{ Tokyo 2009 }

*inspired by Johanna Basford.

I am heading to Tokyo in October for Tokyo Designers' Week 2009. So excited about it! :D

While I was doing a planning of itinerary, I got bored and hence started doodling....Nothing particularly on mind, just some highly-brainless and addictive black and white illustration.

* interested in TDW2009? Click here and here!

{ National Punctuation Day }

In celebration of National Punctuation Day on the 24th of September, dAgraphik specially dedicate this blog space for everyone out there who loves typography. Remember to include these little info into your life-long Book of Knowledge! :D

' - Apostrophe
To indicate the omission of one or more letters in a word, whether unpronounced, as in o’er for over, or pronounced, as in gov’t for government; to indicate the possessive case, as in woman’s; or to indicate plurals of abbreviations and symbols, as in several M.D.’s, p’s. But do NOT use apostrophes for possessive pronouns or for noun plurals.

[ ] - Brackets
Provide an explanation if the author uses something your audience isn’t likely to understand — “The first words of Joyce’s ‘Stately, plump Buck Mulligan’ are Introibo ad altare dei [‘I will go to the altar of God’].” You might need to supply a detail not in the original quotation, especially if your reader is likely to be confused: “As Fairbanks notes, ‘The death of three civil rights workers in Philadelphia [Mississippi] marked a turning point.’” You might also provide a first name: “It was [George] Eliot’s most successful work.” Always the question is whether the clarification will help your audience.

If you’re changing a single word or a short phrase, especially a pronoun, and the word isn’t especially interesting in its own right, it’s okay to omit the original and replace it with the bracketed interpolation: you can change “In that year, after much deliberation, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation” to “In [1862], after much deliberation, [Lincoln] issued the Emancipation Proclamation.”

... - Ellipsis
The omission from a sentence or other construction of one or more words understandable from the context that would complete or clarify the construction. A mark to indicate the omission of letters or words.

! - Exclamation Point
The sign used in writing after an exclamation or interjections, expressing strong emotion or astonishment, or to indicate a command. AVOID OVERUSE!

: - Colon
The sign used to mark a major division in a sentence to indicate that what follows is an elaboration, summation, interpretation, etc., of what precedes; and to separate groups of numbers, as hours from minutes (5:30) or the elements of a ratio or proportion (1:2).

, - Comma
A mark of punctuation used to indicate a division in a sentence, as in setting off a word, phrase, or clause, to separate items in a list, to mark off thousands in numerals, to separate types or levels of information in bibliographic and other data.

– - Dash
A mark or sign used variously in printed or written matter, especially to note a break, pause, or hesitation; to begin and end parenthetic text; to indicate omission of letters or words; to substitute for certain uses of the colon; and to separate elements of a sentence or a series of sentences, as a question from its answer.

- - Hypen
A short line used to connect the parts of compound words or the parts of a word divided for any purpose. Hyphens are joiners. Use them to avoid ambiguity or to form a single idea from two or more words.

( ) - Parentheses
Either or both of a pair of signs used in writing to mark off an interjected explanatory or qualifying remark. Use parentheses ( ) to include material that you want to de-emphasize or that wouldn't normally fit into the flow of your text but you want to include nonetheless.

? - Question Mark
A mark indicating a question. Seriously.

" - Quotation Mark
One of the marks used to indicate the beginning and end of a quotation. Direct quotations are another person’s exact words — either spoken or in print — incorporated into your own writing.

. - Period
A full pause, as is made at the end of a complete sentence. The point or character used to mark the end of a declarative sentence or to indicate an abbreviation.

; - Semicolon
The punctuation mark used to indicate a major division in a sentence where a more distinct separation is felt between clauses or items on a list than is indicated by a comma, as between two clauses of a compound sentence.

More read-up on punctuations? Click here.

*credits to Les Kerning and National Punctuation Day's website

{ Travis Millard }

“Working with kids is fun because I can openly plot to rip off their wild stylings and there’s nothing they can do about it!” – Travis Millard

Travis Millard creates some of the quirkiest and most endearing drawings full of characters it's tough not to relate to. This illustrator also has a great sense of humor. He live in a log cabin in Echo Park, Los Angeles, California with his illustrator girlfriend, Mel Kadel. Art has always been in the blood of Travis, his mother used to do a lot of crafty toll painting and small oil pieces with folksy sayings. She'd always encourage Travis and his brother to draw or make a cardboard fort or anything else just to keep their hands busy.

I came across Travis Millard's works from Juxtapoz Magazine. The illustrations are somewhat quirky and extremely well-crafted. He seems to have ordinary objects magnified and interpreted in a different perspective, usually depicting politics satirized, personal strife, fabricated characters and aggressive violence. His works are true evidence of passion do get you far.

For more info on Travis Millard, visit Fudge factory comics

{ Posters from Our Past }

Posters have acted as mirrors and visual records of our culture and history. Whilst posters have been used by governments and many private organisations to promote all kinds of products, posters have also been employed on the service of war, peace and propaganda. Placed in public environments, posters are effective in promoting causes and speaking directly to the mass.

An exhibition held in National Library Building's Central Public Library Basement 1, from 3rd Sep - 15 Oct 2009, showcased past years public posters of Singapore. This exhibition features how Singapore has evolved in their government's advertising campaigns.

While walking through the exhibition space, I seem to be walking through my childhood too as I saw some familiar campaign posters from the past. I have to admit local posters really come a long way, but sadly I feel that posters from the earlier days seem to speak to the public better and hence leave a long-lasting impression. I wonder how many people actually feel the same as me? Have a look at some of the featured posters and you'll be your own judge.

Interesting campaign in the 1970s to discourage men from having long hair.

A familiar mascot of the 1980s for Healthcare.

Language campaigns from the 1980s to 2000s.

The in-famous family control campaign from the 1970s. As the public during those days tends to want sons instead of daughters, the posters deliberately chose girls as the models for the campaign.

See how "Save water campaign" by the Public Utilities Board has evolved throughout the years.

{ Johanna Basford }

I was reading through CR Blog when I come across this illustrator, Johanna Basford who has a very distinctive style of illustration. She does only black and white ornamental motif-like illustrations. Her work is so outstanding and bold that CR Blog has to feature her in their blog updates.

This is what happened....Johanna was trying to promote herself to Creative Review and she created a direct mailer for the Editor of Creative Review. She literally recreated her own version of a CR magazine cover which also consisted of her self-promoting CD inside. Nicely-packed in a nostalgic brown paper warp, the package was sent off to London for the CR team.

A little sneak on the direct mailer....


About the Artist.....

Inspired by her upbringing on a small fish farm in rural Aberdeenshire, Scotland, much of Johanna's work has roots in the flora and fauna that she has grown up with. Her wandering imagination and passion for drawing took her to Art School in Dundee, where she graduated with a first class honours degree in Printed Textiles in 2005.

Having dabbled with the idea of moving to London, Johanna decided the concrete clad city sapped her creativity. She set up her small Scottish studio creating distinctively different hand drawn motifs in her signature black and white palette.

She embraces the challenge of a cross disciplinary approach, creating designs and surface patterns for everything from ceramics, to bedlinen, catwalk fashion, packaging, wallpaper, wedding stationary and visual merchandising. Her ever-growing list of happy customers includes names such as The Crafts Council at the Victoria and Albert Museum, DKNY, The BBC, The Scottish Parliament, Heals, Queensberry Hunt, Hendricks Gin, The Body Shop and Johnson and Johnson.

Here are some of her works...

For more info on Johanna Basford and her works, click here.

Special credits to Johanna Basford & Creative Review Blog

{ Designs that make Life easier }

BANANA GUARD
My favourite of all that are featured in the site. I am a banana-lover and this guard will work wonders for me or any bananas-eater. Now bringing bananas to work/school is no longer a frustrating thing as it allows you to store your bananas safely without them being bruised or squashed.

TRANSPARENT TOASTER
A new way of toasting your bread. The future of all toasters? This unique innovating toaster allows you to view your toast and make sure they are not burnt. How is this possible? It's based on a transparent heating glass technology.

I must admit good product design really make a difference in your life. I came across this blog while randomly surfing the net. Applauded for all product designers out there who are slogging away to make the world a better place. :)

Click here to view more creative products.

{ War of the 2 Giants }

It's just amazing and damn entertaining watching the fight between the 2 giants of the IT industry, Apple and Windows. I had a great laugh after watching the TVCs. It's just hilarious watching how they mock about each other. Had to take my hat off to TBWA for creating this series of ads for Apple and Laurie McGuinness for the counter-attack for Windows.

For people who haven't seen the ads. Enjoy!

Mac v.s PC :






For more archives of Mac v.s PC TVCs, click here!

Counter-attack > PC v.s Mac :

Special thanks to youtube & apple

{ The New CD? }

This might has existed somewhere on Planet Creative for awhile now. But it was not long ago when I got my hands on one of the "Card a.k.a CD a.k.a USB a.k.a PR kit" thingy. I must say this is quite interesting....