!!!* Harry Birthday *!!!

Yep, our beloved boy wizard has turned 30! (Epilogue happens in six years!)

Happy Birthday, Harry Potter (and J. K. Rowling).

Untitled.

I want to be here. 

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Abrus Seed Pod. Funny how much it looks like the New Zealand Tiki.

And funny how we used to play around with the Abrus seeds at school (they hold "one of the most toxic substances in nature" - information via pixdaus). They are also beaded into necklaces.

Pictures via Pixdaus.

What is this?

This isn't a chair. Well, can you sit on it?

This isn't a pipe; of course it isn't. It is merely a painting of a container that people use to smoke tobacco in; and that container is called a pipe.

Semiotics for Beginners

More notes on Semiotics

On the sidelines: Plato, a great Greek philosopher, used to believe that arts were dangerous, because they simply imitated physical things. He thought that arts take us away from reality, towards illusion; that they might cloud the truth rather than clarifying it.

Packaging

Have you seen the football tape? Pretty genius, huh?

Our new assignment is just that - create packaging that can have a "second life". For example, a t-shirt box that can be converted into a t-shirt hanger, somehow. Or a battery packaging that can fold into a torch. We have four weeks to complete our "mock-up", or prototype. Let's see how this goes!

Hangerpack

Candwich

This would make lunches oh-so-easy. via Time

Semi-Permanent

Ok, so I've never actually been to Semi-Permanent, but since my whole class is talking about going, I am thinking that I might go, too. I hope we learn some tips and tricks of the trade ;) and that it's not just an inspirational talk. Tickets are $150 for students.

If I go, I'll be looking forward to the Pixar talk, and Karen Walker. But this means I might miss out on lectures and classes that are on Friday. Hmm, decisions decisions.

Recycled Crayons

Niiice. via {not without salt}

Seed-Nee Part 2: The other things

This is one of the only two photos with me in it from the entire trip ... here I am standing over a model of Sydney, at the Customs House.

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You can't get out of the station without feeding your tickets through these. Naturally, I was very excited, and very Mr-Weasley-from-Order-of-the-Phoenixish. Auckland trains have ticket collectors in them.

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The biggest IMAX from the previously-mentioned Darling Harbour.

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A train ticket = no need to buy souvenirs. =P

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A very retro loo at City Extra. I had creamy omelette on toasted bread for breakfast there. Yum!

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I had read about red velvet cupcakes on Kandee Johnson's blog. I tried them at The Cupcake Bakery, but they tasted just like cupcakes with red food colouring in them. Have you tried red velvet cupcakes? Do you like them?

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A white tiger brand advertisement that warns against imitations ("Tiger is not a Donkey, Horse or an Ass... Do not get confused with White Tiger 'look-alikes'.") but uses a photo of a Bengal tiger. I just thought it was hilarious.

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An inside street at Pitt Street Mall. Isn't it beautiful?!

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Beautiful Victorian buildings are scattered throughout Sydney. They are vibrant, and some of them have the most intricate ornamental metal-work on them! I also saw one with gold paint. It was really interesting and easy to see how much older Sydney looked, than Auckland.

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Taken from the aeroplane, on my way back to Auckland. Isn't it cool, how the runway goes over the motorway?!

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Friday.. and assignments

Hmmm, Friday. Fridays, according to my timetable, mean History, Culture, Context lecture at 8am. Illustration class at 10am. Web Design class at 1pm. Kind of a full-on day, but a fun one (I hope; this was the first Friday of our semester, and it's gone well).

Graphic Design assignments can be time consuming, but I've enjoyed all of them so far. This semester, we're analysing an advertisement, drawing up an editorial illustration, analysing a movie, creating packaging for Lancome Fake Nails (a made-up product), and building a website.

Our History, Culture, Context paper required us to take the VALS survey, to find out what kind of a customer we are. There are 8 basic types: Innovators, Thinkers, Believers, Achievers, Strivers, Experiencers, Makers, and Survivors. Each of them has a buying pattern, and products are advertised to appeal to them accordingly. I did the survey, and I am an Achiever/Striver... which is pretty true, I guess. Link to the survey here.

Oh, I almost forgot. In two weeks, we are also meant to dress up as someone from the opposite end of the spectrum from our own type. So the innovators dress up as survivors, and so on and so forth. Heh heh... this should be interesting!

Seed-Nee Part 1: The touristy things

Come with me on a small trip to Sydney!

Edit: Please click on the photos to see them a bit better! I didn't realise they'd look so ... small. The next batch will be larger. I promise.

Sydney Tower. First photo taken from a moving Monorail, second from George Street (I think).

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Darling Harbour. Home to the biggest IMAX theater in the world. Pretty, isn't it?

with

Monorail Station (I was eating Movenpick Strawberry Ice-cream, a flavour that I haven't found in Auckland, so missed this particular monorail!), and a Monorail!

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This is, I think, the ferris wheel of Luna Park. But I could be wrong.

with

Chinese Temple (both photos taken from the moving Monorail)

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The infamous Sydney Harbour Bridge. First photo at around 9am, second around 5pm (it's winter here!). The evening picture definitely reminded me of Finding Nemo! It's taken from a train stopped at the Circular Quay station. Doesn't the station have the most beautiful view?! Seen from this point, the Opera House is to the right, and I think the bright area on the other side of the bridge is Luna Park.

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No Sydney pictures can be complete without the Opera House.

with

Some people that are eternally carved on to the Opera House!

Some more photos to come tomorrow!

Origami Rose

Just wanted to share and save it here for myself. :)

Edit: How lucky is Jim's daughter?!

New crush

My favourite new blog. Design Crush. If you're any sort of designer, you'll love it, too!

I love those Ampersand Earrings [I only write "and" in my essays; all other times, it's "&" ... I've been doing this since I was 11] featured on Design Crush. But I doubt if I'll ever actually wear them if I get them.

Edit: Disguise printables, also found via Design Crush. Nice to know I'm sorted when it comes to disguising myself! ;)

{Yay, my link list on the right is growing!!}

Photoshop Disasters

The title says it all. Get your LOL fix here.

Back!

Hey! I hope everyone's holidays have been good, and their first day back (at university/school) interesting. Mine's been good so far. I got a better mark on my assignment than I'd expected.

So I've been caught up in a few things at home this past week, hence I couldn't update regularly ... I also have a small assignment due tomorrow that I'd been working on (it's mostly done now) and I've still got to do the selection of photos that I want to post on here. :) This will be done tonight, hopefully.

A strange new thing happened while I was in Sydney. I got really interested in fashion. And shopping. Haha... New semester, here I come! ;)

Recently, I've also started keeping a look-book (just a bunch of photos in a folder on my computer). Then I found out that one of my good friends keeps a similar look-book as well (hmm, I didn't know people did that! Do you???). My look-book contains inspiration from Emma Watson, Bonnie Wright, The Clique (Massie and Kristen are my favourites), the brand new Andy Sachs from The Devil Wears Prada, Lavender Brown (Yes! From Harry Potter!), and Leslie from The Bridge to Terabithia (I don't follow her style exactly, but I love it!). It's a mix of styles, and of course, my style will be different to theirs, because of my ethnicity, body shape, etc. but they're my main inspiration. This is also a good site if you want to start a look-book.

Here're two pictures of my inspiration board:

I printed out butterflies from here. I've got ten on the board, and they look as if they're going to fly any time!

I also won and received a painting from Mary's Workshop via The Bright Side Project (I also won two more things, but I haven't yet heard back from either of its sellers). The painting is of roses, and is very lovely!

And last but definitely not the least, thank you, Heather, for following us! :D

Posts

Hey. Notice the lack of posts? It's because I'm on holiday. In Sydney. Yep, totally not kidding. We decided I was going to Australia like, five hours before my flight was to take off. Can you imagine the rush of packing clothes, cancelling plans (with friends; I was to go to an island for voluntary tree-planting today), calling up people? Kind of insane, but fully awesome.

So I've been shopping (military and nautical are big styles here right now, as lace is in New Zealand), and generally doing all the touristy things. Going to see the Opera House on Monday, methinks. I should be back in New Zealand on the 14th.

Bye bye peoples, and I shall see you back on the 14th!

p.s.: Yes, I'll post pictures of my inspiration board, too. :)