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