Ups and downs
These sketches are probably better than my typed words tonight. It’s getting late and I should get to bed.
Basically we went to Portland for the Stumptown Comics Fest this weekend, which was pretty amazing and inspiring. I picked up a lot of great new stuff, and I’ll probably elaborate more on it later.
But when we got back last night I found Sam, one of my little gerbils, had died over the weekend. I’m still pretty upset over it. I know he was just a gerbil but he was like one of my kids and every time I think about him I start crying.
Sesquipedalian
So, I finally finished Big Word Bird #3 as you can see above. Thought I’d try out Flickr’s new video ability. Looks a lot nicer than YouTube, but seems pretty simliar to Vimeo. Anyways, YAY. I’m glad I finally got that done. There are quite a bit of things I could polish up on it (timing, color, and end bit probably), but I really just wanted to get it out because I’ve had sketches and stuff for it for so long.
It’s not quite what I was expecting to end up with but that’s the fun part of experimenting. And I have to remember the main point of these things is to just get me to mess around with stuff for fun. I liked my little characters, it’s kinda sad they have such a small part. It’d be fun to use them for something else too, but I’m not sure what they’d be good for.
Ideas are a brewing for the next ones. I bought some clay last week that I really want to use so I foresee a clay based idea next…
Bloody Skittles & work stuff
For those who wonder what I do
Apparently the Global Warming Reeses spot I made on was Ad of the Day on April 8th, which I think is pretty silly. Looking at it (esp in that tiny 2 inch player) you’d never guess how much pixel fucking it took to get that thing out the door. The concept was from the agency. My main job was making it look hot and wiggly. At least I got an amazing dinner out of it from Nishino, which is now probably my FAVORITE sushi place in Seattle now.
Luckily I’m getting to do more than just make things wiggly lately. The past week has been pretty fun, although I guess the project is all like top secret. But I can say I spent a lot of time watching cartoon network and drawing characters. It seems that every time I have an opportunity to draw things for work I’m amazed that I’m getting paid to do it. Sometimes I wonder if I should switch jobs and just drawing things all day. But then I think maybe the novelty would wear off and I’d get jaded.
Also, watch out for the SIFF trailer and bumpers coming up. We worked on it this year and Angelo stars in one of them too! His 8 seconds of bigscreen glory.
Advertising etc
I don’t watch a ton of tv but when I do I have this bad habit of scrutinizing all the ads. It’s hard not to now that I sort of make them. I don’t inherently hate ads or being advertised to, in fact if they’re done well I rather enjoy them. Motionographer is full of mostly stuff done for advertising, and I watch those willingly. No, what really bothers me about most of the stuff I see on TV is the collective impression I get about being part of certain target audiences.
For instance, watching True Life (one of the only things I watch on MTV anymore) I get the feeling that advertisers think I’m a reckless redneck idiot. According to them I’m probably: dumb enough to pay 10 bucks a month for shitty cellphone wall paper and ring tones, probably a good candidate for working in construction, into suburban angst punk bands covering crunk songs, like destroying thing, and a fan of ninjas. (I guess the last one isn’t too far fetched.)
Watching Top Chef on Bravo I get the feeling that I’m suppose to be an insecure and lonely fat chick. Because all those ads are about getting a date, looking at wedding dresses, looking tanner, being less wrinkley, losing weight, and buying furniture. Watching them together and taking them in collectively I sometimes wonder what me watching certain shows says about my particular highly studied targeted demographic. And what it says about me.
The April Series?
I’m going to try and draw this month. Hopefully I can keep it up for the whole month. We’ll see what happens I guess. I don’t know why I get these sudden urges to do these in phases, it’s weird. Anyways, this time around I’m trying the only-using-pen route since the past couple have been only pencil, which apparently doesn’t reproduce very well. Also hoping that the pen-only route would make these faster, but I don’t think it’s working out like that. Anyways, here is one of four right now. Check the flickr if you wanna see more, thought it would be silly to post them on both.
Side note
I’ve realized one of my constant internal issues revolves around finding a balance between time spent consuming and time spent producing.
Woo Party Party
Feels like the past week or so has been pretty packed. The bro had a Rockband/Karaoke party. We went to Dance Dance Party Party. Went to a birthday party. And we had people over for a mini-food party. (Still totally in love with the mini-wet burritos the neighbors brought over.) And of course the plethora of dance classes and stuff. Started going to African dance class again. Still doing salsa (we’re at 3b now!). And trying to drop into “Bottom Heavy Funk” classes when I can. And still going in for pilates, which I’ve found I really enjoy. It’s been harder to get myself to the gym.
And of course throughout all this I’ve had these ridiculously obnoxious allergies/virus/something annoying hitting me really bad. Although I noticed it seems to go away when I’m doing something pretty active. I just wish my face wasn’t such a snot factory.
Yup? Yep.
Sometimes I feel ridiculous living in Fremont. I dunno, it feels like living in a little bubble sometimes. Not that I don’t like it, I really love being within walking distance to a bunch of cool stuff and the area in general is pretty nice. But something about it makes me feel like a mini yuppie poser of sorts. Or maybe high end hippe. Local organic groceries. Fancy boutique shops. Vegan bakery. Yoga pilates studios. Meat market bars. Gyms. Tourists. Although I spend most of my time on Cap Hill anyways. I guess the bubble is nice though, and I’m glad I don’t live on the hill. The hill is cool but I like retreating to my little bubble.
3 minutes or less
3 minute masterpiece contest actually sounds kinda fun. Might be a good excuse to get a story together for a little animated short. Now to just come up with a story. And some time to work on it…
Addictions etc
Not that anyone really cares but I now have a complete High Seas Rivalry set! Yeah…I’m a nerd. I have been spending WAY too much time playing this stupid PackRat game on facebook this past week. I really don’t know why, it’s such a ridiculous game..collecting little icons that you can’t really use for anything. Sigh.
Prom #4
Let’s see.. lots of other stuff happening lately. Last friday Angelo & I went to a prom themed dance at Century, which was pretty amazing. I picked up a prom dress from Value Village for like 15 bucks. I think it’s actually nicer than my real prom dresses were. It was great seeing everyone all dressed up and the variety of people (wide range of ages and sexual orientations) that came out for it. And the music was awesome. We even got prom pictures!
Stylin
Also found up a fierce (yes, i’m glad Christian won project runway) derby hat and a vintage suit with the long coat tails that magically fit me perfectly. I just need somewhere fun to wear it to now. Probably to the next burlesque show. I feel like I’ve been playing dress up a lot lately, it’s fun! I think we need to have more themed parties.
Sagmeister
Tuesday we saw Sagmeister, one of my favorite superstar designers. It was great hearing him talk about his work, alot of which I hadn’t seen before. It’s nice to get a refreshing look at how design can live outside of what it’s usually used for.
The one thing that sort of stood out to me during the whole talk though was the fact that he said as he got older he was increasingly more interested in visceral aesthetically driven work more so than idea based work. This coming from the guy who is famous for saying “style=fart” and a guy who I think has some of the most interesting idea based work. It made me kind of sad to hear it from him, but I think it makes sense.
As much as I don’t like to admit it I feel like I need to have more balance between ideas and style. One thing I’ve learned being in the work world is that unfortunately good ideas often lose out to somewhat vapid ones that just happen to look cooler.
Educational
For those of you who have always wondered how to say my last name, and educational video. The animation is kinda rough, but I think it serves its purpose at least.
How to say my last name from zephyrbunny on Vimeo.
Happy body
Yay. It’s been a good week. Lots of dancing and having fun and just being un-lazy overall. Feels so good. I’m so ready for spring to kick into full gear. This weather makes me so much happier. Pilates is awesome.
Of course on the flip side, my non physical endeavors (learning 3D, Processing, etc) have been taking a back seat for now, which is unfortunate, but I think I can always come back to that…
Keeping Track
I signed up for Gyminee earlier this week, which is basically just an awesome way to track daily nutrition and workout stuff. I’ve never been very successful at keeping that type of stuff together. But this seems like an pretty painless way to do it. If anything it just brings me more awareness about the small things I choose to do everyday, which is always good.
Santogold
I need to get myself some more of this Santogold stuff (the music behind this little video). She reminds me a little of Tegan and Sarah & MIA in the few song I’ve heard from her. But looks like she doesn’t have a whole album out yet. Sad times. Also, this litte zune arts thing is cute. Makes me want to make puppets.
activate spring mode
I think the beautiful weather this weekend helped me shake off my winter lazies. I’m feeling more motivated to get active again. I haven’t been to any of my dance classes in a while, and I think it’s making me a little crazy. And I’m at an all time high in pudginess. Not good.
I did some searching and filled my calendar with after-work classes (samba, african dance, pilates, etc) I can drop into. So I basically have the option to do something fun and physical just about every day of the week, although i don’t think i’d go EVERY day. It’s just nice knowing what my options are.
I also finally got a membership to the gym by my house. I’ve always been somewhat skeptical about my ability to commit to going to the gym regularly enough to warrant a membership. But this place is open 24/7 and is like 3 blocks from my house. And, since it’s inside I won’t be able to use the “it’s too cold/rainy/whatever” excuse. I’m going to try going in the mornings, before work. We’ll see how well that works though…
WIP
Also, coming soon, a short animation to help you pronounce my last name! I’m almost done with it…. Ideas for future short animations (in addition to the big word bird stuff I want to get back into) include promotions for various fruits and veggies that I like. Because all the crap food and sugar water out there gets all the attention. I’d like to use the power of mograph to promote good old fruits and veggies. If only to remind myself I should eat more of them too. First on my list is bananas.
pixel fucking
“I’ve always mistrusted it as a phrase — apart from sounding vaguely pornographic, I think when you succumb to ‘look and feel’ you’re only a hop and a skip away from mood boards, and that really is the end of design as we know it.”
(regarding “look and feel,” via Design Observer)
Sometimes I feel like the process is all wrong. A little cart before the horse.
I always hear people preaching that solid ideas should always come first.
Sometimes I get the feeling people don’t actually believe that.
I feel like I should still hold on to it though.
Maybe it’s cause I’m still a noob.
Or maybe just idealistic.
What can I say?
I like ideas.
Obama
A collection of propoganda. I honestly don’t know that much about the issues, but I do know that I’m impressed by the visual media surrounding Obama. And I know that in general, I get a pretty good vibe from him. Let’s hope tomorrow goes well.
There’s already tons of discussion about the awesomeness of the Obama site all over the place, so I’m not getting into that. I just think it’s interesting how the first thing I thought when I saw it was “that looks like a television network id…SHINE” Not surprising to find out they partnered with mode, a mograph firm.
An example of a really good viral. It was just released a few days ago and I’ve seen it everywhere. It’s wholesome, goodnatured, and independently produced (even if it is by celebs). Its refreshing to see a viral work for a good cause, not just some company trying to get on the low-budget video wagon.
Propoganda Engineering in a positive light, independently produced by the one and only OBEY giant. It’s interesting to see so many of these (and similar) optimistic posters being plastered everywhere when the format is so often used for very negative messages. (anti-this or anti-that).
