#I do Not have the skills of recreating the Vibe of the original books so it’s more of an AU where the world is normal-ish

[natestars-corner-of-curiosities]

At first I was like “what if I made 11 sibling OCs for the March Hare from Alice in Wonderland and named them all after months of the year” as a joke. But bro, I don’t think it’s a joke anymore.

[samkat10423]

A TS2 throwback and a local

This first lot is the last one up there where EA had their ginormous spa lot - and right across the street from the hospital. They used to give out 25% off coupons for your ER visit after dining here, but it's now under new management, so the coupons are no longer valid. Or needed.

When we originally did this project, I volunteered to recreate the Londoste Restaurant from TS2. Since I was doing it by memory - and a memory a tad foggy with copious glasses of wine - it's not exactly the same. But I figured over the years, it had changed hands numerous times and been renovated and then re-renovated. So, here it is:

When we did these lots, we did them without CC and limited use of store stuff. I know! Scary! But for my own use, I went back in and went CC crazy. It was zoned as an Exclusive Lounge - mostly because I wanted sims to have to actually dress up to eat there.

The main level is where the restaurant is located. I use ani's mod for all my restaurants - so those are her menus and stove. On the other side is the bar area where sims can relax as they wait for their table. Or they can order a nightcap there. I kind of went for the whole men's smoking-room vibe. Not sure I nailed it since I am neither a guy, nor do I smoke. But whatever.

Upstairs sims can either gamble or take to the dance floor. Besides the EA stuff, I gave them 2 poker tables to lose their simoleons at - thanks to the lovely @mspoodle1. I love her stuff.

Since I was up there in the mountains, I did another family house. I'm jumping back and forth between redoing community lots and homes - mostly because I hate CAS. Anyway, in the town history the current owner of this house inherited it from her late grandmother - along with some simoleons which she promptly squandered.

Since her bio says that she wasted all her grandmother's simoleons on partying, I figured she wouldn't have done any improvements to the actual property itself. Instead, she left it pretty much the way the dearly departed left it. I figured by the time the old lady croaked, she was half-blind from untreated cataracts and unable to do any repairs due to health issues - hence the reason it looks so shabby. But at least the roof doesn't leak!

And here's the young lady herself - Madeline Moore with the stray cat that had moved in right before the old lady checked out. His name is Jinx. (No reflection on him, but right after he moved in, granny moved on). Anyway, her bio says that she's trying to find work to help keep up appearances. But EA had her in the science field at level 5. So, I fixed that. In my game, any technical field that requires sims to be educated - like science and medicine - now require a Uni diploma. And this kid just got out of high school and went on a partying-simoloen spending spree. So, no time for Uni. No, she now works in the culinary field and has absolutely no skills. Plus, I stole all her money. Because I'm a nice simgoddess I am! If you're going to tell a story, EA, do it right!

This lot was created by Jenba as a replacement for the city hall. It's where EA had their art gallery. And in my town, I use it strictly as an art gallery. In my town history it's where the city fathers used to meet before the new city hall was built. I now holds treasures from the town's past - aka: looted artwork from other sim worlds.

Where I've placed this little newsstand, Jenba had stairs down to a basement that contained the EA city hall rabbithole. Since I use the rugs and didn't intend to use it for my political career, I eliminated the stairs and basement, then built this instead using Sandy's newsstand set over on Around the Sims 3. Now my sims can buy their comic books here. Behind it - obscured by that tree - is @mspoodle1's news van. I have another one over on my business lot.

In the back of the lot is a nice promenade - that I forgot to take pictures of, but I will later. Sims can look out over the lake, paint, listen to music and whatnot.

And that's it for this post.

[movedbl0g]

stray kids - reacting to you being an artist

Genre: fluff

Warnings: none

🖤requested by @tayatubby

-> I hope you like it!!

(Gifs also belong to their original owners)

————————————————————

Bang Chan:

Chan finally got a day off, he was spending the last days in his studio, busy with working on new music. So when you finally could meet again, you decided to go on a picnic date, bringing cinnamonrolls and a lot of other stuff with you.

After you ate, Chan laud down, his head pointing up while resting on your thigh, slowly drifting to sleep. You softly stroked his hair, when u had an idea. You grabbed your sketchbook from the bag besides you and you started to draw the peacefully sleeping man in front of you.

You were almost finished, just a few little details missed, so you were looking at Chan, appreciating his features in order to draw them right. All of the sudden, a little “hey! You’re staring!”, brought you back to earth, as you were completely zoning out. “Oh- I I’m sorry I just-“ , you stumbled nervously, but after your eyes met Chans , you both laughed it off.

Then, Chans eyes fell into your sketchbook. “What are you drawing?”, he curiously asked trying to peak on the page. You tried the close the sketchbook as fast as possible, but Chans fast reflexes already kicked in and he grabbed the book before you could close it.

As he saw your drawing, he immediately blushed and let out a small chuckle. “I didn’t know that you can draw that well y/n! This looks really amazing!! Why am I only seeing this now?? Please,,can tou draw something for me??”

Lee Know:

You were sitting on the couch in the large dance practice room,the room filled with the sound of music and Minho’s steps. He has been practicing for a while now, while you carefully watch every movement he makes.

After a while you decided to draw a little, you always had a sketchbook and a pencil with you (just in case), so you pulled it out of your beg and opened a free page.You started to sketch the different movements Minho did, analyzing his anatomy and emotions, trying to include them in your sketches.

Once you had the base of several movements and poses in the paper, you started working on the little details. You were so caught up in drawing, that you didn’t notice that the music suddenly stopped and that Minho walked up to you.

“I didn’t know that you could draw that well, y/n!”, he said and you clearly heard the amazement in his voice. “Thank you”, you said while your cheeks flushed red. “But no matter how good my drawing skills are”, you continued,” the drawings will never look as handsome as you do in real life”.

Changbin:

Finals week were coming up soon, but you just couldn’t concentrate on the school stuff in front of you. You tried listening to calm music and asmr, but nothing seemed to help. Your mind just kept swaying to other things or well...Changbin.

You started to mindlessly scribble on your notes,but after a while you started to draw an actual portrait from Changbin on your notes, trying to bring in all the details, like the sparkle in his eyes and cute dimples.

“I thought you wanted to study”, a voice behind you said, causing you to jump. You blushed and tried to cover the drawing on your notes but Changbin already laud his eyes on it. “Is- is that me??”, he asked,you were not able to tell if he liked it or if he thought that it looked horrible.

You hid your face in your hands, trying to hide the embarrassed look an your face. “Yes...maybe....”, you said slowly, waiting for a clear reaction. Changbin started to giggle, blushing from your cuteness “it really looks amazing, you could definitely sell this!”

You both started to giggle. “Well, maybe you should draw another one tho, because these math equations kinda kill the vibe”, he added,giving you a small peck before walking into the bathroom.

Hyunjin:

“You really think that you can draw better than me?”, Hyunjin asked teasingly. “I mean we could do a drawing contest and let the other members decide who won”, you answered confidently,raising an eyebrow at him.

What Hyunjin didn’t know,is that you always were good in arts and you even studied it for a while, before you decided to concentrate on other things. After you both agreed on a theme you both started drawing, a wall of arts supplies blocking you both from looking at the other’s artwork.

Time flew by quickly, you were both silent for the most time, concentrating on the drawing in front of you. “I’m finished!”, Hyunjin suddenly screamed, confidence written in his face and you can’t help but let out a small giggle.

Hyunjin eyed you offended “so you’re thinking your winning, huh”, he stated in a teasing voice, “then show me your drawing fir-“. He stopped in the middle of his sentence, as you turned around your artwork to him, causing him to gasp out loud. “Nooooo”, he whined dramatically,” how was I supposed to know that you’re THAT good at drawing....this is not fairrrrr”

Jisung:

It was the first time that you two went to your apartment. You had been together for a few months now, but you always met at different places and mostly the dorm.

The two of you had bags filled with groceries in your hand,since you were planning on cooking together this evening.After a little bit of struggle you opened your apartment door and held the door open for Jisung, letting him walk in, while his eyes explored your apartment.

As you put down the groceries in your kitchen, Jisungs eyes fell on the colorful wall in your apartment, it was filled with little drawing, landscapes, forms and a lit of different things, but somehow it all harmonized to one big picture.

As you catched your boyfriend staring at the wall, you walked up to him, wrapping your arms around his chest while pulling him close “Do you like it?”, you asked. “Are you kidding me??”, he answered, his voice excited while his eyes were still lingering on the wall, “this is one of the most amazing and beautiful things I’ve ever seen...I can really be happy to have such an talented partner like you, y/n”

Felix:

“Do you want to help me decorate this cake??”, Felix yelled from the kitchen,while you were busy scrolling on your phone in the living room. “Sure,,I’m on my way!!”, you screamed back, putting your phone down and making your way into the kitchen.

“The cake smells totally amazing!!”, you complimented as you pulled Felix into a tight back hug. The boy giggled,putting both of his hands on yours.”what theme do we want to go for?”, he asked while turning around, so that he can face you. “what about if we try to recreate the latest album cover and draw a group photo on it?”, you suggested.

“But isn’t that kinda complicated?”, Felix asked worried, but you gave him a reassuring smile. “ I mean yeah, it’s not very easy, but if we mess up we just have to eat the cake as quick as possible, so no one sees it” you said jokingly, turning to the cake to star decorating it.

After some time you were finished with decorating, the kitchen was a really big mess, but the cake turned better out than you expected. “Woahhhhh”, Felix let out as he saw the cake. “You’re talent is crazy...like wowww look at that.....”, he immediately pulled out his phone to take a picture of the beautiful decorated cake. “Now i really don’t want to eat that cake, because this artwork of yours is more than amazing”

Seungmin:

You were sick today, so you stayed at home to rest and get healthy again as soon as possible.But as time went by,you started to get really bored, so you decided to look up pictures from your boyfriend and decided to draw him.

Your bed was quickly filled with art supplies, your sketchbook on your thighs as you started to draw. You started with a simple sketch, but it soon turned into a detailed fanart and you even incorporated colors (what you usually don’t do).

After the piece was finally finished, you had to go to the toilet, so you put down the drawing on your bed and rushed into the bathroom. While you were away, Seungmin returned home, bringing your favorite take out food with him.

As he entered your bedroom, he saw the drawing of him on your bed and looked at it for a while. “Why did you print out a picture from me?”, Seungmin asked as you came back. “Huh...what?” You asked confused, until he pointed out your drawing. Your cheeks turned red and you started to giggle. “Minnie, that’s a drawing...”

Jeongin:

You came home from work and found your boyfriend in the living room drawing while talking to his fans in vlive. You gave him a small smile as a greeting and he immediately smiled back at you.

“Do you wanna draw with me?”, he asked while holding up a blank paper. You hesitated at first, but after he gave you a pouting-puppy-stare you gave in and took the paper from his hand, sitting dien behind the camera, facing Jeongin.

He continued to talk with his fans, peeking over to your drawing a few times, but he couldn’t really see what you were doing. Your mind was totally focused on drawing, you haven’t done that in a while,but now that you are drawing again, you remembered how much you loved it and how stress relieving it was.

“I’m done!”,you shout out after a while, holding your paper up to Jeongin, so that he can finally see your drawing,while waiting for his reaction. His jaw dropped open as he looked at the drawing. “Omg look guys!”, he stated while taking the paper from your hands and showing it to the fans,”I didn’t know that you could draw that well!!”. His eyes lingered over the drawing, appreciating every single detail in your drawing,while you were blushing at the cute reaction of your boyfriend.

🖤masterlist

[mayfriend-archive]

Totally understand if you're not up for it and fully recognize the ronald mcdonald dom/sub anon vibes which is an AMAZING post btw but like...now i'm curious, what the hell did Lord of the Flies anon DO that got him blocked for the discourse? like...i just can't wrap my head around high school lit being...uh...that inflammatory i guess?

Okay so, I'll start by saying I've had a new anon from apparently the same anon saying they are NOT the person I blocked, just a rando making the same points, but I'll answer your question anyway just to set out why this person in particular got blocked, out of the several thousand who reblogged/commented on that very successful addition to the LoTF post I made.

First off, I added the 'real life Lord of the Flies' story because I thought it was a good story. I had read about it only a couple days beforehand in Humankind and, after reading out the entire chapter to my parents who weren't very interested, I was excited that there was not only a post where it would be relevant to post, but that I wouldn't be hijacking it, as it was already rejecting the widespread interpretation taught in many schools, that humanity is inherently savage.

When making the addition, I a) did not think it would get more than a couple reblogs, because the post was already at 50k notes and I figured anyone that might be interested would already have seen it, and b) I did not know the very specific context that prompted William Golding to write the book; all I knew was that he had been a teacher at a public school (basically, the poshest schools in the country - think Eton, Harrow, very 'old money' places that pump out Conservative politicians by the bucket-load 🤢) who hated his job and the boys he taught (which, valid), and new information I'd been given in Humankind - that Golding had said to his wife one day, "Wouldn't it be a good idea to write a story about some boys on an island, showing how they would really behave?" - which had no mention of The Coral Island by R. M. Ballantyne, which I have since learned was the text that Golding loathed enough to write an entire novel in refutation of - and included what I considered a very telling letter from Golding to his publisher, in which Golding wrote of his belief that 'even if we start with a clean slate, our nature compels us to make a muck of it.' Another Golding quote that I believe portrays his belief in humanity's 'innate savagery' is that "man produces evil as a bee produces honey."

Obviously, the author of a book putting forward the case for humanity's inherent goodness was going to oppose Golding's hypothesis; Bregman not only noted Golding's literary accomplishments and beliefs, but his personal life.

When I began delving into the author's life, I learned what an unhappy individual he'd been. An alcoholic. Prone to depression. A man who, as a teacher, once divided his pupils into gangs and encouraged them to attack each other. "I have always understood the Nazis," Golding confessed, "because I am of that sort by nature." (Humankind by Rutger Bregman, p. 24-25)

I have bolded the part about him as a teacher, because it is incredibly relevant to the original post that I commented on, which begins with a comic of a teacher locking her class in to see them 'recreate' Lord of the Flies, something which the follow up comments before mine staunchly reject as both misunderstanding the point of the book, and the fact that it took the kids in Lord of the Flies a significant amount of time without adult supervision to go 'savage'. This misreading of the text is widespread enough that when Golding won the Nobel Prize for Lord of the Flies, the Swedish Nobel committee wrote that his book 'illuminate[s] the human condition in the world of today'. Whether or not they misread it is beyond my expertise - they do at least mention the factors of the outside world neglected by many when analysing the book, but still seem to believe it says something about human nature as a whole rather than just, to quote thedarkbutbeige 'British kids being rat bastards' - but Golding quite happily took his Nobel prize on this basis. Which, in fairness, I would too. It's a fucking Nobel prize.

It was with this knowledge, and this knowledge alone, that I stated in my now very, very widely read comment that Golding 'wrote the book to be a dick', in response to the tags of the person I reblogged from. As I said, I now know that Golding did not write the book (solely) because he hated the kids he taught, but as a response to The Coral Island and the general idea that clearly the British were inherently civilsed, whilst the people they colonised and enslaved were inherently savage. So. That's the background.

The anon - or rather, the person I thought was anon - was the sole exception out of dozens of replies, who instead of telling me about The Coral Island politely decided it was time to go ALL CAPS and regurgitate points already made by thespaceshipoftheseus, and implied that the only reason that the real life Tongan castaways didn't go all Lord of the Flies was because they weren't British. Not because they weren't surrounded by violence like the boys in Lord of the Flies, or there wasn't a World War ongoing, or that they weren't the upper, upper, upper crust of a class-obsessed society like Britain - but because they weren't British. A complete inversion of the concept that Golding was trying to get across - now, instead of all of humanity being equally prone to savagery in the right conditions, it was solely nationality that determined it. As in, the British were inherently savage, but nobody else was.

I, trying for humour, made the terrible mistake of replying to them.

I won't lie, I was absolutely blown away that this was real life. What I think they were trying to do was be that Cool Tumblr Person who, after somebody's been shitty on a post, goes to their blog and sees something Damning in their about/description. In an ideal world, I imagine I'd have gone nuts or done something Unforgiveable. In what I can only call the rant that followed, they stated several times that I needed to go back to high school to get some 'proper literary analysis' skills and that the story of the Tongan castaways was completely unrelated to the point at hand which. I mean, I disagree, considering that I made the addition, but I couldn't get my head around how commenting on a post that was already rejecting the thesis that the 'point' of Lord of the Flies was that humanity was inherently savage and was, in fact, about how kids - British or otherwise - learn how to function from the adults around them, and that traumatised, terrified children aren't going to create a mini-Utopia, and put forward a real life example of how without the key additions of an ongoing world war, a colonial Empire and the subsequent mindset of thinking you are 'inherently civilised' and therefore can't do anything wrong, actually, people just want to take care of each other.

A friend has since asked me why I even have 'england' in my description. To be honest, it's a timezone thing - I talk to a lot of people online who don't share my timezone, and it generally makes me feel like if I don't reply immediately because it's 3am, they have the tools to see that I'm not in their timezone and not just ignoring them. I did consider changing it to 'british' or 'uk' after it was... 'used against me', I guess, simply because I didn't want to deal with it, but you know what. No. Not gonna do that. I am from England, and I have never hid that fact. I have a tag called 'uk politics', during Eurovision I refer to the UK's act as 'us' (even if I really, really don't want to. Because James Newman slaughtered that song and it was downright embarrassing), I regularly post stuff in my personal tag about where I live (and mostly complain about this piece of shit government). If people really think my nationality makes every point I make null and void, then they don't have to follow me or interact with my posts; tumblr is big, and I am one medium-small blog very easily passed over.

I did reply to them, trying to explain the above, but their next response really just doubled down. Because I used the word British instead of English - foolishly because the posts above mine focused on Britishness, and also because although Golding was English and taught English kids, the pro-Imperialism author of The Coral Island, R. M. Bannatyne was actually Scottish so, ding ding ding, falls into the 'British' category - they then decided that I was somehow trying to pretend I wasn't English and made all the same points, before ending with this doozy:

At this point, I knew there was nothing to be gained from replying, because if we're whipping out conditions like they're pokemon cards then there's no actual conversation anymore, and I'm not going to start mudslinging like an identity politician. They made up their mind, and I figured there could be no harm in letting them think that they 'won' by blocking them instead of replying.

Until the ask. INNATE ENGLISH SAVAGERY did, I'll admit, make me think it was them, back again. I even thought up a really good response approximately 12 hours after I replied, I was that sure. Until the second message came in, and said they were just someone who came from the post and made the same point by chance. So the saga draws to a close... for now.

It may have been them, it may not have been - the anon feature makes it impossible to be sure, but as the second message I got said, we're in a heatwave. It's too hot to argue. And I've just written a goddamn essay about a book I dislike anyway.

My pasty English ass is going to go melt. If there's Disk Horse, do not tell me. I am Done™

[sparklyjojos]

[THE CHILDISH DARKNESS Recaps, Chapters 1-2]

Note 1: As this book is a direct sequel, it requires good knowledge of the events of Smoke, Soil or Sacrifices (recapped here).

Note 2: Please be aware that the book revolves around a dysfuntional family, bad relationships, heavy depression and self-harm, and that the narrator might not be a very morally upstanding man.

Note 3: Do not believe his lies.

Note 4: Or do. It’s your call.

Note 5: Different people want to believe in different stories, after all.

[tw: gore, body horror, csa, suicide, sorta homophobic undertones?]

---

ONE

[Our narrator is Natsukawa Saburou, a writer of trashy mystery novels and one of the older brothers of Shirou, the narrator of Smoke, Soil or Sacrifices.]

Saburou recalls his time in middle school when he was concerned about possibly being gay and in denial, since he liked to suck girls’ fingers and that’s ALMOST like blowing a guy, RIGHT? But his actually gay friend Okamoto Yasuhiro, known as Okachi, said that Saburou didn’t seem to be actually gay. On the other hand, their mutual friend Kaede seemed to him to have some lesbian vibes. (The three often hanged out together.) Okachi also claimed that while there is a line between straight and gay, it’s faint and sometimes cannot be seen clearly.

--

When they were In high school, Kaede’s father died in a work-related accident, and she reacted to it by eating a tremendous amount of food and falling into a few days worth of sleep. While she was sleeping her left arm started to swell unnaturally. As it turned out, a womb-like structure had developed there, along with a fast growing fetus, which was cut out in surgery and then cut out again when the same unbelievable event repeated. Kaede’s family claimed that maybe it was the dead father trying to come back to help Kaede, as she had a stalker called Araki Kazuo.

Whether the dad thing was true or not, Saburou decided to solve the problem by beating up Araki. The two engaged in a lot of fights escalating to using weapons. After learning about the problem, Saburou’s brother Shirou said that maybe their older brother Jirou was right: just beating up a guy wasn’t enough, you had to use much more drastic measures. Saburou followed this advice as far as cutting Araki’s two fingers off, internally horrified at the act and how much the threats coming out of his own mouth sounded like something Jirou would say. Upon returning home he popped the fingers in the fridge in case one of Araki’s buddies asked to get them back (nobody did) and sat down to play the piano to calm himself down.

At that time Saburou loved to play the piano, but only a single piece: Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3. No other music resonated with him so much, and as the result he was a rather poor pianist. One day when he heard the musically gifted Jirou play Beethoven, he was struck by the artistry and emotion heard in the piece. [By struck I mean he even popped a boner and had to go deal with it, because this is Maijo Otaro’s book.] The difference in skill between them was obvious and depressing. Then Saburou noticed that Jirou in all his genius seemed to get quickly bored with each piece and just randomly choose what to play. Maybe Jirou had genius, but Saburou had just enough skill to play the one piece he loved. Maybe their approaches were both okay. It was hard to judge.

While playing, Saburou thought about how Araki had yelled that his stalking was the proof of his love for Kaede. Surely there was a ‘love’ there, much like both sides of an abusive relationship may be convinced of their ‘love’. Maybe Kaede’s dead father also tried to return out of ‘love’, oblivious to the fact that each time he only hurt his daughter more and more.

[And then Saburou tried to lick those cut off fingers in the fridge and was like ‘well, I’m disgusted, and since these belonged to a guy that clearly means I’m not gay!” ...Whatever you say, narrator.]

 TWO

What is a story?, the narrator is wondering. Why does it exist? Why don’t we employ our power of imagination solely to think of new ways to find shelter or food, but we need stories? Why do we need to give birth to fiction, something that doesn’t exist in this world? Why do we need the lies called a story?

The narrator believes that it’s because you can’t tell the truth using anything other than lies. Every writer knows that using a lie will make something seem more real than just faithfully recreating reality; will make deep emotions deeper. A story is a truth you want to tell, but told in lying words. Something that can ellicit joy greater than just plain laughter, or suffering greater than just normal pain. It’s not really something you explain as much as something you feel.

Maybe it’s not that the writer chooses a story, as much as the story has a chance meeting with the writer and can be transferred to others through him. Maybe that’s why no one can write just any story or pass down just any truth. The story is the one who conveys the truth by using the writer as a tool.

Certainly when Saburou was writing two novels in high school, The White Forest (白い森) and The Hymn (賛歌), he did want to convey truths: about commitment and detachment, and how one could at once be with others but still stay separated from them. When he came to write cheap mystery novels later, he ceased to be the tool of the story. Focusing on monetary gain, he wasn’t able to write something more real than reality.

Shirou noticed that and kept criticizing how stupid Saburou’s new novels were, how he’d sold himself out and that he’d become a factory producing the same thing in a different package over and over again, and even snapped one of Saburou’s books in half once. Saburou understood the point: he should be writing more important things and give his life some value. There was value to someone like Shirou, an ER surgeon saving lives every day, but Saburou didn’t really do nothing special.

After the recent case and Nozaki’s attack [see: Smoke, Soil or Sacrifices], 29-year-old Saburou started to feel like now that he had witnessed a true case, he wouldn’t be able to lie convincingly in his novels, and therefore would be unable to convey the truth. He gave up on the idea of turning the Nozaki case into a book, even if it’d bring a lot of money. Or maybe that was just his attempt to escape the reality of what happened.

Saburou called his editors and announced he’s not going to write anything anymore. He had stable income from a cram school he had once established (with an apt acronym of NAPS), and since nobody there really liked him coming around and trying to help, he could fill his time with whatever else he wanted.

At first he focused on sleeping with women. Many women, who tended to be the girlfriends and wives of his friends. So many women that in an attempt to take each one to a different hotel, he sort of ran out of all good hotels in Fukui, and only then realized how ridiculous this whole way of living was and maybe he should focus on something else.

For some time he was playing the piano in a club called Super Dash Penguins [clearly the greatest club name ever] near the Fukui station. He was doing pretty good when imitating famous jazz pianists, and maybe that was precisely what he was best at: not doing anything original of his own, just putting a little twist on something created by others.

--

Around that time, in March, Saburou accidentally witnessed a teenage girl burying a mannequin in the middle of a field. Quite suspicious activity, seeing as the case of Nozaki burying multiple women was still fresh in everyone’s mind. So when the girl then rode her bike past his car, he decided to stealthily follow her [while commenting about how pretty she is in a highly creepy way. Er, narrator? Please stop?]. She was circling between what seemed to be her house and various places in Nishi Akatsuki, each time taking a mannequin from the shed, riding to some remote place and burying it. Saburou decided to investigate the shed while she was out, but during his first attempt he was almost caught by a thin bespectacled man wielding a hoe – probably her father – so he had to return to the car and wait for a more opportune time.

At the more opportune time, Saburou managed to sneak inside the shed and found a map of Nishi Akatsuki with fourteen red pins. Six of them marked the locations of Nozaki’s attacks, and eight pointed to the places where the girl had buried the mannequins.

Unable to do a lot more, Saburou returned home. His mother was still in a coma, his father Maruo and oldest brother Ichirou were still hospitalized, and Shirou spent a lot of time at his girlfriend Atena’s place, so Saburou was usually completely alone in the Natsukawa house. On that day, though, Shirou was home and slammed a news article on the table in front of him. Together with a bag containing a pair of real human legs.

The article provided the names of people who had gone missing since February, all having the surnames Aoki or Aikawa, which fit the pattern that Nozaki used to choose victims. What’s more, the disembodied legs that probably belonged to a missing person were found buried in a location that would lie on top of Jawakutora’s spiral on the map of Nishi Akatsuki.

Saburou remembered the girl burying mannequins. While the points on her map seemed rather randomly chosen, she might have something to do with the copycat. Saburou was a little afraid that Shirou’s impulsiveness would result in him trying to punch the truth out of the girl, but it’s not like all Natsukawas didn’t have this sort of temper.

They arrived at the girl’s house. Shirou invited himself in and by being loud, flashy and acting like he had the full right to be here, got the girl’s father (who’s not the thin guy Saburou saw earlier) to show them her room. The father stated that the girl – Fuse Yurio – hadn’t shown any changes in behavior recently, but to be honest, she had always been a strange child in the first place.

Shirou in his chaotic investigation of Yurio’s room carelessly threw a lot of books on the ground: a lot of weird mystery novels in the vein of Nisio Isin and Seiryoin Ryusui, as well as a plethora of paranormal trash, mostly about UFO. (“Oh, look, now these are some really stupid books,” Shirou said throwing Saburou’s entire Runbaba series to the ground. Fair enough.)  Finally Shirou found a suspicious bundle of volumes held together with a rubber band saying DON’T TOUCH ME, using hundreds of tiny kanji for ‘death’ to make the letters. How very teenage. The bundle contained several tomes with novel-like titles, one of them called Runbaba Notebook and featuring a poor picture of very effeminately looking Runbaba.

Shirou noticed aloud that the first character of each title put together created a message: Dad comes into the room at night. The possible implication made Saburou so outraged he wanted to jump at Yurio’s father with fists before they even tried to make sure there’s really abuse going on, but Shirou managed to stop him. The father claimed that he had no idea what the message was about. Yurio was apparently weird enough to do a creepy thing like that randomly. Shirou decided he’d want to hear the explanation from the source, but it seemed Yurio didn’t have a cellphone he could call.

Further investigation revealed a file titled ‘suicide note’ on Yurio’s PC, containing a description of her being abused sexually by her father, and: “I just want to know that at least my life is my own. My body will soon disappear from this Earth.”

Saburou really did punch the father this time and Shirou had to hold him back to prevent carnage (“Sorry Mr. Fuse, this guy here loves kids and snaps when he hears about child abuse”). While Shirou acknowledged the abuse might really be happening, he also couldn’t ignore the possibility that this could be just a kind of a cry for attention on Yurio’s part, or that it may be a sort of self-harm done in one own’s imagination.

Shirou then found a set of school books and a middle school uniform, all unused, and only then did Saburou realize that the girl had been out in the fields during school hours. According to the father, Yurio had been homeschooled even since she’d refused to attend classes, probably because her unusual personality had made her a target for bullies. Shirou asked for a way of contacting Yurio’s peers that still were friends with her.

While the father left the room to put together a phone number list, Shirou scolded Saburou for punching people without thinking. “Seems you haven’t used your head properly in years! Is it going to take another dead Runbaba and closing yourself in that damn warehouse for you to actually think?!” Saburou didn’t have an answer to that. Shirou asserted that right now the most pressing issue wasn’t figuring out all the family’s issues, but finding Yurio, who might have really been planning suicide.

And so Saburou had to focus on thinking. He couldn’t afford another Runbaba, couldn’t just close himself off from the world in some dark place. Finding this girl was all that mattered, this girl who smelled of citrus fruit and would surely grow up into a beautiful woman one day [um, narrator, your focus on those things in a thirteen-year-old girl is kinda creepy].

Shirou got a call from his friend Sanbonsugi, who had been watching the place that those disembodied legs had been found at. Sanbonsugi witnessed the murderer coming back to the crime scene. The man’s description exactly matched that of the man with glasses that Saburou had seen snooping around Yurio’s house earlier.

Shirou found a mostly destroyed notebook in an oil drum used to burn trash, which could mean Yurio got rid of the evidence for whatever plan she had in mind. The map in the shed had a new addition that Saburou hadn’t seen earlier, a sentence scrawled on it: YOU CAN’T FIND ME.

The two brothers got moving through the town. Shirou called each person from the list that the father had provided and learned that apparently Yurio had a boyfriend. [“Don’t look so down about it, you lolicon,” Shirou said towards Saburou. Thanks for recognizing the creepiness, dude.] The boyfriend was a sixteen-year-old Hashimoto Takashi. (“Seems you’re not the only lolicon around, huh?”) The brothers split, Saburou searching for the boyfriend and Yurio, while Shirou went on to catch the glasses-wearing murderer.

Saburou was unsuccessful in getting any information from Hashimoto’s parents. They didn’t seem to be interested in their son’s life in the slightest and had no idea who Fuse Yurio was.

Meanwhile, Shirou and his friend caught the murderer while he was checking on the buried body parts. The guy was Takano Yoshiki from the neighboring town Nanjou, and when Shirou arrived at his house, inside he found Yurio’s boyfriend Hashimoto Takashi, dead from suffocation, still tied to a chair with tape.

After beating the shit out of Takano, Shirou discovered yet another map of Nishi Akatsuki covered with pins, this one portraying what Takano had been attempting to do by burying the body parts: draw a giant monkey similar to that of the Nazca Lines. Jawakutora’s spiral would create the monkey’s tail.

After Shirou called Saburou, and after they beat the hell out of Takano once again, they asked him about the reason for drawing the picture. Takano answered,

“For Great Jawakutora.”

This time it was Saburou who had to pull his brother away to prevent murder.

Saburou then found Hashimoto’s sports bag. Stuffed inside was an array of nine balls used in different sports as well as a globe. The soccer ball had a paper ring around it. It must have symbolized Saturn, the globe – the Earth, and the rest – the other planets and the Sun. Why would a high schooler lug those around? Why would the same high schooler be killed? Maybe he and Yurio planned to do something that interferred with Takano’s little project. That would explain why Takano had been hanging around her house with a hoe: to follow her and dig up the mannequins so they wouldn’t mess up his Nazca monkey design. But what image could be created using ten “celestial bodies” and eight mannequins... and six buried women?

Saburou couldn’t figure this out, but Shirou put two and two together as soon as he saw it, running to the nearby computer to search for it (using awful dial-up Internet, because this is early 2000s) and make sure.

The Pioneer plaque was sent to space twice, on board of Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11. Aside from a drawing of two humans and the Pioneer probe, it also featured a message for the aliens on how to find the probe’s origin. The pulsar map using 14 pulsars -- that starburst shape on the left side of the plaque -- could be used to calculate the position of the Sun, and the drawing of the Solar System below pointed to the third planet from the Sun.

Ten objects of the Solar System, fourteen pulsars. Ten balls, six buried women and eight mannequins. A strange girl obsessed with UFO could definitely come up with something like this.

Shirou said that the pulsar map could be pointing them to where Yurio is. Her writing YOU CAN’T FIND ME might have meant that she desperately wanted to be found. Clearly, this was the time for Saburou to step in. Saburou replied that he wasn’t the one who had managed to find all those clues, but Shirou retorted that it had been Saburou who had already found Yurio once, and Shirou wouldn’t be able to figure the situation out without that.

So Saburou started to think about where Yurio could be. Maybe she and her boyfriend Hashimoto had planned to kill themselves so that their naked bodies would symbolize the man and the woman from the Pioneer plaque. If so, then maybe the additional fifteenth line of the pulsar map – the galactic plane – would point to them, just like it seemed to point to the two humans in the drawing.

Saburou put on his warmest clothes (even March is quite cold in Nishi Akatsuki) and walked deep into the dark mountains, moving along the ‘galactic plane’ towards the Hand Pond, called so after its characteristic hand-like shape. The lake seemed like an appropriate place for a meeting between two teens.

The mountain forest at night was cold and frightening, mostly because of the possibility of walking into a bear. But also because of an urban legend claiming that a family of cannibals known as Chiuhi lived in secret underground tunnels stretching all throughout the mountains, and that they’d be more than ready to pull a lonely wanderer like him into a hole and eat him.

Although what really scared Saburou was the possibility of Jirou somehow being there, that horrifying man ready to enact revenge on the family starting from his younger brother.

Finally Saburou caught the distant glimpse of the pond glinting with moonlight. Finally a spot of light in the oppresive darkness. Was Yurio still alive? Dead? If she had already died, then maybe exhausted Saburou could just lie next to her instead of Hashimoto and die too so her efforts wouldn’t be in vain, or something.

Upon arriving at the moonlit lake Saburou turned off his flashlight and became one with the darkness.

It wasn’t a bad feeling. Maybe once you’re caught by the very thing you’re afraid of, there’s no further point in fearing it.

In the quiet darkness, Saburou heard music coming from within him. Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3. He whistled to the tune and in response heard a small sound somewhere in the darkness. Was that Yurio? A bear? The Chiuhi? Jirou? A UFO full of aliens? He continued to whistle until someone asked, “Who’s there?” A girl’s voice with no discernible emotion.

Saburou thought that maybe it’d be better if aliens really showed up right now, responding to “the Pioneer plaque” or maybe “the Nazca monkey”. People had killed or were planning to die just to make these images. That’s why the aliens really should notice them and show up.

If Saburou was writing a novel about all this, he’d certainly make that happen.

A story passed from an enthusiathic creator to the recipient in the sky...

Even if it’d be a lie, that’d be okay. After all, it was the known truth of stories that a person’s great effort would without fail be noticed by someone else.

[>>>NEXT>>>]

[thefreshfinds]

KID PRO:

One who takes into consideration that the world is his oyster, Kid Pro effortlessly plummets your favorite rapper's career.

As an active member of society, Kid Pro has tapped into a higher knowledge that most don't possess. In the midst of flipping the pages of philosophical books that speak on self-absorption & swimming against the current — he also impliments it into his own work. If he isn't speaking on racial issues or our very corrupted government, then the all-around prophet is slapping around those with "murder on their mind" with a word of advice, e.g Classified ft. Mickey Jaggs which speaks on how we're still slaves in todays society, police brutality & how we sell our own stories to tabloids. Mickey Jaggs: "Taking attention of off the sh*t where the focus should be at/Gave us freedom to choose but don’t give a f*ck about the choice/We all pawns & the bosses are anonymous/So distracted by idols that they idolize never even notice that they feed them lies.. goodbye” Yet his deep appreciation for golden hip-hop gives him the ability to mesh all of these subjects together with hard-hitting rhymes like "“Last name 'fuck', first name 'don’t', middle name 'give a so-nigga what you want." or “My true knowledge only came from true suffering now a nigga 4G so I ain’t never buffering.” (Technical Difficulties), boom bap & east coast vibes.

To simply put it, Kid Pro keeps in mind that there's always room for improvement. If he isn't venturing into his own Cons & Pros "The protagonist been laying low/Charging up like a proton." then he's encouraging others to "think global" & to "never get stuck on the locals." (ProZilla)

Bleeding yellow, red & blue — Kid Pro basks into his Columbian heritage with pride.

Even though he's from Parsippany, NJ where the music scene isn't booming, Kid Pro has found a way to make it work. "It’s a big enough town to hold two high schools, but small enough to where everyone pretty much knows or knows of each other."

Asides from being an MC, Kid Pro is an influx of other things.

On the whole he's an producer, engineer & even a father of two who teaches them about life. Yet he also learns more about himself in the process. In a word, KID PRO says it's an enjoyable journey that continues to levitate with time. " My constant pursuit is to be the best version of myself that I can be. I’ve gotten to a point in my life where I can no longer stand by & just do nothing. Any day spent just lounging around is a wasted opportunity to learn a new skill, improve on an old one, read a book, write a new song, etc. I hate that it takes death to appreciate life, but Nipsey’s passing hit me harder than I thought it would because of all the good he was doing outside of music. We were practically the same age & he was able to change & affect so many lives for the better. That continues to speak volumes to me and it’s been one of my sources of inspiration."

The moniker he chose stands for three important elements needed in order to live a prosperous life, "K stands for “Knowledge”, I stands for “Intensity”, & D stands for “Determination." According to the artist, if one wants to become a Pro at anything, these things will get them far. Hence "KID PRO."

If it wasn't for “Midnight Marauders” by A Tribe Called Quest, Kid Pro's love for hip-hop wouldn't be so massive. Still, them along with 9th Wonder & Little Brother have paved the way for his conscious sound.

His music journey started off with poetry in a middle school English class, which then transitioned into rapping in a basement on a $10 USB microphone & posting songs on Soundclick & MySpace.

According to the MC it was just something he thought was cool because he always watched music videos & listened to rap. But over time, it became his passion & therapy. For Kid Pro, making music allows him to express himself in ways that he isn't able to with just speaking. In fact, he can perform those same songs on a stage in front of people & have them relate to what he's saying. "My life was all about music." Kid Pro adds.

Thus far, Kid Pro has been blessed with many opportunities. He's traveled to different open mics/showcases/competitions & always meet new acts that are bringing new energy & rocking new flows that keep him on my toes. To Pro, the new generation of MC’s in that 20-25 year range look the absolute hungriest & impress him with how they’re able to command a huge presence not just on stage, but with social media in order to help push their brand. 

Ultimately, Kid Pro is moved by those that go beyond their boundaries & don’t accept any limitations because the idea of making something out of nothing & presenting it to an audience to help them feel something comes with great joy & a never ending addiction. But his main source of inspiration comes from those he holds dear to his heart: His family.

As he asserts into lyricism, Kid Pro takes into account that music is forever changing. "I would say my strength comes in not being afraid to explore new concepts, flows & beat selection.” Kid Pro adds "You never want to get caught up in recreating what’s hot currently, but being a trendsetter for the next wave. I enjoy every aspect of the writing process. Being able to tell a story over a beat, rhyme & have consistent imagery & metaphors throughout, all while keeping the listener engaged with a melody is not the easiest thing to do. If it’s done right(& marketed right), you can change the world, & that’s what I aim for each time I pick up the pen."

Likewise, Kid Pro's main message to the crowd is to always strive to be the best version of yourself at all times. After all, tomorrow is never promised for anyone & we all have to live life as if we won’t get to see another day. "Before I get off stage at a show, I always recite a small “poem” I wrote randomly a few years back: “Keep Your Eyes Open/Open Your Mind/ Mind Your Business/ Business Before Pleasure/ Pleasure Your Life/ Life Is Good/ Good Night”.... It means a lot to me." he adds.

With this in mind, Kid Pro overcomes all in order to achieve true greatness. He gives those listening a crash-course on how to perceive, act & think about obstacles. He's learned how to deal with the source & never the middle man. And so, he aims to test his limits. Wait until mid-June, Kid Pro will be releasing an upcoming collab EP with @obbeatzz titled “KICKvSNARE” on all streaming platforms along with a solo project which will release in the Fall.

In the meantime, check out his freestyle series called #VersesAboutNothing. In this series he films & edits his own music videos. Kid Pro also showcases his lyrics over classic beats & original beats from producers he's met throughout the years.

"I’ve also put in the groundwork to jumpstart a YouTube channel & make it a full media experience where I’ll be doing everything from music videos, interviewing other artists, comedy skits, Vlogs, Podcasts & much more." he says "I want to take full control of the content I put out & not have to wait on anyone else to get it done. My creativity & motivation is at an all-time high so please be on the lookout for more coming your way!"

P.S: His favorite song to create was Cons & Pros which has two versions! (He even performs it frequently via acapella.) It consists of a rhyme scheme using words that start with “Pro.”

"It’s one of the most challenging songs ever, but that’s what makes it fun. It’s like starting this huge 10,000 piece puzzle: at first it seems impossible, then you start connecting more and more pieces, and before you know it, it’s all coming together flawlessly. The song also has a great message behind it and not just me rhyming a bunch of “Pro” words. I believe in the power of lyrics and always make sure I’m bringing some sort of positivity and knowledge to the listener."

By: Natalee Gilbert

LINK(S):

1. SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/kidpromusic

2. YouTube / Apple Music: Search “Kid Pro”

3. Instagram: @iamkidpro

[goghlaxyphotos]

Visual Exercise 3 - Great Inspiration

The next assignment we got - ‘Great Inspiration’, was about recreating images by recognized photographers, and this is why it was called that way. 

By first look, copying an image of a chair or just a single subject on a plain background seems easy peasy. BUT.

 From the first trial I painfully discovered it is terribly hard to imitate a picture with all the details, lights and shadows, position...  😅 I feel it is almost impossible to copy the exact way the original photo was taken. So, during this project I felt overwhelmed, stuck, desparate, confused... but after all I kept on trying and will keep on exploring photographers’ techniques because thus I learn a lot about the perspectives of light, the importance of it and what results its specific use and the arrangement, positioning and representation of an object can bring. In fact, during the process of trying to imitate pictures I myself created a few quite fair captures that may not be as similar to the originals but look good on their own.

 All in all, in a few posts I will share with you all my inspirations for work on the project and for further work I will keep on developing. I will also pluck up my courage to post some unsuccessful trials of the copycat and some separate photographs I have been taking while I have not been posting.

Here is a list of the photographers I researched before I started the recreation process. They were quite a lot and I collected a huge folder of photographs I desired to try redoing or just loved much and wanted to keep for my ‘ideas’ book. Quite a few of those grand artists (expectedly) just could not suit my capabilities of recreating such complicated images, which require skill, specific conditions, time and materials I could not afford.

Alexey Titarenko - ghostly vibes, ideas for creative use of exposures

Alma Haser - similar to Sylwia Kowalczyk’s work with crushed/folded paper and cut outs.

André Kertész - diverse work, different styles - new topographics, portraiture..

Arnold Newman

Bill Brandt

Cindy Sherman

Dan Dubowitz

David Hockney - at first I thought ‘oh, I like making collages, why not try redoing one of these joiners’... then I realized that these specific collages demand so much time and arrangement I could not do it before the deadline😅

Edward Weston - I tried recreating his nude portraits. Poses and shadows were extremely difficult. Still I am thinking of sharing some of the results.

Eugenio Recuenco

Fay Godwin

Gerhard Richter - paintings and photographs

Gregory Crewdson

Hannah Starkey

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Idris Khan

Irving Penn - new in my favourites. 

Johannes Vermeer

Pablo Zuleta Zahr - super originial and atypical work,  ✔️ to try list

Richard Kalvar - loved the humour; found works that will be useful for another project

Rineke Dijkstra

Robert Mapplethorpe - his work looked approachable because I had a male model available, but is also quite specific in terms of lighting and posing, only a professional could do it

Sarah Ann Loreth - love at first sight. Just clicked with my taste of images and love to fire. Her style is visible, noticable and memorable.

Sohrab Hura - genuinely pure and intriguing narrative photographer. Since she was one of the last artists I researched, I kept in mind continuing reading and reviewing her exhibitions.

Sugimoto - liked the abstract approach

Sylwia Kowalczyk - honestly, one of the strongest inspirations I found during this research in terms of style and type of art. I love constructed images. I could not manage to recreate one of hers for the project but started exploring the way I can do it and will soon finish a work inspired by this amazing woman.

Tacita Dean - unique use of film, yet I am not familiar how to work with it and could not include it in the project

Tom Hunter - loved his ‘Swan Songs’ 

Viveca Koh

William Eggleston

So, even though I could not recreate every artist’s image I definitely appreciated and enjoyed researching their art and saved a lot of ideas in my ‘ideas’ book to try. :) In fact, quite a few of them I will look up to again when it’s time for the final project (portraiture, I will hint nothing more:)). So research is always useful, especially a thorough one and followed by practice.  📸

The first photograph I tried copying was Gerhard Richter’s küchenstuhl (kitchen chair). I had to start from somewhere so I thought ‘okay, I have a chair and a wall, I can try this’. Yes, but no as we say in Bulgaria. I had the original picture printed so that I could look up to it and adjust the light and the angles. Yet, as I did it on my own it was difficult holding the source of light (flash), a reflector (to darken the floor), and the camera all by myself. I took about a hundred pictures, realizing a new thing with every other photo taken: at first I hadn’t noticed the chair should be captured a little from the side. Then I saw the floor should be dark and there should be hardly any shadows on it, and thus I kept on noticing details I had to pay attention to. I tried capturing this photo with daylight (from the window) and with curtains shut (with flash). Anyways, when I saw the pictures on my laptop I realized I’ve made too many mistakes and knowing that I should not fix them on Photoshop, I decided to redo the photoshoot. The second time I had stronger daylight available and could adjust the position of the chair so that I got the right shadows; I took a series with the flash again in order to compare them on the laptop which has come out closer to the original and after all I do not remember which case was the most successful one.

An interesting story behind this first copycat was that initially I chose to do it because I wanted to recreate a painting. Then after recreating it I researched the picture and its artist (G. Richter) more deeply and found out there was a photograph by which the painting was made. And pleasantly surprising, in the photograph there was a similar column on the right of the chair just like in mine (and initially I worried about it being there). So one more time, research turns out quite useful.

(second row, last photograph) ⬇

 The choice of picture for the second recreation was induced by my inspiration from the photographer who made it and the way the content is presented. I became a huge fan of Robert Mapplethorpe throughout this project, I enjoy his style very much and had quite a lot of his pictures in the recreation list. What drew me in to this exact photograph of his were the highlights and the way this part of the body, which is my favourite, is captured. I love looking at necks, jawbones, cheekbones - they are such an expressive part of a person’s look. And I think in this Mapplethorpe’s photograph they are depicted and emphasized through the shadows and highlights. The contrast, which I had problem with, plays a big role in the overall look of this image. When I printed mine it appeared flat, so I needed to strengthen the contrast between the whites and the blacks. So, if I am to recreate this picture again, I will use more sources of light to highlight the specific parts of the face and the neck. Overall, I am happy with the composition of my copy - I think this is the feature I’ve nailed in this recreation mostly.

The next photograph also originates from Robert Mapplethorpe’s collection -  Pictures/Self Portrait, 1977. Simple, and yet I had to recreate it twice because the first time I thought I have got the shadow right but in fact I had not. ➖ What I think I did not nail in this recreation: the position of the arm (left), the smooth edges of shadow and the small details highlighted on the hand (which can actually depend on the different body/hand). ➕ What I probably nailed: shirt, position of hand according to paper, text on paper, shape of shadow, angle of shoot.

All in all, I loved the simplicity in this picture and the way it clearly delivers a message: ‘Pictures.’. It may wrap up a person’s life, one’s hobby, passion, vision, anything. It makes you think. And the other version of this photograph kind of presents another side of the narrative, where the clothing plays a significant role in the reading of the picture. (shirt and a wrist watch (business) -> rocker gloves and a metal bracelet (rebel)). Everyone can be an artist.

  Last but not least, I chose to recreate a picture of Sohrab Hura’s ‘Life is Everywhere’ project. It grabbed me the moment I saw it because it radiates some kind of magic, an honour, the way the photograph is hold. And I love the idea of a photo inside the photo - it somehow reveals the meaning of the images or people’s attitude towards them. 

As long as I understood from Hura’s website, the story hidden behind this image of a hand holding a probably old photograph is about the mother of the photographer, who struggled with paranoid schizophrenia. If I have got it wrong about the picture at least I know it is from her work ‘Life is Everywhere’ that is inspired exactly by this tragedy in her life. The disease is not the reason why I wanted to recreate this image with the picture of my mother, thankfully. One reason is because I had her pocket picture I keep in my wallet and wanted to include her in my project. Reading the story, I found even more motivation and connection between the original and my recreation, so I was sure I was going to do it. Hura’s mother’s disease was believed to be caused by the break up with the father of the photographer. My mother went through a similar experience I am not going to elaborate on but I could relate to the story, excluding the severe psychologic disorder caused. Including her picture in my projects, holding it gently, honourably, I want to express my awe and admiration at her endurance and strong personality. She is my idol and I want to show it, so this is my interpretation of this copycat.

In terms of technical execution, I used a plain white wall as a background and had to move the hand away from it so that no shadow would appear on it. The hand was lit from above and a little on the right to achieve those highlights. I did not manage to get all the shadows and dark areas, but I think it is partially due to the lack of hair. I used a camera filter to get the vignette edges but they appeared a little too flat so obviously I had to strengthen them to achieve a similar look to the original.

In a nutshell, this project was a whole new experience to me which I did not expect to be so difficult for realization but after all I am happy with everything I learnt as for techniques, filters, lighting, photographers. I enriched my creativity and filled my ‘ideas’ book, doing my research, and thus have helped my next projects as well. Also I am glad I will have material to work on after this project is over and will now look at light in a different way and think more - how is this shadow achieved? where is this object lit from?...

🔦💡🕯📸🤔

💫📍📒

[akalittlemisscrazy]

Backpacking Escapes: Siem Reap

Siem Reap. A backpacker’s dream and our last stop after 50 days of traveling. Of course the big attraction of this city to tourists is the temples, particularly Angkor Wat. For our first day we rented bicycles for $1 a day as suggested by a blog Rachel had read. All I can say is dear God I’m impressed if they actually managed to actually cycle all 3 circuits in 2 days without melting. With a proper dirt bike I may have been able to, although I would be very tired after a grand total of approximately 150 kilometres. But honestly what killed us was the heat. I’d recommend bringing A LOT of water or at least some money for the street vendors (who thank goodness sell ice cold water for normal prices instead of trying to rip you off. Absolute life savers).

We cycled the small circuit; a total of 43 kilometres in 36*C heat on the most rickety bikes I’ve ever seen. Even though I was a bit stiff by the end of the day I sti enjoyed this experience. The highlights of this route include Ta Prohm (accurately nicknamed Indiana Jones or Tomb Raider temple) with some spectacular Strangler Figs engulfing the doorways. I love how despite all the restoration and conservation efforts, they have haven’t pushed the jungle completely back. This keeps the mysterious forgotten world aura surrounding these temples in tact.

Srah Srang was once the 'Royal Bathing Pool' for ritual bathings. It was so perfect I just couldn’t resist dipping my feet in, much to Rachel’s amusement as she watched in confusion as I suddenly threw my shoes off saying “Why not?!”.

Bayon Temple is so drastically different to all the other temples that it is somewhat curious to explore. It originally had 49 towers; today 37 towers remain with almost 200 faces carved facing in 4 directions. Despite its slightly cluttered feel, this temple was mysterious and beautiful in the evening golden light.

Angkor Thom means ‘city centre' and is actually the collective name for the area including the Terrace of the Elephants and Terrace of the Leper King. Make sure to fully explore these areas, particularly between the inner and outer walls as there are many wonderful carvings that are still well preserved down here. See if you can find the 5 headed horse, the elephants and the 5 headed Nagas.

Our final adventure for our first day here was our “shortcut” home. And by “shortcut” I mean Google maps told us there was a road running down to join the riverside track. In reality this was a very narrow dirt path winding through the jungle, then along a road that was more pot holes than actual road through the village-like outskirts of Siem Reap. On the bright side I’m fairly sure we were the highlight of the day for many many children who all rushed out to say to hello to us as we passed by, then sprinted back inside to tell their parents about the strange girls. Honestly I’ve never said hello so many times in such a short space of time – it was so endearing 😊. The people here are so friendly, warm and open.

Angkor Wat sunrise is probably the number one thing you’ll hear people recommend, for a very very good reason. I mean, just look at this beauty:

I don’t think words are even necessary; these photos speak volumes for themselves. No filters - that's just genuinely what it looked like. Yes it meant dragging ourselves out of bed at 4.30am but at least today we’d had the sense to book a Tuk Tuk driver for $12 each who took us to Angkor Wat for sunrise, then to all the way out to Banteay Srei (which by the way is worth the journey away from the city. It's only a small temple but it has a wild beauty around it and the grounds are also lovely), then finally around the Grand Tour of Angkor.

Another major advantage of getting up early meant we had a lot of the temples to entirely ourselves. Literally Queens of Backpacking ❤️

For our day off we decided to simply wander. Something about the twisting streets screams 'explore me' and it has one of the best vibes we’ve had from any city. It is quirky and interesting, and the people are so lovely. We decided to walk towards the riverside and stumbled upon an old map for the 'Historical Quarter Walk' which held a view interesting sights.

Before long we arrived at the Royal Gardens Park, nicknamed Bat Park for a very good reason. We flopped on a bench in the shade for a quick drink and both had the same sudden almost simultaneous moment of realisation. Rachel’s jaw dropped as I gasped 'Holy cow...'. Looking up we realised the trees were full of hundreds and hundreds of fruit bats hanging from the branches.

Having found our own little peaceful corner watching these bats occasionally flutter from tree to tree, we spent the rest of the afternoon lounging here. The park is very quiet and sleepy during the day but wakes up in the evening. Apparently if you want an outdoor Zumba class this is the number one place to go. We passed 3 on our way out of the park.

Another highly recommended activity I’d found on Pinterest was the Happy Horse Ranch. Another 5 gold stars to Pinterest – this was BRILLIANT. We’d started going into animal withdrawal so a three hour hack seemed to be the perfect cure. This is the best way we’ve come across to see the picturesque countryside. Endless fields of rice plantations and lotus flowers stretched out all around us. There’s nothing quite like feeling of wind running through your hair as you canter through such a peaceful gorgeous place. And to top it off all the horses here looked happy and healthy. This place easily gets a 10 out of 10 and I’d gladly go again. Our guide (Kong) was very friendly & helpful, the views spectacular and the horses perfectly matched to our experience levels (a.k.a. we can both handle a slightly fizzy spooky horse, personally it makes the ride more enjoyable than plodding along on an old cob! Even if it is slightly more difficult to shimmy past a water buffalo threatening to charge at you when you’re also trying to persuade your horse it’s absolutely fine if she just keeps on walking).

Artisans Angkor was simply an incredibly lucky break. We’d been googling free things to do in the city when I came across a brief mention of this silk workshop around the corner from our hostel. It ended up being so much more – by simply turning up at the door you get a free guided tour around the workshop where they make wooden carvings, stone carvings, silver inlays, jewellery and some stunning silk garments. You really get an appreciation for the amount of skill and how long it takes to make these masterpieces. Some of the stone sculptures take 4 months to complete. The tools they used are recycled from old motorbike and tuk tuk springs. These artisans also help with the restoration of the Angkor temples, recreating some beautiful statues based on the original designs. During your tour you may even get to try carving yourself (then realise how hard it is and watch amazed as the guy turns your scribble into a masterpiece).

The next day we returned to the workshop to get the free shuttle bus for another free tour (I love that Asia is cheap, but free is even better ❤️), this time around the silk farm itself. Hats off to whoever first looked at a cocoon made by a worm and thought “You know what? I bet that will make a really nice fabric”. I learnt so much here and it didn't cost us a penny. Artisans Angkor use over 60% of their sales income to give back to the local community and provide so many people with jobs & support. Definitely high up on my recommendations list. It's such a shame more people don't know about this. Go go go people.

And that's it....

The end of my Backpacking Escapes series. For now at least! Thanks to the fellow travellers I've met along the way I've now got a list of new places to visit and things to try as long as my arm, and I can't wait for more adventures. South East Asia has truly been a dream, and I would say it's been a once in a lifetime trip - but how can it be when I'm so in love and so desperate to come back?! I'm certain this won't be my last visit to Asia, but rather the first of many.

Bon voyage for now my friends! I've got a couple more blog posts planned but it's time to go home. To those of you still travelling make the most of every moment! And those of you who aren't....

What are you waiting for??

[macthenife]

Q2 2018 Update

We’ve been testing pant fabrics and protos for the last couple years, and this past quarter, we finally placed our first pant order. You can expect them by December. The pants are a business casual chino in a 60% wool, 40% nylon blend — wrinkle resistant, low-maintenance, dress up or dress down.

Wool fabric has traditionally been the go-to choice for suiting. And we don’t blame the tailors; wool slacks are comfortable, breathable, and drape beautifully. They do however have a distinct look that feels out of place for casual occasions.

The challenge for our product team was to develop a wool fabric with a casual drape akin to your cotton chinos. During development, we leaned heavily on blends, wool/nylon, wool/cotton, and wool/cotton/spandex, to get the desired casual look.

We could have continued developing fabrics and wear testing for another 18 months, but truthfully, once a fabric meets our quality threshold, the bulk of our learning occurs when customers start wearing and sending feedback. We don’t subscribe to the “If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you've launched too late” Silicon Valley philosophy, but as you can see with our quarterly update, we’re not shy about using customer feedback to improve product.

Now you can be head-to-toe merino.

Growth:

2018 Q2 Sales vs 2017 Q2 Sales: Up 7%

Team Retreat:

We took the advice of our entrepreneur pals (Gregor from Pixelcabin and Jason from Revant) and went on a leadership team retreat. The retreat location was an Airbnb just east of Portland in the Columbia River gorge. Our goal was to bond as a team and align on strategy and vision. The retreat exceeded everyone’s expectations, and most notably, we had breakthrough discussions around Wool&Prince product strategy and our new womenswear brand.

Now that the retreat is over, I keep asking myself how we can recreate the creative brainstorming magic on a more frequent basis. But maybe we don’t need to? It feels natural that the months following the retreat are oriented toward executing—doing the things that lead us to the future we just envisioned.

 Some of the factors that made the retreat such a successful brainstorming opportunity:

We had inspiration. Spontaneous brainstorming discussions flowed organically from our planned presentations.

We were in the right state of mind. The relaxed environment coupled with a not so rigid schedule, gave us freedom to take our time, joke around, and enjoy ourselves.

There was also a powerful “we’re in this together” vibe. Perhaps it was the collection of all of us chipping in in our own unique way—selecting music, cooking, cleaning, serving drinks, planning, presenting, etc

Or maybe it was the beautiful airbnb with a view ...

If you’re looking to have a company retreat, here are some ideas that worked for us:

Plan and prepare for team discussion/presentations at least two weeks in advance. The presentations were casual with team members jumping in to share ideas and ask questions. Here are the four discussions/presentations we focused on: 1) Mission/Vision/Values/Goals/Team 2) Womenswear brand 3) Wool&Prince 2019 Product 4) Recap

Book a great place on Airbnb

If a retreat attendee was a contractor, they received their standard day rate.

Scheduled on weekdays instead of weekend. We chose a two night stay. Drove out Thursday afternoon and drove back Saturday morning.

Teach each other new skills (informal photography lesson and cooking lesson)

Hiking! Something about a hike gets the creative energy flowing (Cape Horn and Catherine Creek)

Good food! We have some foodies on our team and we all benefited greatly. We also went to one of Hood River’s many wonderful breweries

Games! We played Splendor and Monopoly Deals

Group podcast listening. We listened to one of my favorite podcasts as we drove to and from our hike. (If you’re curious, it’s episode 1 of Master’s of Scale with Brian Chesky, founder of airbnb, telling his “do things that don’t scale” philosophy). We referred back to the podcast a few times during the retreat.

Curious if anyone has other ideas or tips for our next retreat? What has worked and not worked for your companies?

New woven shirts available end of July

We’re quite happy with these three, particularly that herringbone in the middle.

Meg created a variety of new bundles comprised of lightly used knits mostly in size medium. These shirts were used in our summer photo shoot.

We had a great visit with our sourcing partners and Woolmark

Other Highlights:

We love stories like this one (audio) from an original Wool&Prince brand ambassador and buddy.

Memorial Day Ski to Sea in Bellingham, Wa

Mexico City

Coast biking

Life is moving fast: new nephew and new house

By the time this update goes live, I’ll be in wedding/honeymoon mode enjoying some time away from the computer/business. The Wool&Prince team will be responding to your comments/thoughts.

[thevalkyriesonline]

In the first instalment of ‘Let’s Talk Comics’ we talk with Son and Sam of SCSM Comics who have just finished their Kickstarter campaign for their comic ‘A Vampire in Paris’. 

Sam is a queer freelance artist known for her character designs, concept work and witty sense of humour. She has been drawing professionally for over 10 years and dedicates her time to telling new and original stories through her artwork.

Son is a queer Muslim freelance writer who actively works in comics, and is known for her work in ‘TEETHING’. She is an active fan of horror and monsters and often complains about the lack of positive representation of POC mythical creatures.

‘A Vampire in Paris’ is a queer love story that follows two bartenders at the Spade, a bar located in the heart of Paris. Kara Belmont is a working college student, studying Art History by day and spending her nights filling up empty glasses. It’s a weird bar, packed with interesting patrons. But the most interesting person of all seems to be her own coworker. Selma Nazari seems to only work at night and is rather mysterious, not to mention unearthly beautiful. Despite her calm disposition and incessant teasing, Kara is sure that Selma holds a terrible secret.

There’s no doubt about it: She’s a vampire.

  Let’s dive straight in! 

Sam, how did you get started in illustrating? Was there a moment you can recall where you really fell in love with it?

I was in 3rd or 4th grade when I stumbled upon a good old show called ‘DragonBall Z’ on Toonami. I thought the style and animations were so cool I just had to recreate them and it kinda kicked off from there. I had always been into drawing and doodling as a kid but I really fell head over heels in love with it after drawing Trunks an absurd amount of times.

Sam- What inspired you to go the comic book route with your artistic skills out of all available mediums?

Fun fact, initially I didn’t want to do art as a career/profession at all. I kind of fell into the freelance thing out of necessity and realized that it was awesome and I love doing it! As for going the comic book route, that falls on Son actually! I was not confident in my abilities to do full comic page work initially but after freelancing for 2 years and Son shoving me into a locker and demanding I go into comic work I decided to take the plunge! Setting up the kickstarter and producing the sample pages really solidified my confidence and how much I enjoy it!

Sam- What character would you like to give a full makeover to and why?

If I could give any character in AVIP a makeover it would probably be Levi. And I only say this because she’s the type to change her appearance most often. I also love drawing and coloring hair and she has a lot to work with.

If I had the choice to give any character a full makeover I would laugh at myself and say “I can give a full makeover to any character I want” because I do. One of the things I love drawing the most is redesigns of characters that I like. Be it “what they look like in 20 years” or just full on AU designs, the possibilities are endless!

Son- Was there a defining piece of work for you growing up that made you realise you wanted to take up the writers mantle?

As much as I want to say ‘Dragon Ball Z’, I think the most defining pieces of work that convinced me that writing is my passion were R.L. Stine and Christopher Pike novels. I used to read the dime horror novels (the ones on a lonely rack at my library) religiously all throughout elementary school. Was I too young to be reading that? Yes. Did I like them immensely? Hell yes.

  Son- What is your favourite scary movie?

‘Let the Right One In’. I used to read it once a year in high school because of how much I adored the writing. The Swedish film is amazing and paints my favourite type of horror: slow moving.

Son- Who would you say your biggest inspirations are?

There’s so many. In literature, I’m just like any other post-college student with a knack for writing. Which means I like a lot of works by dead white male authors. Thankfully, Afrofuturism is saving my life. But no matter how much I read, anime that I grew up with and learned to appreciate as an adult really shaped me. My biggest inspirations are Ghost in the Shell, Cowboy Bebop, Akira, Berserk, and other shows from that era. Also, Hellboy changed my life.

Son- Which famous classic horror creature/ mythical creature would you like to reimagine and why?

The Bride of Frankenstein because I really want to examine her under the points brought up in the essay A Cyborg Manifesto by Donna Haraway. I also think it would be wild to examine how we do AIs and Cyborgs in science-fiction as a form of Frankenstein and his bride in a setting that leads you to believe that artificial advancements are the future. It’s a cool reversal.

I love these thoughts on The Bride of Frankenstein, AI and Cyborgs, I had not even considered how much those things align! That would make for a fascinating topic especially with AI being the hot topic that it is! 

How did you find the process of raising funds on kickstarter?

Sam: It was nerve racking initially. Especially because for me it was my first time running a kickstarter.  We both took the time to go over successful and failed kickstarters to get a general picture of what we’d be dealing with on both sides. It was a lot of “what to do and what not to do”s.

Son: It took a bunch of research and trial and error. Sam is excellent at creating a schedule and together, we made airtight plans. In the end, it’s great to have support and to work with someone you trust. It’s hard, but exciting.

What advice would you give someone looking to self-fund on sites like kickstarter?

Sam: PR IS YOUR BEST FRIEND. Seriously. Don’t feel bad about boosting your projects 3-4 times a day and being active with your audience. It’s the best way to show that you’re in it to win it! CONFIDENCE IS EVERYTHING!

Son: It’s okay to be a little shameless. An issue I had to jump over was my inability to promote myself. You need to ignore that little voice and be shameless. Tell all your friends, tweet about it nonstop, bring it up whenever you can. It’s only for a month, you gotta be your own hype man! Learning how to PR is important.

What have you found the biggest challenges for you as women in this industry?

Sam: I like to think that I’m incredibly lucky for choosing to go into the freelance industry over a big name comic book corporation. Crowdfunding is a game changer because it opens up opportunities to female identifying artists to explore stories and styles that suit them and their experiences. Instead of some old fart at the top of the totem pole doling out slices of “The same shit we see all the time”.

Son: As someone who’s been working to get into comics, the freelance industry is a great place for women. Or it’s starting to be. As a female identifying writer, I’ve been on the short end of the stick, that I’m not “taken seriously” about certain genres, such as horror and science fiction. Jokes on them because with the growing community of freelance projects and crowdfunding, women and other marginalized groups are finally building their own platforms with their own stories and variations that are creative explosions outside the major publisher comic book industry. ALSO WHY DOES EVERYONE SHY FROM TWO FEMALE LEADS?

What advice would you give to creators just getting started?

Sam: DEADLINES. ARE. YOUR. BEST. FRIEND. I’m a big fan of deadlines, especially because I’m a freelancer and have to make my own schedule. Setting simple deadlines for yourself helps keep you on track and gives you a sense of accomplishment whenever you meet one! Always ALWAYS set deadlines that are simple to achieve so you aren’t just setting yourself up for failure. Having a friend (Like Son) to help keep you on track is super important too. Working with a friend or a small group helps with the workload as well, but always remember that this is work and to succeed you need to put in the work.

Son: DONT. GIVE. UP. As someone who really struggled with making the content I want to be seen, not giving up despite all the times I failed really got me into the position where when working with Sam, I was so prepared. It takes a while, it really does. There’s nothing immediate about comics, no instant success. Kickstarter makes it look like projects happen overnight but it was the cultivation of ALL of my past experiences, my active engagement on social media, my practice in writing that eventually lead me to Sam and the confidence to push this project forward. Don’t crumble after failure because you’ve already learned how to do better the next time.

Which comic book character do you wish you had created and why?

Sam: Jason Todd. Specifically new 52 Jason Todd. New 52 Jason Todd is a trainwreck that totally derailed his entire character from what he was initially. Jason Todd is the physical representation to Bruce that “You can’t win 100% of the time without casualties”. His death was a symbol that sometimes Batman fails, and that being a hero doesn’t mean everything works out in the end. And Jason Todd also countered the norms, he came back ANGRY. In superhero comics, back then being ANGRY wasn’t a hero quality. He defined antihero to me, and I’ve always been more partial to antiheroes because it really drives home the conflict of being a, you guessed it, VIGILANTE. Also I’m a firm believer that if any character in DC was bisexual it’d be him.

Son: Jason Todd. Specifically new 52 Jason Todd. He comes from a place where not a lot of Robins do and it shaped his character, eventually leading him into the path of an antihero rather than the “benevolent” Batman. He’s an outlier in the Batfam, and he holds certain values that I really vibe with, especially due to his upbringing. That you don’t have to be perfect to be good and you don’t have to bend to societal norms to make a difference. The new 52 kind of forgot about all the qualities that made him so special (to me anyway) so I wish I owned him. Plus, he looks cool as heck and if there was one character in all of DC that would have absolutely been bisexual, it’s Jason Todd.

What are the pros/ cons of working in this field?

Pro’s: You work for yourself when you crowdfund. You make all the artistic decisions, the financial decisions, all the deadlines. You don’t have to comply with any decisions from higher ups or deal with “bosses” because you are your own boss.

Cons: It’s all on you. It can be incredibly stressful to successfully fund, manage and complete a large project on your own. There are a lot of different factors to take into account that you need to be ready and/or flexible for. If you’re not good at organization then this field is going to be rough for you.

What advice would you give for women looking to break into this industry?

Sam: Share your work. Apply for those jobs. Take that leap into freelance or crowdfunding. Even if you think you wont make it, or you’re not “good enough”, or you don’t “meet the qualifications” put yourself out there. There is always an audience for every story.

Son: Support each other. Your best support is from people who resonate with your work. And it’s not easy, but nothing worth having really is. Don’t be shy to put yourself in your work. A common misconception is that you have to write like those dead old white guys I mentioned above to be considered publishing worthy or literary and the answer I have to that is: fuck that. There’s a uniqueness that comes from your own self that no one can imitate. So why try to imitate what’s been done when you can show your own spin? And again, don’t give up!

Would you say there is a shift in the diversity within this industry? What in your opinion could readers do to ensure that the industry moves in the right direction?

Sam: I think the industry is slowly making the attempt to move in the right direction. I’m gonna reiterate “Slowly”. In my opinion showing support, both with your words and your wallet is key to moving in a more diverse and inclusive direction. Yeah we’re sick of the same rehashing of the same story, so put your money where your mouth is.

Son: Show your support for the things you want made. Don’t just say you want more queer or female led stories, actively engage and support with creators who are trying to make these stories. The comic book industry’s favorite go-to argument is that there is no active audience for these types of comics. The only way to counter that is to support the people trying to make them. And I do think it’s happening. Image Comics have been pumping out some amazing female identifying artists and writers. The indie scene is RICH with stories by WOC. And I think the industry is beginning to take notice.

What is next for you guys?

Sam- Hopefully, after the completion of AVIP, we plan on making our own webcomic, as a team. We’re lucky to work with each other as we often act as foils and complete what the other person needs. SO MORE DORKY COMICS, I GUESS. We’ve got a dark comedy planned so fingers crossed.

Big thanks to Sam and Son for giving us some insight into their process and their thoughts on the comics industry. The Valkyries chose to back AVIP during it’s Kickstarter campaign and we are thrilled that it smashed it’s target and will be going to print! If you want to keep up to date with Son and Sam you can find them here:

www.twitter.com/istehlurvz

istehlurvz.tumblr.com 

www.twitter.com/bogboogie 

son-mess.tumblr.com 

    Let’s talk comics! #1: Sam and Son on ‘A Vampire in Paris’ and a whole lot more! In the first instalment of 'Let's Talk Comics' we talk with Son and Sam of SCSM…

[homesteading-alliance]

12 Fun Tire Swing Ideas to Make Your Backyard Better Than The Playpark

When I was little, my grandparents had a huge garden which connected straight to a forest. On one of the trees near the house, they had a tire swing, and I can honestly say that it was one of the things I looked forward to most when visiting their house. Aside from valuable family time of course.

Tire swings are a great addition to any garden, whether they're for kids as a fun thing to play on or for adults as a unique and calming seat. Because they are suspended, you don't even need too much space to make one, just some form of sturdy branch or beam that you can hang it from.

There are far more ways of customizing a simple tire swing than I ever thought, meaning that you can really make it your own, and make it perfect for your own garden and vibe.

Unique and Fun Tire Swing Ideas

1. Simple One Rope Tire Swing

This technique looks like the simplest way of hanging a tire swing that I have ever seen. There is no tricky screwing or puncturing involved, you simply need a bit of rope work and a sturdy branch.

If you're not too confident with your handyman skills, this simple one rope tire swing would be just perfect, and very risk-free. I love that they have decided to spray paint the tire in this DIY, and think it brings new life to it, transforming it from something old and used into something new and fun.

2. Horse Tire Swing

I am absolutely gutted I didn't know about this horse tire swing DIY when I was younger, although my parents probably am glad I didn't, as I would have begged and begged for one.

It's a lot of fun, and I can imagine that it would be loved by kids of a large range of ages. Of course, because of the design, it will take a little longer to construct than a plain tire swing would, but the end result would be worth it, and your kids would be exceptionally grateful. You could go the extra mile and use spray paints to jazz it up a bit, I bet you could even turn it into a magical, colorful unicorn.

3. Horizontal Tire Swing

Although most tend to have the tire hanging vertically, there is a lot to be said for tire swings which use the tire horizontally. They are arguably safer, as kids can sit fully in them without the need to hold on tightly, and would be really great for younger kids.

This DIY requires a bit of elbow grease and work, but the result looks incredibly sturdy and is bound to last many years. The length of the chain can also be adjusted to fit wherever you wish to hang the swing. One of my favorite things to do as a kid on a tire swing was to wind it up and sit on it screaming with excitement as it spun out, and this swing looks like it would be perfect for that.

4. Double Level Tire Swing

This double level tire swing looks like something that your kid would see at the play-park and instantly run right towards. If you have more than one kid this would be an amazing way for them to be able to play with the swing together, making it more fun for them and avoiding arguments as it's a win-win.

It may look like an adventurous DIY, but in reality, it isn't too different to other tire swings other than the fact that you have to do everything twice. Your kids would definitely want to show this off to their friends, and you'll probably have their parents asking for tips on how to replicate it.

5. Animal Tire Swing

You could get so creative when taking inspiration from this painted animal tire swing. The ladybird is really cute, and your kids would feel like they are flying through the air on the back of the insect.

There are so many different things you could try out, and because it is simply painted on you could even change it every now and again at a very low cost. As if your kid wasn't going to be happy enough when they see their new tire swing, imagine the looks on their faces when they see that it looks just like their favorite animal.

6. No-Chain Tire Swing

A lot of my aunts and uncles have really young kids, and I know that they would feel safer having them play on this tire swing which is hung with chords instead of chains.

Not only does it look safer, it also looks somewhat more simple to make, with simple looping removing the need for tricky knots or screws. I am sure you could use this technique to hang a tire vertically or horizontally dependant on your preferences.

7. Alternative Tire Swing

If you are looking for a totally different type of tire swing for your backyard then this could just do the trick. Not only is this a cheaper alternative, but it is also a really nice option for someone who doesn't have enough space for a more traditional form of a tire swing.

It looks incredibly simple to make, with not too many confusing materials or tools, and it looks a bit like the swing on a flying fox to me, which was one of my favorite things to play on when I was little.

8. Indoor Stylish Tire Swing

Okay, this isn't for the backyard, but it's just such a cool idea and looks so good that I couldn't leave it out. I would have absolutely loved this indoor tire swing when I was younger, and to be perfectly honest I would probably still love it now. I wouldn't exactly play on it anymore, but just the look of it is something so interesting and cool.

You could paint this any color you wanted, and use different ropes or chains to fit the style you want. That being said, I think the white looks really cool, especially compared to the usual black of a tire, and the thick and almost messy rope is a really stylish touch.

9. Nest Style Tire Swing

This nest style tire swing is the ultimate way of making a tire swing safe for smaller kids who would otherwise fall right through the middle of the tire. I was definitely one of those kids.

The instructions for this DIY are in German, but they can easily be translated online if you can't get the general idea from the photos. Not only would this form of tire swing be fun and safe for kids, but it would also be a really comfy swinging chair for adults. I can imagine sitting on this with a book on a summery day, lightly swinging, which would be highly pleasant.

10. Painted Tire Swing

It is more the pattern on this painted tire swing that caught my eye as opposed to the making of the swing itself, unsurprisingly.

Turning the process of making a tire swing into a fun, crafty experience for the whole family is something that is really appealing to me. Kids would enjoy planning out what they wanted to paint onto their new swing, or more so have fun not planning and throwing every color they can on it. Once they're finished, they will be proud to see their creation hung in the backyard, and showing it off to all their friends before you know it.

11. Seat Tire Swing

I think this is a really cool alternative to the average tire swing and would enable kids to lie back and relax in it. You could adjust the size of it to fit your kids by using different sizes of tires, making sure that it is a perfect size for them and therefore most comfortable.

Minus the cutting which might be a bit tricky dependant on the thickness of your tire, this seat tire swing looks pretty simple to recreate. You could even make one of these and have it alongside a regular styled tire swing so that you have a bit of variety, and all your kids' needs from chill to play will be covered.

12. Rope Covered Tire Swing

If you live somewhere hot then it is a really good idea to mimic this rope covered tire swing, especially if the swing won't always be in the shade. That way you can save your little ones from getting their skin scorched, and make it look pretty at the same time.

It will be really important to have a look around for decent quality, soft rope when making this DIY, as there would be nothing worse than attempting to play on a scratchy and uncomfortable tire. I would love to try making this using different colors of rope, crossing them over or making patterns.

Concluding 12 Fun Tire Swing Ideas

A tire swing would be a positive and fun addition to any backyard in my opinion. Of course, you can buy ready-made ones, but why do that when you can make and customize your own for a lower price? Whether you have a tree to hang one from or you have to erect a support beam, it really isn't too tricky, and there are so many options for different styles and sizes.

I love anything bright and colorful, especially out in the yard, so I think I would be decorating my tire swing, whether it be like an animal or a simple solid color. The idea of having a tire swing inside has also really appealed to me, and I think it would be such a cool addition to a kids' bedroom.

Do you have fond memories of playing on tire swings growing up? Would you prefer to stick to the traditional style for your own backyard or are you feeling the urge to try something new?

This article first appeared on morningchores.com Original Article

The post 12 Fun Tire Swing Ideas to Make Your Backyard Better Than The Playpark appeared first on Homesteading Alliance.

[allisenoble]

Ok, so I have not posted at all really in the last 2 months. Shown below is the reason why…

I mentioned in my long ago previous post that my boyfriend and I had just purchased our first home. Well, as you can see the interior is pretty retro, though sadly not in the cute, hip, etsy sort of way. We have been doing a lot of DIY renovations, and though stressful and time consuming, it has also been such a rewarding experience to put my design skills to the test and recreate a whole house interior to my own specific tastes (Well, almost my own. There was my boyfriend to consider as well, and yes, there were fights, but we still love each other <3.). It’s hard to believe it was only a year ago I was working with my parents on their bathroom renovations. Granted, my budget as a just starting out 20-something was quite different ;), but that’s where creativity comes in! Our home hardly resembles these before pictures now, and we are nearing the home stretch. I don’t want to post any photos until everything is completely transformed, so be sure to check back later for the big reveal.

I am a person who fancies many different aesthetics, so the hardest part was deciding exactly what way we wanted to go with our renovation. Here are some of my favorite DIY renovations I’ve spotted for each major room.

Living Room

Trees and other nature forms are one of my favorite accents for interiors because their shapes and sizes are limitless, and at least for me, bringing the outdoors in has calming qualities. Decals including the one shown above are available everywhere online, but can be pricey (This one would end up totaling $150 for all 3 pieces.). Simple branch forms are something even a non-drawer can put on their wall if they make a pattern or outline on the wall before painting. When you do it yourself, not only do you save money but you have more control over the color and shape of your design. A wall design should fill blank space to make a room look more balanced, and compliment the arrangement and flow of the furniture placement, as seen above.

Kitchen

If you spend any time on Pinterest, you will know that Scrapbooking paper has become as all purpose as duct tape. You can even use it to create a unique, artsy looking backsplash. Tile can be ultra expensive, but you can still get a fun tiled look using squares of scrapbooking paper, affixed and sealed with mod podge or any other clear sealer. From my experience, mod podge can sometimes still have a slightly “sticky” feel even after cured. There are a variety of other slightly more expensive sealers available at any local craft store that provide a better finish. It is key to use a gloss finish so any food splatters can be easily wiped off, and to remember that if your surface your are affixing the decoupage to is bumpy or rough, your finished design will be bumpy and rough. Sanding is your friend when affixing any sort of backsplash :).

Bathroom 

What’s great about this superhero themed bathroom from DIY Network is that once you repaint the shelving, change the accents, and switch out the comic book style artwork it can be re-themed at the home owner’s whim. I am a big fan of leaving the bones neutral so that you are not locked into a certain theme or style forever. Though this design was themed as a “little boy’s” bathroom, I personally believe it could also be a fantastic adult woman’s bathroom ;), and was actually planning on doing a superhero themed bathroom in our house until we happened to find a home with dreamy vintage floral wallpaper that we wanted to save.

Bedroom

For whatever reason, I hate headboards. However, I am obsessed with finding ways to add extra shelving and storage in general. My boyfriend and I are both bibliophiles, so I thought this unique setup from Better Homes and Gardens was a great way to provide adequate shelving for books while staying space efficient, and giving a finished headboard look by bordering the top of the bed with blank wall. The sconces for extra reading light are a great functional idea as well.

Office

If you love color but don’t actually want to commit to rainbow walls, taping up paint swatches is an easily changeable idea. I love the creative genius vibe from the picture on the left, and can easily imagine notes and project ideas scribbled on each of the swatches as well, using the decoration as a kind of living idea board. If you find that look too chaotic, there is the more contained, orderly version on the right.

The final step in any interior re-do, which I will be starting on soon, is filling in with finishing touches such as artwork and other decor. These small final details often make the biggest impact in your space. Don’t just buy canvas prints from Bed Bath and Beyond, it is worth searching the online marketplace for original designs by working artists that are oftentimes more affordable and so much higher quality than mass produced, big box store pictures. Some wonderful sites include Redbubble, Society6, Zazzle, Ebay, and DeviantArt. It’s also worth checking out the Facebook marketplace if you use Facebook. I sell original artwork and prints on many of these sites, and have included links below. I also work with my art students, who are primarily adult artists with disabilities, in empowering them to market and sell their artwork in both our organization’s Ebay Store and Redbubble Shop. Besides art prints, many of the students enjoy glass and ceramics painting which make for great one-of-a-kind accent pieces.

Happy designing!

My Moongirl Designs Redbubble Shop

Moongirl Designs Ebay Store

Moongirl Designs Zazzle Store

Moongirl Designs Society6

Back After Design Overload! Ok, so I have not posted at all really in the last 2 months. Shown below is the reason why...

[justice-kay-blog]

FINAL EVALUATION

Basing my success off the latest version on my proposal, I think I can say that I achieved my aims. I wanted to create a music video that had a eerie, creepy and mysterious vibe to it. I achieved this by having a mystery character in my story and with the way I colour graded it to give of the intended vibe in the editing stages. I successfully recreated some of the photos from the book I did primary research on for my inspiration, Anton Corbjin 'STAR TRAK'. All the shots I had planned to do got done easy peasy. I mentioned in the proposal I wanted my actors walking down the street, la man playing a guitar, a handheld camera style, rule of three in a lot of shots, a dutch angle... all of these things appear in my music video. Got it all nailed right down to the man singing the last line of the song.

The only thing I can say i'm not entirely happy about is how it all changed because of how late I left filming. My original proposal was for a completely different music video and I would still, somehow would like to make the music video I originally envisioned because It sounded like a really cool idea and a fun time in my head. Next year I'm definitely going to handle my time better, now that I've got a grasp on how to get the creativity flowing I will know better and start way ahead of filming dates and make sure what I plan is entirely possible to create before I waste my time writing blog, planning and research posts about a music video I didn't end up creating.

 I think what I have learnt from this unit is that I am entirely capable of producing the necessary work when it comes to large projects but I tend to leave important things and large blog posts to the last minute and I also change my mind a lot too. I know that if I were to spread the work throughout the course duration instead of leaving things last minute then my work would probably be that of a much high quality. I definitely feel that I worry too much about not knowing what I have to and don't have to write about and I should probably ask for help so I can gather a bit more insight into how exactly to structure my work so that I'm not wasting time writing up things that are completely pointless to the person grading me and then I can switch my focus on to improving the quality of the more important points rather than producing quantity over quality.

I feel that I didn't aim high enough with this project, It's not that i'm not proud of the work I've created, it's just that I feel like with all the knowledge I've gained of how certain editing techniques can manipulate feeling/mood and why certain types of shots are used over other ones to create a scene with a different meaning, with this knowledge I've brought myself through research and analysis in the past 12 weeks, I probably put my skills to better use. I feel like better time management and proper planning I could have created a piece of work that I personally would feel was twice as good as what I have created this time around. I definitely feel I could have challenged myself more had I had the confidence and motivation to do so and create a much more complex music video with much deeper reasoning and meaning behind the shots and scenes. I think the hardest part of this entire project was probably throughout the first 6 weeks when I didn't really know what I was doing, I guess sometimes you can make things complicated for yourself with the deadly combination of relying on ideas in your head to just magically work themselves out, and expecting people and weather to just work somehow and to be easy to control.

In conclusion what I can say about what I have learnt about myself in the past 12 weeks Is that I really should be aiming higher and pushing myself to do better so then once everything is said and done I will feel like I put my absolute 100% into a piece of work I'm head over heels in love with.

[chazrizart-blog]

Chris Howker

This is the final portfolio review I’ve got to write up. [Thank God] and boy is it a long one. A word of warning this is going to be VERY long. I’m not kidding so I’ll put it under the cut. Chris sent me a super long and in-depth email that he felt really bad about sending because it was so long but it gave me 4 pages of notes that contained fair and insightful comments about my portfolio that have definitely helped me to structure my portfolio. I was like a kid in a sweetshop picking through all the information he gave me, it was like analysing research all over again. [Wow I just read that back and realised how sad that sounded. I might need to revaluate my life.] But anyway here is the concise notes from that e-mail.

Craft Beer Hint

>Show evidence of this in my portfolio. [When I’d sent this I didn’t have any in there, but now I do.]

>Think about designing the back too because sometimes I won’t have to option not to. 

>Show what I’ve created so far. If I’ve not done it why? [Because when I’d sent out the email I had just had the idea and nothing to show for it.]

>Have fun setting your own brief. Don’t bother waiting for a company to give you a brief. [I did have a load of fun making my own brief and company, thinking up a pun for the name of the brewery was the best bit.]

>Find a bit on a niche with it. [Again I did my designing my label characters based off my research project/ dissertation thing.]

>Think about the possible design limitations the company could throw at you. For example, the labels can only be square/ oval/ rectangle  or only in two colours.

>The fact that it’s not a real company I’m designing for means I’ve got more room to have fun with what I make. It’ll show that I’ve had fun with the project and that I’ve enjoyed it. It also means that I won’t have to make an inane list of changes that the client has requested back and forth. [Whoo!!]

Folio Vibe

>What it actually says is that I like animation or possibly computer game concept art. There is no harm in sending work to animation studios- there’s enough of them in Manchester if I wanted to stay local [Toooooooown!!] but don’t limit yourself to just looking at design studios like he did just because a graphic designer might need a character designing. 

>Turnarounds are ideal for animation- it’s the important bit that the whole design team works from.

>Props and backgrounds are scaled around the character designs and have a huge impact on the overall style of the animation. My Post-it note monsters look like animators doodles since that’s what they do on their breaks to get back into physical drawing when not on the computer.

>Maybe I already (subconsciously) know where to start looking towards after uni? But do I really want to give off the vibe of designing characters?

Folio Design 

>White background always works because it’s clean, however my turnarounds still look cramped so I should give them space to breathe. (E.g- Ink Warrior and Shadow Mage- are they the same character in two different forms? [Yes.] The squashing up reads as if they’re the stages of a character’s progression [It’s more of a regression if I’m honest.] but bits also pass over one another which hides important bits. Spread them out and put the guide lines on. Add Front, side, 1/8, 3/4 and backwards facing variations so at a glance art directors can see that you’ve put care into it and to make sure the turnaround is accurate use the full page!) [I just took this one out because it was no longer relevant.]

>Add more information to the bottom of the page, where is stuff from? [Most of my turnarounds were done when I was still doing the Trading Card Project so in order to not waste time by spending 3ish weeks on one full turnaround of one character like last term, I limited it to three views to save time because I had a lot of characters to get through. That’s also why I didn’t really mention where they were from because I’m no longer doing that project so they just didn’t have a home and to put ‘unused’ or ‘rejected’ on them wouldn’t be very professional now would it?]

>Maybe don’t put the materials used unless you really want to stress it.

>Post-it Notes don’t look like Post-it notes, photograph them in their raw state to get a better feel for them. [Or option two is to just take them out there and them like I did.]

>Front cover, Drop the titles, people are thick but they’re not that thick. [This is about my information page, I’ve done this though so it’s all good.]

Folio Work

>Start drawing with a tablet! [I’ve started doing this actually, I was originally put off because my overlay lines over my sketch layer looked wobbly and awful but I’ve recently found the stabiliser thing and everything is alright now, all my lines are as smooth as a wee baby’s butt now. More digital work definitely!] 

>He liked the negative space the biro Post-it note monsters give off and the textures on my Plague Doctor work really well giving it a dirty almost magical feel to it. [Literally reading that made my dark heart grow like three sizes that day, I was so happy words don’t describe how I felt at that moment.]

>50% grey is good for backgrounds because it’s nice and neutral. 

>Do more character designs with varying height differences (head heights.) Exaggerate shapes and push things to the extreme before dialling it back to the finished product.

 >Treat facial expression sheets like they’re turnarounds and put guidelines on to make sure they’re accurate and add up.

>Do life drawing, different shapes and poses!

>Having a standard turnaround is needed but give them dynamic poses to add context as you ask what they’re for. A game? A cartoon? Make an action sequence of like one or two characters so the viewer gets an idea of what they’re like i.e body language and personality.

>Maybe try lino cutting/ wood printing with the Post-it note monster look.

Masters vs. Beer

>These are two wildly different things. He only commented on what he knows so I’ve filled in some of the blanks.

>Continuing with education is a great idea, but is a Masters really what you need to do your dream job with illustration/ art and design? [Yes. I intend to do an MRes (Masters by Research) which is more essay based than a traditional art Masters. This is because my essay writing is the only thing pulling me through the course and is my strongest skill whereas my practise isn’t. Which is weird considering I’m doing an art degree. I really want to lecture in Universities and focus on the Contextual side of art rather than the practical side. 30,000 words here I come!] Do I have an answer for when someone questions me on my life choices? [See above for the career options, anything else I’m still working on. I really like the idea of looking into the knowledge and feeding it back through teaching like Chris mentioned when giving a sample answer to his question. I really like Binaries and how they work within aspects of popular culture like Narratives, Movies and Games as each stems into each other. It’s just really interesting okay.]

Craft Beer Labels: 

>They’re very popular, but there isn’t really anyone who makes a career out of it.

>Breweries might hire one illustrator for one label but not the others.

>If you’re a freelance illustrator you sadly don’t get to pick and choose what work clients give you. He’s taken on jobs which will never see the light of say within his portfolio because they’re not relevant to his career path. [In all honesty I don’t want to be an illustrator when I’m grown up, I just want to read/ maybe write books fiction/ non-fiction and doodle a bit.]

Finishing Uni is when you actually start learning, the course doesn’t teach you how clients will act nor what they will expect from you. There’s very few full time illustration positions available unless you’re very lucky. You won’t immediately get a job out of uni and staying motivated during that time is a killer because there are no tutors or class to motivate you, find some way to recreate that feeling either with renting a studio space, arranging occasional social meet-ups with friends but also attending events like Draw North West. 

[anakin022]

My clean-cut plan to raise visitor stats from last week’s blog post seemed to work. All facts at hand are providing a strong suspicion that at least one of my two additional visitors was redirected here through those cleverly placed hashtags. To calm the crowd I immediately follow up this week with a not-so-popular soundtrack. In fact, I’m pretty sure that the bulk of film music fans couldn’t care less about an electronic score like Ex Machina. But I do. In my book it’s an absolute benchmark when it comes to audio post-production.

Alex Garland’s directorial debut is an amazing, downright incredible visual experience, but combined with the musical score from Ben Salisbury and Geoff Barrow it builds up a tension one can hardly escape. It sucks you right in and is full of subliminal layers of pulsating, brooding and unnerving sounds to create a real Freudian nightmare of a film.

But it wasn’t solely the soundtrack that finally convinced me to turn Ex Machina into a full-blown custom covers series. I had already made one custom cover about a year ago, yet with a wrong typeface. When I recently got hold of the original fonts that were used on the official promo material (“Foundry Gridnik” and “Lab Sans Pro”), I used this opportunity to update my cover (#6) and come up with several others as well.

  ORIGINAL LOGO DESIGN

The first leg of this post starts with a handful of covers using the original logo badge from the official posters.

#1: Ex Machina (Custom)

#2: Ex Machina (Custom)

#3: Ex Machina (Custom)

#4: Ex Machina (Custom)

Nothing spectacular here, although I spent a fair amount of time recreating the background grid on cover #3. Oh and I might add, if you’re a tech-savvy person and like machines and stuff, make sure to have an extended look on that beautifully crafted bum on cover #1. The level of workmanship is one of a kind.

  ALTERNATE LOGO DESIGN

The official soundtrack artwork (#5) – and also some early posters – featured a different logo treatment using the more angular font “Foundry Gridnik”. This monospace typeface is a bit stronger and slightly more technological in its approach, thus making the crimson badge beneath the movie logo unnecessary (#3 is claiming the opposite… I know).

#5: Ex Machina (Original)

#6: Ex Machina (Custom)

#7: Ex Machina (Custom)

  TITLE LOGO DESIGN

A third typeface has been utilized within the film. And this time, in a very special and creative way.

#8: Ex Machina (Custom)

#9: Ex Machina (Custom)

Let me reference Fonts In Use once again:

The main titles during both the opening and closing of the movie Ex Machina are an unorthodox use of the layered typeface “Idler“, which is a typeface that consists of layered styles. Instead of using the typeface in the conventional way (stacking layers of the different styles to achieve a 3D, multi-colored beveled look), designer Matt Curtis instead just used the weight Idler Inner. This “Inner” style is actually just the isolated inline of the beveled letters, but when used on its own it has a sort of mechanical, rigid futuristic look.

For this pair of covers I’ve used two contrasting source images. First a brightened variation (#8) of the Mondo x SteelBook #010, with original art created by Jock. This British artist was also directly involved in the making of the film, designing a great deal of concept art for it (see covers #16 and #17).

The dark counterpart on the right (#9) has been accomplished by taking a bunch of screenshot from the mesmerizing end credits, which then were rotated and superimposed over each other to get a square image. I also painted in quite a lot of lines myself, mainly in the corners to cover up some dirty transitions. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to find any additional info on this title design, it would have been really interesting to hear some thoughts behind it. I assume Fugitive Studios UK must be responsible for it, since they were also the ones to come up with that title font. But there’s no mention on their website, so this is not verified.

  STUDIO ALBUM DESIGN

#10: Ex Machina (Custom)

#11: Ex Machina (Custom)

This digipack artwork is probably my favourite from this whole collection. I really like Geoff Barrow’s band Portishead, so giving this score a studio album treatment was the obvious thing for me to do. The artwork features very moody, low-light shots of the three main characters, contrasted by eccentric custom logo in white and red, using “Againts” – one of my personal favourite brush fonts.

The gatefold is entirely dedicated to Ex Machina‘s truly one-of-a-kind shooting location, the Juvet Landscape Hotel in Norway.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded the visual effects team an Oscar, rightly so, but the equally amazing production design would have earned at least another nomination. I mean does it get any better than this?

  MODERN VINYL DESIGN

#12: Ex Machina (Original)

#13: Ex Machina (Custom)

#14: Ex Machina (Custom)

#15: Ex Machina (Custom)

The official vinyl retail version was produced and published by Invada Records, which is no surprise since Invada has been founded in 2003 by none other than Geoff Barrow. Invada’s very own art director Marc Bessant was responsible for the official artwork (#12). He relied entirely on film stills, which is fine I guess for a visually compelling film like Ex Machina. But it’s also a little lazy from the perspective of a graphic designer.

I rather tend to stay away from still as much as possible on my custom covers, because they usually don’t achieve the level of clarity and sharpness of a publicity shot or an original artwork from any talented creative out there. Also, utilizing original art is a neat way to promote up-and-coming or already established artists.

Brian Taylor AKA Candykiller is one from the latter category. This Scottish artist has already done work for various media like film, comics or books. My first custom vinyl cover (#13) was based on his alternate Ex Machina poster. Interestingly enough it took me several hours to extend his beautiful drawing in width and add small details like texture, frames and shades.

Cover #14 is a square version of Filmarena’s super extensive SteelBook Edition.

And finally a mockup (#15) based on the most unusual approach with this red tinted fan poster by Alex Seder. His unique work evokes a sense of dystopian future from the likes of THX 1138 or the all time classic Metropolis. A stark and minimalistic image together with absolute striking font design creates one of the most original Ex Machina fan artworks I’ve seen so far.

  VINTAGE VINYL DESIGN

Making retro vinyl covers has sort of become a tent pole of this blog. So for Ex Machina, I’ve forced myself to come up with something just like that. A design that would let pass the film as an utopian seventies flick. The following two custom covers were the very last I’ve finished for this series and I was a little out of steam to create yet another one or two self-made front covers. So I went with the most prestigious creative discipline of all, the art of imitation ;-)

#16: Ex Machina (Custom)

#17: Ex Machina (Custom)

Using two concept artworks by Jock as a basis, I’ve started looking for reference designs, especially front sleeves featuring portrait oriented images. I ultimately settled for Moonraker (#16) and Def-Con 4 (#17) as my springboard and slowly, bit by bit, turned them into an Ex Machina soundtrack cover. For the custom logos I applied two different fonts. For once “Idler Solid” (#16), a super bold variant of the title logo design I’ve introduced earlier (#8, #9). And “Vermin Vibes 2 Black” (#17), an awesome techno-font of retro-futuristic schick. Just what I was looking for. The perfect opportunity to get some skills in logo design.

Redesigning covers like this is a wonderful way to cool yourself down after a big bunch of work and also a soothing and relaxing way to close the book on yet another custom covers collection.

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    To promote this entry on my social media channels, I’ve created a banner based on BlueBook, the fictional tech giant/super search engine/human a.i. research company from within the film.

The concept behind it was created by UK-based interface designers Territory Studios. They’ve contrived an entire operating system and the technological ecosystem around it. I have remade one of their search engine mockups, mimicking an HQCovers image search results page.

“Ex Machina” by Ben Salisbury, Geoff Barrow My clean-cut plan to raise visitor stats from last week's blog post seemed to work. All facts at hand are providing a strong suspicion that at least one of my two additional visitors was redirected here through those cleverly placed hashtags.