go off I guess. He also tends to dismiss any poetry or art depicting Diana that is contemporary to his works as if they were meant to be authentic representations of how people once thought, instead of allegory. It’s very strange.

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

Overall Thoughts

I don’t really have any thoughts on the actual contents of the folklore that was allegedly gathered into this book. Whether it’s real folklore from Tuscany or not wasn’t what interested me while reading. Since it’s referenced so often I just wanted to make sure I had a full idea of what exactly was being referenced. It doesn’t really have any impact on my own craft as these are not the types of stories I draw from in my own practice. However, if you have an interest in Wicca, Reclaiming, or any of the traditions coming out of the late 20th century, this may be a book that contains some insightful information.

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

Conclusion

Reading widely can give a better understanding of where popular ideas and practices are coming from. I work at a library though so of course I'm going to encourage you to read lol. You don't have to agree with everything inside a book to gain understanding from it. So if you take nothing else from this blog, please take away this: nothing happens in a vacuum, everything is influenced by something else. If you wish to read this book it can be found on amazon, magick.com, Thrift Books, Abe Books, and, possibly, your local witchy retailer.

*all images from the book

[careerbossinstitute]

Top 10 Best Short-Term Courses After 12th 

Choosing the right course after completion of class 12th depends on your interests, goals regarding your career, and your academic background. Short-term courses are a very good means of gaining particular skills for raising your career prospects in less duration. 

Here are the 10 popular short-term courses including an Online Fullstack Development Course that anyone can try after passing class 12th. 

After 12th, Best Short Term Course

1. Web Development

A course in Web Development provides you a well-rounded knowledge in this expertise, starting with the basics of HTML and CSS that is used to create static Web Pages. The course proceeds through JavaScript for interactive and dynamic content and explains modern frameworks/libraries, such as React. 

Students leave this course equipped and empowered to begin a career in Web Development, with the ability to develop, update, and maintain professional websites and applications.

Duration: 3-6 months

Career Prospects: Web Developer, Front-end Developer, Back-end Developer, Full-stack Developer.

2. Digital Marketing

Digital marketing is designed to teach you the core techniques of promoting any product or service in the online marketplace. You'll learn about SEO(Search Engine Optimization) techniques, how to increase the visibility of the website, and SEM(Search Engine Marketing) that drives targeted traffic using paid ads. 

Social media marketing curriculum covers how to effectively use platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to engage with audiences. This holistic approach will help students in a variety of roles within the umbrella of the digital marketing industry.

Duration: 3-6 months

Career Prospects: Digital Marketer, SEO Specialist, Social Media Manager, Content Creator.

3. Graphic Design

A graphic design course is all about artistic and technical skills needed to create visually appealing designs. You will be able to understand the basics of design principles, colour theory, typography, and laying out designs. 

Practical training in industry-standard software is also important in such a vibrant skill. After having this course, you may work on a number of projects. You can work on designing logos to designing marketing materials. After the course, you can pursue a career in the field of graphic design, advertising, and digital media. The course is also called by the name image editing. You can search “Image editing Course near me”, to find reputed institutes in your city. You may also take up online classes from anywhere. 

Duration: 3-6 months

Career Prospects: Graphic Designer, Creative Director, Visual Designer, UI/UX Designer.

4. Data Analytics

This course covers the basics of data analytics, with a focus on techniques for analysis and interpretation of data. Starting from Excel for basic data manipulation, moving through SQL for database querying, students learn basic programming languages like Python and R for statistical analysis and data manipulation purposes. 

The course curriculum covers real case studies and projects, giving hands-on experience to apply the acquired skills toward data-driven decision-making and analytical thinking. 

Duration: 3-6 months

Career Prospects: Data Analyst, Business Analyst, Data Scientist, Market Analyst.

5. Cybersecurity

A course in cybersecurity lets you know how to protect the systems and associated networks from cyber threats. The course covers network security principles, ethical hacking techniques, and cryptography to secure data. 

Students get hands-on engaging practical labs and simulations to turn out good at the detection of vulnerabilities and implementation of safety measures against cyber-attacks. After 12th students can take up this course to become prepared for a career in the ever-evolving field of cybersecurity.

Duration: 3-6 months

Career Prospects: Cybersecurity Analyst, Ethical Hacker, Information Security Manager, Security Consultant.

6. Project Management

Project management is a very useful course for students aiming for HR-related jobs in the future. They will learn the basics about how to plan a project: determine the scope of a project, set objectives, and allocate resources. 

Risk management techniques are usually taught as well to identify and minimize the potential risks that a project involves. Through real-world projects and simulation, students acquire the ability to lead and manage projects to deliver on time and to success, which goes on to prove why students would be an invaluable asset in any organization.

Duration: 2-3 months

Career Prospects: Project Manager, Operations Manager, Scrum Master, Project Coordinator.

7. Financial Modelling

This course covers the essential skills for building and analysing financial models. You will learn how to prepare comprehensive statements of finance and run ratio analysis. The techniques covered in this course also include projections of future financial performance by various forecasting techniques and valuation techniques. 

It adds discounted cash flow and comparable company analysis. Students learn how to build robust financial models through practical exercises and case studies that help drive investment decisions, business planning, and strategic analysis. This course is an absolute necessity for someone interested in finance as a career.

Duration: 2-3 months

Career Prospects: Financial Analyst, Investment Banker, Corporate Finance Professional, Equity Research Analyst.

8. Event Management

The course is designed for students interested in fundamentals of event planning based on setting objectives, budgeting, and scheduling. Marketing ideas for the promotion and attraction of prospective attendees to come to the events are also taught in the course. 

Duration: 3-6 months

Career Prospects: Event Planner, Wedding Planner, Event Coordinator, Conference Organizer.

9. Content Writing

A course in content writing helps you to learn the principles of effective copywriting, including how to craft compelling headlines and persuasive calls to action. Creative writing modules improve your storytelling abilities, and research techniques ensure accuracy and credibility. 

By the end of this class, you will be equipped to create engaging content for websites, blogs, social media, and other digital platforms.

Duration: 2-3 months

Career Prospects: Content Writer, Copywriter, Editor, Blogger.

10. Photography

A good photography course impart artistic and technical skills needed in taking photographs. From the operations of the camera to learning different settings on your camera, students are trained to take good pictures. 

It includes techniques, such as lighting and composition, and exposure. Students are given training in photo editing software like Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop to enhance or manipulate images. The course also covers image editing. Search “Image editing Course near me” to find any reliable course on photography and image editing.

By the end of the course, you will have a strong portfolio of work and the skills needed to pursue various careers in photography. If you are passionate about photography it is highly advised to start building a niche portfolio of your style early. 

Duration: 3-6 months

Career Prospects: Photographer, Photojournalist, Freelance Photographer, Commercial Photographer.

Conclusion

These courses provide hands-on training for fresh job entry or an upgrade in any particular field. When you make a decision, consider your interests, strengths, and career goals to choose a course that can place you on the right path to follow up with your dreams. If you need help regarding choosing the right short term course, or looking for an Online Fullstack Development Course, contact Career Boss Institute. 

[smillinerarts246]

Week 11

The reading this week introduced the challenges of modern typographic education and then proceeded to outline different influential projects used to teach students the nuances, meaning, and interrelationships of type. It was interesting to see multiple projects featured that I have done during my time in the GD+I program here and reading about their significance to typographic education as a whole. I remember being less than thrilled with some of the assignments, but afterwards, having a clearer, deeper understanding of concepts. For example, we were assigned the visual organization and grid structures project where we had to make 3 grids by hand which showed the differences between weights of type. It was definitely a detailed process but it forced me to learn how different applications of type appear to the eye.

I have split my focus this week between the TypeHike project and the process book project. I was feeling stuck at the beginning of the week because I felt that my designs for my Carlsbad Caverns poster were incomplete and no longer exciting. I would sit at my computer and stare at the design for amounts of time I am not proud to admit, trying to figure out what was missing. I finally had a breakthrough after I jumped in and started experimenting with variations. I added in what looks like the mouth of a cave, which opens to reveal the cave-like letters I designed initially. I think I am very close to the final piece with this variation and am excited to work to coordinate it with my type specimen and postcards. I have also been brainstorming for my process book. I am excited to approach this process book with more freedom and awareness than the one I did for ARTS102. My idea is to produce a book which is a square shape (7 in x 7 in), and which is centered around the idea of the fluidity of my design process. I have come to learn in my classes that each new project I take on has a different workflow – a changing element which I am excited to discover with each new assignment. So my goal for my design right now is to draw out a different shape for each typography assignment I have done representing the shape my process took. I would like to keep the design meaningful, yet still simple to let my projects shine.

[c-mccormick-svad-2022-2025]

Ch. 1: Evolution of Typography & Project #1 (Cont.)

As a continuation of the project introduced last week, this week was primarily dedicated to creating the design direction and feel for the music festival design system. Referring back to my previous post, my aim was to create a music festival design system that embodies the look and feelings associated with folk and indie music in the 21st century. While folk music originates from all areas of the world and has many different meanings and feelings associated with the genre depending on the culture in which it originates, I could have gone in multiple directions with my concept. Similarly, when it comes to indie music, which is short for "independent," there are limitless possibilities in terms of creating a defined look and feel for the genre. Instead, I decided to combine both indie folk and national parks, as I tend to associate this type of music with places surrounded by nature and natural beauty, bringing a sense of calmness to a rather hectic world.

I decided to choose a music genre to associate with my design system and then narrowed down which artists to involve in a fictional music festival and where it would take place. My goal is to create designs that replicate real-life design scenarios as well as designs that I would personally want to see, buy, and wish were real. I referred back to my Spotify account to choose multiple artists and bands that have a similar look, feel, and vibe in terms of visuals and sound. Some of the artists include (but are not limited to) Noah Kahn, Hoizer, Nial Horan, The Lumineers, Bon Iver, The Bleachers, The Nationals, HAIM, American Authors, and Boygenius. After selecting 12 different artists, I decided to treat this project realistically and chose Congaree National Park as the festival's main venue. Using a national park as the location and in the branding design for the music festival captures the natural vibes associated with indie folk music and encourages visitors to explore and admire it. Additionally, the festival is a wonderful opportunity to teach visitors about the importance of preserving national parks in the United States. Good music, good times, good vibes, and national park preservation - all in one!

After finalizing my idea, I turned to Pinterest for some visual inspiration. I searched for vintage and rustic patterns, wood, folk typeface, collage folk art, animals playing instruments, fun with typography, national park typeface, geometric patterns, organic patterns, and nature patterns. I found hundreds of inspirational materials and narrowed them down to fit an 11" x 17" paper, which resulted in my final mood board. I gathered typefaces that reflected the folk indie music genre and included photographs of Congaree National Park during different times of the day, along with various patterns and textures. My favorite elements on the mood board were the earthy, jewel tones in the color palette, which I felt captured the beauty of national parks. I also loved the illustrations of animals dancing and playing instruments. For my feature poster idea, I plan to incorporate these animal illustrations into the design. Instead of using illustrations, I will take photos of animals from Congaree National Park and add unique, illustrative elements to give each animal a fun personality. These elements may include pairing animals with instruments, different emotions, and dancing. Although this idea is still being developed, this is the vibe and the visual elements I want to incorporate into the poster design.

After creating a mood board, my typography professor instructed me to generate names and logo ideas for a fictional music festival. I came up with several ideas, as shown in the images above, but I chose to incorporate Congaree into the festival's title. However, I'm willing to change the title to make it more general if necessary, so that the design system can be used by other national parks hosting music festivals in the future. For this project, my main focus is on the music festival taking place in Congaree National Park. After generating many names, I decided to go with "Congaree Melodies Music Fest," as I felt it had a nice ring to it and it also rhymes. I experimented with handwritten type to give the logo a more organic look, and I am still experimenting with various logo concepts, but I feel like I'm heading in the right direction!

In referring to the readings for this week, which include Chapter 1: Evolution of Typography from the textbook titled "Typographic Design: Form and Communication," I found the visuals to be more helpful than the written content. I was fascinated by how the core principles and elements of typography can be traced back thousands of years. Amazingly, typography was not even a concept back then. The Gutenberg bible has always been interesting to me from a historical perspective, and it's nice to see it appreciated in the context of typography. Using mass-produced movable type sounds difficult, but intriguing at the same time. It would be a treat to have the opportunity to work with letterpress printing in the future. The quality of craftsmanship and uniqueness associated with it often go underappreciated in today's society. My favorite section of this chapter was the use of typography at the end of the nineteenth century and into the twentieth century. Typography began to be viewed as a creative-driven form that looked to utilize type in fun and unique ways. I argue that many graphic designers and artists are still trying to do this today. There is an element of this practice that encourages experimentation and embracing imperfections, which I strive to focus on more and more as I create. Though I still consider myself a perfectionist in many ways, I find myself learning to appreciate not only the uniqueness of my mistakes but also the charming imperfections associated with them.