#i work in the art field but i rarely do illustrations but whenever i do i go like ah right TEXTURE have to use it

[hiekka]

what if his hair was like his daddys. how could we ever move forward from that

[duphyduphy]

"Angel"

Summary: Childe's usually outgoing and bright persona was oddly muted that day, enough for Lumine to notice. Maybe that's why he got so recklessly injured while he was helping with her with her commissions. Lumine takes him to her teapot to nurse him back to health, but the two realized something during a peculiar conversation they had after Childe regained consciousness.

This chilumi fic was inspired by the recent housing system update in 1.5! Enjoy!

//

Childe was feeling a bit hazed. His usually outgoing and bright persona was oddly a little muted that day, enough for Lumine and Paimon to notice. He was less talkative and seemed tired for some reason. He didn't even pry her about having their usual sparing matches like he usually does, which she found to be out of character for him. Maybe that's why he got so recklessly injured while he was helping with her with her commissions.

"Argh!", the traveller and her flying companion heard from a distance.

Lumine turned around to see Childe getting struck by one of the Mitachurl from the back as he was fighting off another Hilichurl.

"What's wrong with him today? That was just a Mitachurl. Those guys are big but we fight them with ease all the time. Is he injured or something? Is he distracted?", Lumine thought to herself as she ran towards his direction to help him. Her pace sped up when she saw him fell to the ground.

"CHILDE!"

His vision went black.

***

"Ow... my head hurts"

Childe slowly opened his eyes to find himself in what seems to be a bedroom.

"Where-where am I? Was I knocked out?"

"Hey... you're awake" a soft, almost melodic voice spoke to him.

Still half awake, Childe blinked a few times and turned his head toward the source of the sound to find out that it was coming from Lumine. She was sitting on a chair beside the bed he was laying on. Her hand rested on top of his own, gently stroking his bruised knuckles. Her face worried yet relieved. Her expression was accompanied by a small smile. He would never say it out loud, but he always did found her to be very beautiful. He's sure many men thought about the same thing when they saw the infamous Honorary Knight. What most men didn't see though, was his comrade in action, in the battle field. He still remembers their time in the Golden House, how almost marvelous she looked as she showed him her capabilities. She was definitely powerful, astonishing nonetheless. He also feels some sense of guilt whenever he thinks about that time. She was just a pawn to him then, but now, she was becoming someone more. Even Childe himself has yet to understand this strange feeling. Sometimes he thinks it's distracting. Sometimes he wonders if she thought the same way. In other time, he wonders if she still wants to trust him after what happened.

"Childe? Is your head still hurting?", Lumine asked as she leaned in to place her hand on his head, which he later realized, was wrapped in bandaged.

Snapping back to reality, Childe's face gleamed a dim sheen of pink to the sudden close proximity of the two. Still collecting his consciousness, he looked around and realized that his chest and stomach area was bandaged. He wasn't wearing his shirt either.

"Did- did you take of my shirt?"

"I- WE- WE HAD TO PATCH YOU UP SOMEHOW!! YOU- YOU WERE BLEEDING OUT! I DON'T KNOW WHY YOU WERE SO DISTRACTED TODAY!!!", Lumine said in a slight panic.

"Calm down! Haha! You're always so easy to fluster", Childe said with a coy smile.

"Ugh. I was really worried when you collapsed like that you know... You did seem really tired and you didn't talk much today either but I didn't expect you to get knocked out like that."

"Aw... did you really think I would be so easily defeated by a mere Mitachurl. I'm a Fatui Harbinger, girlie", Childe smirked with cocky tone.

"And yet, here you are. Well, YOUR WELCOME for caring and patching you up, Mr. Fatui", Lumine said, rolling her eyes while letting go of his hand.

"Wait~"

Before Lumine's hand could move further away, he gently took hers in his.

"I'm sorry I worried you. I guess work got a little tiring and I didn't get enough sleep for the past couple of nights so, I guess I was a little drained. Regardless, thank you for patching me up, Lumine"

Childe has a plentiful amount of nicknames he gave Lumine. Whether it be girlie, traveller, Honorary Knight, comrade, or princess, but rarely does he ever call her by her real name. She blushed to the sudden change in how he addressed her. She found it to be almost sincere and genuine. It made her blush, but she turned her head around so that Childe wouldn't notice. Unfortunately for her, he did notice and took pride in how he's able to form that reaction out of his dear traveller. He always found teasing her quite enjoyable and entertaining.

"Hmph. You're lucky me and Paimon were there with you when you collapsed. Who knows what would have happened if we weren't. Paimon litterally had to drag your body to safety while I dealt with the remaining Hilichurls and Mitachurls"

Lumine always did possess a caring and nurturing personality. Why else would she go out of her way to bring him to her home to treat and care for his wounds personally instead of taking him to Bubu Pharmacy.

"She's just caring. If anyone were in my place, she would do the same thing. There shouldn't be any other reason to this", at least, that was what Childe thought.

"Yes, yes. I'm the luckiest man in the world. I like what you did to the place by the way. Last time I was here, there was nothing but a bed. Not to mention it not matching the interior of the house at all"

"Childe. Are you trying to kick yourself out?"

Her reaction made him laugh out loud with such satisfaction which eventually made her laugh as well.

"Anyways, that Mitachurl beat you up pretty badly. I suggest you stay here for the night to rest. I don't mind really. Plus, you said you haven't been getting enough sleep so... actually why are you loosing sleep anyway? Is work hectic at the moment? I don't know what goes on in the Fatui so uh-"

"About that, uh... work is fine, I guess. I've just been thinking about some things"

"Is... everything okay? What's been on your mind?"

"What ever may I be thinking about that made loose sleep, hm~? Who knows? Maybe it's because of someone I've been thinking a lot about. Maybe it's not~" Childe said as he gave her a smirk.

Childe expected Lumine to get annoyed, maybe even a little curios at his statement. Admittedly, that was his way of hinting his attraction towards her, but he just wanted to play safe and see her reaction. And indeed it was unexpected.

"Is- is that so? We-Well...", Lumine said quietly with a very noticeable red tint on her face.

There was a long silence for a good seven seconds. You could almost here the crickets.

"Shit. Why did things become awkward. I was just teasing her. Does she maybe like me back or is she just flustered-"

"ANYWAY! I'LL-I'll get you some fo-food! Stay here. I'll be back haha... Don't move around too much!", Lumine said frantically as she quickly stood up from her chair and left the room.

Childe gave out a big sigh.

"This is not good. Whatever! I'm pretty sure it's nothing. Ugh, I feel like a school boy having his first crush. Pathetic"

Childe tried to forget the awkward moment they had just a few minutes ago by looking around the room. She really did do a lot to the place. It was nicely furnished. He looked at his side and noticed something at the bedside table. It was an Aster flower placed inside a vase. It was the flower he gave to her during the Windblume festival out of coincidence. Some memories flashed back to his head that made his face softened.

"What an angel", Childe softly said to himself.

Lumine accidentally heard him from outside the room just as she was about to bring him his food.

//

Just something in my head that I could not bother to illustrate with art so here's a fic instead. i hope you enjoyed my chilumi offering for the day. Smirks and blushes. I think you can tell I like those quite a lot. Teasing. Teasing galore.

[rosepetalmark]

flowers in your hair

↬ Johnny Suh x Reader ↬1.8k Words ↬Your allergies and creating art are two things Johnny holds dear to his heart

You hated the outdoors. Anything to do with bugs, dirt, and even plants made you itch and sneeze and scared that you’ll get some rare unknown disease and die because the innocent looking flower you picked by the bench turned out to be poisonous. 

Johnny on the other hand, enjoyed nature and embraced it to its fullest. Every day he’d make time to bask in the grass, and soak up all the sun while working on his latest art inspiration. 

Today, he decided that sitting in a field full of sunflowers would be ideal for his newest project, and what would make it more worthwhile and perfect was if you, his girlfriend  were with him to occupy his time and add further enjoyment to his favourite hobby. 

Horrible idea on his part because you’re allergic to flowers, and tall fields of grass would most likely break you out into hives and have you coughing up a lung. Johnny wouldn’t bat an eye though, because despite loving you with all his heart, he had a knack for making fun of you and the simplest inconveniences that occurred within your life. 

He always says you’re over dramatic when it comes to your “spring allergies” and that nothing like some water and the fresh air will clear your mind and nasal passages. 

He’s a dumbass, and he really will be the reason you die one day. 

But Johnny didn’t care, because as long he had you, a bottle of allergy medicine for your sneezing and itching, and his paintbrushes, he was content, even if you spent a great amount of your time in this damn sunflower field teary eyed and stuffy nosed. 

“Johnny, please tell me we can leave soon, I'm itching way more now than I did when i had the chickenpox as a kid,” you whine, rubbing your hands across your bare arms to provide you with any relief as you watched the bees swarm past you in their search for some nectar in the flowers nearby.  

“Mhm,” he whispers, continuing to stroke the paintbrush across the now detailed page, completely oblivious to the words that just left your mouth. 

This always happened. Whenever he took you somewhere new, he’d completely block out the world, yourself included, in order to capture the essence of life whether it be through his camera or canvas. 

Of course there was silence, why wouldn’t there be. Every time Johnny asks you to accompany him anywhere outdoors, you always think you’re going to explore and embrace nature, and every single time you are wrong, because the second you find something beautiful to look at, he sets his small backpack down and busts out either his camera or painting utensils to capture it. 

You’d say it pissed you off at times, but art is his passion, and you’d never do anything to get in the way he feels so alive and free whenever he consumes himself with something as minuscule and simple as a paperclip. He finds the beauty in anything and everything, never ceasing to amaze you with the wonderful creations he illustrates. 

“Johnny,” you say a little louder, unamused with the silence you receive, and the continuous strokes he continues to make on the page. 

You call his name again, and again, and again, and it’s only the third time when you yell out his full name, that he finally drops the brush on his palette and focuses his attention on you. 

“Were you not listening to me?” You question, seriously surprised that out of all the times you’ve called his name, he either completely ignored you or has gone def within his 25 years of life. 

“Oh, I was listening,” he hums, raising his eyebrows whilst providing you with his staple cheeky grin, one he always does when he wants to get on your nerves. 

Always a cocky one that guy, and how you manage to stay dating him truly blows your mind. 

Sighing, you focus your gaze away from the way he picks up his paintbrush again and gently strokes baby blue across the page, looking towards the tall stocks of sunflowers gently breezing in the wind a few feet away from you.

“You’re such a crappy boyfriend,” you chuckle, picking up one of the untouched pastel crayons and examining its fluorescent blue hue.  “You never pay attention to me.” 

“I never pay attention to you, hm?” He asks, causing you to stare back at his now stoic stature, face still focusing on his notebook and nowhere on you, but more contoured and rigid this time.

“Well, you’re speaking to me now yet your attention is never on me, always on whatever you’re painting or drawing,” your tone slightly angered. 

Obviously you were lying. Johnny was the most attentive boyfriend you could ever ask for, always checking in on you and ensuring your day goes smoothly, always hanging out with you when he’d rather be napping or out painting or doing photography, and almost always is down to make out with you whenever the opportunity arises. 

You just like to pull his leg most of the time because it’s funny seeing how riled up he gets when he believes that you think he’d rather focus on his hobbies over having conversations with you. 

“Here,” he signals, shoving his book in your direction, encouraging you to look through the worn out leather book he kept hidden for months, wanting you to see what he has been working on secretly whenever you were together.

Confused, you run your fingers along the enclosed ribbon on the cover of the sketchbook, hesitant to allow yourself in the work he’s immersed himself in for hours whenever the beauty in nature took over his attention span away from you.

Raising his eyebrows, he nods in a manner that demands you open the book. “If I don’t pay any attention to you, look through the book.”

Untying the string , you decide that whatever is in this book isn’t a secret anymore, because it wouldn’t even be in your hands if Johnny didn’t practically throw it at you to shut you and your curiosity up. 

The first few pages are beautiful, really. He has a way with his sketches, always seeming so simple yet so realistic you’d think they were actual pictures edited just to appear more striking to the eye. 

“Nature really is what inspires you hm?,” you ask, more of a rhetorical question because you already know the answer that’ll come from his mouth.

Chuckling, he brings his body closer to yours so his chin is resting on your shoulder, watching as you delicately turn the pages of his book. “Yeah, but there’s something more encapsulating that ends up being my muse, just keeping looking through.”

Golden sunflowers, vibrant pink sunsets, the giant pumpkin you both visited at the fall fair last year, everything you two experienced together when hanging out was documented in this book and reinvented through his drawings or paintings of them. 

And then you saw a sketch of yourself. At first you thought it was cute, because he’d always draw you and all your other friends whenever he got bored. But four pages later all you found were several pages filled with you, ranging from when when he placed different coloured tulips in your hair that one time you went on a walk in the new community garden not far from your favourite ice cream shop, or when you experimented with makeup and put glitter all over your eyebrows. 

Every moment you deemed minuscule and fun was captured so deeply in Johnny’s eyes, that he decided to relive it all again through the many strokes and colours that seamlessly came together to create something so beautiful. 

Your breath was absolutely taken away.

You always thought nature is what captured Johnny’s attention the most, but turns out it’s always been you. 

“I’m. Wait Johnny this is so-,” you begin to say, but your words become jumbled and your emotions a tangled mess, leaving you with tears in your eyes and so much more love for him in your heart than you’d ever had before, all because he drew some pictures of you. 

“Do you like them?” he questions, raising his eyebrows, awaiting your answer of approval, his question only promoting the waterworks to begin and your head to aggressively nod. 

You place the notebook gently on the blanket you two were sitting on, and crawl into his lap, pressing your body closer to his as you wrap your arms around his neck. 

They were absolutely perfect. He was perfect. 

Everything Johnny Suh says and does is absolutely incredible and you’re so incredibly lucky to be dating the cheesiest, most loving goofball the earth has to offer. Even if he’s a giant pain in your ass 97% of the time. 

Pecking his cheek, you stare into his gleaming brown orbs. “I absolutely love them, Mr. Johnny Suh, and I love you a million times more.”

Tightening your arms around his neck, you couldn’t help but embrace this moment for much longer. You don’t care that you’re five seconds away from bursting into hives and that your throat feels like it’s closing up. Holding on to your very sweet, thoughtful boyfriend for as long as you could right in this moment was all that mattered to you. 

“I was joking by the way, I know you care about me alot and pay more attention than most boyfriends would and I appreciate you tremendously.” You could start to feel the tears well up in the corners of your eyes, because you honestly don’t know what you’d do without Johnny. 

He was your best friend, and has been such an uplifting, inspiring person ever since he entered your life your freshman year of college, the thought of him not being in your life one day was a scary thought you never wanted to come true. 

“I love you always.”

“I know babe”, he whispered, kissing your cheek and running his fingers delicately through your hair, trying to calm you down as he could sense you were feeling rather overwhelmed. 

“I wouldn’t keep dragging you to places you hated if I knew you didn’t love me,” he exclaimed, bursting out into a loud, body shaking laugh that provided you with the comfort to let your tears go, and laugh in unison with him. 

Lifting you off his lap, Johnny grabs his art supplies and gently places them in his bag, grabbing your hand and pulling you up from the dry, matted grass you were both sitting on. 

“Where are you dragging me?” 

“Back to my place.” He winks, quickly pecking your lips before intertwining his fingers with yours, pulling you into the direction of his car. 

“It wouldn’t be romantic to be making out with my girlfriend that I love very much in a sunflower field if she kept sneezing in my face, wouldn’t it?”

[script-a-world]

Pylon Bios (An Update, with New Pylons)

Hello, lovely followers of script-a-world!

Please allow us to introduce ourselves! We haven’t had any sort of about-the-bloggers page available before, and now that we’ve added more to the team, we’re seeking to remedy that!

First of all, we call ourselves Pylons. What the heck is a pylon? Well, outside of this blog, it’s an upright structure for holding up something, usually a cable or conduit. When this blog was started more than a year ago (whoa), the group chose the word Pylon to describe ourselves collectively, as a fun little nickname. Whee!

Without further ado, meet the Pylons (and Mods)! (in alphabetical order)

Brainstormed: Hey there, call me Brainstormed, and you can find me at @thunderin-brainstorm. Any pronouns will do. I'm a student, illustrator, and world traveler. My home is in America, but I'm rarely there for more than a month at a time, so feel free to ask where in the world I happen to be! Worldbuilding has been my hobby for quite a long time and I'd love to give you some tips and tricks that I've learned, or take your idea and turn it on its head to perhaps show you a new perspective. The many projects I've developed have been lifesavers for me, as they allowed me to harness my Maladaptive Daydreaming Disorder and use it as a positive tool for creativity. Aside from drawing and daydreaming, I spend a lot of time biking, hunting for cool rocks and bones, binge reading any scholarly article that catches my eye, and memorising completely useless random facts that I spout at any given moment in lieu of remembering actual important information.

___

Constablewrites: My name is Brittany, and I'm a California girl living in the Midwest. I use she/her pronouns. I've always loved stories with rich and detailed worlds, whether in movies, books, games, or something else entirely. I'm the kind of writer who will spend hours researching to confirm a minor detail. Naturally, I not only write SFF, but my recent projects have all required worldbuilding on more than one axis (like multiple types of magic, or time travel on top of historical) because i am apparently something of a masochist. I'm a walking TV Tropes index and a whiz at digging up random useful knowledge, both of which come in handy as a Pylon. Other random facts: I'm a trained actress and singer, I used to work at Disneyland on the Jungle Cruise (among other attractions), and a laptop held together with duct tape is responsible for my day job in tech support. I blog about writing as @constablewrites and about random things that amuse me as @operahousebookworm.

____

Delta: Hi! I’m Delta and I can be found @dreaming-in-circles or @thedeclineofapollo (writeblr), and I love sci-fi. Like, a lot lol. I work in NEPA compliance for a civil engineering firm in the USA, and have a lot of experience with infrastructure, bureaucracies, biology, and space (for unrelated reasons). I spend a lot of time haunting the astrophysics wikipedia pages, and my current all-consuming project is a novel that is angling to be about 150,000 words (at current projections). Can’t wait to hear your questions!

__

Ebonwing: Hi, I’m Ebonwing. I’m currently studying IT in university. I’m a writer and worldbuilder, and sometimes a worldbuilding writer or a writing worldbuilder. I gravitate towards fantasy, though I’m not going to say no to the occasional stint in scifi, and as I’m also a giant language nerd, I enjoy making conlangs for my creations. Other than that, I’m also an artist and indulge in any number of other crafting hobbies, and if I’m not doing any of those things, I can probably be found playing video games.

___

Feral: Hi! I'm Feral, and you can find me @theferalcollection (if you enjoy feminism, socialism, or over-analyzed fiction) or on my writing blog theferalcollection.wordpress.com. I'm a Southern girl who likes fancy dresses, mint juleps, big hats, and using being-underestimated to my advantage. I work in the interior design industry and am currently in school for industrial design. I have previously earned degrees in comparative literature and theatre & drama. I'm a big nerd who really likes school. I've been world-building since before I knew it was a thing and writing almost as long. I’ve written mostly fantasy but the past couple projects have been science fiction. I'm ridiculously in love with the idea of being an astrophysicist but don't feel like learning calculus, so I just read about science a lot. My hobbies include martial arts, drinking too much coffee, and tabletop games.

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Lockea: Hello! I’m Lockea. You can find me all over the internet as @lockea or LockeaStone. I’m a leaf on the wind who currently enjoys the SoCal sunshine in Los Angeles where I work as an engineer and data scientist. I love street fashion (especially Lolita) and making jewelry. I have two kitties, Theodore and Cecelia, and I volunteer at the local animal shelter as a cat handler and adoption counselor. I know way too much about cat behavior, honestly, and will yap your ear off if you let me.

Worldbuilding wise, I have a deep affection for science fiction and I’ve consulted professional science fiction writers on developing technology and worlds through the explanation of science and engineering. My engineering specialization is extra-terrestrial  robotics, so if it has to do with space, planetary science, or robotics -- I got you. I’m also a fan of politics and really like developing political and socio-economic systems in fantasy and sci-fi worlds.

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Miri: Miri here, with my main tumblr @asylos and my writing tumblr @mirintala. I am a Canadian Pharmacy Technician by day and a small time ePublisher and gamer of many types by night. Mostly wandering around the Internet helping to organize events in the FFVII tumblr fandom (modding at @ff7central and @ffviifandomcalendar), and stumbling around within the Borderlands of Pandora. I use she/her pronouns.

—-

Symphony: Hey, I’m Symphony! Use whatever pronouns you feel like, any work. I’m currently living in Michigan with my fiance, and in-between jobs but I want to go to nursing school ASAP.  My favorite genres in fiction are horror, sci-fi, and really anything that holds my interest. In my own worldbuilding I've always felt myself most interested in developing societies on the macro level (politics, diet, customs, stuff like that), and the more esoteric, strange parts of my world. I like to make a place feel lived in, with secrets that may never be found and people who seek them out.

——

Synth: I’m @chameleonsynthesis on Tumblr, but that’s a mouthful, so just call me Synth. Any pronouns work. Born and raised in Canada, but living in Norway as of autumn 2007. Looking back, I’ve been worldbuilding since at least the age of four (in my early thirties now, so yeah), with a predominantly science-fantasy bent. I’m of the artsy creative type, with way too many projects on the go at any given time, and enjoy long walks through Wikipedia and getting caught in TV Tropes. The best thing is when I stumble across some strange factoid that can justify aspects of my many weird alien species. Stupid Synth facts: I have dual Canadian and Norwegian citizenship. My legal name contains a letter that does not exist in the English alphabet. I can curl my tongue into a cloverleaf shape, and wiggle my ears. My day job is musical instrument repair. I play French horn in a concert band, trombone in a jazz band, and don’t practice my flute or piccolo near as much as I should. Outside of band rehearsals and my job, I volunteer at the local cat shelter, work out at a gym, and attend events at my city’s newly established makerspace.

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Tex: I'm Tex, and you can find me on tumblr @texasdreamer01. Most of my hobbies are centered around fandom and worldbuilding for it, though I also like cooking and reading up on fiction and non-fiction whenever I have the time. I'm currently studying biochemical engineering, with a slant in nanotechnology and its medical applications, so I need to know a bunch about the different types of sciences, as well as projecting for the development of future fields.

-----

Utuabzu: Hi, I’m Utuabzu, I previously was part of ScriptMyth (RIP) where I tended to take the lead on Mesopotamia and Egypt related asks. I’m most of the way through a Bachelor of Linguistics, e parlo italiano und ein bisschen Deutsch. I have a deep and enduring interest in the history of the ancient world, particularly the ancient Near East, and I’m also a bit of a nerd for politics, which is helpful when it comes to worldbuilding. My random 2am research binges have resulted in my knowing a lot of odd things. I enjoy travelling and experiencing other cultures, however as I am Australian this unfortunately requires flying, which I hate a great deal. I expect to one day be crushed beneath a pile of my books. It is a demise I am ok with.

_____

Wootzel: Hi, I’m Wootzel, or @wootzel-dragon! I use she/her pronouns. I’m a recent college grad trying to figure life out. My favorite thing about worldbuilding is making things as realistic or pseudo-realistic as possible, and finding a justification for everything. Sometimes, this is also my least favorite thing about myself, because it can make things very hard! But, it can also be really rewarding when I get things to work out in a way that I enjoy.

My other hobbies include reading lots of fanfic while neglecting physical books, starting ambitious sewing projects on a whim, and wondering where all my time goes on a daily basis. I have changed major a few times, and I am still unsure about what I want to do with my life, except that it’ll always have writing in it somewhere.

[noche-lin]

ROOIBOS CITY AU / MY OC´S

I will not be able to illustrate my characters for this AU since it is not drawn, therefore I apologize, this may be the most empty contribution to the Rooibos City AU by a fan but anyway I will make my characters known I hope and they are to your liking.

Rooibos City AU | @bichcarito​

PRESENTATION: Della Fields is a beautiful Dahlia flower, she lives in the city of Rooibos City since she was 18 years old, lives alone and works in a flower shop near the docks. By having powers related to the growth of plants, she LOVES her work, however, she does not like where her work is since she has a great fear and hatred of the sea since her parents owned one of the best maritime transport companies in the city therefore they had to sail very often and on a stormy day their parents' ship did not return.

**** INFO ****

Name: Della Fields

Age: 24

Date of birth: February 24

Species / Sample: Dahlia flower

Female gender

Sexual orientation: heterosexual

Residence: City of Rooibos

Occupation: Florist

Place of Occupation: Madame Petunia's Bloon Bloon Flower Shop

Personality:

(Prudent)

§   Friendly

§   Comprehensive

§   Independent

§  Patient

§   Smart

§   Generous

§   Worker

§  Scary (only when related to the sea or ships)

(Negative side of his personality)

·         Sarcastic (only in low pressure situations)

·         Aggressive (when someone tries to force her to do something that she does not want)

·         Clumsy (rarely)

·         Competitive (only with her sister)

Powers: Control over plants

It can make the silver grow, pass part of its energy to other plants that need it. She usually makes use of her powers for work purposes but very rarely for her self defense as well, when she passes a little of her energy to another large plant she usually feels a bit sleepy and tired.

Likes:

Ø  Read (newspaper and the occasional romance novel)

Ø  Children

Ø  Your privacy

Ø  Current art (art from the 50's)

Ø  Play piano

Dislike:

o   Daring/ Saucy Men

o   Sea / Ocean

o   Boats

o   Disrespect towards the elderly

o   Child abuse

o   VERY bitter or salty flavors

o   She doesn't like being looked at for a long time

Family:

Lili Forest / Fields (mother, deceased)

Trevor Fields (father, deceased)

Vivian Fields (older sister)

Cristofer Fields (grandfather)

Catalina Romero / Fields (grandmother)

Friends:

Willy Cream (met him at a delivery to the town hall)

Isabel Teapotsette (closest work colleague)

Madame Petunia (boss / second mother)

Martín Glassden (best friend)

Lungo De Olla (He is his postman, he usually gives him the packages that his grandparents and sister send him in very good condition)

 Interesting data:

She speaks English and a little Spanish from her grandmother.

Admire the courage of people in facing any problem.

She likes to hang out at home reading her romance novels near the window.

Sometimes she goes out for a walk in an art gallery.

You feel like you lose air when you get too close to the sea

She does not like daring men, she prefers a man to approach her and ask for her name in exchange for being approached and given a compliment.

At the moment she is not interested in having a partner, but she is always willing to give whoever asks her a chance.

She tends to distrust very few people she barely knows, but when she does, it means that that person has an ulterior motive for her beyond the one presented to her.

She plays her piano whenever she is in a good mood, she also wanted someone else to play by her side with some other accompanying instrument.

She does not like being looked at for a long time, she becomes nervous, uncomfortable and a bit annoyed.

This flower is what would be Della

[depulsorpg]

WHATS IN YOUR FILE.

NAME: Bartemius “Barty” Crouch Jr. GENDER & PRONOUNS: Cismale, he/him. HOUSE & YEAR: Ravenclaw, 7th. BLOOD STATUS: Pureblood. AFFILIATION: Death Eaters.

WHAT DO THE RUMORS SAY.

POSITIVES: Studious, imaginative, skilful. NEGATIVES: Cynical, cruel, aloof . LOOKS LIKE: Cody Christian.

WHAT IS THE TRUE STORY.

Loves his mother dearly, but despises his father.

Suffered a lot of cruelty from his father during his childhood.

Has a thirst for knowledge, somewhat of a prodigy.

Finds most people quite irritating to converse with.

Has a slight obsession for the Dark Arts, finds them fascinating.

I 1958

Your peers came into this world as the apple of their fathers’ eye, their heirs, the ones they had been waiting for all along. Meanwhile, you came as a nuisance, a disruption to your fathers carefully laid out plans. Your young mother blissfully cradled your tiny frame in her arms, finally having found a purpose, something to put all her passion into. Until now she had only been a girl, living all alone in a big mansion that had never started to feel like her own but now she had a purpose, now she was a mother. Your dad saw you for the first time almost two days after you had been born. “Work.” He muttered under his breath to the young woman holding his child. You were named after him anyway; it was the proper thing to do after all. And while your father could barely manage to look at you for another two seconds, your mother’s fingertips carefully caressed your cheek. “Barty.” She mumbled reverently, overwriting your fathers wish. You would never become Bartemius like your father, you were hers from the beginning so you proudly wore the name she gave you.

I 1964

With your nose scrunched in disdain and anger, you watched the son of one of your mother’s girlfriends run through your garden like a berserker, disregarding the flower your mother so carefully and lovingly planted just a week earlier. You had watched her closely, fascinated by the care she took. She had explained to you that the young plants were fragile, that you needed to be very careful so that they would have a chance to grow and become strong and beautiful. Your beloved Mother, she always knew too much of fragility. When the heat of the midday had started to tire her you told her to sit down and finished the work, recreating her every step, being careful not to destroy any of the delicate petals. You had felt her proud and adoring gaze on your back.

Now she wasn’t saying anything as the careless boy trampled the little flowers that had sparked such joy in her. You knew she was too polite to do so; you knew she didn’t want to anger her friend. You, however, had no issue doing so. Rage was pulsating through your veins as you stormed towards the other kid, as fast as your legs would carry you, and pushed them into the little creek running through your garden. Pleasure fulfilled you as you watched him sputter and cry out for his mother. He had deserved it. Your mom scolded you a little, asked you what you were thinking to push the other boy into the water but you could see in her eyes that she knew. She knew what you had done and she was grateful for it. If anyone understood that beautiful and delicate things needed protection it was her.

I 1967

More often than not these days you found yourself with your head bowed over a book and whenever your mother spotted you like that she ruffled through your hair and called you her “smart boy”. Pride lit up her eyes whenever you showed her how good you were doing with your teacher. It was so easy to make her happy and proud, at least whenever she was actually around. These days she spent a lot of time in her bed, managing only the slightest of smiles whenever you slit through the bedroom door to visit her. Your father wouldn’t even have noticed unless hadn’t you begged him to call a doctor for her.  

The next day you diligently waited outside your mother’s bedroom for the doctor to come out again, worry burying creases into your youthful face. When he came out though all he told you was that your mother was fine, that she just needed rest and quiet for a while. He gave you a pitying look as he laid one hand on your shoulder and told you not to disturb her too much. You could see it in his eyes, that he wasn’t being entirely honest to you, that he didn’t think you were old enough to understand. That night you tried asking your dad about it, which only prompted him to let out a snort and shaking his head. “Your mother was never equipped for real life.” He just mumbled, which was all the information you would get from him that night. Anger started swelling in your stomach as you looked at him with disbelief, how could he say something like that about his wife? There wasn’t an ounce of worry for her in his gaze, he just plainly didn’t seem to care.

That day sparked a newfound interest in medicine for you as you were hellbent on finding out what illness actually ailed your mother. Days were spent in the library, instead of meeting up with your friends in order to enjoy those last days of summer. The house was eerily empty and quiet with your father at work the entire time and your mother barely ever leaving her bed. The doctor had told you not to disturb her but every now and then you still sneaked into her room. You wanted to ask her about her symptoms, but whenever you started inquiring, she just took your hands in hers and told you not to worry. How silly of her to think that was even possible.

I 1972

Coming back to school after the summer was bittersweet. School was alright, you even enjoyed most of the classes and some of your peers weren’t even too bad. However, it also meant leaving your mother all alone. She had seemed fine when you left, waving you goodbye from the door of the mansion. You had made her promise not to be alone too much, knowing all too well how isolation worsened her condition. It didn’t help much that word about Audrey Crouch’s mysterious disease had spread over this last year, turning her into somewhat of a spectacle for her usual girlfriends. You knew worrying wouldn’t help you much, but it was what you did the best. While all around you your housemates were excitedly sharing stories about their summer you solemnly unpacked your books. All too often you felt like an old man among kids, as your concerns seemed all too different from theirs. It was hardly tolerable to hear them making tiny issues out to be disasters when your life had never granted you such luxury.

Over the last year, you had been able to figure out that your mothers’ ailment was most likely one of the mind, not the body. A theory your father obviously didn’t care about, which he had made abundantly clear by throwing his glass at the wall behind you, missing by only centimetres. The thought of how much more choleric he had apparently become over the last year also didn’t do much to stop your worrying about your mother’s well-being. Over the summer your father had paid you more attention than ever before, seemingly hell-bent on picking arguments with you over just about anything but especially your mother. Having spent years without a care about her, his sudden involvement only made your blood boil with familiar hatred. After all these years of ducking from his gaze, you weren’t going to continue like that. Finally, you were at the same height as your father and both of you knew that the time of his undisputed authority had gotten to an end.

Back at Hogwarts however, you needed to remind yourself how to be a boy, how to walk a little less straight and speak a little softer. Not that you were good at it, blending in, or that you really cared for it either. Your only friends were those you had known for as long as you could remember and even in their eyes, you could spot the bewilderment at his behaviour at times. However, while others with similar patterns of behaviour were secretly called weirdos or even freaks, you were more of a mystery than an outcast. For some reason, your harsh words and the smug smirk you had fashioned for your façade seemed to intrigue people, even though they weren’t the kinds of people you were even remotely interested in associating with. Popularity had never been far up your list of priorities anyway.

I 1977

The light of your wand was the only thing spending even the slightest bit of illumination as you squinted in order to make out the words written on the pages before you. Small illustrations accompanied one of the rare texts about dark magic you had been able to acquire. What had started as an eccentric hobby was now your main field of interest, leading to you spending your nights up and reading instead of sleep. Dark bags below your eyes had long since become your constant companion, alongside ruffled hair and raised irritability, even though that last one was more of a permanent character trait than a momentary condition.

You long since left the lanky boy, that consisted mostly of anger, behind. Or maybe you had just become a more polished version, hiding the rage behind smooth words and a hollow smile. Most people were still insufferable to you, especially those your own age but you had learned to hide your contempt. These days you channelled your more destructive instincts into this, dark magic. The words still prompted a sinister grin to appear on your lips. Busying yourself with learning about one of the things your father despised the most had been the initial motive for your intrigue with the Dark Arts but those days had long passed, while your interest stuck with you.

Therefore, when you had heard about the Dark Lord and his following it didn’t take much to convince you. You could feel that there were big things happening, that history was being written and you so badly wanted to be part of that. There was such an allure to this movement that seemed to have just the right place for you. You finally found the darkness that had been brewing inside of you for many years mirrored in those around you. It certainly seemed that maybe this is where you, the boy with the dark thoughts and ambitions, might find your place after all.

WHAT ARE YOUR RELATIONSHIPS.

EVAN ROSIER: Friend, one of the few people he gets along with. RABIA SHAFIQ: Vaguely irritated by, but also admires. DIRK CRESSWELL: Enemy, often fights with.  ISOBEL CLEMONTE: Attempting to manipulate. THEO STEBBINS: Potions partner, cannot get along with. 

[baabrozthings-blog]

Is Graphic Design a Good Career Choice?

What, Exactly, is Graphic Design? I am often asked this question. In the past, designers have been called commercial artists. In my humble view, the term artist is still very fitting, and more succinct. 

Graphic designing courses in Lahore, itself, may cover a wide range of industrial artistry but often refers to the use of design to matters like published materials, business branding, logos, signage, design for web, social networking channels and items many people never notice - however, look at each and every day.

Items like product packaging, billboard designs, and almost everything you look at on a daily the basis that's words and images occurring together (and sometimes just one, or the other) was made by a graphic designer.

Everything from that clothing tag to the brochure at your dentist's office - and everything in between - that is design.

What Is Graphic Design Like, as a Job?

Designers become designers in a number of ways. Not all of us were drawn from one to art. Fairly often design is heard from necessity. You require a flyer to your business or your kids' sale and you are choosing photographs fonts, and colors, attempting to make the template look presentable. (Though most professional designers rarely use a template!)

Graphic design courses is a profession of problem solving and business. The problem solving of what a designer does part entails meeting a challenge. Our customer generally tells us exactly what that challenge is without us needing to ask, “I want to sell more books"

Graphic design is function and kind working. That may sound like clicks, but it's a formula for success. The form is 1 half of what a designer does, we create or choose imagery which tells a story. This may be by examples, iconography, or way of great photography, feel - or any combination of these things. Together with the aesthetics of this layout (or even the “pretty" stuff), we are also challenged with sending the message that our client should send.

Part two of what a designer does is organize. Things call to action and remembering to place contact information, like a headline fall within the range of this field of design. A professional designer knows also to educate the customer whenever they fail to provide details, also to ask questions. Remember - form AND function. If you enable your client to forget no one and the site or 800 number can buy their product - you've neglected.

"I need to sell more books." Is the message. With an attention-grabbing website, an expertly designed publication cover, and designed social media existence the designer truly becomes a cog in the marketing system. We are an integral part of the implementation of a marketing plan and that strategy is born with the design team, although we might not be the advertising team.

As a project, designers often spend more hours implementing the thought. This means is that in hours spent per day, you will often spend time being creative and more time generating. What that means is that often the “fun" part occurs early on. As soon as you have your base design, elements are reused during a campaign, which means that your time spent on a job is spent laying out pages, generating assets for different social networking channels, site elements, along with other functions that require a totally different skill set.

Although you may see design where your time is spent creating things a lot of our time is spent assessing specs and margins organizing info and nitpicking details. Deciding on the typeface that's easily readable, yet free to texture and the appearance of the composition is critical. Picking the screen fonts is much more critical.

Fairly often inexperienced designers overcompensate with inadequate typography options, and neglect to give equal focus on matters like top (line spacing), kerning (letter-spacing), gutters and margins, widows and orphans, punctuation, punctuation, spacing, and total page makeup. All these things are critical, and such elements of style are what separate the expert and the newcomer.

I'd guess that layout is imagination and problem solving and implementation that is 80%. I believe that is a fair evaluation, although this will differ from project to project.

Specialties in Graphic Design

Graphic designers do work, but they're highly specialized in a place. Job accessibility will be regional, though some career paths are going to have more flexibility and also a few jobs could be unavailable in some places. A fantastic illustration of this is a printing designer vs a game developer.

You might need to relocate to discover your dream job, if you live in a rural area that has no game developers and 2 print shops! However, if you're a web designer that you can literally work from anywhere with a web connection. Your clients can be anywhere on earth - and you've got almost no limitations. More and more, the improvements in tech work can be accomplished remotely. Quite often group creativity is imperative.

Branding: Naturally I begin here because nearly everybody thinks of a graphic designer as somebody who creates logos. A logo is merely a little part of branding. It also needs to be stated that designing can also be only a little part of branding, albeit a fun part! Branding design specialization includes things like logo, color palette, mood board creation, creating branding criteria, etc. A business is given a voice by branding - and is not simply the logo but the entire customer experience. Designers get to help with the appearance, as well as the feel of a brand.

[youmightfindyourself]

Althea McNish by Libby Sellers

“London, is the place for me,” extolled Lord Kitchener, one of Trinidad’s top calypsonians, as he disembarked the Empire Windrush at Tilbury docks in 1948. As part of a wave of colonial artists drawn to the “mother country” in search of London’s intellectual and creative center, Kitchener captured the optimism and joy the migrants brought with them. That this optimism infiltrated all corners of British life, and specifically the furnishing and fashion fabrics of homes from north to south, east, and west, owes much to Althea McNish. Born in Trinidad’s capital, Port of Spain, and living in London since 1951, within her textiles McNish “tropicalized” the gray British landscape with all the warmth, sunshine and vibrancy of fellow Trinidadian Lord Kitchener. Yet, in comparison with her textile contemporaries, McNish’s contributions to the transformation of postwar Britain have only recently begun to be acknowledged in her adopted country.

Descended from the Meriken settlers (former African American slaves who had fought for the British during the War of 1812), her father was the writer and publisher Joseph Claude McNish, and her mother, a well-regarded dressmaker. She grew up in a world of words, ideas, and fabrics that, from as young as three, she rendered through her passion for painting and drawing. Trinidad at the time was undergoing a cultural renaissance, inspired by the growing demands for independence and the consequent need of its people to forge their own national and cultural identity. As a junior member of the Trinidad Arts Society, McNish was at the center of this thriving scene, staging her first exhibition in her teens and receiving encouragement from her elders including Sibyl Atteck, M. P. Alladin, and Boscoe Holder. Despite her prodigious fine-art talent (she later worked as a cartographer and entomological illustrator with the British government in Trinidad), she dreamed of construction and engineering, studying architecture with a local town planner and taking a particularly unusual interest in septic tanks (developing blueprints for a homemade tank in the family’s backyard).

It was on the back of this fascination that she applied for a scholarship, earning a place at the Architectural Association School in London’s Bedford Square in 1951. She had a seven-year course ahead of her and a grant to last the duration, though dreading the cold, gray British winters McNish transferred to the (shorter) undergraduate courses at the London School of Printing and Graphic Arts. Her interest in textiles was awakened by a visit to an exhibition of student works at the Central School of Art, where British artist Eduardo Paolozzi taught textile design. Through her print studies at the London School of Printing, evening classes at Central, and then postgraduate degree at the Royal College of Art (RCA) she mastered the medium, learning how to develop colorways, create repeats, and prepare her artwork for production as well as learning the production process itself. This relatively rare understanding of both the design and production sides offered McNish inventive freedom, but it also safeguarded her inventiveness. Her ability to speak the printers’ language enabled her to “preserve the integrity of her chosen colors.” McNish added, “Whenever printers told me it couldn’t be done, I would show them how to do it. Before long, the impossible became possible.” At the time, the RCA’s studios were located within the Victoria and Albert Museum. That McNish had chosen to develop her artistic vocabulary surrounded by the museum’s collections, historically garnered from Britain’s Empire, was an awkward oxymoron she claims not to have noticed. Yet McNish is not easily discouraged; her forceful colors are demonstrative of an equally forceful will.

Her most celebrated design was inspired by a weekend visit to the home of her RCA tutors, Edward and Charlotte Bawden, in Great Bardfield, Essex. Sketchbook in hand, she was drawn to the sight of the sun glistening over the fields. As she said of the moment, “In Trinidad, I used to walk through sugar plantations and rice fields and now I was walking through a wheat field. It was a glorious experience.” Through her colorful lens, this bucolic English idyll was transposed, resulting in the design for Golden Harvest (1959). The design and its various colorways were later purchased by Hull Traders, who, through its continued patronage, were to become an important client for McNish, producing short runs of her avant-garde designs.

Her impressionistic lines and blaze of colors burned bright at the 1957 RCA degree show. Pat Bishop, the Trinidadian artist, described how, "Swinging London was on its way...McNish was there to satisfy that need with her big, beautiful splashy prints of every kind of flower and tropical pattern imaginable." Within a day of graduation, she was called to the offices of Arthur Stewart-Liberty, of the eponymous London department store. McNish recalls of the meeting, “He thought Britain was ready for color,” and through such designs as Cebollas (1958) and Hibiscus (1958), he made sure Britain could buy it through him. While her near contemporaries Lucienne Day (1917–2010), Jacqueline Groag (1903–1986), and Marian Mahler (1911–1983) were bringing much needed cheerfulness to the drab days of postwar Britain, McNish’s riot of color was like a volcano erupting through the center of conservative British modernism. “Color was mine,” she declared. Though Day, Groag, and Mahler were to be given more credit.

After their successful 1957 meeting, Stewart-Liberty sent McNish by taxi directly to Zika Ascher, the producer and retailer of extravagant and experimental textiles to the fashion industry. With clients including Cardin, Dior, Schiaparelli, Givenchy, and Lanvin, it was not long before McNish prints such as Tropic and Giselle of 1959 were gracing European fashion magazines. In 1966, when Queen Elizabeth II visited Trinidad in the early days of post-Independence, McNish designed fabrics for her high-profile, official wardrobe.

In her public and professional engagements, she was, as the author Alan Rice suggested, “a rare black and female presence.” Committed to developing her industry and offering a role model for future generations, McNish taught extensively and was a prominent member of various arts councils and bodies. As a founder member of the highly influential Caribbean Arts Movement (CAM) in the mid-1960s, she did much to promote Caribbean artists to the British public, including organizing works by herself and her peers for the 1973 BBC TV magazine program Full House, produced by John La Rose. Her position as the first black British textile designer of repute is something she shrugs off, claiming she never suffered any discrimination due to either her race or gender: “I was so rare, they were dumbfounded.”

In the 1960s, as textile manufacturing declined in the UK, giving rise to the import of plain cotton cloth, the demand for designers to produce patterns for the consumer boom grew. By offering complex patterns that she alone could achieve with the printers, McNish secured contracts with most of the UK’s leading firms, including Cavendish Textiles, Danasco, Heals, and the Wallpaper Manufactures Ltd. (for which she designed the Crystalline print for their Palladio range of 1960). On a 1963 Cotton Board scholarship she traveled to Europe investigating the state of British exports. It was not long before she was selling designs directly to upmarket European firms including Bucol in Lyon and Fede Cheti in Milan among others. Britain’s most successful postwar design consultancy, Design Research Unit, commissioned McNish to design murals for their public and corporate clients including British Rail and the Orient Steam Navigation Company. When the SS Oriana launched in 1959, she sailed McNish’s laminate panels, Rayflowers and Pineapples and Pomegranates, around the world on the walls of its restaurants.  

While she effectively retired from textiles in the late 1980s, throughout the intervening years her works have been included in a growing number of exhibitions exploring the under-recognized influence of artists from the African diaspora within British art. Within this context, McNish’s “tiny flowers picked from the British hedgerow transformed into tropical exuberance” take on an entirely new significance, both for the history of postwar textile design and British modernism in general.

Libby Sellers is a design historian, consultant, and curator based in London. The above chapter is an excerpt from her book Women Design, which was published by Frances Lincoln in June 2018.

[a-teixeira]

Data is now recognized as one of the founding pillars of our economy, and the notion that the world grows exponentially richer in data every day is already yesterday’s news.

Big Data doesn’t belong to a distant dystopian future; it’s a commodity and an intrinsic and iconic feature of our present — like dollars, concrete, automobiles, and Helvetica. The ways we relate to data are evolving more rapidly than we realize, and our minds and bodies are naturally adapting to this new hybrid reality built of both physical and informational structures.And visual design — with its power to instantly reach out to places in our subconscious without the mediation of language, and with its inherent ability to convey large amounts of structured and unstructured information across cultures — is going to be even more central to this silent but inevitable revolution.

Data visualization pioneers such as William Playfair, John Snow, Florence Nightingale and Charles Joseph Minard were the first to leverage and codify this potential in the 18th and 19th centuries, and modern advocates such as Edward Tufte, Ben Shneiderman, Jeffrey Heer and Alberto Cairo are among those responsible for the renaissance of the field over the last twenty years, supporting the transition of these principles to the world of Big Data. Thanks to this renewed interest, a first wave of data visualization took over the web and reached a broader audience outside the academic environments where it had lived until then. But sadly, this wave was ridden by many in a superficial way, as a linguistic shortcut to compensate for the natural vertigo caused by the immeasurable nature of Big Data.

“Cool” infographics promised us the key to master this untamable complexity and, when they inevitably failed to deliver on this overly optimistic expectation, we were left with gigabytes of unreadable 3D pie charts and cheap translucent user interfaces full of widgetsthat even Tony Stark or Minority Report’s detective John Anderton would have a hard time making sense of.

In fact, visual design is often applied to data simply as a cosmetic retouch of important and complicated issues in an attempt to make them look simpler than they are. What made cheap marketing infographics so popular is probably their biggest contradiction: the false claim that a couple of pictograms and a few big numbers have the innate power to “simplify complexity.” The phenomena that rule our world are by definition complex, multifaceted and mostly difficult to grasp, so why would anyone want to dumb them down to make crucial decisions or deliver important messages?

But not all is bad in this sudden craze for data visualization. Not only are we now realizing that there is still a substantial distance between the real potential that lies hidden in vast pools of data and the superficial imagery we often use to represent them, but most importantly, we realize that the first wave was successful in making others more familiar with new terms and visual languages.

Now that we are past what we can call peak infographics, we are left with a general audience that understands some of the tools needed to welcome a second wave of more meaningful and thoughtful visualization.We are ready to question the impersonality of a merely technical approach to data and to begin designing ways to connect numbers to what they really stand for: knowledge, behaviors, people.

Data represents real life. It is a snapshot of the world, in the same way that a picture catches a small moment in time. Numbers are always placeholders for something else, a way to capture a point of view — but sometimes this can get lost. Failing to represent these limitations and nuances and blindly putting numbers in a chart is like reviewing a movie by analyzing the chemical properties of the cellulose on which the images were recorded.

In its second wave, data visualization will inevitably be all about personalization.

The more ubiquitous data becomes, the more we need to experiment with how to make it unique, contextual, intimate. The way we visualize it is crucial because it is the key to translating numbers into concepts we can relate to.

So how do we move forward?

EMBRACE COMPLEXITY

Accurat for Corriere Della Sera. Series of exploratory, dense, data-driven narratives published in La Lettura, the Sunday cultural supplement, 2013.

Complexity is an inherent feature of our existence — the world is rich in information that can be combined in endless ways. Creating new points of view or uncovering something new typically cannot happen at a mere glance;this process of revelation often needs and requires an in-depth investigation of the context.

Whenever the main purpose of data visualization is to open people’s eyes to fresh knowledge, it is impractical to avoid a certain level of visual complexity.

In a collaboration that lasted more than two years with the newsroom of Italy’s largest newspaper, Corriere Della Sera, my design company, Accurat, had the opportunity to work on a series of experimental data visualizationsfor their Sunday cultural supplement. Our role was to conceive visual narratives, based on data, that achieved the same thoughtfulness and depth of the other essays published in the supplement — pushing the boundaries of what visualization can do with high-density data rife with multiple attributes.

The Future, as Foretold in the Past, Accurat for La Lettura, 2013

Each week, we chose an interesting topic to explore, and we searched for multiple data sources, both quantitative and qualitative, that we then combined into a single elaborate visual narrative. The goal was to move away from a simple measurement of quantity; we transformed raw information into interconnected knowledge, presenting unexpected parallels and secondary tales to supplement the main story.

The Brain Drain, Accurat for La Lettura, 2013

Since clarity does not need to come all at once, we layered multiple visual narratives over a main construct that served as the jumping-in point for readers to begin and follow their interest. We call this process nonlinear storytelling; people can get happily lost exploring individual elements, minor tales and larger trends within the greater visualization, while being naturally invited to engage with the visual on deeper levels.

Painters in the Making, Accurat for La Lettura, 2013

We can write rich and dense stories with data. We can educate the reader’s eye to become familiar with visual languages that convey the true depth of complex stories.

Dense and unconventional data visualizations promote slowness — a particularly poignant goal to set in our era of ever shortening attention spans. If we can create visuals that encourage careful reading and personal engagement, people will find more and more real value in data and in what it represents.

MOVE BEYOND STANDARDS

One size does not fit all. Business intelligence tools and dataviz tools for marketers have led many to believe that the ideal way to make sense of information is to load data into a tool, pick from among a list of suggested out-of-the-box charts, and get the job done in a couple of clicks. This common approach is actually nothing more than blindly throwing technology at the problem, sometimes without spending enough time framing the question that triggered the exploration in the first place. This often leads to results that are not only practically useless, but also deeply wrong, because prepackaged solutions are rarely able to frame problems that are difficult to define, let alone solve.

As Steven Heller writes in the introduction to his book The Infographic Designers’ Sketchbooks “Making enticingly accurate infographics requires more than a computer drafting pro- gram or cut-and-paste template, the art of information display is every bit as artful as any other type of design or illustration, with the notable exception that it must tell a factual or linear story”

Thoughtful design comes to the rescue again. What I always do when I start a new data project is to move away from the screen and start drawing.

I draw with data in my mind, but with no data in my pen: I sketch with data to understand what is contained in the numbers and in their structure, and how to define and organize those quantities in a visual way to create opportunities to gain insight.

Accurat for Corriere Della Sera. “Nobels, no degrees”- Exploratory Sketch, 2013

Sketching with data — so, in a way, removing technology from the equation before bringing it back to finalize the design with digital tools — introduces novel ways of thinking, and leads to designs that are uniquely customized for the specific type of data problems we are working with. I draw to freely explore possibilities. I draw to visually understand what I am thinking, I draw to evaluate my ideas and intuitions by seeing them com- ing to life on paper, I draw to help my mind think without limitations, without boundaries.

Accurat for Corriere Della Sera. “Nobels, no degrees”- Final Visualization, 2013

Drawing with data is an invaluable tool to discover what is unique about the numbers at hand. It also raises new questions about the data itself. This limiting practice helps to reveal new possible analyses to perform: Instead of being overwhelmed by the size of a dataset and by millions of numbers,we focus only on their nature, their organization,and doing so often opens new opportunities originating from this vantage point.

To expand their data-drawing vocabulary, designers can access hundreds of years of visual information encoding — the evolution of music notation from medieval times to contemporary music, the experimentation with geometric shapes that characterized avant-garde artists of the last century. These visual languages, while clearly pursuing different goals, have a lot in common with data visualization: they draw on common perception principles and use simple shapes, select symbols, and a defined range of colors to create basic visual compositions that deliver a message and please the eye.

SNEAK CONTEXT IN. (ALWAYS)

A dataset might lead to many stories. Data is a tool that filters reality in a highly subjective way, and from quantity, we can get closer to quality. Data, with its unique power to abstract the world, can help us understand it according to relevant factors. How a dataset is collected and the information included — and omitted — directly determines the course of its life. Especially if combined, data can reveal much more than originally intended. As semiologists have theorized for centuries, language is only a part of the communication process — context is equally important.

This is why we have to reclaim a personal approachto how data is captured, analyzed and displayed, proving that subjectivity and context play a big rolein understanding even big events and social changes — especially when data is about people.

Data, if properly contextualized, can be an incredibly powerful tool to write more meaningful and intimate narratives.

To research this realm, I undertook a laborious personal project: a yearlong hand-drawn data correspondence with information designer Stefanie Posavec. We have numerous personal and work similarities — I am Italian and live in New York, and she is American and lives in London. We are the exact same age, and we are only children living far away from our families. Most importantly, we both work with data in a very handcrafted way, trying to add a human touch to the world of computing and algorithms, using drawing instead of coding as our form of expression. And despite having met only twice in person, we embarked upon what we called Dear Data.

For a year, beginning September 1, 2014, Posavec and I collected our personal data around a shared topic — from how many times we complained in a week, to how frequently we chuckled; from our obsessions and habits as they showed up, to interactions with our friends and partners. At the end of the week we analyzed our information and hand-drew our data on a postcard-sized sheet of paper, creating analog correspondence we sent to each other across the Atlantic. It was a slow, small, and incredibly analog transmission, which through fifty-two pretexts in the form of data revealed an aspect of ourselves and our lives to the other person every week.

We spent a year collecting our data manually instead of relying on a self-tracking digital app, adding contextual details to our logs and thus making them truly personal, about us and us alone.

For the first seven days of Dear Data we chose a seemingly cold and impersonal topic: how many times we checked the time in a week.

On the front of my postcard (shown above) every little symbol represents all of the times I checked the time, ordered per day and hour chronologically — nothing complicated. But the different variations of my symbols on the legend indicate anecdotal details that describe these moments: Why was I checking the time? What was I doing? Was I bored, hungry or late? Did I check it on purpose, or just casually glance at the clock while occupied in another activity? Cumulatively, this gave Posavec an idea of my daily life through the excuse of my data collection — something that’s not possible if meaning isn’t included in the tracking.

As the weeks moved on, we shared everything about ourselves through our data: our envies, the sounds of our surroundings, our private moments and our eating habits.

FINALLY, REMEMBER THAT DATA IS IMPERFECT. (AS WE ARE)

Let’s just stop thinking data is perfect. It’s not. Data is primarily human-made. “Data-driven” doesn’t mean “unmistakably true,” and it never did.

It’s time to leave behind any presumption of absolute control and universal truth and embrace an informed depiction of the big numbers and small imperfections that work together to describe reality. And data visualization should embrace imperfection and approximation, allowing us to envision ways to use data to feel more empathic, to connect with ourselves and others at a deeper level. The more effort we put into researching and translating, the easier the reader will understand and relate to the stories we tell.

But this requires a paradigm shift in the way we represent information visually.

We should learn how to include and render the more qualitative and nuanced aspects of data. We should experiment with how to visualize uncertainty, possible errors and imperfections in our data. And most importantly, we should keep in mind how data can be a powerful tool for all designers, bringing stories to life in a visual way and adding structural meaning to our projects.

It is an uncommonly exciting time to be a data visualization designer; projects and opportunities are more and more complex and challenging, and the field is growing and becoming even more popular. We have to find new languages, and explore how to convey knowledge and inspire feelings simultaneously with data. We have to explore how to be faithful to scientific accuracy while allowing space for exceptions to flourish. We have to bring data to life — human life.

I believe we’re primed for the future. Let’s get started.

[cyborgfutures-blog]

Sensing the Earth's Electromagnetic World

by Michael Braverman

Original Article

Humans tend to invent technologies that almost immediately find their functional and practical applications. Whenever scientists make a technologic discovery, they might marvel at it for some time, appreciate their passion for science, and that would sometimes be the last moment when a newly discovered technology is appreciated. A few decades later, we would invent devices that exploit practical usages of a discovered technology, but that never allows us to learn how to "feel" or "hear" the laws of nature, without which the technology itself would not exist.

We are only able to perceive a fraction of the whole electromagnetic spectrum, while being completely blind to radiation, radio waves, and low frequency waves

Today, we are surround by electromagnetic waves. This includes microwave, radio waves, gamma waves; natural disturbances in the magnetosphere, stratosphere, the ground, and oceans; even brain waves that are classified into Delta waves, Theta waves, Alpha waves and Beta waves. We live in a sea of presence filled with these electromagnetic waves, but have not yet invented methods for feeling and perceiving them. Instead, we use devices that exploit these laws of nature to store, transmit, transduce, decode, and encode information using technologies that are completely alien to our perception. Yet, we continue to rely on these technologies by exploiting the laws of physics, but never wonder what it would be like if this electromagnetic world was perceptible to us, and not just by the technologies we use.

Different brain waves classified into different types

FM radio is an example that illustrates how we apply laws of nature to create things that are purely instrumental, but not perceivable. FM radio might seem like a technology that we can "feel" and "hear" since we use it to listen to music by tuning to the 87.5–108.0 MHz range. But that is not so. We neither "feel", nor "hear" the FM radio spectrum itself. We exploit the FM radio spectrum by transducing it into sounds that are audible to our ear, but do not perceive it through a sense that is capable of perceiving the FM radio spectrum. The waves that are being transmitted through the FM radio is inaudible to our ears. The technology that allows to make the FM radio audible to us, is called transduction.

The process of transduction converts sound into an electromagnetic wave and vice versa

The only human organ that can perceive the electromagnetic spectrum, is our eye. The visible spectrum (430–750THz) includes everything that ranges from infrared to ultraviolet wavelengths. But this is just a quadrillionth fraction of the whole electromagnetic spectrum! We tend to call moles blind animals, but we could consider our situation to be not that different from theirs. Imagine how colorful the world would be if we where able to perceive the whole electromagnetic spectrum, or even just a few more wavelengths!

Mysterious Telegraph Wires

Thomas Watson and Alexandr Graham Bell are frequently attributed to be one of the first inventors of the telegraph. The marvel of this invention, is that it allows to transmit the Morse code through very long distances, using a wire and very little power. As the telegraph technology matured, it became less prone to disturbances and noises, which led to the development of today's wireless communication technologies that flawlessly prevent disturbances.

Thomas Watson and Alexandr Graham Bell, the invetnros of the telegraph.

The back story of Bell's and Watson's discoveries however is rarely mentioned. When people discuss their achievements, they applaud to their invention and view it as another technologic human mastery over nature. Before Watson and Bell came up with these technologies, they listened to the sounds of Earth that even until this day, are heard by not that many people. Watson would frequently spend whole nights listening to the disturbances that where captured on the telegraph line. These include disturbances in the atmosphere, earthquakes, lightening strikes, whistlers, and radioactive sun storms that clash with the Earth's magnetic field producing auroras and tons of electromagnetic radiation.

One of these impressive natural occurrences are called whistlers. These are electromagnetic "echoes" that come from lightening strikes that frequently come from the opposite end of the globe. The interesting part is that whistlers travel through the Earth's electromagnetic field while covering a distance that was only surpassed by the Apollo astronauts in the 60's. As they arrive back to the Earth's surface, they wait in vein for someone to hear their 2-3 second journey around the Earth.

The journey that whistlers take when traveling through the Earth's magnetic field. Depending on the location of the lightening strike, whistlers can come from opposite sides of the Earth

Watson and Bell would spend whole nights listening to these natural phenomena. Watson recounts his observations when listening to these sounds on the telegraph line:

When a telephone is places in circuit with a telegraph line, the telephone is found seemingly to emit sounds on its own account. The most extraordinary noises are often produced by the inductive influence of neighboring wires and by leakage from them, the signals of the Morse alphabet passing over neighboring wires being audible in the telephone; and another class can be traced to earth currents upon the wire.1

Watson recounts his observations:

I used to spend hours at night in the laboratory listening to the many strange noises in the telephone and speculating as to their cause. One of the most common sounds was a snap, followed by a grating sound that lasted two or three seconds before it faded into silence, and another was like the chirping of a bird.2

What Watson called as "a snap, followed by a grating sound that lasted two or three seconds," was in fact the sound of a whistler coming from a lightening strike. Here are some links to the sounds of these Whistlers.

Atmospheric Whistler 1

Atmospheric Whistler 2

Atmospheric Whistler 3

Alvin Lucier's Sferics — a composition based on recorded atmospheric sounds.

Proposal

As was mentioned previously, some of our technologic developments miss out on the most interesting parts. Technology cannot be meaningful if it is used solely for exploiting the laws of nature and finding practical usages. We must also explore ways how such a technology can alter our perception and understanding about the Earth's naturally occurring phenomena.

Imagine if an alien decides to visit us tomorrow. He will very likely be disappointed when he sees how we use electromagnetic waves to transmit information, send selfies, post on Facebook, but have no idea about how they work (except for scientists with a PhD in electromagnetism and a handful of amateur radio enthusiast). The alien would probably hopelessly leave our planet, and go find something more interesting on Jupiter.

In order to not bore the alien visitor, we must demonstrate that we have an evolved perception of our home planet Earth, and are capable of appreciating its beauty. To do so, we must build a device that can receive various electromagnetic frequencies (including radiation) that can receive waves coming from the atmosphere, ground, and space. Receiving electromagnetic frequencies can be achieved using a cheap Software-Defined Radio (SDR) for under $20.

A cheap SDR capable of sensing electromagnetic waves.

Such as device can be a variable that would not require surgery, or a simple earphone that attaches to a device with an antenna sticking out of a person's back.

Lets not disappoint the alien visitors.

Douglas Kahn, Earth Sound, Earth Signal: Energies and Earth Magnitude in the Arts. p.26 ↩︎

Watson, Exploring Life, 80-82, 105. ↩︎

[jasbirjohn-hyperfrontal]

Learning Lessons from 2016 - How Did we Survive Year One!

Now, I am not here to misrepresent to anyone how easy or difficult it is to be a photographer in Singapore. Quite honestly, it is difficult to be a photographer (or simply a creative individual) in any part of world. In today's day and age with the economic landscape and growing openness to explore art in general, more and more people are stepping into the game. So, let us not fool ourselves into thinking that how easy or difficult venturing into the arts industry is a geographical issue. It is really an issue of your mindset, abilities and willingness to learn from both successes and mistakes. 

In this article I will explore my thoughts over the mindset I developed so that HyperFrontal Productions survives to see another year. These steps/ methods/ strategies or whatever else you would like to call them are gems of wisdom I believe every creative individual should adopt whether you are running a business or pursuing your creative freedom as a freelancer. I hope what I share drives that inspirational nail back home for you as much as it has for me!  

1) Make Friends, not Clients!

I kept in mind that while I am running a business, it is, at the end of the day, a photography/ media services business and not a corporation-styled "paper-and-pen-pushing" business. The idea is to connect with hearts, be great at your work and maintain humility.

In some of my first few client meetings, I dressed all formal and spoke generically. Many times, it did not work for me. Negotiating in the creative industry is not one of promises of profits. It is really about you being likable. There has to be that raw deal about you that stands out over your competitors. Yes, your work has to be great too, but, just go look around and see how many people out there are producing incredible work. What makes you stand out from them?

I found that appearing like a friend was more important than appearing like a businessman or artist. The reason why dressing up like I was applying for a job at a bank did not work is because THIS IS NOT AN INDUSTRY THAT IS IMPRESSED BY SUPERFICIALITY but, rather by your ability to express, evoke, and emote.

Your ingenuity is in building long-term relationships and not plainly going all out for just short-term monetary goals. Remember, clients who like you and your work will most likely be the ones sharing them out to the rest of their work and social circle, not the clients who will be putting their watermark on the content you create and only using them to market their products.

2) Be Different!

How many times has someone from another industry advised you to "play it safe" and measure things carefully before you do whatever it is you want to do? Often enough, a creative individual will have to dare to do something completely different to stand out. For me, it was Bedtime Tales: An Exhibition of Illustrative Photography (among many other projects that I did).  This is something people from other industries will write-off as impulsive or bad financial decision-making.

When an idea comes to mind (and it is not going to cause you to kill yourself, someone else or go bankrupt), it is best to just give it a shot because you may never know what comes out of it. It is your creative-self's wisdom to understand that impulse is a gift and curse. I learnt to work with it and, sometimes, drew a balance or imposed certain limits that allowed me to explore not only my art, but, myself too.

Mid-last year, the thought came to mind to turn important literary quotes into photographic art. One thing led to another and this year I am having my solo show! Had I stuck to the standard way of patiently waiting, like how most people do for a job promotion, I would have probably talked myself out of trying to do something different - which would have led me to miss on what has to be the best thing to happen in my career as a photographer so far.

So, never be satisfied and just keep pushing out content that is different and who knows...

3) Learn!

The Rule of Law in all of the creative wisdom is that no one is above learning. Whether you are a 20 years veteran or a 20 days amateur in your field of art, learning is never ending. I found that what held me back in the past was my ego.

Ego, like fire, is a good slave and bad master. It is, of course, impossible to completely eradicate egoism so the other way around this is to befriend it and use it to drive you towards betterment. Prior to setting up HyperFrontal Productions, I used to get flabbergasted whenever my work was critiqued negatively. My negative reception converted into negative perception and I was on my way to giving up on photography. In an attempt to save my passion, I decided to start watching videos on photography. Here is the great thing about the time we live in, YOU CAN GOOGLE-SEARCH ALMOST ANYTHING! 

The Millennium will go down in history as the era where mankind rediscovered learning. So, what then is your excuse? The vast deep blue sea of resources made available to us today is something our seniors would have really appreciated, especially in the time of film cameras. Why, then, are we so reluctant to learn?

"I do not think I need to learn anymore because I am already at such a level" VERSUS "I am already at such a level, let's see what else is there I could learn to carry me beyond." Which one are you? 

4) Personal Projects

This stems off of the point of being different, except that, now we are leaning towards being defiantly progressive. One of the meanings of "progress" as a noun (according to Google Search) is "development towards an improved or more advanced condition." The only meaning that the word has to me is to "NEVER EVER EVER EVER STOP." The moment an idea comes to mind, get consumed by it, build on it, be obsessed over developing it, and then, finally, deliver it.

The reason why I bring an element of defiance to this is because you are only truly invested into an idea when you want to deliver it no matter the obstacles (though, I stress again, as long as it does not kill you, anyone else, or bankrupts you). Ironically, this is one of the only times you would notice that "defiance" actually might have a similar meaning with "discipline".

It is through taking on several personal projects that you practice consistency. There are two things to gain from this. Firstly, you are always improving because you are always pushing your creative juices. Secondly, you are also delivering more to your audience.

Admittedly, HyperFrontal Productions does not have a huge following as compared to some of the other photography sites out there. However, that does not mean I have no responsibility towards those who are following our social media, and, more importantly, that does not mean my social media presence will never grow.

Consistent delivery of personal projects is a great way of showing your capabilities as an artist and furthermore gives people a reason to stay invested or even promote your work out to others. 

In November of last year, I approached a darling friend, Ylenia Casali, who is a stage actress from Italy to work on a project called INTENTIONS. The project was a provocative look at how we can express without using the two easiest forms of expression, the face and the speech. The project had garnered us a lot of compliments internationally. Although there were no physical rewards to it, it was a proud moment for her and myself.

It showed me my strengths and made me realize that if I could work harder and deliver more content like that, one fine day, I may actually reach that golden destination.

Your time to shine can be anytime, it is just whether you are going to wait for opportunities or create them instead...     

5) Drive

I brought up a complain to a friend and mentor, Kamil Haque, founder of Haque Centre of Acting and Creativity, about the lack of support I receive. My complain spanned out to little nitty-gritty observations about people and how it disturbed me. His reply was succinct but impactful. He said, "the path of a creative individual is a lonely one. You're going to have to rely on yourself for almost everything."

While we all may have family and friends rooting for us, it is important to keep in mind that external motivation does not work if there is a lacking of internal motivation. The logic is really simple, why would anyone want to put in effort into you if you do not want to put in effort into yourself first?

Then, there will be times where no matter what you say or how good your work is, people (including friends) will simply not support you in the way you want them to. The general content consumers on social media are, for a lack of better term, hypocrites. They would react to content that a famous individual puts out but not yours. Unfortunately, it is a waste of time to try combating the mindset of the general content consumers on social media, therefore, even I will choose to not get into it too much. My concentration is myself and my work, not the opinions of others.

Whether it is that you lack motivation or it is simply that you have not gained the attention of others on social media, nothing is not as important as what you think of yourself. This path is your own and fulfilling it alone comes with its own satisfaction. Yes, it is always nice to have a support system but, finding that one person who is willing to be there for you while you toil through this path is incredibly rare. Then again, if you have someone there already hold them tight and never let go! 

The reason why I chose to write about drive instead of hard work is because there are hundreds of thousands of articles and videos out there telling you that hard work is everything. WRONG! Before hard work, you need drive - you need self-confidence and you have to be sure that you have built a self-motivating mechanism in your mind.

People will disappoint you almost 100 percent of the time. Keep your expectations low, live simple and build motivation internally. External support will come after that...

IN SUMMARY

The path of a creative individual is a difficult path in the technical sense. However, your mind at the end of the day gives you the final say. I am of the opinion that most educational/ inspirational articles or videos shared only tell you things that you already know. What I have shared are building-blocks of an impenetrable mindset to help in pursuing your creative freedom. Anyone can tell you that you must work hard, but what exactly do you use to build that up with is something far more important than hard work itself, the mentality of Conqueror of your path to creative freedom.

[mepolart]

Magic: the Gathering Art by Rob Alexander

About Rob Alexander

Rob Alexander is well know for his landscape art for Magic: The Gathering and has helped bring numerous planes to life.

There is nobody who has illustrated as many significant lands for the collectible trading card game as Rob Alexander. Since it release on 1993 he has illustrated some of the most popular art, being one of the original twenty-five artists of the game.

When asked if he minded being known as the land guy, Alexander asnwered,

"I grew up in the Canadian Rockies so whenever I can do a snow-covered Mountain, I am happy."

His first creations for Magic were his dual lands for the Alpha edition. The dual lands are among the most significant cards in the game's history. A history that Rob had no inkling would come to pass when he first accepted the assignments from then art director Jesper Meyfors.

"I had no clue how big the game would become. I actually turned down Jesper several times. Fortunately he was very persistent!"

At the time Rob was pretty new to the field of illustration. He had a few book covers and magazine illustrations to his credit but Magic really launched his career and he has become one of the premiere artists in the fantasy gaming field.

While Alexander has made mostly of the landscape for the game, he also has some figurative work that is equally stunning. His work on Jinxed Choker stands out as one of the finest pieces in Mirrodin. When asked for his favorite Magic piece, Rob was quick to answer,

"Spectral Cloak. I loved doing that piece. I also loved the stuff for Metalworld--I mean Mirrodin, sorry. That work was very challenging but also very rewarding."

He primarily paints in watercolors but has some piece he paint in oil. Among the four fetch lands he lent his talents to, Flooded Strand stands apart from the pack conveying a sense of serenity that is rarely seen in Magic. That was a special piece he did in oil. "Whenever I can do an oil painting like Flooded Strand or Divergent Growth I am pleased, but it is more intensive and I rarely have the time."

Mostly of his illustration are for Magic and other card games but he also has worked in conceptual work for Vampire, Legend of the Five Rings, Middle Earth, and various other games.

Sources: robalexander.com, mtg.fandom.com, magic.wizards.com

[saiqianxi-blog]

Eye-opening

QianXiSai Make money Diary（How to make money）

Friends found a girlfriend, 90 years.

He commented highly on her. Where is Gao?

capable.

The girl's work is a bit half-physical and she works and sleeps. He appreciates...

Whenever you talk about this advantage.

I always have different opinions. What do I think if a woman turns herself into a porter? This is not a woman who wants to find a good individual at farming. What time is it?

Do not dress up, can not play, this is a good woman?

I think it is worth discussing.

I have been thinking that these girls around me, who are around 90 years old, are the best?

After much deliberation, Mei Er.

She does not have a car and room, there is a full-time driver, this is very Niu B, can basically be volunteers for her driver, is not seeking any return, just for more contacts, is not to think bubble she was?

Her feelings are very cold, and generally the man turned himself down.

Unless it's me shameless.

How do we know? I studied yoga in Qingdao. The assistant told me about the experience of traveling to my hometown.

She said that there was a classmate who opened a yoga studio in our county and had a very good business.

I recommended the business card to me. It was the beautiful children. They were together. He participated in a crash course for yoga instructors in Jinan.

Plus, just after the eleventh eve, Meier had an activity, 300 yuan experience a week, after experiencing 300 yuan, I went and paid 300 yuan, but I did not experience, after a long time, she always I felt that my heart was a thing and asked me on WeChat.

It meant that I could not return my money.

I said, no need to retire, please let me eat.

So we ate together.

Later, I reported a private tuition class for 6,600 yuan, but I didn't go on. I just thought she was very good and she simply supported her business. Even though she had a good face value, she could play a joke, but I didn't think about soaking her.

On the contrary, we talked together very well, talked about business, talked about life.

The man is actually the species that will most likely look at the dishes. Different women have different attitudes.

If a man goes up, he will sing with you. To illustrate, you must give him the wrong signal and let him see you as frivolous.

For a long time, we are commensurate with men and women.

Occasionally go out and play together, I introduce: This is my girlfriend.

She also responded with a smile, this is my boyfriend.

I think women's gas field is too strong. Men do not dare to use hands. We live alone on many occasions.

The most exaggeration is nothing more than hug or courtesy. Of course,

according to my intuition, it is smooth, but I still do not do so.

I feel that when a friend is good, she can talk and talk. She can understand me.

She is unmarried and has no boyfriend.

I called her to spend time in communication, then she must hurry up to make up a sentence: ignorant.

She has too many human resources and spread all over Shandong. How do you know? She graduated from the Master of the Mountain, and in the senior year of that year she worked as a market for a training company.

At that time there were 250,000 high-end courses. She might be brainwashed too thoroughly. I borrowed money to attend this course.

Do you know what the result is?

She became the star of the entire course.

Those entrepreneurs either recognize her as a sister or be a daughter, that is, for her hard-hearted infection, I remember that I wrote this before, and some called her to go to work in her own company, while others suggested she start her own business. Is willing to invest in her.

For example, I would like to visit the fine art museums in the province. After I was listed, she could contact me directly to the person in charge.

When I went, everyone was treated as a guest and I was completely convinced.

Yoga is not really her main business.

Her main business is actually purchasing. In the duty-free shop in Khorgos, the surface is for tourists, in fact, mainly through WeChat sales, the network is very large, purchasing the most profitable thing is actually smoke, wine, but these two are in fact It is the business of wiping the edge.

WeChat plays a very good hidden role. You have to know that the highest cost of tobacco is the tax, and the smoke has a characteristic, the customer group is very stable, and there will be big customers.

Of course, not considering legal risks.

All studied thoroughly.

The illegal costs have been calculated, and Khorgos will be the main port for foreign cigarettes. There are a number of other port restrictions. At present, this port only has a monetary limit.

Of course, the policy will also change at any time. The former cross-border e-commerce has been doing too much at one go. Therefore, five policies were changed within one year.

In the end, everyone did not have to play.

There is no problem in the short term...

She once wanted to cooperate with me and only cooperated with spirits. Spirits are also a huge market, but I always feel that these things are full of uncertainty and I am negligently rejected.

At the time, there was another reason that I found I was blackened by her. I hurriedly called and asked her.

She hurriedly said, no, no.

Hang up the phone, and call me again for a while. Explain that she had talked about a boyfriend and was a very good man in those days. He was a company and he was almost the same age as me. Divorced, the man was Looking through her chats at night, I found that I was too embarrassed with me.

And those days we just discussed the issue of where to go. It was a joke. As a result, I was darkened by her boyfriend.

After a while, plus me, I reconciled with my boyfriend about me.

After a while, I said to my boyfriend.

Happy for her, she also sighed: I'm not fit to fall in love.

On one occasion, we went for picking together. In fact, the whole process was actually quite boring...

I told her that in the future, similar activities should not call me. It is not interesting. You should spend your time on the knife. If you visit the entrepreneur someday, you can call me.

I would also like to participate if you pay me. The class is completely a waste of time.

She asked, do you think the visiting company has someone attend?

I said, do not be positioned as a visit to the enterprise but as an experience. It is fresh every week. For example, take everyone to sit and sit in Ferrari and visit the villa.

This is something that we cannot reach in our daily lives. Too many, 10 places, you do not want to profit, just for your own play.

She said this is good.

I said that there is definitely a market. For example, everyone goes to see Super League and even goes to Shanghai to watch F1 and even listen to Guo Degang together.

Let's do it.

There was an experience tour in Qingdao with red wine, equestrianism, golf, a sports car, and photographers. Each person took a group of photos. At the time, the fee was 1,500 yuan, of which 1300 yuan was the cost and 200 yuan was her. profit.

It is just looking out at the well.

This line is very good, at least I think it is value for money, I also recommend that she engage in the children's version is to allow children to experience and see how the rich lives, we come to experience a lot, and for many people It is just the normal state of life.

On the eve of Christmas last year, she had also engaged in a visit to a bookstore. At that time, there were 11 people.

When I talked about it, everyone was very shocked. I have autographed living famous artists here. Even inkbo, I talked about these writer's heads, who is the character, who has any stories, who loves to drink, and who loves to smoke...

Everyone sends 5 books, I charge 300 yuan, and she charges 500 yuan.

She also sighed: After visiting the lap, I had a totally new understanding of you, and I looked around.

Each of them also prepared some questions, such as how the article was conceived, whether it was a hand-in-hand or a draft, and I answered one by one.

Very interesting, I also gained a lot, and also harvested a hardcore female fan, most people take a photo with her shoulders at the most.

She is ringing my waist and is a big sister in Texas. She looks like a doctor and believes in the Buddha. On the first day of the first month of this year, she ran to Thousand-Foshan to burn incense and also photographed me. She said that I wish you peace in my wishes.

Because there are family dinners on weekends, I rarely participate in activities organized by the United States. In addition, watching dramas and riding yachts are not very attractive to me. I will not go.

Two more times are very interesting.

One time we went to Shandong to visit the radio station. The radio station arranged the first beauty to accompany us for dinner.

It was very extroverted, familiar, and self-proclaimed to be the first beauty in the universe. It can only be said that the long is very beautiful, but it is not a big beautiful woman. She had just born a child soon, still quite fat, mobile phone screensaver is a picture of her son, pointing to the photo and said: See no, this is the first handsome guy in Jinan.

We asked a lot of questions, and more about business. For example, if you sell fake Maotai in the middle of your show, what do you think about the anchor?

She hurriedly corrected it. It was Maotai liquor, not fake wine.

All in all, she was grateful for these advertisements, which means that if there were no such owners, they might starve to death.

Many of the questions I ask are biased. From an outsider's point of view, what questions do you understand?

For example, I asked her, usually you go to some fans in the store to spend, like a single?

She said it was absolute.

I ask, do you usually meet fans?

She said that we often make face-to-face meetings, or more.

I ask, is there a die-hard fan?

She said that it was particularly large.

I asked, is it more than now?

She said that in the past, there were too many radio shows and fans were not loyal.

I asked, is the program a good mouth?

She said: No, we must do our homework one day in advance.

I asked, who is the column of your radio station?

She said that it is me, as early as 7 to 9 o'clock, do you think about it? Is there a more gold time than this? Morning class time.

I ask, don't you help people to hold a wedding?

She said, no, I am not familiar with the process. I often preside over some auto conferences.

I asked, did anyone complain about your show?

She said that there are ah, such as playing the mayor's hotline, saying that Valentine's Day is a holiday for foreigners, and why the radio broadcasts Valentine's Day. Why is such a program not banned?

I said, isn't it a neuropathy?

She said, who is not a neuropathy who will complain to us? You like to listen and listen. If you don't like to listen to a channel change, it's much easier.

I asked, in the eyes of your colleagues, are you their idols?

She said that I hate it, after all, my position is what they want.

I said that it was not particularly about your rumors.

She said yes, it is said that all leaders slept with me.

I laughed……

I asked seemingly indecent, she answered in the same way, but she knows that I understand her, do not look at her so bold, in some issues will also be blushing, and a little, the sound is really nice, especially laugh, some Excuse me, it's sexy.

I was particularly impressed with another event. I went to visit the hometown of local tyrants. This local tyrant is doing new energy.

His house is in the X House compound and is similar to the general building. There are only very high-level talents, and only one yard 11 families, first-class security, he is a direct increase of 2 million to buy, say plain, not for sale.

Many things we cannot imagine.

For example, hierarchy.

He usually sits on a very ordinary PASSAT. The decoration of the home is very simple. It is not like local tyrants.

I praised his table at home. He came to the sentence: This table is the least in the whole house.

Ass took the horse and hung up (oh, a little...).

There is a full-time chef at home, and we have 9 dishes for us. It is a bit similar to Japanese cuisine. Each dish is one or two chopsticks and it is very delicate.

He has two Ferraris, one black and one red, the same paragraph, the number plate is similar, but the first two letters are different, the ending number is 458, the car usually parked in a car private club, not far from the circuit.

On the track, everyone experiences a lap, not open, but sit.

The man's life is very careful, sleeves on the sleeves, very chic.

It turned out that some people live in this way.

He also visited private clubs. Private clubs are all similar to hotels. There are no signboards in the office buildings. The interiors are too luxurious.

The toilets are all music toilets of the ININA INAX. One is about 100,000, and the other is close to the toilet. The lid is automatically down, and it automatically flushes out of the toilet and is still pneumatic.

After joining the club, members can entertain customers here.

very good.

And it's hidden. You can't swipe in the door.

We can never imagine, yeah, this office building still has this one...

Every month, there are member salons. Some famous artists are invited to give lectures, or to speak Buddhist studies or to study Chinese culture.

All are masters. Each period has a group photo, and there are two types of participation. Individuals can join or join the company.

The annual fee is 10 Million yuan, of course, can not be used to get money, but also need sponsors, clubs are very low-key, I specifically Baidu for a moment, without any relevant information.

The day before yesterday, I went to America to send red wine. We also had a chat.

I said that you do something more meaningful than doing training.

It means opening a window and giving us the opportunity to see the outside world. If there is no bridge, we have no chance to experience it.

We cannot find a place to spend money.

She said that I myself have gained a lot.

I said that sometimes chatting with other people may cause people to say something unintentional. It makes us very inspired. It is much better than lectures. We can see and feel that it is really shocking.

Travel is just watching the scene and it is difficult to go deeper.

What about this model? It is another different kind of scenery.

It's more attractive to us.

I said that, in fact, you can expand the geographical scope of the country and include celebrities in your goals.

She said that it needs to be gradual.

I said that the fees can be higher and the frequency reduced. For example, only 12 issues a year are needed.

If I am a well-known Chinese writer, then you can do my lunch, for example, 5,000 yuan per person, 10 people, and everyone can Asking questions, in fact, you are the biggest beneficiary.

As for the cost of our three points, you have one, I have one, donated one, linked to the public interest.

She said, good!

I said that everyone has a price tag. Apart from the front line business people, if you have lunch for 20,000 yuan, you have to pay for lunch or you have a higher price tag. At least, the writer can take it all.

This matter is totally unintentional.

This year, we want to be a monthly center, and talk to the market about it. We all say that it is a sunrise industry.

Then we need to do a lot of market research.

Investment is not a trivial matter, and it cannot be blind. In addition, it does not make sense from the surface. Because you cannot see the content, you need to find the real practitioners and investors and talk to them.

So, I commissioned Meimei to help me find a better month center in Shandong.

When she went up, she introduced us to a tall building. In Qingdao, the 30-room-sized moonlight center has invested close to 20 million in the light decoration. It was also the owner who personally received us.

They are the capital operation route that they take. There are also risk funds involved, the high-end route to go, the cheaper room is 40,000 yuan/month, and the high-end one is up to 160,000. The boss said that it is decorated according to the standard of a five-star hotel.

We have three people to visit.

The boss is also very knowledgeable, but also just opened soon, the blueprint is very ambitious, in the next three years to open 17 in Shandong, and even the GEM listing plan.

The three of us had similar feelings when we went out: The store will close in less time.

why?

One of the deadliest mistakes has been made. The house is oriented towards something. If the center of the month is not north-south, it will die because the child must sunbathe and the room without the sun can easily cause depression.

There is such a tall room, smelly in the hallway.

Management is also not standardized. For example, we went to visit and we put us in without measuring our body temperature. We only gave masks and shoe covers to each person. When we visited the room, we encountered a nurse lying on the couch and sneaking.

The boss knows about the monthly center that it is simply superficial. He thinks that the month center is nothing more than a five-star hotel + medical care service.

Therefore, he used all the hardware on the blade and introduced the hardware during the introduction. What is this TV? The brand's shower card was what it was. The shower was introduced for a long time...

I asked the two teachers accompanying me: Are you, will you come here for a confinement?

The answer is NO.

We recognize this market, but we cannot blindly, because the market is in the incubation period. It is the entire industry that is in the cultivation period.

Even the oldest and most expensive month center has been opened for so many years, but it is only a few hundred customers. If there are more than one thousand, a city may have more than a thousand customers and fewer counties.

The future will surely increase.

Can we survive the cold winter?

When we don’t make money, will we still stick to our hearts? For example, health, food, service.

Later, we heard that Fu Manyuan did a good job and contacted Zhang. I wanted to go through the inspections. Zhang always reminded her that she must be informed one day in advance so that she would be prepared to prepare some classic monthly meals for us to experience. Some time.

I am very curious, what does the monthly meal mean?

In my understanding, the monthly meal is old hen stew, meaning nothing.

Let's go.

Being stopped at the door, identifying the identity, measuring body temperature, wearing protective gear, giving us a very formal feeling, and one thing is particularly good, that is, fingerprint verification, can ensure the personal safety of the mother and baby.

The rooms are generally decorated and some are out of date, but the overall humanistic atmosphere and management atmosphere are particularly good. After a chat, Mr. Zhang talked about the view that the core of the month-month center is actually the monthly meal + service process, that is, the soft culture. Is the core competitiveness, hardware is not a core competence, not that hardware is not important, as long as the sun, health, quiet, warm enough, no fancy.

The entire process was visited and it was quite beyond my expectations.

Especially the experience of the monthly meal, I did a great job. There were cakes, fruit, soup, and meat, all of which were small dishes. It was a bit like the meal I was eating at the local tyrants.

I felt a bit special at that time. Deep, if it were to open such a private dish, it would be a perfect fire. In fact, I would say that everyone would understand it as an advertisement. In fact, it is really good. At least in the north, we rarely encounter such delicate meals. In the south, there are, for example, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai.

Or three of us went to visit.

On the return journey, we all talked about the shock of the monthly meal to ourselves, and we repeatedly pondered a bit. In fact, confinement is to eat and what to eat is important. Why do you eat so well and lose weight? It is the amount of grasp, just right, a month to lose 20 pounds.

They are not heavy meals.

When we left, we had some regrets that we didn’t let go. It was mainly the whole process of busy exchanges.

We were not too shy to say that we were too ugly to eat. Zhang always reminded us not to look at the number of samples, but in the afternoon there were 4 More points will be hungry, and sure enough...

Before we went there was a general budget of 1.5 million or so. However, after returning from the visit, we felt that there was a budget of 300,000, because the kitchen would require 300,000 investment, and we may have misunderstandings about the understanding of the monthly center. It is actually not the case that the emphasis is on the care of the child and the shaping of the mother.

Another point is that we must treat it rationally, that is, open 10 homes may die.

In other words, we have 80% probability of failure.

This is the truth.

what is the reason?

Everyone overestimated themselves and underestimated the market. They always felt that they had touched the door and went to visit several homes to be able to touch the pulse. This is not the case.

This is a systematic project. Zhang Zeng told us this sentence: If you are ready to devote the rest of your life to the monthly center, then this matter will surely become a success. If you want to work part-time or be a shopkeeper, you must not be fooled.

Makes sense.

The franchise fee is 300,000. There is a support period, which is to help with it. I also talked with partners about the cooperation model. She didn’t have much doubt about her initial fee. She talked a bit: In fact, Zhang’s sentence is worth it. For money, she said that the house must not be chosen for something.

Before this, the houses we selected were all east-west oriented. We did not think about this issue at all.

The core is to find a house.

I think now that entrepreneurship, capital is not a problem, as long as there are good projects, everyone is willing to follow the vote, but it is still very difficult to really do things, need full-hearted input, handling trivial matter, in fact, our county is the most suitable for the month In the sub-center, there are top-three hospitals that can radiate three or four neighboring counties, and our location is very special. The distance from Linyi City is the same as that of Qingdao Jinan, which is 2 hours. The one who made the first one is the easiest to survive. ......

Actually, for this matter, I only want to be an investor. As a shareholder, I can help a lot, such as coordinating some resources and the like. At the same time, I can pull many customers.

Even if I am not pregnant yet, I can help them. Signing the slip as I can enrich my life experience may lead me to writing this book.

Of course, people may not need my funds, but as long as things can be done, I am quite happy because I learned a lot during the inspection process. For example, when we visited Fumanyuan, the light management manual was as thick as a dictionary.

There is one thing I think is particularly bullish, that is, each person is a member of a number of positions, staggering the time, very good, and talented people are highly efficient.

Come back, I talked about these experiences with Meier. She said that she can actually open up a sign shop and join the whole country.

I talked about my own ideas.

I think that if it is a lie fee, this gameplay is not a problem, and it does have such a play, but if you want to pursue success rate, then it is too difficult, because it can be done is a probability problem, and the probability is very small, and all aspects are There is a relationship, the boss is doing things for the people, the house is facing or even for heating...

So, I don't think this path is feasible.

This is something that has inspired me a lot. It was before our visit that our little partners prepared a series of questions, consulted one by one, and took notes seriously.

I think this is the attitude of doing things. Carefully. Demonstrating that the inspection of the market is very important, both the avant-garde investment awareness and rational investment attitude.

Even if the result of the final argument is that this is not possible, it is also meaningful.

In addition, I also have a new understanding of investment promotion. For example, now the monthly center is the outlet.

The monthly centers that we visit are relatively good are all need to make an appointment. The reason for the appointment is that the schedule is very tight, almost every day.

All have been inspected in the past, and things are so good that nobody joins.

Think of where to write, write so much first.

......... End of article .........

Special Note:

The article non-Documentary entity, I do not necessarily mean me, he is not necessarily him, not on the right seat.

About qianxisai:

Since 2008, write a diary daily, unhindered.

Based on entrepreneurial experience and life experience.

The article inside the material, story, case all come from my communication with friends, life experiences and experiences.

There is no empty theory and advanced technology, are the actual life experience and successful experience.

In my country, I have 10 million fans in 10 years. Annual article dues Hundreds of thousands of dollars.

My readers are civil servants, entrepreneurs, teachers, students, rich second generation, official second generation, entrepreneurs. They are everywhere in every city in my country.

I am now actively promoting my favorite book. Before I go to bed every night, I read it and carefully understand the true meaning of life.

I hope my essay can help you, inspire you, affect you, make you understand entrepreneurship, understand making money, understanding humanity and understanding the mysteries of success.

Share with you:

The perspective of society in turn has three levels, technology, system, and culture.

As small as a person, as large as a country, a nation, any kind of fate in the final analysis is the product of that cultural attributes.

Strong culture to create strong, weak culture to create the weak. This is the law, can also be understood as Heaven.

If you want to get the success of life and the happiness of life, please pay attention to my article.

I wish you success and happiness.

PS:

If you do not understand this article, or have any questions, you can write an email to me.

E-mail address: saiqianxi@outlook.com

          saiqianxi@gmail.com

We learn together, improve together and look forward to becoming friends with you.

From this perspective, the men in the dust are also wonderful...

[benfchristie2]

12 of the Best College Logo Designs (And Why They're So Great)

What makes a college logo great?

Think about your alma mater for a second. Do you have a school bumper sticker with the logo emblazoned on it? A hat? A sweatshirt? A flag? Or perhaps all of the above?

If you still bleed your school colors and rock your school swag whenever possible, then chances are, your university did a pretty good job designing its logo. According to the principles of great logo design, the best logos are simple, memorable, timeless, versatile, and appropriate.

Want to see some examples of awesome college logo designs? You're in the right place. I chatted with my colleague,Tyler Littwin, art director here at HubSpot, to choose 12 of the best college logo designs from American universities. Check them out and learn what about their design makes them stand out -- in a good way.

12 of the Best College Logo Designs

1) University of Texas

Source: University of Texas

University of Texas's longhorn silhouette is the hallmark of classic and timeless logo design. The logo hasn't changed since its introduction in 1961, and it remains one of the most iconic college sports logos in the world.

"Any logo that works as a single color design is fantastic," says Littwin. "It's simple, iconic, and has a great tie-in to the 'hook 'em horns' hand symbol."

Source: Awful Announcing

2) University of North Carolina

Source: Carolina Athletics

The interlocking NC, one of the University of North Carolina's athletics logos, features another timeless design -- this time with attention-grabbing colors. Walk into a packed crowd at the Dean Dome, and you'll see a sea of Carolina Blue, the official school color of UNC that dates back to the late eighteenth century.

Tyler gives UNC's logo two thumbs up. "Classic," he says. "A+ from me. Beyond the logotype, the color is a great bit of branding."

3) Ohio University

Source: Ohio University

The "Attack Cat," which represents Ohio University's bobcat mascot, replaced a simple green paw print in 2002 as the school's official athletics logo. While many OU alumni were disappointed with the change -- citing it as too intense -- Littwin likes the new design.

As an objective observer, he says, "It's a good integration of an illustration with type. The whiskers create a nice baseline for the arced text. There's also an overall nice balance: The bobcat is recognizable and 'Ohio' is still 100% legible."

4) University of Oregon

Source: GoAbroad Blog

University of Oregon's "O" logo has hidden meaning: The inside of the "O" represents the shape of the school's track, Hayward Field, while the outside of the "O" represents the shape of Autzen Stadium, the school's football field.

"As iconic and simple of a logo as you could ask for," says Littwin. "I am also a huge fan of the yellow and green color scheme. It reminds me of the Oakland A's, the Norwich Canaries, and so on."

5) University of Notre Dame

Source: Wikimedia

The Notre Dame monogram is the university's most recognizable logo, and it's used for athletics and academics alike. The school's official brand standards call it "recognizable," "representative," "welcoming," and "approachable."

As for what Littwin thinks? "I'm a sucker for really basic logotypes like this one, UNC's, and Iowa State's. They're wonderfully old-school and no-nonsense. Always going to get my vote."

Even Notre Dame's trademarked "Fighting Irish" logo is impressively well-designed for such a unique mascot. "I prefer the stylized 'ND' logo, but there's something really vintage and cool about this surly Irishman," says Littwin. "Normally the more cartoony logos lose me, but this one is a keeper."

Source: fathead

6) University of Miami

Source: Wikimedia

A reporter from the University of Miami's official student newspaper said it best: "There are thousands of universities across the nation, but only one gets to be The U."

The Miami athletics' iconic split-U logo wasn't created until 1973, several years after the student-athlete scholarship fund first commissioned a logo redesign. It was designed by publicist Julian Cole, the first graduate of UM's radio and television department, and graphic artist Bill Bodenhamer, who both were also responsible for designing the Miami Dolphins' current logo.

If you think about it, it was quite a stretch, said Lisa Cole, one of Cole's daughters. They took the U and said, 'This is the university.'"

But it worked, and a hype surrounding the "U" developed over the following few years. It was used for slogans like, "U gotta believe." Littwin calls it "minimalist and recognizable to a brilliant degree."

Even an effort to find a logo replacement in 1979 by Henry King Stanford -- the university's president at the time -- failed, thanks to heavy student campaigning against the change. Nowadays, as with the University of Texas' longhorn symbol, the "U" has its own hand symbol. "Throwing up the U" means holding your hands in the air like this:

Source: PalmBeachPost.com

7) Clemson University

Source: UNC Charlotte

Clemson's tiger paw logo is another one of the most widely recognized collegiate logos in the United States. Although it seems timeless, it actually wasn't introduced until 1970 -- the end of a rebranding campaign that began when the school first admitted women and minorities in 1950.

The logo itself represents a tiger's paw print, rough edges and all. An actual tiger was chosen as the subject for the logo, and the print comes from a cast that was made for the design. In fact, do you see the slight indentation at the bottom of the paw print? According to Clemson's official website, that comes from "a scar that the tiger who had been chosen as the subject for the logo had received before the cast was made."

The genuine paw print makes for a cool design. "The rough paw print is great and somehow works when paired with the more formal-looking type lockup," says Littwin.

Another subtle intricacy of the logo? The 30-degree angle represents the 1:00 p.m. kickoff typical for football games at the time.

8) Bowdoin College

Source: Bowdoin College

While Bowdoin's mascot has been the Polar Bear for over 100 years, this particular version of its logo is fairly recent: It was made official by the university in 2008. A student reporter for the school's official student newspaper explains: "The new logo is intended to serve as a consistent and timeless graphic identity for the College."

Previously, the polar bear logo had been unofficial -- and it had been represented by everything from a "cartoonish" running polar bear on student keycards, to a "more aggressive" profile of a bear with its mouth open as if it were snarling.

"Noting that in the wild, polar bears have no predators other than man, and that a ferocious, growling mascot was not the image the college was looking to project," wrote the student reporter, "[VP for Communications and Public Affairs Scott] Hood said that there's 'something appealing about having a mascot that is looking directly at you.'"

Littwin agrees -- that's what makes this logo so strong. "The polar bear seems remarkably calm and composed," he says. "I trust him."

9) Hofstra University

Source: CAA Sports

The Hofstra Pride logo was "developed to build a strong visual identity" for its athletic department, according to its official usage guide. It's represented by a pair of lions, male and female, that appear to be charging in the same direction. Furrowed brows and windswept manes give them a sense of determination and strength.

"The Pride conveys both the teamwork and togetherness that are traits of lions living in a pride, that have a close bond and work together for the good of the entire group," reads the guide. It was created for the university's athletic department in 2005.

"A very clever and awesome design," notes Littwin. "It's rare to see a university get both sexes of a mascot into the same logo. Well done, Hofstra."

10) Missouri Western State University

Source: American Association of Colleges of Nursing

Missouri Western State University started using the Griffon logo in 1973, several years before the school became a fully funded four-year state college. Why a Griffon? Because "it was considered a guardian of riches, and education was viewed as a precious treasure," reads the school's official website.

The logo symbolizes more than just a mythical animal, though. Notice anything special about its shape? If you look closely, the outline of the Griffon resembles the shape of the state of Missouri. Check it out:

Source: ArtFire

Littwin loves the hidden message. "It's a clever design that also works even if you don't pick up on the geographic reference," he says.

11) Florida International University

Source: Florida International University

The Panthers (originally the "Golden Panthers") replaced the Sunblazers as Florida International University's nickname in 1987 when Roary the Panther became its official mascot.

The logo represents a cool perspective -- it seems to be coming out of the logo directly at the reader.

Littwin agrees. "I love the head-on perspective of this," he says. "There's something atypical and nicely menacing about it."

12) University of Hawai'i

Source: Miracle Mamaki

The University of Hawai'i "H" logo was created for the athletic department in 2000. While the "H" clearly stands for Hawai'i, the school's official website says it also represents the Hawaiian expression "ha," meaning "breath" in Hawaiian. "The spirit of life passed on to us from one person to another, generation to generation, with lessons and success," the website reads.

The cool patterns you see on either side of the "H" were inspired by Hawaiian kapa designs, which derive from native Hawaiian art. "I really like the kapa aesthetic and the simplicity of a one letter logo," says Littwin.

[jasonmkemp4]

12 of the Best College Logo Designs (And Why They're So Great)

What makes a college logo great?

Think about your alma mater for a second. Do you have a school bumper sticker with the logo emblazoned on it? A hat? A sweatshirt? A flag? Or perhaps all of the above?

If you still bleed your school colors and rock your school swag whenever possible, then chances are, your university did a pretty good job designing its logo. According to the principles of great logo design, the best logos are simple, memorable, timeless, versatile, and appropriate.

Want to see some examples of awesome college logo designs? You're in the right place. I chatted with my colleague,Tyler Littwin, art director here at HubSpot, to choose 12 of the best college logo designs from American universities. Check them out and learn what about their design makes them stand out -- in a good way.

12 of the Best College Logo Designs

1) University of Texas

Source: University of Texas

University of Texas's longhorn silhouette is the hallmark of classic and timeless logo design. The logo hasn't changed since its introduction in 1961, and it remains one of the most iconic college sports logos in the world.

"Any logo that works as a single color design is fantastic," says Littwin. "It's simple, iconic, and has a great tie-in to the 'hook 'em horns' hand symbol."

Source: Awful Announcing

2) University of North Carolina

Source: Carolina Athletics

The interlocking NC, one of the University of North Carolina's athletics logos, features another timeless design -- this time with attention-grabbing colors. Walk into a packed crowd at the Dean Dome, and you'll see a sea of Carolina Blue, the official school color of UNC that dates back to the late eighteenth century.

Tyler gives UNC's logo two thumbs up. "Classic," he says. "A+ from me. Beyond the logotype, the color is a great bit of branding."

3) Ohio University

Source: Ohio University

The "Attack Cat," which represents Ohio University's bobcat mascot, replaced a simple green paw print in 2002 as the school's official athletics logo. While many OU alumni were disappointed with the change -- citing it as too intense -- Littwin likes the new design.

As an objective observer, he says, "It's a good integration of an illustration with type. The whiskers create a nice baseline for the arced text. There's also an overall nice balance: The bobcat is recognizable and 'Ohio' is still 100% legible."

4) University of Oregon

Source: GoAbroad Blog

University of Oregon's "O" logo has hidden meaning: The inside of the "O" represents the shape of the school's track, Hayward Field, while the outside of the "O" represents the shape of Autzen Stadium, the school's football field.

"As iconic and simple of a logo as you could ask for," says Littwin. "I am also a huge fan of the yellow and green color scheme. It reminds me of the Oakland A's, the Norwich Canaries, and so on."

5) University of Notre Dame

Source: Wikimedia

The Notre Dame monogram is the university's most recognizable logo, and it's used for athletics and academics alike. The school's official brand standards call it "recognizable," "representative," "welcoming," and "approachable."

As for what Littwin thinks? "I'm a sucker for really basic logotypes like this one, UNC's, and Iowa State's. They're wonderfully old-school and no-nonsense. Always going to get my vote."

Even Notre Dame's trademarked "Fighting Irish" logo is impressively well-designed for such a unique mascot. "I prefer the stylized 'ND' logo, but there's something really vintage and cool about this surly Irishman," says Littwin. "Normally the more cartoony logos lose me, but this one is a keeper."

Source: fathead

6) University of Miami

Source: Wikimedia

A reporter from the University of Miami's official student newspaper said it best: "There are thousands of universities across the nation, but only one gets to be The U."

The Miami athletics' iconic split-U logo wasn't created until 1973, several years after the student-athlete scholarship fund first commissioned a logo redesign. It was designed by publicist Julian Cole, the first graduate of UM's radio and television department, and graphic artist Bill Bodenhamer, who both were also responsible for designing the Miami Dolphins' current logo.

If you think about it, it was quite a stretch, said Lisa Cole, one of Cole's daughters. They took the U and said, 'This is the university.'"

But it worked, and a hype surrounding the "U" developed over the following few years. It was used for slogans like, "U gotta believe." Littwin calls it "minimalist and recognizable to a brilliant degree."

Even an effort to find a logo replacement in 1979 by Henry King Stanford -- the university's president at the time -- failed, thanks to heavy student campaigning against the change. Nowadays, as with the University of Texas' longhorn symbol, the "U" has its own hand symbol. "Throwing up the U" means holding your hands in the air like this:

Source: PalmBeachPost.com

7) Clemson University

Source: UNC Charlotte

Clemson's tiger paw logo is another one of the most widely recognized collegiate logos in the United States. Although it seems timeless, it actually wasn't introduced until 1970 -- the end of a rebranding campaign that began when the school first admitted women and minorities in 1950.

The logo itself represents a tiger's paw print, rough edges and all. An actual tiger was chosen as the subject for the logo, and the print comes from a cast that was made for the design. In fact, do you see the slight indentation at the bottom of the paw print? According to Clemson's official website, that comes from "a scar that the tiger who had been chosen as the subject for the logo had received before the cast was made."

The genuine paw print makes for a cool design. "The rough paw print is great and somehow works when paired with the more formal-looking type lockup," says Littwin.

Another subtle intricacy of the logo? The 30-degree angle represents the 1:00 p.m. kickoff typical for football games at the time.

8) Bowdoin College

Source: Bowdoin College

While Bowdoin's mascot has been the Polar Bear for over 100 years, this particular version of its logo is fairly recent: It was made official by the university in 2008. A student reporter for the school's official student newspaper explains: "The new logo is intended to serve as a consistent and timeless graphic identity for the College."

Previously, the polar bear logo had been unofficial -- and it had been represented by everything from a "cartoonish" running polar bear on student keycards, to a "more aggressive" profile of a bear with its mouth open as if it were snarling.

"Noting that in the wild, polar bears have no predators other than man, and that a ferocious, growling mascot was not the image the college was looking to project," wrote the student reporter, "[VP for Communications and Public Affairs Scott] Hood said that there's 'something appealing about having a mascot that is looking directly at you.'"

Littwin agrees -- that's what makes this logo so strong. "The polar bear seems remarkably calm and composed," he says. "I trust him."

9) Hofstra University

Source: CAA Sports

The Hofstra Pride logo was "developed to build a strong visual identity" for its athletic department, according to its official usage guide. It's represented by a pair of lions, male and female, that appear to be charging in the same direction. Furrowed brows and windswept manes give them a sense of determination and strength.

"The Pride conveys both the teamwork and togetherness that are traits of lions living in a pride, that have a close bond and work together for the good of the entire group," reads the guide. It was created for the university's athletic department in 2005.

"A very clever and awesome design," notes Littwin. "It's rare to see a university get both sexes of a mascot into the same logo. Well done, Hofstra."

10) Missouri Western State University

Source: American Association of Colleges of Nursing

Missouri Western State University started using the Griffon logo in 1973, several years before the school became a fully funded four-year state college. Why a Griffon? Because "it was considered a guardian of riches, and education was viewed as a precious treasure," reads the school's official website.

The logo symbolizes more than just a mythical animal, though. Notice anything special about its shape? If you look closely, the outline of the Griffon resembles the shape of the state of Missouri. Check it out:

Source: ArtFire

Littwin loves the hidden message. "It's a clever design that also works even if you don't pick up on the geographic reference," he says.

11) Florida International University

Source: Florida International University

The Panthers (originally the "Golden Panthers") replaced the Sunblazers as Florida International University's nickname in 1987 when Roary the Panther became its official mascot.

The logo represents a cool perspective -- it seems to be coming out of the logo directly at the reader.

Littwin agrees. "I love the head-on perspective of this," he says. "There's something atypical and nicely menacing about it."

12) University of Hawai'i

Source: Miracle Mamaki

The University of Hawai'i "H" logo was created for the athletic department in 2000. While the "H" clearly stands for Hawai'i, the school's official website says it also represents the Hawaiian expression "ha," meaning "breath" in Hawaiian. "The spirit of life passed on to us from one person to another, generation to generation, with lessons and success," the website reads.

The cool patterns you see on either side of the "H" were inspired by Hawaiian kapa designs, which derive from native Hawaiian art. "I really like the kapa aesthetic and the simplicity of a one letter logo," says Littwin.

[designsurvivor]

Philanthropme

Introducing PhilanthropMe. Better Saving for a Better World.

The purpose of our service is to provide a creative and appealing way for millennials to save money, while simultaneously incentivizing charitable donations. Our idea hinges on the fact that millennials view philanthropy differently than do other generations. Millennials want to feel engaged and purposeful when it comes to giving to charity. Meg Fowler Tripp, director of editorial strategy at Boston branding firm Sametz Blackstone Associates, says that “Millennials like to think of themselves as not just donors, but investors” (1). Using our service, millennials will feel like they are investors not only in the charities they pick, but in their own futures.

Our idea capitalizes on research that shows that millennials are more likely and more open to giving to charity in ways that previous generations have not been, particularly through mobile apps and the internet (2). Given the extent to which personal banking has become largely mobile--especially for millennials--we believe that an integrated donation and banking platform will be well received by our target audience.  

Contrary to popular opinion, millennials have been shown to be better at saving than previous generations. As a result of sky-high tuition costs, higher costs of living, and low job security, millennials know that being prepared for the future is more important than ever (3).

Millennials are already used to using apps like Mint to track their spending and save money, and we think that directly integrating automatic savings into existing banking apps will appeal to this demographic in a big way.

When considering Fogg’s behavior model, we realized that most users would have some of the ability and motivation to save, at least at certain times, but would rarely have the trigger necessary to do so. We focus on all three areas. As for ability, we are seamlessly integrated into a user’s bank portal/app. We increase motivation by also tying the savings to charitable donations from the bank. Regarding triggers, we provide them in a couple of ways. We monitor the news, and when major events happen that might increase donations to a charity (think an election result or court ruling leading to increase in civil rights/political nonprofits; a tsunami or natural disaster increasing donations to global charity organizations; a climate study or conference increasing donations to green charities) we prompt the user on the app (and on their phone, if they enable notifications) to make an additional donation/savings payment. Moreover, whenever someone with a similar profile makes a major purchase (such as buying a house) or donation, we alert the user with a message like “John just bought a house after saving $x for x months!”, to create positive peer pressure for saving .

A number of parts of this system work in place unseen to the user.

The first is the means by which we calculate “saving.” To operationalize our definition of “desirable saving” we first look at: where you went to college, your level of education/career path, your credit card history/payments, your location, your health insurance premiums, and the behavior of your peers.

We have some logic behind each of these pieces of information: where you went to college can give hints to your future salary/career prospects (based on data we’d have about where others went to college, and also data in general on median earnings in career fields for graduates from specific colleges) (it matters for specific majors/colleges more (4) and many have tried to aggregate this data already (5); your level of education and career path has both an impact on your immediate finances as well as your long term finances (for example, you might go to medical school, which will cost you lots of money in the short term, but may dramatically increase your earnings in the long term)(6); your credit history and payments can illustrate any credit card debt or give an estimate on your level of responsibility; your location gives us a general cost of living estimate for monthly expenses (7); your health insurance premiums and payments illustrate whether or not you might have a chronic health condition (if the premiums or payments are much higher than average) (8), which would require greater savings; and the behavior of your peers (who have similar careers/educations/backgrounds) gives us data on how much you might try to spend otherwise, when you might need to save for a house down payment, when you might plan to have children, and other major financial milestones (to gather trends like these (9) from your peers).

To gather this data, we would be as invisible as possible (but legal - you’d probably sign an updated terms of service agreement with your bank). We could likely figure out your career path/job and educational institution based on paychecks coming in and the location of your textbook purchases/food purchases when in college. If you’d just opened an account with the bank, or we were unable to determine this, we would show a brief popover survey when you opened this PhilanthropMe account. We would have access to your education based on where most of your purchases were as well as the address you have on file. Your credit card and health insurance payments would likely be monthly transfers/withdrawals out of the account. The behavior of peers could simply be gathered the same way to collect a larger “similar to you” dataset for predictions, similar to how Spotify recommends new songs by looking at similar users’ likes.

Once we have all this information, we recommend you save/donate a percentage of your income between 10 and 20%, depending on calculations we do with your data similar to those found at NerdWallet (10).  

As for the bank “matching” your donations, all banks have philanthropic or charitable branches via which they are already donating to or funding nonprofit projects (11). So, when you donate, you’d actually be selecting from charities the bank already gives money to. You’d see/feel as if you were donating to the charity, whereas in reality the bank is just “allocating” some of its donation to the charity in the amount you give, and your money actually goes into your savings account. In other words, we’re simply redesigning the user’s experience, whereas the end effect–your money in your savings account; the bank’s money to the charity–is the same. Though it may not be sustainable at 100% user saturation–banks donate a lot of money, but not a full 1-to-1 ratio of the percentage of the earnings of every customer–if our product ever reached that level of use, it could become a ratio: for every dollar you save, x% is donated to charity.

1) https://www.bostonglobe.com/magazine/2015/10/28/what-makes-millennials-give-charity/0nkxv2YCmzYuteWiBN1FIM/story.html

2) http://www.cafamerica.org/generation-g-the-millennials-and-how-they-are-changing-the-art-of-giving/

3) http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/my-money/articles/2016-04-14/how-millennials-are-changing-the-way-we-save

4) https://www.wsj.com/articles/do-elite-colleges-lead-to-higher-salaries-only-for-some-professions-1454295674

5) http://www.payscale.com/college-salary-report)

6) http://www.payscale.com/research/US/All_People_in_All_Surveys/Salary

7) http://money.cnn.com/calculator/pf/cost-of-living/

8) https://www.healthinsurance.net/faq/if-i-have-a-chronic-illness-will-my-health-insurance-plan-change/

9) https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/08/millennials-the-mobile-and-the-stuck/497255/

10) https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/investing/how-much-to-save-for-retirement/

11) https://www.jpmorganchase.com/corporate/Corporate-Responsibility/corporate-responsibility.htm, http://about.bankofamerica.com/en-us/global-impact/find-grants-sponsorships.html, https://www.tdbank.com/community/corporate_giving.html