Inspire me ~

Happy Weekends! For me anyways, sorry to rub it in to those who still have uni tomorrow I shouldn’t be too proud about it though – I have to clean up the house tomorrow!

Well anyways, 2nd week is over – boy, does time fly! I’ve never had a 2.5 day timetable before; and this is what it feels like. I think more than 50% of the time I feel like I’m on holidays still… not sure if that’s a good thing? It has been rather eventful, my lovely uni-days almost like a perfect tetris compilation. 9-5pm days. I’ve already found myself falling behind readings! ah yes, good old readings.. .when will I ever keep up with them! The pressure’s on, with assessments starting to fly in from every direction! But the way I function, I can’t completely devote myself to getting things done and out of the way.

While I’d like to avoid the heavy load of reading; I want to be engaged in creative works. I’m still trying to find the passion plus time to improve on things, build a portfolio etc. How am I to inspire myself again? Yes, I was once inspired.. it had created sparks, lit the flame, but not enough to keep it going. I would have to say though, I have received some good words of advice, from established designers. I attended Amnesia Open Studio last year, for their seminars.. on Inspiration, getting a job etc. I thought I’d share the Inspiration bit with my peers – while also trying to inspire myself too.. haha..

First and Foremost; Design is EVERYWHERE; So don’t be let down that there aren’t jobs out there! Regardless of GFC, it is important to promote yourself; do alot of freelance work.. for free. Make Connections!

If you have difficulty getting inspired; give these a go (as Presented by the Founder of ‘People like  Us’)

Inspiration Wall; more on Flickr

• COLLECT INSPIRATIONS; These could range from stock images/illustrations/any form of digital art.
• Arrange them in a series of folders on your computer, by date, or under categories, e.g. water.
• Build folders of everything inspiring! Colour palettes, textures, fonts, montage, patterns, web layouts, magazine design layouts etc.
• Keep the sizes to a limit, e.g. 150 files in each folder.
• Likewise, you could physically collect nightclub flyers, post cards.. and create a moodboard for yourself! I like to call this an Inspiration Wall. (I’m still working on mine…)

And another thing; there is no harm in ‘trying’ other’s styles, as long as you are not 100% copying their work! Nothing is completely original, as it is likely to be an inspiration from something else! Let it be a learning experience, to build up your own ‘style’. .. watch your Inspiration Grow..

Amnesia Open Studio is on again this year! 7-8th April! Check it Out!

Rant; I dislike video-recording myself.. especially when sensible talk is involved! I’m sad I have to re-record my Manifesto!

WordPress theme; Achieved

I’ve spent the last 2-3 days offline during ‘peak hours’ because we only have less than 120mb left of our monthy bandwith until March 12th. So I initiated the idea so that over the weekend we will still have fast internet during the day and after midnight. Not sure if really is a great idea – but so far, I’m surprised I managed to survive offline for 12hours! It just meant going out and possibly doing the irregular chores.

So I spent one online session, gathering info on how to make my own wordpress theme. Following the tutorial on Web Designer Wall (I loveee that site!) The coding itself, didn’t take too long.. heh about an hour and a bit. What took the most time was coming up with the design on the spot; although I followed the layout of the default theme.. For the first time I’ve managed to do a mock version of a theme on photoshop – with layers all neatly arranged; subfolders within folders etc.

In a way, it is a good practice; for a persion who just keeps adding layers without renaming them – I think thats the next approach for me.

Overall, it wasn’t too hard once you manage to understand the code abit more. I’ve been frustrated about php for years – and wonder how I’ll manage to learn it! I guess through doing these little things will give me a better understanding CSS + PHP! I’m kind of loving the ability of making these themes… perhaps I should find time to do more – just for fun! Who knows, maybe I’ll even start a Resources section for my upcoming site on Clarzzique.com !

In Bloom (a quick title on the spot), was inspired by a colour pallette (in previous post), it reminded me I had once taken a photo and processed it with the same colour tones. Hence I decided to reuse it as my banner. Come to think of it, its Autumn! This feels like a transition from Winter – Spring. So really, I should be coming up with an Autumn theme, bringing out those warm browns.

About the UNSW Net Literacy Project

I think I’ve finally managed to hook everything up, the twitter, diigo etc. Twitter’s fun! I need more friends though Add me: clarzzy

I’m hopping this blog post would appear on the newsouthblogs page = successful! I’m liking the sense of networking with other students doing the same course; through reading blogs I feel that you can better understand the other person. Facebook is great – but it really doesn’t say much about the person and what they are in to. Such as the; interests section probably only gets updated once and never touched again.

Well, Uni has resumed – although luckily for me I start on Tuesday arvo; so I’ve still got the day to ‘bum’ around Maybe after the first week; people will start getting into this netlit project! Exciting! Can’t wait to see you all on the blogosphere

r e b o r n

by Clarzzique.

I’ve always wanted to own a personal domain/webspace – so that I can be able to unleash my creative and technical flairs, if any. After years of contemplating over; where to purchase it from.. and most importantly, Who/What do I want to be known as in this invisible space of interaction; the world-wide-web.

As some of you are aware, I have been practicing behind ‘Clarzzique’ for the past several months and have come to believe that I’m truly ‘owning’ this identity in terms of social groups, designing, photography – just to name a few. As ‘Clarzzique’ hints that it is a combination of my name & the adjective ‘classic’ (which is simply defined as ‘creation of the highest excellence’); reflects the characteristics of my creative works. I like to challenge myself by discovering the unseen beauty of things that may appear as unappealing; such as taking a piece of ordinary printed fabric and creating something beautiful. It is amazing just to see what one can become, most importantly is to remember that there are no boundaries in design, Just endless opportunities!

There are still alot of things I want to learn, need to learn in order to be succesful in the future, so this is just the beginning.Having said that, I’m still in the process of discovering my ‘signature style’, and hoping that through this project (online folio) it will encourage me to find it soon.

Just a piece of mind I would like to share with you all; as a beginning of what’s to come ~ on Clarzzique.com~

~ clarzzy.