"Non-Verbal Communication"

The feathers were hell to cross-hatch. I have a classmate whose flowy, surreal sketching style resembles this ostrich-man, and she said she liked it ^_^.

"Mr. Churchlands the butler"

This peculiar fellow is, ah, my cyber butler. He guides you through my online portfolio. His favourite phrase is "A penny for a favour is only fair." He says that, but I say better prepare more than a penny before you ring the doorbell.

Churchlands comes as a set with one morose-looking maid. For ages 13+, batteries not included.

"I Am Listening VERY Intently"

The numbers in the calculator aren't random - it's my birthday XD. Did this for BRW.

"Modern Homunculi" Part A

This sketch drove me near bonkers; I had to make sure parts A and B were identical in both crosshatching and look. I began with the lady's heeled shoe...

"Modern Homunculi" Part B

"Flora Couture"

This was done with watercolour and colour pencil (just for the shoes and tone on the legs). I was happy with how the leaves and the quirkiness turned out, but I found out someone else in the class was already doing a contemporary fashion show so I discarded this idea and opted for a more educational show.

"Homage to the Masters Part A"

The first in a series of five and, naturally, the one I put the most effort into. Everyone recognises this pose, and in this case, I am Adam getting beat on my palm by God's metal ruler. The little kiddies riding on teacher's back are my highschool classmates, tee-hee.

"Homage to the Masters Part B"

Or an appropriation of "Laocoon and Sons." Since it's been four years, the only thing I remember of Laocoon is the research stage and how I couldn't get a shred of information on him ANYWHERE. Why I chose an ukiyo-e style to convey my highschool frustrations... well, I've forgotten the reason, too, but I sure remember staying up until morning mixing whatever colours came up and applying everything (whiteout, pigmented ink, rice, whiteout, permanent marker, water, whiteout...) as long as I got a finished product.

Anyway, I've put in a looong measuring tape in place of the snake, and frolicking senior girls in place of struggling sons. If you squint hard enough, you'd make out numbers that make up pi on the tape. Yes, I despised maths with all my being.

Strawberry & Creme

I had an assortment of dreams one night that I can only recall little bits from, such as being chased down the streets by giant slug (augh), a brief undersea stroll, and being dressed up in a robe a la Anglaise complete with the coiffeur - all abruptly transitioned into one another like a badly edited movie.

The event with the robe a la Anglaise left quite an impression on me in the morning. I was blissfully swinging hiiigh in the blue sky like Marie Antoinette when I suddenly hopped off my swing and landed in a gigantic tub of strawberry and creme ice cream. Yeah. And then I had to draw it down.

"But I Didn't Do It!"

You know what Homunculus this is, right? And what disservice he did to the poor vase? XD

"But I Didn't Do It!" application

I loved how the background colour came out. The jagged path around the sketch... well, I had to get rid of the white background and there was no time for meticulous pen-tool articulations, so there. At least I get to use the serif typeface that I love again, and the yellow against subdued purple is lovely.

Client: Bloomsbury Australia

"Wear Or Be Worn" application

A modified 'eat or be eaten' an Indonesian phrase which hopefully makes sense in English. I enjoyed drawing school uniforms, especially those of English public schools. It's amazing what deadline fears can do to a person. I managed to squeeze out 3 days' worth of ideas within 4 hours. Normally, I try to come up with ideas while picking at things and engaging my hands in repetitive actions. I don't recommend this habit to anyone in the brink of a deadline as it leaves you dazed and your concentration tattered. That aside, the colouring for this image was done in Illustrator. The drab colouring hopefully would remind one of French comic strips.

Client: NSW Health Department

"I Am Listening VERY Intently" application

The font used for the logotype is only a similar-looking typeface and the actual. It needed (and still needs) much modification on the serifs and the R swash. Bear in mind that all five media integrations were made in the sweltering heat of a frantic four-hour rush leading up to the deadline so I wasn't after any perfection (a classmate came up to me asking if I was burning some midnight oil). I'm very happy with the choice of background colour and glad to have forsaken the former choice of an iPod Blue hue. The headline was taken from an actual BRW issue.

Client: BRW

"Modern Homunculi" application

Always loved TIME magazine with its distinctive bright red border. You can obscure a good portion of the type and people will still recognise it - that's a strong brand identity. I used a similar-looking typeface to TIME's yet not entirely. The serifs on TIME aren't transitional, if I remember correctly.

Now, the zebra-crossing figures. The top group, being the 'normal' group if you will, is coloured yellow for no reason other than to make it stand out against the newspaper pattern. The bottom group, being the Homunculus counterparts of those in the normal group, is in light blue to mimic water reflection. I figured the yellow group jumped out too much, so the background was made golden to strike a visual balance between both groups, pulling the yellow in and pushing out the blue.

Client: TIME Southeast Asia

"Non-Verbal Communication" application

I love the serif typeface, don't you? I love it more than Garamond and Baskerville and that's saying a lot. This poster for a psychology seminar was my first attempt at a typographically oriented design. Type used to be one design element I wouldn't dare approach. But this - this turned out allright.

Client: UNSW School of Medicine

"Flora Couture" application

A flower-themed fashion show to welcome spring! But it's not just any fashion show; it's an educational fashion show. The ways in which floral subject and form have been represented, distorted and enhanced for flat textiles and clothing is the main focus of the event. Celebrating the incorporation of floral elements into fashion through the ages, and the rococo lady is depicted as literally wearing floral elements from head to toe.

Client: Sydney Royal Botanic Gardens