things i did when i turned legal

mmhmmm. bdaytatt+cigs. yups.

WHY IS HE SO STUPIDDDDD???

Posted by miyavicake at 2:05 AM 0 comments

i turned 18!

would your dragon be big and colored?

mhmm

(giggity)

LOL what's with that?

u don't get it?

it's from family guy

it's to suggest the presence of an innuendo

a risque double-entendre

OH!

i just...

hKASFSDKJHF

you pervert

lol

get used to it, you adult

hey

i'm only 25 minutes in

20-sex now

hahaha

huh??

u were 26 minutes in so i made a pun

oh

*OH

geez

looks like

i'm getting oldr

yeah, that's thirty

damn

and it's addling my brain

thirty one

lol

you're a thirty one

were you gonna say "dirty" instead of "thirty"?

hahaha

oh god XD

i'm so good at this

freaking ricky haha

u mean, fucking ricky

hahaha

GOD DAMMIT XDD

NO XD

that dirty bastard.

GENIUS INSIGHT!!

omg

you know what i just realized

dob = date of birth

and today

is my DOB

and I'm talking to you

you dob

dob in your case

equals dirty old bastard

Posted by miyavicake at 12:32 AM 0 comments

albie and i had a grown up talk today...

omg

did i tell you

about my little condom incident?

so i went to a party

and they had concoms on the table

i thought the condoms were candies

cuz like the packaging was all nice and shiney and cool looking

so i picked one up

and it was squishy LOL

i was like "wtf? squishy candy??"

then i flipped it over and hyperventilated

god and i threw it back down on the table

and the security guards laughed at me D:

OMG LOL

HAHAHAHAHAH

was this at one of your raves?

lol no this one was less shady

it was at Royal/T

OH

HAHAHAH

but there was like a pile near the door

WTF.

so i thought it was like "goodbye thanks for stopping by" candies

do they expect customers to have the secks inside the cafe or something O_O

OMG LOL

LOL I dunno...

goobye, thanks for coming, have a condom

LOL yeah

stay protected

save sex

*SAFE

LOL SAVE

lol typo

save the sex! its endangered

my friend bought a pack of condoms from riteaid once

and he lit the condoms on fire

so it was like

flaming condoms

bonfire -esque

LOL whyyy??

just for kicks lol

you know

flaming condoms

not something you see all the time

XD

was it... fun??

idk about fun

it was

interesting.

lol maybe i should try that

since i'm not gonna use the condom anyway

wait you still have the condom from the party? O_O

whoah jenny

stocking up

Well my friend took one

and I was like... okay what the hell lol

but i'm not gonna use it

it's a souvenir XD

LOl

you're gonna need it one day

or not

i mean maybe one day you'll need a glove to like go gardening or something

use it as a makeshift glove

LOLL

it only has space for one finger!

STRETCH IT ;P

lol one finger glove

youre like poking around the soil

it'll only be good for digging holes lol

and maybe transferring dirt and stuff

like a huge stocking

lol huge stocking xD

DUDE PLANT A PLANT IN IT

LOL OMG MAYBE I WILL!

and hang it

HAHAHA

have a bunch of them

hanging in front of your doorstep

new trend

LOL

yeah it'll just be like

lightweight plastic colored "pots"

LOL omg yea they have colored ones

dude condoms are versatile o.o

don't laugh at my shitty drawing. D:

Posted by miyavicake at 11:01 PM 0 comments

bai ling

voilà, i present you... Bai Ling!

Posted by miyavicake at 1:27 AM 1 comments

work

y'annow, work ain't so bad when i think back on it.

first i met samurel hung, then edwin birdsong, then bai ling (today!!).

i wonder who is next?

maybe jay chou??? XD

Posted by miyavicake at 10:33 PM 0 comments

product redesign: the alarm clock (Part 1 - Brainstorming)

the problem:

too bright, too loud, too big, too "old-fashioned VCR," too many buttons, numbers are too small, and the list goes on and on.

the solution (or just things i can add/change):

• anti-slip iPod/iPhone dock (basically mp3 capability)
• USB jacks (can transfer songs up to 64 MB?)
• different alarms, e.g.: one for school, one for work, one for your favorite TV show...
• (following the above) different sounds for each different alarm (ex: TV show theme)
• numerical keypad input
• AM/FM/HD radio support
• multi-language support for song titles in radio function
• small size
• large LCD screen
• LED lights?
• self-programmable snooze time e.g. "I want to snooze for exactly seven minutes."
• limited snooze time ex: two times MAX and then it won't shut up
• consider snooze button size (big or small? why?)
• on/off toggle function for the snooze button
• on/off toggle function for the alarm*
• 9V rechargeable backup battery to retain settings
• power plug?
• solar panels?
• soil powered? (sustainability!)
• EASY SET UP!!
• bigger numbers
• manual time set + radio frequency time set
• alarm sound gradually increases?
• wall mounting function?? [x]
• speech-to-set?
• number colors matter! (red or green? why?)
• sleek design (not too "old-fashioned" but "old-fashioned-with-a-twist")
• "scented" like the bacon alarm clock [x]

there we are. that's where my list of ideas stand... for now.

oh, there are also the niche-based alarm clocks:

musician alarm clock: plays the alarm off-key and keeps terrible time measures (har har har)

news anchor's clock: since news anchors have to wake up early, i'll blend the alarm clock with a coffee machine. get the joke? TROLOLOLOLOLOL. (on second thought, ix this idea. goggy person + hot coffee = crotch burn. just make sure that the alarm clock is a supplement to the coffee maker.)

EDIT: NEW IDEAS

• HOLOPHONIC PILLOW ALARM CLOCK
• trickster alarm clock (tells you the false time)
• induction/charging station alarm clock

Posted by miyavicake at 7:13 PM 1 comments

Hot Topic: iPad

albie and i discuss the iPad.

[he mentions that he saw an iPad yesterday at a restaurant in San Gabriel]

like wtf youre at a restaurant

you're supposed to be eating

its not like the ipads an iplate now

i was just like

you fool

i spit on you

*pah*

LOLLL

omg XD i miss you

it might as well be a big ass coaster

actually you could use it for a lot of things

if they made like the screen scratch and water proof

it could possibly become iEverything

like a coaster

or self defense

like rapist comes up and you pull out your iWhack and like pow

Posted by miyavicake at 5:32 PM 0 comments

spring break with nothing to do? will blog!

heheh... ain't that cute?

this is the first of a series of a massive blog update.

due to (a lack of a) spring break, i found so many cool things now that i have so much spare time.

i thought i'd share. (:

remember how i dedicated one blog entirely to t-shirts? i found yet another cool one:

this one goes out to my webgeek friends haha. you know who you are. (;

i'd wear that shirt though. damn, there are so many cool things out there... it's really unfortunate that i don't have the funds to purchase all of them. ):

i learned in economics class that that situation is called the "real income" concept where an individual's income cannot pay for everything he or she wants.*

*i say "want" and not "need" because "needs" are essential and therefore a person's income should cover that.

new food chain:

looks like we're not on the top anymore.

...more to come!

i've got LOTS of time on my hands. (;

Posted by miyavicake at 2:34 PM 0 comments

genius idea!!

i am SO doing this for my brother and my future kids.

Posted by miyavicake at 11:03 AM 0 comments

Darn it, Art Center!

i swear.

art center likes to give me mini seizures.

i just got this in the mail today:

godddddddddddd.

i thought i was rejected for the scholarship when i saw the thin postcard.

i couldn't even read it because my heart already plummeted into my stomach at the sight of how small the "letter" was.

sakdhkjashdksahfjkHDFKAHFKASFHKJHSFKJsqeuyuH!!

NO MORE LITTLE WARNING NOTICES, DAMMIT!

i want my scholarship money!!

Posted by miyavicake at 7:12 PM 0 comments

post rave blog

on the day of the rave, i bought some 5 Hour Energy.

BLEEEEHHHH. NASTY STUFF but does the trick.

i could have pulled an all-nighter if i had to.

on the drive over, Grace and i got lost when we were almost there. x.x

we had to drain my iPhone's batteries while using its GPS so no pictures guys. sorry ):

we got there without a hitch though.

the whole shindig was right across LAX.

there was so much fog that night/morning. *_____*

the weather was wonderful.

everything looked so mysterious yet fresh and alive at the same time.

the rave itself was cool too.

we got there around... 1:30 AM.

my friend was playing at 2 - 3 AM. we wanted to be there to see him.

it was definitely something new and something i would do again.

although, i do have to admit that i was ultimately more interested in people watching and the multicolored lasers than actually raving.

i just liked being there. (i also liked the fact that i got in on the guestlist. ;) )

i didn't even mind the fact that everyone around me was on drugs (or so i was told).

speaking of the other people, we met some very interesting characters:

"marine": total creep. was very sure of himself. felt up Gracie's leg. asked us if we were going to "make out with any boys" and if we "had boyfriends." only became a marine because "it was either that or ten years in jail."

"black birthday teddy": it was his birthday that day (or so he says). very polite. husky, like a black grizzly. danced with us a bit and left. we had a very short and sweet meeting.

"goth girl": scary looking with lots of black and pounds of make up. piercings everywhere. was actually pretty nice! proved that looks (and slutty outfits with high platform shoes) can be deceiving!

Dylan: my friend's friend, haha. knows a lot about music. heard he's a concept artist for ACME. was really nice to a "crazy" guy. lives in San Francisco.

...that's about everyone that we interacted with, haha.

we were total wallflowers!

oh, Gracie thinks she saw her friend Joon AKA "Junie" there, haha.

after the rave, Gracie and i met up with my DJ friend and Dylan and we went out to grab a bite nearby. during dinner they taught us many things about music! it was so great and enlightening.

then Dylan drove us to my friend's house so we can look up directions to get back to my place, haha. (remember, my iPhone ran out of batteries!)

we got the directions and were able to get home safely... at 5 AM! haha.

well, that does it, she and i are so up for all the future parties!

there's one on April 16th, an 18+ party (which my friend pulled some strings to get me into), another one the next day, April 17th, a private birthday party which i also got invited to for some reason, and one more on May 1st, a party all the way out in Bakersfield... it's supposed to be huge! then of course, EDC (Electric Daisy Carnival) in June.

Posted by miyavicake at 5:48 PM 0 comments

losing my rave virginity tonight!

once again, talking to albielove.

ALBIE

I'M GOING TO A RAVE TONIGHT

YEAAAHHHH

is it doorway rave?!

unfortunately, no. ):

I wouldn't have the doorway rave without you

it's underground

O_O

WHAT

wtf are you going O_O

to like

the hood?

he's too cute.

Posted by miyavicake at 6:59 PM 0 comments

my new artistic philosophy

this tuesday Schoffman, my figure drawing teacher, taught us yet another valuable lesson.

he told us this little gem:

"'less is more' only if you fail at 'more is more.'"

it's true; in design and in art one should never be content with mediocrity-- one should strive to be something more. (case in point: da Vinci's Mona Lisa.) in art and design one should never try to see what one can "get away with." rather, one should assess why the piece doesn't work and fix it.

that reminds me of another thing Schoffman taught us: never be afraid to admit and make mistakes. never be afraid to fix your work. just never be afraid.

i am going to take a page out of Schoffman's book and adopt his artistic view.

i am going to challenge myself. i will be extraordinary!

Posted by miyavicake at 4:37 PM 0 comments

DESIGNER OLYMPICS???

when you come to ACCD in two years

i will pass the torch over to you haha

lol designer olympics

DUDE

OLYMPICS FOR DESIGNERS

like for a triathalon

you could do like

design a product in 15 minutes

then you run over and do a quick like 3d model on the computer

then you make a physical model

and whoever finishes first wins

i love you, albie. (:

Posted by miyavicake at 11:02 PM 0 comments

edwin birdsong pt. 4

i got up the guts to call edwin yesterday.

he was in a meeting and said he'd call me back within an hour.

he didn't so i guess he was too busy to call me back.

now what do i do?

should i call him?

what if he's still busy?

AUGGGHGHHGHGHHGDJSAHGKSH///

i really want to help on his project.

i really want to know what it is.

DAMMIT.

i hope he swings by tomorrow night so we can talk about it.

his voicemail is funny lol.

oh and he gave me his NY phone number too. LULZZZ.

that must have been a corporate number...

Posted by miyavicake at 10:10 PM 0 comments

edwin birdsong pt. 3

so guys, i kid you not.

as you can see, edwin birdsong just gave me his phone number.

oh, he uses iChat too.

ain't he just happenin'? haha!

HE NEEDS MY HELP WITH A PROJECT HUR HUR HURRRRR.

happy~ ^^

Posted by miyavicake at 11:14 PM 1 comments

I LOVE YOU ART CENTER!!!

I'M A COLLEGE GIRL NOW.

AHAHAHAHAHA.

SUCK IT, HIGH SCHOOL!!

I JUST GOT MY ART CENTER ACCEPTANCE LETTER TODAY!!!

la la la~~~~

i just got accepted into the #2 design college IN THE WORLD.

hell yeah. i can boast.

EDIT: looks like i misread the BusinessWeek list. ACCD is actually #1... in America... for ID.

Posted by miyavicake at 5:04 PM 0 comments

bgi??

where did my background image go?? o.o

EDIT: guess it's gone... ):

Posted by miyavicake at 9:23 PM 0 comments

BEST DAY EVER (for now)

cloud watching

and in the grass

in the breeze

had a long talk about humanity and stuff

then we had a play fight

then my teacher was absent

then i come back and Edwin Birdsong (two time Grammy award winner and composer for daft punk and kanye west) asked me for my email

and theeeen

GRACE'S BOYFRIEND IS COMING TO VISIT HER

AND THAT GIVES ME SO MUCH DAMN HOPE

EDIT: slight damper in the day-- Grace's boyfriend cancelled on her... there is still next time, right?? don't lose hope, Gracie!

Posted by miyavicake at 9:19 PM 0 comments

edwin birdsong pt. 2

AHAHAH TWO TIME AWARD GRAMMY WINNER EDWIN BIRDSONG COMPOSER FOR DAFT PUNK AND KANYE WEST JUST GAVE ME HIS EMAIL ADDRESS! I LOVE MY LIFE.

http://www.edwinbirdsong.com/

Posted by miyavicake at 7:48 PM 0 comments

damn you, art center!

freaking Art Center just gave me the biggest scare of my academic life.

i just received a thin envelope from Art Center.

based on its size, i thought it was a rejection letter.

acceptance letters are thick because the colleges want all your info, etc., etc.

of course i tore it open the best i could with my shaking hands.

...

...

...

...it's a mandatory "Thank You" letter for applying.

jadhflkjhfglaf

i don't need that!!

i need my freaking decision!!

MAKE ME SCARED, WHY DON'T YOU??

GARRRRRR.ARTCENTERGARRRRRR.

Posted by miyavicake at 1:00 PM 0 comments

what is "design"? part deux

schoffman, my figure drawing teacher, talkedranted about design a few weeks ago.

he showed us another perspective on design.

he said that all "good designers" should take up "form follows function" as their professional motto. (for those of you who don't know, that's also the motto and principle of the Bauhaus movement.)

he's right and it's true but i think now designers must consider a product's afterlife and its disposal too.

below is a handy dandy chart for the new design process.

uh... i had a half-baked entry but now i have forgotten it...

damn. oh well, the chart is interesting enough itself.

of course, i stole the chart from an article on core77.com. read the article here.

toodles~!

Posted by miyavicake at 1:22 AM 0 comments

albieisms

WAIT

WHY AM I THE ABS LOL

LOL

i dunno

what would you rather be?

idk

@_@

i think i should be tagged

as taeyangs

real face

>;D

yes

thats more like it

i am amazingly beastly

god, i love you, albie(:

DISCLAIMER: I don't find muscular men attractive at all. Six/eight/ten/twelve pack abs creep me out. I originally drew this "portrait" for a friend who's crazy about muscular men.

Posted by miyavicake at 6:57 PM 0 comments

DreamWorlds by Dreamworks

will post pictures later.

went to the DreamWorlds exhibition by Dreamworks at Art Center today.

there were so many inspirational drawings!

now i want to go to ACCD more than ever.

why can't my acceptance letter be here already???

incidentally, alex, alejandro, and morgan all said my portfolio looked good.

i'm not really that worried about getting in.

i'm worried about getting the $$$, ya know?

ACCD is hella expen$ive.

Posted by miyavicake at 12:00 AM 0 comments

my drink of choice

since i can't drink yet, my current drink of choice is san pellegrino.

i love it! ☆☆☆ it's better than perrier!

(no, they don't taste the same.)

Posted by miyavicake at 11:53 PM 0 comments

I LOVE SMALLTALK.

I JUST FUCKING MET EDWIN BIRDSONG, COMPOSER FOR DAFT PUNK AND STEVIE WONDER.

we bonded over smalltalk about Macs. lol.

"what do you use your Mac for?"

"why, I use it for music. and you?"

"why, I use it to design things!"

I LOVE MY JOB.

Posted by miyavicake at 8:44 PM 1 comments

lulz, i'm hardcore.

hardcore (haha) evidence that i'm an incurable procrastinator: it took me five months and sixteen days to complete my ACCD application...

Posted by miyavicake at 4:52 AM 0 comments

accd application essays part deux

prompt: Taking a risk comes more easily to some than to others, but for most it will be an important part of becoming an artist or designer. Explain a risk you've taken in your life that has paid off-exploring something new, confronting a fear or problem, or taking a stand on an issue.

my 546 word response in which i glorify Tony and Industrial Design:

I really didn’t like math and science. Okay, “didn’t like” is an understatement. I hated math and science. I absolutely loathed those two subjects. (Well, mostly because I tended to fail in those two subjects.) I was what people would categorize as a typical “artist”: I loved the liberal arts of English, foreign languages, and the study of art itself. I was comfortable as a conventional and traditional stereotype. However, my cozy little world was shattered in my junior year of high school by that dirty monster Industrial Design. That class was an abomination. It required me to make orthographic renderings, research materials, and even go as far as engineer and determine the mechanics of products and vehicles! Although I knew what was in store for me, I was not disheartened. I decided to risk defeat and a plunge in my GPA by trying something that I was inherently horrible at and challenged myself to face my fears face on.

I can’t even sum up how much that risky decision has helped me. Sure, I basically slept twenty hours that entire school year, yes, I’ve charred myself countless times with hot glue, yeah, I never so much even want to think about foamcore again, and of course, the teacher was more frightening than the actual class, but for all the luxuries and sanity that I lost, I gained infinitely more valuable things. Industrial Design taught me the importance and beauty of research (who, what, when, where, how, and why), of drawing from reference instead of from my imagination, the ability to problem solve, the significance of actually thinking things through before putting my pencil to paper, and the nooks and crannies of the creative and design process behind a product. What’s more, Industrial Design has also taught me professionalism; from basic skills like cleanliness to more elaborate techniques like creating a foamcore display, Industrial Design taught me it all. The list can continue on and on, but perhaps the most important lesson of all, I learned what “design” truly means.
Industrial Design proved to me that design is not just styling alone, but it is actually comprised of many different facets. As successful design has to be easy to use (ergonomic), easy to manufacture (economical), easy on the eyes (aesthetic), and progressive. A successful design does not necessarily have to be revolutionary, but it has to at least have evolved from its previous generation. I saw and experienced the real definition of design every class. Our critiques were often brutal with The Yao calling out our every flaw, and although every assignment was a huge mental hurdle but every student (who wanted to be there) welcomed the challenges. Call me a masochist or whatever you like but I don’t think I’ll ever give up ID. I’ve learned so much in just three terms, not to mention the numerous doors to design it has opened for me. Thanks to my risky decision, I now peruse design websites daily and am now actually aware of what’s happening in the art world. I know of more designers, more movements, more styles, more materials, more events, more everything than I ever had before. Of course, also thanks to Industrial Design, I discovered that I can pull two consecutive all-nighters.

crap. my thesis is off topic with the rest of my essay. i failed to make a logical tie-in. DAMMIT!

EDIT: SHIT! THIS ESSAY DOESN'T MAKE ANY F*&KING SENSE!!!A DKJHFJKSDGF

Posted by miyavicake at 4:13 AM 0 comments

accd application essays part un

prompt: Who do you believe to be the three major artists and designers who are shaping the discipline you are interested in pursuing or who have influenced you? These should be individuals who have brought relevance to the world or to you in some social, political, emotional, economic, or other meaningful context. Explain why you feel they are important. In what ways do you want your own work to contribute to or make a difference in the world?

my 857 word response:

If I were to describe my artistic style, I would have to say it's a mix between Erté, Hayao Miyazaki, and Leonardo da Vinci; my style is traditional yet open to changes, bold yet soft and whimsical as well as detailed and loose at the same time. I am interested in abstract ideas such as fantasy worlds and characters as well as solid, rational concepts like human anatomy. Those three artists have not only influenced and helped shape my technique, but they have each made significant contributions to the world as I hope my work will too.

Probably the most significant artist in my life, Leonardo da Vinci, master scientist, mathematician, and artist, taught me the fundamental principle of art and design that I would go on to adopt as my personal and aesthetic philosophy. Like Leonardo, I believe that design encompasses all three elements of science, math, and art. (I call them the Awesome Thr33some.) Take his rendition of Vitruvius’s Vitruvian Man for example, those three elements are inherent and obvious in the mathematical divisions of the proportions and in the genetic make up of the body itself that allowed Leonardo to draw and depict the subject accurately. Seeing that, I have no doubts that the human body is a product of divine design. Henceforth, I have always revered and loved anatomy; Leonardo taught me to love every curvature of the body, every protrusion of the bones, and every role of the muscles. Leonardo’s work has also thought me something of equal importance, if not more important-- his numerous inventions made me realize that a good designer must always keep an open mind and explore new challenges as art and design is not only about aesthetics, but also about solving society’s problems.

In the same way that Leonardo is connected to my rationale, Hayao Miyazaki is connected very much to my emotions. Miyazaki’s simple technique of watercolors and graphite takes me back to an equally simple time: my childhood. Even as an adolescent, I wish I can escape to the beautiful Star Lake in Howl’s Moving Castle or visit Totoro in his mossy cave. Because I, like Miyazaki, never want to let go of my inner child, I often create and escape into imaginary worlds of fantasy characters. Another Miyazaki theme that has a profound impact on me is his mastery of nature. Miyazaki, who tends to always place his characters in the midst of nature, taught me the importance of environment: that a well drawn organic environment adds to the whimsy and tranquility of an art piece. To me, that also seems to comment on the social issue that the relationship between man and nature is whimsical but also essential; although nature calms us down, we humans will only return to nature for a brief moment. Because of that, Miyazaki has inspired me to capture that fleeting moment of tranquility and beauty of the natural world within my artwork. Similarly, Mr. Miyazaki’s work also showed me that colors are equally instrumental in determining the feeling a piece of art projects to its viewer. That said, I am also compelled to evoke the same emotions in my work as Miyazaki does with his soft, pastel watercolor palettes or his dark, abysmal, and heavy color choices.

Although my love and respect for the French fashion illustrator Erté is recent, it is just as deep as my reverence for both Leonardo and Miyazaki, for I have also adopted many of Erté’s techniques and morphed them with my own. One of the most important things that I have learned from Erté is professionalism and the significance of clean lines. Erté’s crisp, bold, black and white illustrations state that he knows what he’s doing. In the same way that his lines signify his expertise, the stark contrast of the black ink of white paper proves his confidence in his field. Even if my illustrations at times fall short in skill, I can at least feign confidence with Erté’s signature style. Details and patterns, also a major facet of Erté’s style, proves the point (to me, at least) that art can be therapeutic. In the same way that Erté meticulously draws every hair of a fur coat, I diligently dot every inch of my pointilism projects and I enjoy it. Rather than seeing it as a repetitive and monotonous process, I fall instead into a peaceful trance that allows me to escape from my everyday problems and finish intricate projects rather quickly. Erté’s techniques taught me that as cliché as it sounds, art is my escape and that’s okay.

Previously, I stated that those three artists (Leonardo, Miyazaki, and Erté) not only influenced me, but also the rest of the world. Yes, that’s true: Leonardo gave us a timeless and accurate diagram of human proportions, Miyazaki thrilled children and adults alike worldwide with his fantastical creatures and worlds, and Erté inspired fashion designers and illustrators worldwide with his bold, detailed drawings of garments. Similarly, I aim to influence the technique, philosophy, and ethics of future artists like my heroes. Although their shoes might be hard to fill, I still hope to step into them little by little.

...i really hope that i'm not off topic. omggggggg.

Posted by miyavicake at 3:05 AM 0 comments

my portfolio is up!

you can download my full portfolio here@megaupload

in return, i ask for some constructive criticism. (:

Posted by miyavicake at 3:03 AM 0 comments

ACCD application + portfolio

i feel like a madwoman these days.

you should see my sleeping quarters.

i won't even call it a bedroom.

it's like... a little den or maybe even a cave of papers.

i have artwork all over the house.

it looks like a tornado tore through it.

(speaking of natural disasters, let's have a moment of silence for the victims of the Chilean earthquake and the would-be victims of the Japanese tsunami.)

ugh. tomorrow is the scholarship priority deadline for ACCD.

i have to make it!!

even though i say that i still have to include more work for my portfolio and write the two undergrad essays...

well, at least i'm a little comforted knowing that Alejandro Gehry, son of "starchitect" Frank Owen Gehry, likes my portfolio. in fact, i quote, he "loves the pieces." yay! i love you, Alejandro~! now i wait for critique from Morgan and Alex.

EDIT: i will continue my "design" post when i'm done with my application.

Posted by miyavicake at 2:36 PM 0 comments

what is "design"?

what is design?

what is it? what is it?

it's not just styling.

it's solving problems.

it's "form follows function."

it's really just a divine pattern.

why do i say that?

a few days ago, my friend Shohei taught me that design isn't to "make additional value[s]," but to "create [the] whole value" of a product.

he's right. design is not only just on aspect of a product, it's the entirety of the project.

that's what i finally learned after four years at my art high school.

(oh, incidentally, my school was featured on the news.)

(don't you just love that image? it's made of lissajous figures.)

really, art school blows my mind. i can understand why so many "snobby" artists. art and design really changed the way i look at the world and all the common things around me. i finally know and understand the thought process that leads to a product.

people think designers just "make pretty pictures" or just "doodle" a sketch and then send those pictures and sketches to be made by engineers and craftspeople then everything is fine and dandy.

that isn't so.

if the designers don't flush out the problems, the engineers and the craftspeople won't really know what to do.

designers and design solves problems.

take an automobile, for example.

how big is it? what kinds of materials? who are you selling it to? is it good for the environment? how do you get into the thing? how many wheels? what powers it? when will it be available to the public? who, what, when, where, why, how and what is the product's purpose or mission? why do we even need it? how is it better than what we have now?

there are so many questions a designer must consider and must work out before even putting pencil to paper to stylize it. for me, perhaps, design is "90% thinking and 10% doing." by "doing," i mean actually making the models and mock ups and manufacturing the product.

design is really meticulous!

Posted by miyavicake at 6:01 PM 0 comments

math, science & art: the awesome threesome

ugh, i can't deny it any further.
math, science and art go together like peanut butter, jelly, and toast.

you can't have one without the others.

the perfect triplet, the awesome thr333some (lol) is exemplified by Leonardo da Vinci's diagram of Virtruvius's Vitruvian Man.

oh man, this takes me waaay back in art history.

let's start from the beginning:

the first grid or model of human proportions known as the canon of proportions was actually invented by the ancient Egyptians.

we've all done grid drawings, right? a grid allows an artist to copy an image more accurately than just observing it with his or her eye.

here are some of my grid drawings: [a]°[b]*

°yes, i know that her left arm looks retarded. -___-

*image b is finished--i just don't have a photo of the completed piece...

in ancient societies, individualized faces were only reserved for people of power so anyone else had generic faces. (this is not only for the Egyptians, the technique was found in many other cultures such as Japan and China as well).

the Egyptians used the canon to efficiently replicate the thousands of servants and people of the lower caste in their hieroglyphs.

awkward tie-in time: Vitruvius based his Vitruvian Man drawing on the Egyptian canon of proportions. Later, da Vinci based his version of the same drawing on Vitruvius's original.

both Vitruvius and da Vinci believed that the body had a center point. however, they disagreed on the focal point's location. Vitruvius believed that the center was the navel whereas da Vinci thought it was actually the phallus.

of course, we know that da Vinci's theory was and still is right but why is it?

that i don't know. i aim to find out.

you see, without crazy math, science, and art nuts like da Vinci who exhumed cadavers just to study and draw them, there would be no representational art-- without the correct proportions, our pieces would never correctly represent our subjects!

had not crazies like da Vinci drawn every bone, every muscle, and every feature of the human body and laid it out in easy to understand diagrams, the entire human race would accept Picasso's drawings as the highest form of art! (take that, Purists! side note: Purism was actually a branch of Cubism so i made a nice little double-entendre joke for ya. hehe.)

i know i can probably argue this case even more.

actually-- i probably just need to explain the math part of this more.

i wish i can, but because i don't entirely understand how the Vitruvian Man was constructed mathematically, i won't talk about it.

i'll save that for the day i finally understand.

oh, but here's a really great diagram of how it's constructed:

oops, looks like my mouse made it into in the screenshot, haha.

the circle and the square is easy enough to understand.

i just don't really know how Leonardo determined such things as "a man's height is 24 palms" unless he actually felt up a guy to measure him, haha.

so much of our knowledge of the human body comes from Leonardo's Vitruvian Man.

a third eye can fit exactly between our two eyes, a human adult is generally eight heads tall, our shoulders are two heads wide, etc...

there are just so many examples i can find but for now, i'm done-- i have poems to analyze... ):

oh, and here's to hoping that i develop a gigantic liking for math... 乾杯！

Posted by miyavicake at 4:52 PM 0 comments

three months until i'm 18!

i write kickass ad copy.

i want to go to college already.

ART CENTER!! JSDLKSfhSDFHLKasfhk

currently in pohlmann's class.

poetry sucks.

i don't understand it.

can't wait for the AP test... -_____-

←←←←←←←did that for advertising class.

homg. i'm so sleepy.

Posted by miyavicake at 8:51 AM 0 comments

post CNY art dump

←←←←did that for storyboarding class.

the speech bubble reads: "hey baby, are you lookin' for a good time?"

it's based on a 55 word short story.

the story, entitled Evening Surprise basically goes something like this:

[descriptions of a lovely woman]:

shimmery and shapely stockinged legs glide swiftly across the floor...

silky blonde hair playfully waves in the air...

[the clincher]:

the lovely creature turns around--

"DAD‽"

HA-HAH! INTERROFUCKINGBANG!!

creepy, ain't he?

i'm tired of drawing beautiful things.

i'm glad that i can draw creepy dads.

he makes me proud. (:

art dumps (water colors on cardboard pieces): [a][b][c][d]

secondary art dump (self portrait): [x]

...is it just me or are my skills regressing?

AHHHHH, GOTTA WORK ON MY PORTFOLIO!!

PORTFOLIO. PORTFOLIO.PORTFOLIO.

PORTFOLIO.PORTFOLIO.

PORTFOLIO!

...&FAFSA!!

darn ACCD application is too easy.

i don't even want to start it...↓↓↓

Posted by miyavicake at 2:00 AM 1 comments

Happy Chinese New Year

←←←look! i made CMYK and RGB in class!

haha, i'm such a design nerd sometimes.

well, what can i say? the class was playing Typography Bingo. lullzzzzzz.

it's officially the year of the tiger. yaaaay!

monkeys don't get along with tigers.

i've had personal experience with a tiger.

let's just say he and i are just not a good match.

i don't care that "opposites attract."

just because of that, he won't be getting a tag.

gross.

anyway, today is kind of a cool day.

i mean, it's both Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year.

Diane said the next time those two holidays coincide will be in 2048. wow!

(random note: my mom just brought home coffee pudding for me. yummy~)

(another random note: albie said "uniqloepiphany" today. nice term, albiepie.)

dude, i received so much $$$ that it's not even funny.

lookit my stuffed wallet! →→→→→→→→→

i can't even close it. (:

ahaha, i'm totally rollin'.

pimpin'.

uh... not skimpin'?

okay, just kidding. so far i've only gotten $100...

i'm crying inside. );

that money in my wallet?

that's the money my mom's business made today.

IT'S NOT ENOUGH!!!jdhasfkhadkfjhasdfklh

NOT FOR ART CENTER!! GRAARRRRRR.

(UGH MORE RANDOM NOTES: MY EYE CAN'T STOP TWITCHING! JEALOUS. RAWWWRRRRRR!)

(random tangent followup: Gracie said she looks "old and boring," and that she looks like she's "already married and has children." teehee, thank you, Gracie~~♥)

EDIT: [a][b] for Chinese New Year festivities photos.

REEDIT: oh yeah, forgot to mention: SUNNY TOTALLY DITCHED ME TODAY EVEN THOUGH I MADE HER BIRTHDAY/VALENTINE'S DAY COOKIES. GRRRRR!!jksdhkald

Posted by miyavicake at 1:23 AM 0 comments

"Wife Training" + Mom's spontaneous hotpot dinner party

feb. 12: my mother hosted random hotpot party.

she's crazy.

the preparation was fun but the actual party sucked (for me, at least).

during preparation, i sliced tofu, chopped strawberries, chopped watermelon, and prepped the sauces and the meat.

←she practically bought out the entire market.

all that for hot pot.

well okay, she did invite 50+ people.

that crazy beesh, lol.

additional photos: [a][b][c][d]

played Brawl that night too.

KICKED SOME MORE ASS.

Posted by miyavicake at 1:05 AM 0 comments

BEST. VALENTINE'S. DAY. EVER!!!!!

OPERATION "COOKIES" IS A SUCCESS!!

THEY TASTE GOOD&HELIKEDHIS!!!

other Valentine's Day goodness: carnations aaaannnndddd chocolates&balloons(:

random addendum: the guy who gave me the balloons was CUUUUUTE~

♥♥♥

Posted by miyavicake at 6:47 PM 0 comments