Published July 10, 2010 by

Let’s not become so domesticated

Run like a race for family
When you hear like you’re alone
The rusted gears of morning
To faceless busy phones
We gladly run in circles
But the shape we meant to make is gone

Love is a tired symphony
To hum when you’re awake
Love is a crying baby
Mama warned you not to shake
Love is the best sensation
Hiding in the lion’s mane

So I’ll clear the road, the gravel
And the thorn-bush in your path
That burns a scented oil
That I’ll drip into your bath
The water’s there to warm you
And the earth is warmer
When you laugh

Love is a scene I render
When you catch me wide awake
Love’s a dream you enter
Though I shake and shake and shake you
Love is the best endeavor
Waiting in the lion’s mane

Iron & Wine

image via Ffffound!

Culture Life Music Work

Published July 3, 2010 by

Full Time

As you would know (if you read this blog – despite the fact that I seem to post quite infrequently) I am working at Blick Creative full time as a designer. This post is mostly to mark how much I am enjoying it, despite this week being a lot of simply learning the ropes. The people are great, the studio is lovely and the work is varied and fun. In terms of it being a Saturday, it appears the slightly earlier start (and probably the happy-stress of newness) has caught up with me and I am quite exhausted. It will be lovely to get into a proper routine.

Geoff and I were talking the other day about how since we got married 2 and a half years ago we have:

  • Lived in three different houses
  • Moved from the East to the North (of Melbourne)
  • Geoff has had 3 jobs (Including a career change)
  • I have had 3 jobs (plus freelancing)
  • I have completed my uni degree
  • Geoff has been on teaching intensive and has also done some additional study at Tabor
  • Two family weddings
  • Two family funerals
  • Overseas trip to the Solomons
  • Three churches (YVV, Ranges, Missio Dei)

Not all these things have been bad, infact on the whole they’ve been a step in a direction toward the better. But we are fairly tired and are both looking forward to some kind of vague stability for a while.

So here we are. Perhaps we’ll have a holiday in New Zealand later in the year, but besides that we’re probably staying put even if you try to drag us. Lets think about actually living for a while.

Culture Design Experiments Holidays Life Solomon Islands Work

Published June 18, 2010 by

Blick

Today I got a job. A graphic design job at Blick Creative Industries. I’m super, super excited. I did it. We did it. SO much thanks for the continued encouragement from a plethora of individuals and especially to Geoff. It’s been a long haul of hunting for the non-existant, working the half baked and finding the right fit. I’m quite convinced this is the right fit, I’m glad they seem to think so too!

image source, buy this print on Etsy

Design Life Work

Published May 26, 2010 by

What I am learning – working in design/prepress

It has been an interesting four months or so. A steep learning curve in many regards. I am currently working in a design/prepress place where (unfortunately) the design is fairly template driven so the steepness hasn’t been so much on the physical design aspect where I would genuinely like it to be – but very much in the work environment. As some of you already know, it’s not exactly job I’d hoped I’d get straight out of finishing my design degree but…

Let me share some things I’ve learnt:

  • Never, ever underestimate the value of good colleagues. It makes everything so much more bearable
  • Asserting yourself (when appropriate) is okay, good and healthy
  • Always recognise and honor the immense value of a company who places high priority on taking care of their staff (Ergo you were and are amongst the cream of the crop – now morph into a design studio please and take me on!)
  • How to operate a digital press (2 kinds actually), laminator, programmable guillotine, shrink wrapper, drill punch
  • Much improved knife skills (Scalpels and metal rulers friends! Nice not nasty!)
  • Better understanding of paper and paper grammage/stock etc.
  • The secret joy in watching the plastic shrivel when you shrink-wrap something
  • Keep tabs on your pay
  • The importance of correctly designed fonts
  • A full day goes very quickly
  • Task Lists are ALWAYS fun to tick off
  • Some jobs (as in tasks) just suck, and always suck, but they have to be done so you just get on with it
  • I am more detail focused than I even realised – I think this may have developed further over the last year, so much so that I have been told several times to ‘Stop being so anal and just get on with it’.
  • The later you eat lunch, the quicker the rest of the afternoon goes, sometimes it is only by necessity
  • Phones are not the scourge, they are actually quite useful
  • Questions = faster learning, smarter doing

Work

graduate graphic design prepress Work

Published May 21, 2010 by

Realistically excellent

I am a little tired of not blogging properly. I have come to the conclusion that I let my sound bytes and threads escape onto Twitter and Facebook and although both delightful mediums in their own way – they are severely lacking – although the parameters of twitter length messages can be poetically and positively restrictive.

I was thinking about today and how I could talk about it in all it’s artsy wonderfulness.

See this.

This morning consisted of a photoshoot in a boutique store, followed by a stroll up to a gallery to look at the works of Michael Peck and then on to trendy Brunswick street – the highlight of which was The Brunswick Bookstore where I bought a most excellent magazine: Uppercase. Then at home I made myself a latte and sat down with the last choc-chip cookie and read said magazine from cover to cover and thought a bit about design and career and life.

Filling in the blanks.

I stayed at my parents last night and although I remembered my camera I forgot to bring anything remotely classy to wear (not that it mattered much in the end) so I borrowed a top off my sister to make my existing top look vaguely presentable and re-wore my work pants -grey and then the only shoes I had with me – brown. I drove an hour on the freeway to get to the boutique clothing store – I don’t mind that kind of driving, the car needs the change from the stop-start havoc I wreak on it ever work day and you can blast lovely music like Frou Frou, still, it’s a long way. I failed to eat breakfast and I didn’t go to the loo before I left.

I met Rachael – who is two weeks off having a baby and feeling it, we did battle with the store to get suitable backgrounds for our ‘giant vase and branches’ and climbed on boxes and moved coat-hangers around, took 200 odd photos – hopefully some of which are okay.

After the photo visit, I walked up to Metro Gallery and look a quick look at Michael Peck’s work (he used to teach my sister art) . Onwards to Brunswick St in shocking traffic – hoping I could spot a bathroom in some shape or form (public/McDonalds/etc.) – no such luck. Fed the parking meter with the last skerick of change in my wallet and then the dregs from my bag, Walked from Nicholson St to Brunswick St (not really that far – but my shoes are new and so extra distance is painful). I wandered through some clothes stores looking both for a cardy/jacket for myself for my sister’s wedding and doing some scouting for her bridesmaids for the same. No luck. I power-strolled up and down quite purposefully as the meter didn’t have a huge amount on it – and hungrily – no desire to spend $10 on lunch. Mid-afternoon I found Brunswick St Bookstore (win!) where I was sucked into buying Uppercase magazine; because there was Matte Stephens art on the cover and the inside looked so splendid, shortly thereafter I also found some sushi (lunch win! and finally!). Back to the car. Vague blisters. And home. Nasty traffic. Or not home – on to Geoff’s school to pick him up after Biology camp. Still busting to go to the loo. Home. Hung out with Geoff for a measely half an hour before he had to go off to a Teach for Australia thing, and then here I am, sitting on the couch.

It was a lovely day afterall. Not dream like. But realistically quite excellent.

(And our central heating might be working now??! Which I find very strange because the fan started blowing when the outside fan was physically off. Although can’t quite work out if it’s actually heating or just blowing out air… strange thing.)

But truly. Get your paws on Uppercase (for the creative and curious). It’s glory! It makes me feel less weird for the things I collect and do and hopeful for the directions my interests might take me.

This post is about feeling normal and extraordinary. It is to remind me that all these charming things I read on blogs and magazines involve real people doing real things – where the romantic casing of actions is drowned beautifully in normality where sometimes your feet hurt and you need the loo. We are absolutely coddled: we have the luxury of buying magazines and sushi.

I complain too much.

Life Work