ramblings of a mayagraphy-ian

Delivered the far left artwork to Giant Shah Alam the other day. To appear in their mailer or something. Funny thing is, I never did ask. Sheesh! And the far right artwork, to appear in the Star paper. That would be my 2nd work appearance in the Star. Can’t wait for that. Why both artwork under the same posting? Well, because these artwork never went through a lot of reviewing stages. It was one of those “looks-good-finalize-and-burn-it” kinda deal. Thank god!

Another thing is, they’re somehow similar in style and concept. So why waste 2 blog postings over the same kind of artwork? Plus I’d probably have nothing much to write about anyway. And the one below…is just another artwork for their flyers. Front and back version. Also another one with a similar concept.

Oh, this is an interesting story. I was talking to this one individual today. He asked me, “So it must be nice sitting at home doing nothing eh? Now that you’re not working and all”…that sorta statement kinda blew me OFF the roof. Well, in total shock and disbelief I smiled and replied, “Yeah man, perhaps you wanna trade places and see what I go through everyday”.

Then again, I’m sure he wouldn’t understand. Plus, I usually treat this kind of statement with a laugh and a smile. Yes, I do get my free time and flexibility…but I always make it up for the times I’ve taken off. Yes, I don’t have to be IN the office at 9 am. Cos my room IS my office and most of the time…I’M IN IT!! So does that mean I work all the time? Literally…sometimes…yes! Yes, I don’t HAVE to wear Jeans and shirt, or pants and shirt to work. But I DO wear something appropriate and not just my pajamas and t-shirts. And yes, I don’t have bosses breathing down my neck…for now. But this could be a real challenge, cos the only person I could ask for oppinions, suggestions or help with…is…well…me. This explains the ‘talking to myself most of the time’. Don’t think I’m crazy, I’m just filling in the silence that’s in between the sounds of cars passing by and the subtle music playing on my ipod.

Still can’t believe that question. But hey, that’s life eh? You DO get these interesting questions at times. And I’m certainly not gonna bitch about it here. I believe I’ve bicthed about it…rather politely. Hahaha!!

Another Garnier job which is never going to make it. Somehow it didn’t get through to the final phase. Something about it not being in line with the whole CI (corporate identity). Still, it took me quite some time to complete this. Cos I always do their print design works in Illustrator. But this time, it’s a cross between Photoshop and Illustrator. Was trying to go for a different technique. Darn, I never get to decide which platform’s better.

Whaddaya guys think?

So it’s the 2nd year in a row and I’m still doing e cards for Sime Darby…which of course…is a good thing.

It’s the only time where I get to hear Raya songs over and over and over and over again. But wait! Not only Raya…I have to also hear Deepavali songs, Christmas songs and Chinese New Year songs over and over and over and over and over again. Hahaha…

But it ain’t so easy this time around. They got fussier. (hope they’re not reading this)…“But hey! A client is a client”…so I do what I must…

Total style change = 3

Hours Spent = 18

Style 01

Style02

Style03

And it’s a REAL challenge doing it during the fasting month. So I decided to do it after midnight. So I get to take my usual fag breaks when I want to. Just that the hours were never enough. And Raya version is almoooost done…means…Raya money for me! Muahahaha!!

Whatever it is, it’s always a pleasure doing it…fasting month or not…work’s work…and I love it to BITS!

Oh! And I’m also doing this massive post on my blog I’d like to call…‘A SLUR OF MANY MOMENTS’…which I’ll round up everything that I’ve missed…and compile it into one post…

Not sure how long that post is gonna be though. So guys & girls, beware…hahaha…could be short for all you know…

Till then, take care…

P/S: Compliments to the designer for the awesome greeting card design in Illustrator…FYI…I’m only animating it in Flash…“What?! Easy job you say?! Wanna trade places??!!”…thought so…hahaha…kidding!

Well, not really! Heh!

Mayagraphy was commissioned by SecretLab Media to do a corporate shoot a day before the fasting month. I was excited knowing that it’s an outstation shoot. Ayer Keroh to be exact. An it’s not too far from where I’m at. So it’s all good. Heh!

I knew what was going to happen. But I couldn’t really imagine it. So a lot of scenarios were playing around in my head.

So there were 3 of us. Me, SecretLab’s project manager and Dan (to assist me during the day). This was the first time I’m meeting the project manager face 2 face. But fortunately he was ‘alright’.

“Alright meaning?” Well, alright meaning we could get along. So that is always a good thing for me.

Started shooting straight when we got there. Met most of the staff at the lobby moments after, and well…we had to wait for a little bit for everyone to gather and so we began shooting the ‘posed’ shot. It was easy to work with them as all of them were very cooperative.

It was a pretty sweet and straight to the point shoot. Nothing too complex. And I was more than glad the whole thing ended slightly earlier than expected. Why? Cos we could all go to Jonker Street to have some AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS CHENDOL!! Hahaha!!

Geez, take a LOOK at THAT and tell me you’re not drooling.

I’ve been here too many times that I always sort of forget where the place is…EVERYTIME I come to Melaka. STM (Short Term Memory)?? I never know for sure. I guess I’m like that when it comes to places. “So bad la! Have to drink more essence of chicken perhaps…HAIYA!!”

So I took a few shots of the place and landmarks around so the next time I come here…I’ll SURELY know how to get back…

So that’s that.

OH! Also I’ve been trying to find the time to post more stuff here, and a few other places. But I can’t seem to get my internet connection revving up. It’s so bloody slow!! Hmmphhh!! Thus explaining…the ‘not updating’…

Designed a logo for a good friend of mine…Raz. Basically, he thought about the logo. I came up with a few, in the end it was his sketch that got to the final design. “Good one man”. So, I laid it out…played with colors, and came up with a slightly different name card design…with Raz on the side (one night)…till about 5 a.m. It was an experience alright. Hahaha.

Thing is, in the end…he made his own name card design. Which…fortunately, enhances the fact that the name card design was FOC in the first place. Then again, it makes me wonder…maybe he should’ve done it all in the first place. And him not coming from a designing background…to do such simple, elegant design….AWESOME!! RESPECT man. Honestly, you should start designing. You have good design sense.

And…I was a bit flattered he designed his card based on MG’s card.

So here’s Raz’s sketch on the logo…

This is the final logo…

This is the proposed name card design…

This is the final name card design…designed by Raz…

Again, you should start designing bro…

The title says it all. I’m featured in Nikkei’s japanese magazine for my photographs. Here’s the digital layout that they’ve given me.

Thing is, I have NO IDEA what the article is talking about. Then again, no complaints since my name is there. Hahahaha!!

I’m glad I was given this opportunity. Can’t wait to get a copy of that magazine. Hopefully they’ll ask me to shoot some more pics after this.

This trip was all everything chucked into one. To date, I’d have to say, this is one of my most memorable getaway.

So it all started out great and rough when we decided to leave KL at around 1.00am on the 12th of June. Slightly before that, we got this shocking news that Khairil’s (our travelling bud) cousin got into a terrible motorcycle accident. As a firm believer of karma, fate and all that’s in between…that was to me…one of the ‘bad’ signs for traveling. But I decided to suck it in…and go with it. The show MUST go on man. Yasmin picked us up from my place, stopped by Petronas to fill some oil…and off to Khairil’s place…before making our Journey to the wonderful Island of Tenggol.
Bad signs started showing again when there was something wrong with the gas meter. It was pointing at ‘E’ when we just filled the car up minutes before. Could it have just been air that we filled? Impossible? I thought so too. THE SHOW MUST GO ON!! We ALL sucked it in and moved along.

I brought my Ipod along. Just in case everyone got sleepy. I’ll just pump up some metal music so everyone would stay awake. Hahaha!! Driving at night isn’t really my thing due to some…eye problem. See I can’t really see well at night. Some people call it astigmatism. I see light moving in weird directions and it causes a sharp blur to my vision. And I’d start seeing stars and stuff that I know I’m not supposed to see. Hmm…so yeah…I was just the co-pilot for the night.

It was around 4.30am…the road was waaaay tooooo quiet! And I saw this debris in the middle of the road. All of us saw it, I think. It looked like tire…and a few metres away…a bumper…then a car…wrecked and in the middle of nowhere. There were 2 cars that stopped to help. And I’m thinking…”No way…it’s like right smack in the middle of nowhere…and it’s waaay too creepy to stop and help”. But Yasmin said we should stop to help. Should we? Could we?…we stopped anyway…

I was really nervous walking out of the car. The wind was whispering silent echoes that chilled up my spine. I had goosebumps just walking to the wrecked car. Some lady told me that the guy was still in the car and that we should go and help. I swear, it felt like I was in some reality TV program. Holding a camera in my hands and walking towards the scene of the accident. It felt so wrong. When we got to the car, the guy was already out. Talking on his mobile phone. All I could hear was…”I’m ok dear, I just got out of the car…my leg is all messed up…I can’t really walk”. Yes, I did look at his leg…it was still there…and it wasn’t bleeding.

There was nothing much that we could do. We just asked him if he had called anyone else asking for help. But he didn’t actually say much. All of the sudden, one of the guy that stopped to help asked…”So, what did you feel when you got into the accident…and that you were in the middle of nowhere?”…And I was like…”WHAT?? What kind of f’d up question is that??”…I mean, he was shaking for goodness sake. You don’t ask a person who broke his leg how it felt right after he breaks his leg now do you? Or you don’t go asking someone how it felt when they’ve just been tazzered now, do you?…HAHAHAHA…IT WAS THE MOST RIDICULOUS question I’ve heard…period. Sheesh man!! I practically laughed for a bit…a little one…not that everyone could hear it…

So we asked him (the accident guy) what happened. With his trembling self…he said “I didn’t know what it was…it was big…and grey in color…must’ve been a boar or something”. And I was talking to him face-to-face. Behind him, was nothing but darkness. And as he was describing that thing that got him into the accident, a figure slowly appeared somewhere not far from us. I asked him…”Was it like a bull?”…he said…”I’m not sure…but it’s big”…and I was practically describing what I saw behind him…and he was just acknowledging it. I didn’t know what I saw…but it was BIG, BLACK…not too sure if it was hairy…but it was something alright. So I told Khairil that we had to go…we told them we were gonna call for help. So we left…and we stopped at one of the emergency phone by the highway…only to find that we can’t use it…it’s been locked…and that we had to dial the hotline number…so what’s the point?? But we did…we reported it…and hoped for the best. I didn’t really tell everyone what I saw…or what I think I saw…but I was looking at the rear view mirror along the way. Just praying that whatever that thing was…it didn’t follow us…or worse…appear in front of us. But seriously…the car looked smashed…it looked like he hit a wall or something. It didn’t look right. Ahhhh…BAD SIGNS!!! But seriously man…

THE SHOW MUST GO ON!!!

We continued driving…and stopped for a leak at a petrol station not far from where we’re supposed to take the boat to the island. Decided that we should get some breakfast over at Mcd’s. The map we had said that we’ve only got 10km to go. We decided to ask the cashier how long till we get to the jetty.Without even thinking…she said that we’ve got another 2 hours to go. WHAT?? Hahaha…we all laughed…cos if we’ve got another 2 hours to go…we might as well turn back to KL…cos we’ll miss our boat…THEN she said she wasn’t sure…we ignored and continued driving…and got to the jetty…1 hour ahead of schedule.

Had our breakfast and decided to do a quick clean up at the washroom…only to be stopped by one of the caretaker’s daughter…said that we should pay RM1 to enter the washroom. Really? RM1? Not 20cents. And it didn’t even look clean. Straight away I knew I should blog about all this…and hell yes…it’s going to be a long long write up. This is how she looked like…

We were told that a boat named ‘dolphin’ is gonna pick us up. Cool…a powerboat named dolphin…we can’t wait…

So yes guys!! THIS is the dolphin. The boatmen told me that dolphin is not really in a good shape…and that it would take us 2 hours to get to the island…compared to the usual 45 mins with a normal speed boat. GREAT!! Now we know the cashier was right after all.

It was THE MOST boring and sad boat ride ever. I slept 2 times…only to wake up to find out I’m not there yet. Hahaha…what a start! But we finally got there…and the place looked…AWESOME!! The smell of the air was just too inviting.

Basically, it’s a place where divers go. So, they don’t really emphasize on the looks of the room. Heh! It’s just a place where you can sleep. Plus during the day, electricity’s off to recharge the generator to be used at night. So most of our day-time, we’re outside just hanging out, wasting time, sleeping at the hammock, or just lying down under the shade. It’s wonderful really…to get to waste time like this. And time just feels soooo long. Maybe because we don’t have anything to do…or any deadlines to catch.

The snorkeling was too good to be true! The corals were…too colorful. Unlike I’ve ever seen. That’s because people hardly go to this place for a holiday…except for divers. So everything underwater is really taken care of.

There was so much happening that I don’t even know what to write anymore. Except to show you guys pics that I snapped. It was truly an awesome holiday. I really would wanna go back there one day. But before that, I’d like to check out Perhentian Kecil first.  And oh…we didn’t ride the ‘dolphin’ going back…(thank god)…we took the speedboat…YES!!

So what I have to say here is…it WAS DEFINITELY one of my MOST memorable holiday…PERIOD PERIOD! You guys should really go check out this place.

As always, enjoy the pics ya?

It all started when I wanted to get a semi precious ring for Aniza. Was asking around for shops I can go to when finally I decided to ask my mom. She suggested this shop in Amcorp mall where she used to go to get her semi precious stuff and other accessories. So I thought…”Yeah, why not”…

As soon as we got there, Aniza was totally mesmerized by the collections. When we finally decided on one. And I got it for her birthday present.

Interesting part about this is the owner of the shop…we call her Kak Syam. Talking to her…for the first time…felt like we’ve known her for years. It’s hard for this kinda thing to happen, but when it does…it’s somewhat…magical. Coincidentally, she used to work at the place where I used to work…IT IS. We found out about this when she started asking me about where I work and stuff. And as soon as that happened, past stories came flooding in. But the point is, it’s weird that you can only get this ‘connection’ with people working or used to work at IT IS. It’s this familiar yet rare chemistry that I find truly…mesmerizing. Hmm…mysteries of the unexplained…heh!

The point is, I managed to get my hands in designing Kak Syam’s new logo, receipt, bill book and a few others which will come in time. And yes, I will post them here…

So here’s the new logo & name card design…it was kinda tricky…but the idea came to me at the very last minute…as soon as I was about to go to sleep…and I wonder…“why does that always happen??” Perhaps I work best…subconsciously…
I wonder…I REALLY wonder…

Here it is…