#pretty happy with the design! i think it gets the moodboard across very well

[cowboysuperhero]

skeleton husky adopt! 50 via steam giftcards but will look at other (non usd / rlc) offers as well! :)

[bookcoversalt]

Have you noticed the latest edition of Charlie Bowater can only draw one (1) face? She did The Princess Will Save You and Cast In Firelight both YA Fantasy set to be released this year. And they are how you say... the same fucking cover

Ah yes so you saw the same tweet I did

I know I literally just posted that we cannot outlaw book covers from looking like each other, but ! Oof!

The only thing that softens the blow here is that Charlie has improved at representing nonwhite features such that characters look like POC rather than tan white people, although,, that bar was low. Anybody remember the ACOTAR coloring book.

(Would you have guessed that 2/3 of these people are nonwhite? Or even that they’re supposed to be three different men? I guess all the men in Prythian have the same haircut?)

But that minor victory is mostly lost in the quagmires of the fact that Charlie’s style is to give everyone instagram face:

I wouldn’t even call this “Sameface” necessarily: that implies limitation, that an artist is only capable of drawing a single facial structure competently. Bowater is incredibly technically talented, she just chooses to give everyone catlike fae eyes and the cheekbones of a starving nymph. (My previous post on this here.)

But I don’t really blame her for that, or for these hilariously identical, nearly devoid of personality covers. Artists are allowed to do whatever they want. Artists who make art for covers are being art directed by designers and marketing teams who bear responsibility for how the finished pieces turn out.

No, this is our fault, as a community and an industry and..... society, kind of, for valuing character portraits that are “pretty” (“pretty” being an extremely loaded, culturally subjective concept) over art that actually Says Something About The Story. Bowater’s style happens to dovetail perfectly with what we currently collectively find pretty, and so we’ve put her art on a pedestal at the cost of everything else art can or should do for our stories.

And this is understandable: in contemporary western culture, pretty is a value unto itself. Seeing our characters portrayed as pretty denotes them as special, as smart, as powerful. It’s almost impossible to de-program ourselves from that reaction. There are approximately five kajillion studies on how beautiful people are at personal and professional advantages; how they’re perceived to be happier, healthier, more successful, and how those perceptions can translate into realities. (Nevermind how thinness and whiteness enter that equation, see above note about “pretty”.) I would love to see more “average” or weird- looking characters abound (and be accurately visually represented) in the YA/ Genre lit sphere, but for now... everyone is pretty.

Which sometimes means everyone is pretty boring.

But that’s just the specific, "What’s the deal with Bowater’s success in book circles and her style and all the sameiness” part of this equation. What if we backed up and asked: why character art at all? Beyond a question of “pretty”-ness (and general obvious Artistic Quality), why do we gravitate towards it, what's the purpose of it, how does it fall flat in a general sense, and how can it be utilized more effectively?

This is something I think about all the time. I follow writers on social media (because..... I am a writer on social media, regrettably), and we have an enormous collective boner for character art. “Getting fanart [of the characters]” is one of the achievement pinnacles constantly cited when people get or want to get published. Commissioning character art is something we reward ourselves with, or save up for (WHICH IS GOOD AND CORRECT. FREE ART IS GREAT BUT DO NOT SOLICIT IT. PAY YOUR ARTISTS). And like???? Same????? We love our stories because we’re invested in our characters. Most humans, even prose writers, are visual creatures to some extent, and no matter how happy we are with our text-based art, it’s exciting to see our creations exist in that form. So we turn that art into promo material and we advocate for it on our covers-- because it’s so meaningful to us! It goes with the story perfectly!! Look at my dumb beautiful children!!!!!

But on an emotional level, it’s hard to grasp that it only means something to us. Particularly when you take into account the aforementioned vast landscape of beautiful visual blandness of many characters (in the YA/ genre lit sphere, that’s pretty much all I’m ever talking about), character art can be like baby photos. If you know the baby, if that baby is your new niece or your friend’s kid, if you’ve held them and their parent texts you updates when they do cute shit, you’re probably excited to see that baby photo. But unless it’s exceptionally cute, a random stranger’s baby photo isn’t likely to invoke an emotional reaction other than “this is why I don’t get on facebook.”

Seeing art of characters they don’t know might intrigue a reader, but especially if the characters or art are unremarkable-looking, it’s doing a hell of a lot more for the people who already have an emotional attachment to that character than anybody else. And that’s fine. Art for a small, invested audience is incredibly rewarding. But like the parent who cannot see why you don’t think their baby is THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BABY IN THE WORLD???? I think we have trouble divesting our emotional reaction to character art from its actual marketing value, which.... is often pretty minimal. This is my hill to die on #143:

Character portraits, even beautiful ones, are meaningless as a marketing tool without additional context or imagery. 

I love character art! I’m not saying it should not exist or that it’s worthless! Even art that appeals to only the one single person who made it has value and the right to exist. And part of this conversation is how important for POC to see themselves on covers, whether illustrations or stock imagery, particularly in YA/kidlit. I’m not saying character portrait covers are “bad”. 

I am saying that I have seen dozens and dozens of sets of character art for characters who look interchangeable, and it has never driven me to preorder a book. (Also one character portrait for a high-profile 2019 debut that was clearly just a painting of Amanda Seyfriend. You know the one. There’s nothing wrong with faceclaims but lmfao, girl,,,,)

I’m sure that’s not true for everyone! I am incredibly picky about art. It’s my job. There’s nothing wrong with your card deck of cell-shaded boys of ambiguous age and ethnicity who all have the same button nose and smirk if it Sparks Joy for you.

But if your goal is not only to delight yourself, but to sell books, it’s in your best interest to remember that art, like writing, is a form of communication. The publishing industry runs on pitches: querys, blurbs, proposals, self-promo tweets. What if we applied that logic to our visuals? How can we utilize our character design and art to communicate as much about our stories as possible, in the most enticing way?

Social media has already driven the embrace of this concept in a very general sense. Authors are now supposed to have ~ aesthetics. “Picspams” or graphics, modular collages that function as mini moodboards, are commonplace. But the labor intensity and relative scarcity of character art visible in bookish circles, even on covers, means that application of marketing sensibility to it is less intuitive than throwing together a pinterest board.

Since we were talking about it earlier, WICKED SAINTS, as a case study of a recent “successful” fantasy YA debut, arguably owed a lot of its early social media momentum to fanart.

(Early fanart by @warickaart)

The most frequently drawn character, Malachiasz, has long hair, claws, and distinctive face tattoos. WS has a strong aesthetic in general, but those features clearly marked his fanart as him in a way even someone unfamiliar with the book could clearly track across different styles. Different interpretations of his tattoos from different artists even became a point of interest.

(Art by Jaria Rambaran, also super early days of WS Being A Thing)

Aside from distinctiveness, it's a clear visual representation of his history as a cult member, his monstrous powers, and the story’s dark, medieval tone. The above image is also a great example of character interaction, something missing from straightforward portraits, that communicates a dynamic. Character dynamics draw people into stories: enemies-to-lovers, friends-to-lovers, childhood rivals, platonic life partners, love triangles, devoted siblings, exes who still carry the flame-- there’s a reason we codify these into tropes, and integrate that language and shared knowledge into our marketing. For another example in that vein, I really love this art by @MabyMin, commissioned by Gina Chen:

The wrist grip! The fancy outfits! These are two nobles who hate each other and want to bone and I am sold. 

In terms of true portraits, the best recent example I can think of is the set @NicoleDeal did for Roshani Chokshi’s GILDED WOLVES (I believe as a preorder incentive of some kind?): 

They showcase settings, props, and poses that all communicate the characters’ interests, skills, and personality, as well as the glamorous, elaborate aesthetic of the overall story. Even elements in the gold borders change, alluding to other plot points and symbology.

For painterly accuracy in character portraits on covers, I love SPIN THE DAWN. The heroine looks like a beautiful badass, yes, but the thoughtful, detailed rendering of every element, soft textures, and dynamic, fluid composition form a really cohesive, stunning illustration that presents an intriguing collection of story elements.

The devil isn’t always in the details, though: stark, moody, highly stylized or graphic art with an emphasis on textural contrast and bold color and shape rather than representational accuracy can communicate a lot (emotionally and tonally) while pretty much foregoing realism.

The new Lunar Chronicles covers are actually the best examples I found of this (Trying to stay within the realm of existing bookish art rather than branch into All Art Of Human Figures Forever):

Taking cues from styles more typical of the comics and video game industries.  (Games and comics, as visual mediums, are sources of incredible character art and I highly recommend following artists in those industries if you want to See More Cool Art On Your Timeline.)

TL;DR: Character art and design, as a marketing tool (even an incidental one) should be as unique to your story and your characters as possible, and tell us about the story in ways that make us want to read it. I tried to give examples because there are so many ways to do this, and so many different kinds of art, and I could give many more! But I’m bored now. So to circle all the way back:

These are not just bad because they look like each other, although that is embarrassing and illuminating. These are bad covers (although,,,,, PRINCESS is the far worse offender, at least FIRELIGHT suggests a thoughtful cultural analogue) because a desire for Pretty Character Art overrode the basic cover function to tell us about the story. We get no sense of who these people are, what their relationships are, what these books are about beyond the most general genre, or why we might care. The expressions are vague, the characters generic-looking, the compositions uninteresting and the colors failing to be indicative of anything in particular. 

They’re somebody else’s baby pictures.

(And yes, that’s the CRUEL PRINCE font on PRINCESS. I better not have to do a roundup post but it’s on thin fucking ice.)

[today-we-will-survive]

meet me in the tree house

Moodboard made by @snowflakeu25

BTS au-imagine

Yoongi x Reader Y/N

fluff, romance

Word Count: 3.5K

A/N: This was a request from @snowflakeu25 💜

Three knocks on his studio door.

A gruff voice, muffled by the walls enters your ears and you twist the knob and push into the room with your hip since your other hand is preoccupied carrying a shallow box of takeout containers. A boy sits in a computer chair facing a mountain of recording equipment. Speakers jut from the two corners of the ceiling. Three large monitors sit atop the mountain, an expanse of panels, keyboards, knobs and sliders filling the valley below. At the sound of you entering the room, he turns around, his mouth twitching into a quick smirk before his eyes fall to the food in your hands.

“Hey,” you say.

“Hey,” Yoongi replies spinning around fully to face the coffee table as you set the box down on its surface.

“Working hard?” you ask and take a seat on the leather couch that sits adjacent to him.

Yoongi stretches, arching his back and raising his arms in the air with a groan. “Always,” he says. “Chinese?”

“You know it.”

The two of you are quiet for a while as you work at getting all of the take out containers open and onto the coffee table. Then you pass him a pair of chopsticks before taking your own pair and grabbing the closest container. You’ve watched Yoongi become a big time producer, his songs winning award after award. You’ve seen him on tv, standing on stages, making speeches, wearing designer clothes and being adored by people that don’t know him.

Yet every Wednesday, you come to Bighit, the security guard giving you a smile and a nod of recognition and you take the elevator up to the fourth floor, carrying take out, walk down that hallway lined with albums that have gone gold and platinum before reaching the studio. And there you find him, in his baggy sweats and baggy shirt, sometimes a beanie to keep his hair out of his eyes and he’d turn and greet you with that same tired smile. He’s never treated you different. He’s never let the fame get to him. Probably because he knows how far of a fall it would be back to the bottom where he started if he were to let it all go to his head.

You moved to the city not long after Yoongi got the job at Bighit. The two of you have been best friends since you were in fourth grade, when he moved into the house next door to yours. He had a tree house in his backyard that you had been eying for a while and when his mom had forced him to come over and ask you to play, you’d been ecstatic to finally be able to see the inside of it. It was as cool as you’d thought it would be, and that was where you’d spend a lot of late nights during the summer.

As you got older, the tree house transformed from a playhouse to a safe house. If your parents were fighting or lashing out at you, you’d send a quick text to him asking him to meet you there. And by the time you climbed up the rope ladder, the hatch would already be open and Yoongi would be waiting for you, his ears open to listen or his arms open to hold you, whichever you needed. Usually, it was both.

Once he moved away after college, there wasn’t much left for you in your small town, so you followed him, getting a job in the city and hanging out whenever he was free. Which wasn’t as often lately.

“So what have you been working on?” you ask before shoving a piece of orange chicken into your mouth.

Yoongi perks up, swallowing his mouthful of food before spinning to face his desk again. “Tell me what you think of this. Then with a couple clicks of his mouse and a press of a button on one of his keyboards, the room fills with music.

You close your eyes so you’re not distracted by anything and listen to the steady rhythm as it builds. After a few measures, Yoongi’s familiar voice starts in, delivering the deep lyrics he’s become so well-known for. You can feel the smile spreading your mouth as you listen, your head automatically bobbing to the beat. You’re really enjoying the song when suddenly it cuts off and you open your eyes to find Yoongi looking at you, his hand poised on his keyboard. You frown.

“What did you stop it for?”

“I just wanted to give you a sneak peek. You can’t hear the whole song until the mixtape is done.”

“Mixtape?” you ask as your smile returns.

Yoongi smiles back and looks down at his hands shyly. “By the way, I’m making a mixtape.

You let out an excited squeal, reaching out to hit his arm over and over, his smile growing bigger with every hit. “Are you serious?” you finally ask when he’s rolled out of your reach. “You’ve been wanting to do a mixtape forever!”

“Yeah,” he chuckles and scratches the back of his neck. “Yeah, I’ve finally gotten some time to work on it so I’ve been kind of messing around, writing some stuff.”

You pick up the container of pork fried rice, poking at it as you shake your head. “I’m really excited for you, Yoongi. It’s going to be amazing.”

“I hope.”

“It will be,” you say. “You’re crazy talented.”

Just then you feel your phone vibrate in your back pocket and when you reach for it and look at the screen, you can’t help but smile. The room is silent as you type a response to the message you received.

“Who has the audacity to interrupt our Wednesday night dinner?” Yoongi asks jokingly as he wheels back over and swipes a container off of the coffee table.

You send the message and set your phone onto the table before taking another bite of rice. “Just a guy I’ve been talking to,” you say. “Sorry.”

Yoongi blinks, obviously caught off guard by your response. “Oh, no, it’s okay. I didn’t know you were talking to someone.”

“Yeah,” you say with a shy smile. “I met him at a party last weekend and, I don’t know. We got to talking and now we’ve been texting each other a bit.”

Yoonig lets out a grunt, suddenly very interested in the container he’s holding.

“I don’t know,” you say again. “I think I’m finally in a place to start wanting to date again…you know, after everything that happened with—”

“Y/N,” Yoongi says cutting you off. “It’s okay. You don’t have to talk about him. I’m glad you’re able to move on now. I’m happy for you.”

You tilt your head as you study your best friend. His words sound genuine but the sentiment doesn’t seem to reach his eyes. “Thanks,” you utter. You hear your phone vibrate against the coffee table and you watch as Yoongi’s gaze falls to it for a split second before focusing back on poking his chopstick into his food.

*

*

Y/N: So Chinese again tonight or something different?

Yoongi: Ive got a lot of work to do tonight. I dont think I can hang out.

Y/N: Oh ok. See u next week then?

Yoongi: Sure.

*

*

Y/N: Hey, did u want to go out tonight instead of me bringing something? Theres a new ramen place I wanted to try.

Yoongi: cant hang out tonight. Busy.

Y/N: …ok. Next week then? I miss u.

Yoongi: Sure.

*

*

Y/N: ok. Im kidnapping u tmrrw night. I kno u dont rlly like going anywhere on Wednesday nights since u hav to work but we havnt hung out in like 3 weeks and I want to take u to see this new horror movie with me. And I kno that telling u Im kidnapping u kind of negates the whole “kidnapping” thing but I kno u dont like surprises.

Yoongi: cant.

Y/N:…really?

Yoongi: Sorry. I have to work.

Y/N: man…ur working a lot lately, arnt u?

Yoongi: its my job, Y/N. Maybe next week.

Y/N: Next week Im going to be back home to visit some family.

Yoongi: oh ok.

Y/N: Whatever, Yoongi. If u dont want to hang out anymor, just say it.

Y/N: Or dont. Whatever.

*

*

Yoongi: hey

Yoongi: Y/N

Yoongi: I know ur mad at me but please respond.

Yoongi: Y/N I was just being an idiot.

Yoongi: Y/N

Yoongi: Please talk to me.

Yoongi: look, I kno ur reading my texts and I kno u probably wont respond but if u end up seeing this, please meet me in the tree house in like twenty minutes. Alright? Thats where Ill be. I need to talk to u.

*

“The tree house?” you utter as you re-read his last text. As in the one at his parent’s house? The one that’s over an hour away from the city the two of you live in now?

You’re at a family dinner at the moment but you’ve all already eaten and now your parents are just talking to your aunt and uncle and though you’re a bit reluctant to actually meet up with Yoongi (since you’re still pretty pissed at him for ditching you for the past three weeks) he’s the perfect excuse for you to duck out early. And you do just that, saying goodnight to your extended family before telling your parents that you have to run but you’ll see them back at home later. Then you head out before anyone can argue.

It’s about a thirty minute drive from the restaurant back to your house. You can’t even bring yourself to pretend to feel bad for making him wait those ten extra minutes wondering if you’re even going to show up. It serves him right. The two of you have been best friends for as long as you can remember and have been doing Wednesday night dinner together ever since he got the job at Bighit. After all this, he decides he’s too busy to hang out? He’s never been too busy. Has the fame finally gotten to his head?

A terrible thought occurs to you as you pull into the driveway at your childhood home. What if he wants to meet you to break things off? To tell you that he doesn’t have time for friends anymore. That you shouldn’t come around anymore because it’s interfering with his work. That he’s outgrown you.

With an angry jerk of the stick shift, you jam your car into park and turn off the engine, yanking the key out. You can already feel yourself getting worked up as you slam the door and stomp across the yard to Yoongi’s house. When you get through the gate and enter the backyard, your eyes trail up to the tree house where it resides in the tall maple in the middle of the lawn. The sun is almost all the way set and the sky is already turning a medium shade of blue. It’s getting dark fast and you can see golden light filtering out of the windows in the tree house. He’s there. Good.

You take a deep breath then make your way up the rope ladder. This was a lot easier when you were younger, and smaller, and you can’t help but wonder how much longer this rope will even hold. With that thought, you scurry up the last few rungs, hoping the whole time that it won’t snap on you. Then, when you poke your head up through the hole, your eyes fall on Yoongi.

He’s laying on his back, hands on his stomach and his eyes fixed on the ceiling. At the sound of your arrival, he turns his head, his gaze locking with yours.

He sits up quickly. “I thought you weren’t going to come.”

You back away from the hole in the floor until your spine rests against the wall. “I wasn’t going to but it was an excuse to duck out of dinner early.” You cross your arms. “What are you even doing here, Yoongi?”

Your best friend gets to his feet. “I wanted to talk to you about…everything.”

“Well?”

Yoongi sighs, bringing up a hand to scratch behind his ear. A nervous tick you’ve always thought was a bit endearing. “I guess I just got kind of…jealous.”

Um…

You stand there against the wall blinking for several seconds, not really sure if you heard him right. “Jealous,” you finally say. Yoongi nods. Your brow furrows and you let out a humorless laugh. “I’m sorry, Mr. Big-shot producer, what the heck would you be jealous of?”

As if on cue, your phone chimes in your pocket and Yoongi’s eyes fall to the outline of it against your thigh. You’ve still been talking to that other guy from several weeks ago and now it kind of dawns on you, just what Yoongi is jealous of. The two of you lock eyes again.

“Yoongi…”

The apples of his cheeks dust a light pink, contrasting against his pale mint hair and he shifts on his feet. “No, it’s stupid. I shouldn’t have been like that. Not when I’ve never even told you how I feel. I just wanted you to meet me here so I could tell you that I’m sorry and I want to keep doing our Wednesday night thing and you can text that guy all you want. And I know you don’t need my permission but I’m just letting you know that I won’t be a jerk about this. And I won’t start acting all weird. Date him. Marry him. I’ll still be your best friend as long as you want me to be. And if you don’t, I understand that too because what kind of person freezes their best friend out over another guy? You’re more important to me than that and…Y/N?”

His words finally trail off when he looks up and realizes you’ve been standing there gaping at him the whole time. Your heart is in your stomach and your breaths have become shallow. Are you having a panic attack? Here? In Yoongi’s tree house? In front of Yoongi?

“Y/N?” he asks again.

“What did you say?” you utter.

“What?”

“What did you say?” you ask louder. “Just now. What did you say?”

Yoongi fumbles with his hands for a second, running his fingers through his hair and switching his weight to his other foot again. “Uh…that you’re my best friend?”

“Before that.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Before that.”

“I was being stupid?”

“After that.”

Yoongi bites his bottom lip, the pink in his cheeks becoming darker. “…that I haven’t told you how I feel?”

“Yeah,” you say. “How do you feel, Yoongi?”

“I feel like…” he takes a tentative step toward you, keeping his eyes locked on yours even as the blush spreads down to his neck. “…like I’ve been in love with my best friend for the past five years.” He takes another step toward you. The tree house isn’t very big so even after just these two steps, there’s only about a foot of space between you now. “How do you feel, Y/N?” he asks, his voice much lower than it was before. You peer up at him, heat creeping up your own neck to settle on your cheeks.

“I…uh…I—” your phone chimes in your pocket again and Yoongi sucks in a sharp breath. “Give me two seconds,” you whisper then pull your phone out of your pocket with trembling fingers and check the screen. Yoongi leans in a bit to peek too. “It’s my mom,” you say and you hear him chuckle under his breath. “She wants to know if I want them to pick up ice cream on their way back.”

“Do you?” he asks leaning in more, his dark eyes now drilling into yours. You’d back up if you could but you’re already pressed against the wall.

“Do I what?” you ask him.

He hesitates for just a moment, a smile quirking the corner of his mouth. “Want ice cream?”

You both know that’s not the question he’s really asking and for a split second, your eyes dart down to his lips. You pull your own into your mouth as you try to conjure up the words. You’re already a flustered mess with this boy so close to you, looking at you the way he is, his body heat radiating across the small space between you.

“Of course I want ice cream. I frikin’ love ice cream.”

The tension in the small space seems to burst as Yoongi falls forward, his head landing on your shoulder and laughter bubbling up out of him. You can’t help but laugh too as you feel his shoulders shake against yours and then he’s wrapping his arms around your waist to keep either of you from tumbling to the floor. The room is filled with your giggling and tears have sprung to your eyes and finally, once the muscles in both of your stomachs are good and sore, he lifts his head back up.

The laughter dies down as the two of you lock eyes again. You watch with bated breath as he reaches up to brush the hair back from your forehead, his fingers sliding down the side of your face and lingering on your jaw. “Can I kiss you, Y/N?” he utters.

You don’t even hesitate to nod before he closes the small gap, his lips moulding to yours along with the rest of his body. His one hand tightens on your waist and the other slides to the back of your neck and then he’s tilting his head to kiss you deeper. Of course, then your phone chimes AGAIN causing him to jump back with a small gasp.

“Sorry,” you mumble, your head swimming as you look down at your phone still in your hand. You look back up at Yoongi again. “Flavor?”

Yoongi stands there breathing hard for a second, staring at you as he processes your question. His tongue flicks out of his mouth for just a second. “Chocolate,” he finally says breathlessly.

You type the word as fast as you can, getting frustrated when you keep screwing up, before hitting send and dropping your phone onto the rug. Then you reach out to grasp Yoongi by the shoulders, pulling him to you once again.

*

*

“Just listen to this one,” Yoongi says as he pulls you back down into his lap.

The computer chair creaks under the weight of the two of you and you grip the arms to keep from toppling over. “Yoongi, I have to go. I have to get up early for work tomorrow.”

“Just this last one,” he says and slides the headphones back onto your ears. You’ve tried taking them off for the last five songs but every time you do, he wants you to listen to just one more. This is the last one, I promise.

“Yoongi, you’re really making me seem like a jerk of a girlfriend that doesn’t want to listen to your music.”

“But you do want to listen to my music, right?”

You smile and reach up to touch your palm to his cheek. “Of course, I do,” you say. Yoongi’s mouth lifts into a gummy smile as he nuzzles your hand. “You know I’m your biggest fan.”

“I know,” he says with a contented sigh.

He’s too perfect for his own good. So talented and so soft lately. Yoongi has always been more on the reserved side. Never cold but a bit closed off, even to you. But ever since the two of you talked—if you can even call it that—in the tree house, everything has changed. He’s revealed a different side of himself to you. A softer side. A happier side. You can hear it in his music, too. How happy he’s become.

“Alright,” you say. “Just one more.”

Yoongi claps excitedly before pressing a button on his keyboard and then settling back in under you, wrapping his arms around your waist and resting his cheek against your arm. He loves watching your expression as you listen to his music. Loves seeing how it affects you, loves seeing the uncensored reaction. He knows you’ll always be honest with him, because you want him to give his best. Besides his colleagues, you’re the only one who’s opinion he trusts.

As you listen, Yoongi starts playing with your fingers, pressing the pads of his own against yours so you mirror his movements, and then when he glances at the screen and sees that the song is almost over, he slides his fingers through the gaps between yours and locks your hand in his. You knew he wouldn’t let you go after this song.

You shake your head until the headphones slip from your ears. “Yoongi,” you say.

“Just one more,” he says quickly and releases one of your hands to pull the headphones back up.

[eottoghe]

Little Boxes - Thirteen

A Jeonghceol Domestic AU where they live in suburbia with their six year old son Chan. Jeonghan is an active member of the PTA, a soccer dad and chauffeur, and a supportive parent all around. His loving husband cares deeply for his passions and will follow him to the end of the world if it keeps him and his family happy. Follow their journey as they get caught up in fun and zany adventures when they fall outside of the guide lines of your average neighbor. Don’t really know where I’m going with this, but I want to see how many different domestic prompts I can get out of this AU before I run out of steam.

First Chapter

Previous Chapter

________________________________________________________________

It’s Monday. Chan usually doesn’t like Mondays all that much because they mean having to restart his routine of waking up too early and sitting through reading time for what seems like foreeeever. There’s no Saturday morning cartoons on Mondays and no Seungcheol-appa to cuddle with on the couch while they eat Cocoa Pebbles. But today is a special Monday. Why?

Because he is officially turning seven years old today!

He doesn't feel any different. Not yet anyway. But he's excited, nonetheless. He likes holidays. All kinds of holidays because most of them only come once a year. And this is the one time a year he gets a holiday all to himself.

At school, Jeonghan shows up right before lunch time with two rectangular boxes nestled close to his chest and a red tote bag hanging off his shoulder. The classroom instantly goes mum at the spectacle before them, thrilled whispers and inconspicuous glances being passed around the room. They know the drill.

They’re all getting really good at math so they can easily spot the solution to this equation. If they sang Happy Birthday to Chan at the start of the class and his parent comes to the classroom during lunch time, then the boxes in his hands must be cupcakes! It happens often enough for them to know, but the excitement never really wears off.

“I can help you, Mr. Choi!”

“No, me!”

“I can get the napkins!”

The kids jump at the opportunity to help hand out the goodies. It’s a great feeling because Jeonghan knows in a few years, it’ll be torture just asking for a simple chore to get done. For now, he revels in the kindness that they exude and smiles the same gentle smile that won them over during the first fundraiser event he’d helped with.

Chan gets out of his seat, running to his dad. He hugs his thighs and Jeonghan has to re-balance himself to make sure the cupcakes don’t go flying due to the sheer magnitude of the impact. Chan showing public affection? He’s put aside his childhood bravado just for this sweet moment and Jeonghan couldn’t be more soft for it.

“Please stay in your seats. I’ll choose a couple of you to hand out napkins and Mr. Choi and I will pass out the cupcakes.” Their teacher calls out to the class. Chan is reluctant to pull away but thinks about getting a red sticker on his birthday. He would hate hate hate getting a red sticker any day for not listening and even more if its on this day so he scurries off to his table and plops back down in his mustard yellow, plastic seat. He is beaming at his dad with rose dusted cheeks as his classmates say happy birthday to him and high five him from where they sit. He loves the attention even if he still gets shy sometimes.

Once they’re back settled and the two designated helpers pass out all of the napkins to each kid, Jeonghan and the teacher divide and conquer. Jeonghan was smart and decided to purchase cupcakes that were as uniform as possible. He knows how picky kids can be and wanted to avoid arguments over who got what.

Chan gets first pick though and his table is glad to have the birthday boy in their assigned group because that means they get next pick. Jeonghan and the teacher go table by table, weaving between the chattering children bouncing in their chairs. The chirped thank you’s rang out in high pitched squeals as they dug into the sugary sweet cupcakes, blue frosting staining their tongues. (Probably the best kind of treats are ones that can be shown off by their visual residue).

As they eat and talk amongst themselves, Chan’s teacher starts up a conversation with Jeonghan standing shoulder to shoulder, looking out across the classroom. “Thank you for coming in today. The kids just seem to adore you, Mr. Choi.” The teacher is a bit new and exultant in her teaching methods. She hasn’t been beaten down by the hardships that come along with the job yet so every moment she sees the kids smile is a win in her book.

“I do my best. I love kids. In another life, I could see myself as a teacher at a school like this one.” He laughs to himself thinking about how completely exhausted he’d be with small aged children filling up every corner of his life. It’s not much different from now only he doesn’t have to deal with the responsibility that accompanies teaching at a public school.

“I could see that too. Chan is always talking about you and your partner like you’re the best things that ever happened to him. We’re so lucky to have Chan and you both as his supporters. He’s got lots of friends here and he’s such a cheerful kid.”

Jeonghan, try as he may, is unable to stop the proud smile from spreading across his reddening face. He feels his ears tingle, looking at the ground to avoid the eyes of the grateful woman.

“Thank you. I feel secure with him in your care.” He nods his head in mutual appreciation. He definitely doesn’t pop in to the classroom nearly as much as he did in the beginning of the year when he couldn’t trust any teacher to govern over his one and only child for such a significant portion of the day. He thinks she’s done well.

She reminds the class that they should RSVP to Chan’s birthday party by tomorrow after Jeonghan mentions it in their casual talk. She also gives her thanks to Jeonghan for giving an invite to every kid as feeling left out in this age is such a saddening thing to see on a child’s face. Invitations were handed out a week ago and Chan was happy to report that everyone seemed eager.

They close out the mini celebration with Chan being wished happy birthday one more time in a cacophonous harmony. Jeonghan kneels and gives him a quick kiss on his forehead before the now seven-year-old decides it’s too embarrassing. The extra cupcakes are left for the other teachers Chan might want to share with and Jeonghan hands over some extra hand sanitizer bottles and tissues he bought for the classroom. The teacher thanks him once more and he’s off.

Chan still has a couple hours left of school so he decides to stop by a Michael’s craft store to avoid the drive back home just to turn around and fight traffic back. There’s still shopping to do for the vast decorations he has yet to gather. He was so inspired, he even made a moodboard from various Pinterest posts he’d come across. Chan wanted a Jurassic Park theme and it allowed Jeonghan to let his creativity set sail.

He’d picked up the plates, cups, and utensils all in a convenient party pack from Party City along with table cloths and enough supplies to craft some pretty kick ass goodie bags. What he’s most excited about though is the zookeeper outfits they’d come across. It took lots of asking around, but they’d found some. The adult size was definitely going to fit Seungcheol better than himself (He was biased. He thought Seungcheol was smoking in everything he wore), but it worked out well enough that when they all stood together, they looked like they were off on an expedition, slashing through vines and palm fronds deep in the jungle. Chan loved it (He was biased. He loved everything).

He’d also already ordered the “party hats”. Of course, they weren’t any regular party hats. If Jeonghan had been any regular person or a part of any regular family then maybe he would have done the regular thing. BUT he’s Yoon Jeonghan and decided that the “party hats” would in fact be Safari hats and made sure to order them in bulk early.

So now he’s pushing a cart through the crowded aisles of Michael’s with Jisoo balanced between his head and his shoulder, speaking animatedly through his cell phone.

“You invited the entire class and the soccer team?” Josh stresses. He wishes Jeonghan would have mentioned the number of expected guests before he signed on for this project.

“It’s not that bad. Not everyone will show up. You know how these things go.” Jeonghan shrugs his shoulder as if the other can see him, brushing off his questioning tone. He’s cutting his eyes back and forth between two very different styles of leaves. Leaves larger than his head surround him in the plastic flowers section. He picks up a handful of both under the guise that the jungle has many different types of plants. He doesn’t have to be climatically accurate. These children won’t be able to tell the difference when they’re maxed out on sugar.

“It’s Valentine’s weekend. Literally everyone is coming because parents are going to dump them for a few hours of alone time.”

“Oh… I forgot to get Valentine cards for the class. Thanx for the reminder.” Jeonghan answers, his mind drifting a few aisles down to where he remembers inflated, pink balloons and mega stuffed teddy bears. He considers getting one for Seungcheol. Seungcheol’s a lot softer than he looks.

“Hannie… This is going to be really expensive… Seungcheol does know all that you’ve planned right?”

“Yah! Stop scolding me. I’m a grown man.” Jeonghan feigns exasperation, but he bursts into a fit of giggles before he can finish. “It’s fine. I’ve been saving up. And don’t try and turn my husband against me. He’s very much so on board with me…” He mumbles after, “…sort of.”

“So on top of helping you set up, you’re calling me in to babysit too.”

“It’ll be fun. Your daughter and Chan can have a play date while we get ready and she’ll pretty much babysit herself at the party. It’ll be great.”

~~~~

Great is an understatement.

From the front of their home, much isn’t revealed to the expectant children being dropped off. In fact, the house is still difficult to find due to the 50 other ones built with the exact same model. What sets it apart are the shiny apple red and onyx black balloons tied to the mailbox and the sign hanging on the door saying, “Welcome to Jurassic Park”.

The kids are met at the door by Jeonghan (the responsible one who is actually paying attention to the doorbell) and are led through the simple living room, hopping along plastic dinosaur tracks that are set out. The sliding door leading to the backyard is opaque, covered in a dark backdrop, obscuring the view to the party happening just on the other side. But they can hear music and laughter and the anticipation balls up and rolls through their tummies.

When the door finally draws opens, it attracts them in like a beacon, beckoning forth the tiny adventurers into the wonderful world of dinosaurs. Joshua stands at the entryway with safari hats to hand out. It’s such a funny thing to see the kids blank, sensory spasms making it hard to decide what to avert their attention to first.

There’s greenery everywhere and it truly feels like their own little contained jungle. Wooden planks jut out on display with caution tape strategically draped over them; the fraying at the tips looks like they’d been ripped through. Beware posters tie in the setting.

A table is filled with snacks and foods all made to fit the theme. White chocolate covered pretzels transform into dinosaur bones, doughnut holes dusted with sugar mimic unhatched eggs. Pudding cups with dirt-like, cookie crumbles sprout miniscule palm trees and the tiniest dinosaur figurines. And there’s chicken nuggets! There’s a tyrannosaurus and brachiosaurus and some other saurus they still can’t pronounce. Seungcheol has the grill going and the smoke makes it look like a volcano has erupted in the background.

And is that… a bounce house? In the backyard?!?!

(Jeonghan may or may not have rented that one without Seungcheol’s knowledge but when the crew came knocking to set it up, there was little he could do to argue about it.)

And yes, Jeonghan will admit he outdid himself this time, but he was damn proud of his work. They all were impressed. “You should consider party planning. This looks great!”, his husband said in awe when he’d seen the finish product of Jeonghan’s creation. But with great power comes great responsibility. And responsibility brought big headaches.

The night before, he got the minimum amount of sleep preparing. Everyone helped, but once it got late, he coerced them into bed while his hyperactive, perfectionist mind fussed over the most minute details. He’d ended up finishing the goodie bags, creating labels for the food and pre-made all the snacks he could get away with. He’d hit the bed at around 4 a.m. and woke up hours later to get the backyard ready. On top of mild sleep deprivation, the inevitable over protective side of him resurfaced as the children ran freely, playing make believe. He was stressed™.

“You look like you need a nap.” Joshua sidles up next to him, poking his cheek.

“I just want everything to be perfect.” He admits with a sigh and a tired smile.

Joshua pans over the immaculate scene of their movie-set-ready layout. Seungcheol cooking on the grill as he nods along to the music, the kids—Chan cheesing so hard, letting forth such an innocent, unbridled laugh that breaks the heavens open to let pure sunlight spill down upon them.

Joshua thinks this is perfect. The party. Their family.

“You’re doing amazing. Everyone is enjoying themselves. You should too.” Joshua rubs his hand on his shoulder in a comforting manner. “I’m listening out for the door, go talk to Seungcheol and grab something to eat. Relax.”

Jeonghan takes his advice.

He opens his mouth to say something and instead gets it filled with a piece of meat hot off the grill.

“I just finished up. How’s it taste?” Seungcheol already knows the answer but asks anyway with a knowing smirk.

“It’s haa… Whew. It’s hot.” Jeonghan speaks around the beef burning his tongue. The flavor is savory, but when he says hot off the grill he means it in its entirety. “Yummy.”

Seungcheol kisses him on the cheek, pulling him into a side hug with one arm loosely around his waist.

“I can’t believe I’m really going to do this.” Seungcheol speaks after a minute of watching the kids play.

“It’s really adorable what you’re doing. They’re going to love it.”

“Sure hope so.”

“Hurry up and go! I wanna cut the cake.” He honestly doesn’t mind what time the cake gets cut. The younger brunette is finally starting to relax and knows that this portion of his day will be the most iconic. Although Jeonghan had planned the majority of this party, Seungcheol planned something of his own. And this one was a surprise.

“Oh no! Kids watch out!” Jeonghan shouts a warning to the crowd playing in the patch of grass. They all look up, startled and Jeonghan makes sure he has the camera rolling.

In less than a second, their attention focuses in on the person(?) standing by the sliding door. It’s…

A dinosaur?

They don’t move or speak for a second.

And then they hear a roar. The dinosaur darts out toward their huddle. They scatter, screaming like they’re being chased by an actual creature and not a grown man in an inflatable dinosaur suit. Screams melt into giggles and the laughter builds as the kids continue to run away from who they’ve now realized is just some clumsy person fumbling around in a costume.

Chan doesn’t know who it is until the dinosaur trips over its own feet, landing ungracefully in the grass. His yelp is distinguishable even between the screams and laughs and music.

“Daddy!” Chan runs up to the dinosaur, any possibility of him being afraid flying out the window. By the time Seungcheol finds his way back up, Chan runs into his legs with a tight hold. It sends the dinosaur back to the ground and soon all the kids are piling up on the lump of dino dad roaring unconvincingly.

Joshua and Jeonghan stand by each other, every single second of it caught on video. They’re holding their stomachs with how hard they’re laughing. He imagines this being one of those clips that end up on AFV.

It takes a while to get everyone to calm down. Eventually, they make it to the table to eat and sing happy birthday and share slices of cake. Pictures were taken. So many pictures. And the night ends with children slowly being picked up while they cuddle around the couch and watch the latest Jurassic World movie.

Right before Chan falls asleep, he pulls both of his dads in for a hug, an arm around the neck of each.

“Thank you for the best day ever.” He yawns with the same smile he’s adorned all day. Truly, it hasn’t left his face once.

Jeonghan thinks he can finally rest now. A successful weekend it was.

~~~

Finally got to posting the birthday chapter on here. Tumblr has... changed? There’s not a function to add a line to separate things anymore??? Oof. I’m on twitter now :) @eottoghe

[eilisfrasernapier]

Film Narrative 2: Independent Project Critical Report

Once we had a got our initial idea and broad concept of ‘memory’ we began researching for further inspiration. From all the sources of research and advice from the tutors we were able to take on different elements that could add to our film idea, such as the scribbled / blurred out faces on ‘BoJack Horseman’ episode (ep11s4) and the POV shots from ‘The Savages’. Further, more in depth analysis of these are in the below post titled ‘Independent Project - The Process’.  There were also potential sound ideas to play around with such as The Caretakers ‘Everywhere at the end of time’ that explores the ‘sound’ of dementia. All of these sources of research and more can be found on the group website. Another source of visuals inspiration is the photographer Uta Barth. 

Group Website: https://www.notion.so/FN2-Independent-Project-In-Mind-651204ebebde4d869f0e9fb1180fffd5 

When creating the idea for this project I really enjoyed coming up with different concepts and potential paths to go down and having these discussions with the group to try and draw even more inspiration and other potential developments. This made the research stage exciting and enjoyable. In terms of the process and throughout this filmmaking process I would often like to check in on the chat and make sure plans are on the go ahead and make sure we were all on the same page; we were a very communicative group. This made it a really good flowing environment. Regarding paperwork material Olivia and I worked on the filmmaker’s proposal and synopsis.

In the process of filming my ‘Childhood’ 30 seconds I began the planning by coming up with an exact concept of what I could film. My struggle was making sure the childlikeness came across without having any child in it therefore I did it with my surroundings and props. I had found old toys we had in the house that I thought would work great. Then made up some basic story boards to follow, I had tried some test shots in my garden as we still have a swing and a slide from when I was younger. However, I really liked the idea of being on a beach as this felt like a very childlike space so I then began thinking of how and what beach I could film at. Again, to further persuade the idea that it is from a child’s perspective I had got a few pairs of shoes from my neighbours that they were getting rid of. I had put these as shoe footprints in the sand.

I filmed all shots twice, once on my iPhone and once on a GoPro hero 3 (GoPro – 1080p, 24 FPS, narrow) (iPhone XS 1080p, HD 25 FPS PAL) as I initially was going to end my segment and transition on a POV fall, as children often fall. Therefore, I was going to only use the GoPro not wanting to throw and drop my phone, but I also wanted options for how the footage looked and ended up liking the look from the iPhone a lot. Hence, I went through all the footage and took notes of the clips I liked best and sent these on to the editor Tom. I gave him have creative freedom for the rough cut and he had actually combined both of the GoPro and iPhone clips which I hadn’t thought of doing. For the final cut I had just gave him suggestions to change some clips out, but overall I was happy with the idea of combining them.  

What we could have done differently is develop and establish our final idea slightly quicker. Looking back if we were able to get all of the footage filmed for our final idea earlier it would have left us better room to play around with the edit and sound design even more. Nevertheless, I am happy with the result we have, especially in the time we had. In terms of feedback. We were asked if we were going to have specific set roles or not and we knew pretty early on that we wouldn’t for this project. We didn’t want to limit each other with a specific role as it isn’t much of a narrative piece, It was more a case of us all sending it in and see what worked best for it. We were told this was a valid approach. We were was reminded to write a synopsis, filmmakers’ statement, and make up big moodboards in the pre-production stage as it would help the overall process.

Other early advice we received was to make sure we had a narrative direction of some sort even if we did not write a script as this would make the edit process easier in that aspect. We were reassured that for this project in terms of shooting on different cameras it didn’t really matter especially as you might have archive footage etc so that is something, we didn’t need to concern ourselves with too much. One thing to do is try and make sure the frame rates are the same or, at the very least, similar. Other advice we received from the tutors was that we can make sound design very stylish and doesn’t need to make a lot of sense from what you see, or use can use sound from actual location sounds. I recorded wild tracks of the beach, but we went with the more stylistic approach, so these didn’t get used as much.

The feedback we received from the final crit was overall very positive, we seemed to have made a film that conveyed all the pointers from the brief and addressed it well. It had a strong audio visual relationship. We were praised on how much the film plays with sound especially for the stage we are currently at. For example, the pan up to the window and the sound doesn’t relate to it at all but it works, it is a good example of these things not having to be related but can still fit together. However, in terms of critical feedback we were told we could have done slightly more sound cleaning up as there are still sound sounds that stand out for some viewers such as the camera sounds and some sound clips ending abruptly. That feels odd to some in terms of following narratively. Instead, we could have put in bridges / bridge shots by having sound fade in and out. As well as keeping in mind J cuts and L cuts (keep hearing something after seeing it or start hearing something before seeing it). This will draw less attention to the sound and that is the aim to keep the sound unnoticeably good. This is very good feedback and definitely advice that can be taken on for future projects.  

Yet this could be seen as a preference as another bit of feedback given on this specific issue was positive, in the hearing of camera sounds, as it’s something in the present and it brings the viewer to self-awareness. However, that is only really works if we meant that and could have accentuated it further. As well as it may have been good to play around with perspective a bit more such as it was suggested to maybe have more POV in all sections of the film with some sound that is close i.e. breathing that brings us from both outer body feeling and POV, again playing self-awareness and the viewer’s presence. Furthermore, I do agree the ending is abrupt and we should have added in end credits. However, I am unsure on how exactly we could have ended it, that wasn’t a ‘hard cut’ and what would have been a better ending.

Another positive to take forward that it didn’t come across that it was four filmmakers working separate in different locations, it had a great look of continuity and that they went together well. Where the film is successful is really conveying that outer body experience of memory, recall and flashback. Lastly more on sound feedback, the overall levels were slightly low but the idea behind the sound was still praised, as it was thought to be effective using stereotypical sounds from each of the stages of life.

In terms of some of the things I have learned on this project was developing my understanding and skills when filming a project on an iPhone and a GoPro. I explored what setting would work best as I didn’t want the picture to be poor when comparing to the other footage from the film. I also wanted to make sure the camera setting we the same / similar to the others to make the edit process more easy going. Doing paper edits for sound on clips and thinking about what sound should go with each clip I am going to capture, before this isn’t something, I paid particular attention to but now will take under consideration more.

[hercreativeprocess]

Her Creative Process: Kristina Bartosova

Kristina Bartosova is a Slovakian graphic designer and art director based in Graz, Austria. Coming from a background of classic graphic design, her work spans from branding and editorial design to art direction and styling. Through taking the inherent personality and condition of a project into consideration, she creates powerful aesthetics that form a world of their own.

How did you end up in your chosen career?

Coming from a very artistic family, I have always drawn and painted a lot. I grew up during the aftermath of socialism in a ghetto-like part of the city, a time with no brands whatsoever. Only when someone had family in Western Germany or so, they would have fancy stuff, but otherwise, everything else was very standardized and basic. Think lots of dark blue and brown corduroy - if something was pink, it was usually not from here.

So I was always drawn to brands because it was out of reach. Coming across an actual brand that was known in the rest of the world was super-rare. This whole other world we weren’t supposed to see. It was like collector’s items. After the Velvet Revolution it slowly began that you could buy more Western things and I collected them. I kept everything  – wrappers from the classic blue and white Milky Way bars, labels from the transparent pink Reach Junior mouthwash or L’Oreal crèmes - you name it, I had it.

I started illustrating on a computer really early, when I was 9 or so. My parents wouldn’t let me have any computer games and so I spent a lot of time playing the Lion King on Nintendo at my friend’s house, trying to memorize all the frames I liked. At home I would open Paintbrush and recreate what I saw pixel by pixel 'till it looked like the real deal. I was really good at it because the Lion King was important of course.

Later, when I started skateboarding and snowboarding I would work on my own designs for the boards. I had to be prepared in case I ever became a pro hahaha. I had this huge notebook where I would draw alternative logos with colored pencil and ruler. I had no idea that there were more fonts than those that came pre-installed on my parents’ Windows 95 computer, so I came up with my own and some of the designs were actually pretty good!

From that point it wasn’t a long way 'till I figured that I could turn it into a profession. I went to study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava, which shaped me a lot, as they put a lot of emphasis on conceptual strength and I learned a lot about graphic design in the context of visual arts.

When do you feel most creative? Be it a time of day, particular season, or after a really great taco.

There’s a lot of individual situations, thankfully. Usually the ideas come when I’m laying on the couch or shortly before falling asleep. It’s that feeling of not needing to think about anything that opens up my brain to possibility and then I gotta get up and write it all down.

Where is your favorite place to create, and why?

As normal as it may sound: my office or my apartment. I have everything I need there – all the books, magazines, pens, markers and paper. Which one it ends up being depends on the thing I’m doing. If it’s something analog or if I’m just starting to work on a branding, I prefer to stay at home alone because I can move around and do what I feel like without distracting anyone. In that phase I might turn the apartment into a mess of thousands of papers and the inside of a toolbox.

Anything apart from the initial stages of design work, there’s no place like my office desk. I don’t put on a suit and tie or punch a timecard (but I do have power shoes!) but it really helps to have a place where you’re there to handle the business.

Typically, what does your creative process look like?

Like going with my gut as much as possible. As I said earlier, the beginning of a project is often messy. I almost never make ‘just the logo’ so when doing a branding I like to plan as much as possible beforehand.  That means I always think about how it works in different applications, how it feels, what the photography could look like, what kind of interior would best represent the brand, etc. To get to all this, moodboarding is a major key.

Then I always sketch, at least a little. If I just jump right into Illustrator, nothing good comes out and the result will be far too stiff. That’s why I like to figure out a direction early on and then experiment and build a design. To bring it all together, I move to my computer and either scan the sketches or start looking for a typeface that fits the image in my head. Once a logo or the core element is finished, the process is much easier to control and straight-forward by just realizing the vision I created on the various applications. It just has to fit with the idea the client and I have set for the brand.

Who and what are you inspired by?

So, so many things! I am very easily amused and have pretty low standards for ‘fun’ and ‘exciting’ so it’s sometimes the most random things that inspire me. It’s not like I never get bored, I probably do, but it’s not so easy haha. I can listen to the same album a hundred times and still enjoy it. Travelling in general and talking to other people and just listening to how they talk about different subjects passionately is always great for a change of perspective.

I also love to go back to Bratislava, my hometown to see all the small changes in time. Regarding design itself, I consciously try not to look at design blogs very often, (of course I check them from time to time) but I love Pinterest and go through other fields like art, interior, fashion, books, design or photography and look for connections. Nothing exists in a bubble and it’s fun to observe how trends that start in fashion influence graphic or industrial design and vice versa. I love to watch how different artists work with new tendencies and what references they use.

Right now, I am crazy about Amelie Pichard, a French fashion designer who makes these fun, almost trashy shoes and bags. I love the references she incorporates and everything about the concept and styling of her campaigns. You have to check her out!

How do you get past creative block?

I have no magical recipe for this, as someone who reads this might hope. I just get through it. I sit down, put in the hours until it’s there. Otherwise I’d have a block in every project, it’s just about sitting down and getting to it. To me the mythical creative block is just that, a myth. Of course I also get stuck initially but when I try and play around, it comes to the point eventually where it is fun, and then I continue from there.

How do you deal with perfectionism, self-doubt, and comparison?

This is not a humblebrag: I am a perfectionist, through and through. It is a double-edge sword and a trait that often gets in the way when you actually want to get shit done. I deal with that on an everyday basis. On one hand it’s good because you can rely on yourself with obsessing over smallest details, and that type of attention will positively show in the end product. On the other hand if things don’t go as I imagine, I get furious. That’s often the case with print production or set design.

Sometimes things turn out a bit differently, even when you’re as hands-on as possible. There is no way one can control EVERY aspect. If the time or resources are limited, you just have to roll with it and accept things the way they are. Then I try to focus on the fact that the work is finished, instead of on the flaws – that helps. You can always learn something for the next time and it is good to move forward.

I used to struggle a lot with comparison and self-doubt before, because I was brought up in a very competitive environment. But I made peace with that because that’s what shaped me into who I am today. I still try to be the best, I don’t think you can really unlearn it if it’s rooted that deeply, but now I get equally as happy from the success of other people who I like and whose work I admire.

Do you have any tips for someone who wants to do what you do (and be really good at it)?

If it’s what your gut tells you to do, go for it! It is a lot of work and the results will not show overnight but if it’s fun to you, it’ll work for others as well. The same is true for every other profession actually. It took me years to get to this point and it’s still not like I sit with my legs on the table and eat cake like ‘Congration, you done it’. I still think I have long way to go but I love what I do and that’s crucial.

What are you working on now, and what’s coming up next?

I’m working on several projects with my boyfriend right now, Thomas Pokorn, who takes care of the concept and copywriting part when we develop a brand identity. We art directed and designed two lookbooks for their upcoming two collections of a fashion brand, alongside their branding. Being on the set was a lot of fun, especially with Lipp Zahnschirm, with whom I also photographed my portfolio. We are currently working together for a local bakery too, and next month I am beginning work on a book about industrial architecture and a second edition of a museum magazine.

Thank you for having me!

CONNECT WITH KRISTINA:

Website | Instagram | Pinterest | Twitter

[anneedmonsonus]

Make Your Home Beautiful with Bambury (and WIN a $500 Gift Voucher!)

If you are after one of the quickest, most affordable and also easiest ways to freshen up a bedroom or living space, I always think new cushions are a fail-proof way to go. Nothing brightens and lifts a space quite as easily! Add in a fresh new plant and you’ve treated your room or outdoor area to a speedy, mini facelift that will lift you up as you walk into it.

I keep cushion covers in our linen closet, and rotate them through the year. I buy what I love, and although I try to declutter our things often I find I rarely get rid of cushions. Yesterday a friend visited my house for the first time and commented on how pretty a cushion in our lounge room was – I told her I’d bought it about eight years ago! Although I LOVE following interiors trends (so much so I even write a weekly interiors trends and looks column for STM in The Weekend West) I still go by the ‘buy what you love’ rule. Trends will come and go, but if you buy what you really love, you’ll never go wrong, and you can usually find new ways to rework an ‘old’ trend into a new look. (I may make a small exclusion here for chevron… however, if you still love it, that’s the important thing!)

So I have a small library of cushion covers filed Marie-Kondo style in our linen closet, and I love pulling them out and using them again and again. When I first bought a couple of cushions from Bambury recently, I was blown away by their gorgeous – and very expansive – range of cushions and textiles. I was blown away a second time when I realised they are local – I’d never actually realised they a Perth-based company, I’d thought they were in Melbourne.

In fact, Bambury is one of Perth’s oldest – and most successful – textile companies. They have beautiful wares, and they’re run by a really nice group of people too. It’s probably quite obvious by now that I’ve always loved learning the stories behind start-ups (since I was a teenager, I used to cut clippings about businesses and business people that inspired me and saved them all in a folder). Well, Bambury began in 1994 in a Fremantle garage – just like many businesses do when they are starting out. It was a small wholesale business founded by now-managing director Andrew Lodge. Andrew was working in the sales within the textile industry. He saw a gap in the market for beautiful and individual wholesale products, and decided to manufacture his own.

It wasn’t long though before his product range of sheets and towels expanded and Bambury needed to find new premises – this time a warehouse in North Fremantle. Now 25 years later, Bambury have a vast range of products stocked across Australia and New Zealand – and amazingly, they’re still local! Their design team consists of Design Director, Amy Clarke, Textile Designer, Anne Campbell, and Graphics and Marketing Stephanie Harrison. “We are very proud to be a West Australian company,” Amy tells me. “There aren’t many textile businesses based here in WA and a lot of the industry and customers are located on the East Coast, however we have overcome all geographical challenges and have kept Bambury’s head office here in Perth.

“From very early on Andrew knew that design was going to play a key role in the business, it was to become Bambury’s strength and point of difference, and it still is today. All of our designing happens in our studio in Bibra Lake, in Perth’s south, not too far away from Fremantle.”

Recently Bambury experienced a big change as the company went from a wholesale-only business to an online retailer as well, delving into the world of social media too – which is how I actually stumbled upon them online, through their Instagram.

I couldn’t take my eyes off their beautiful images and brand photography, but what I liked too was that while they have so many on-trend cushions and throws (with their newest palettes featuring the latest hottest colour trends of dusty pinks, ochres, terracottas, burnt umbers, bracken, tinged mustards and army greens) they are still the kinds of pieces you can keep and style with for ages. And they’re easy to style with too – their feed alone gives you so many ideas for colour combinations and textures that work together. Their products range from cushions and throws to bed sheets, towels, bathroom products, rugs, ottomans, beach towels and bags, wall hangings, teatowels, pieces for outdoor living, exercise and things for kids.

It’s not a complete surprise that everything Bambury creates looks as complementary as it does – the design team have been working as a tight-knit team for almost eight years now. “Anna and I develop the prints and product ranges, while Stephanie works on photography, catalogues and marketing,” says Amy. “We have quite similar tastes, so we all work really well together.”

Styling and photography by @villastyling. Assistance from @rmcbuilderswife

The whole team is West Australian-born – Steph was born in Perth, Anna is from Fremantle and Amy grew up in Carnarvon and Bunbury. “We have all travelled a little over the years and lived in other places, but our families are here in WA – Perth (and Fremantle) is home,” says Amy. Each of the girls has a new home that they are all busy decorating and styling.

They design two main ranges a year. “When we first come together to discuss the next range, we usually have a few ideas that we have bookmarked to bring to the table,” says Amy. “These ideas might be as simple as a colour, a fabric we have collected from a trade show or a motif that we think will work; quite often it is an extension of the previous range. Like most creative people, your work never stops, you are always taking things in and on the constant lookout for exciting new ideas, trends and products. We sometimes attend overseas trade shows, and we make sure we keep on top of the latest design and interior trends.” After collating and editing ideas, they play with colour and drawings until they are happy that they have a good range.

“It’s hard to explain, but I do think gut instinct pays a big role too – if we all start noticing or loving something, there’s a good chance our customers will pick up on that soon too,” says Amy.

So what colours and textures are they predicting will be big in 2020? “Trends have been moving to warmer tones for a while now, beautiful terracotta and nude tones – this will continue for a while longer,” says Amy.

“It’s less about the grey and white Scandi look, and moving towards a colour palette with warm greys and natural earthy tones – think soft taupe rather than silvery grey. There’s also a really fun play with unexpected colour combinations such as terracotta and lilac, or ochre and blush pink.

Andy and Deb from The Block styled this gorgeous living room with a Miimi and Jinda painting and cushions from Bambury.

“There’s definitely a move to being more nature inspired, which is where olive greens come into play, as well as products that are more textural and artisan looking, a more hand-made look, like our macramé products.

“The 70s vibe is well and truly here for 2020, so lots of floral patterns with mustards and straw yellow tones – look out for our next range in March, it will feature some 70s-inspired brown velvet and corduroy!”

If you love interior design but have ever felt nervous about styling your own home, I completely understand – sometimes I take a while to choose things for my own home and like to play around with mini moodboards or Pinterest boards (like below!) other times I can make a decision in a snap (it gets easier the more you do it!)

And a common piece of feedback I get from House Nerd readers is that it’s easy to feel overwhelmed when it comes to choosing things for our own homes. So how can you confidently choose pieces that you’ll really love in your own place?

“I think a room definitely needs to show the owner’s personality,” advises Amy. “Go with a colour palette that feels natural to you, don’t overwhelm yourself with colours you aren’t comfortable with. You don’t have to follow the latest trend, just keep it simple. If navy is what feels natural to you, go with it and pair it with a neutral tone like white or taupe or keep it really tonal, and create interest with different textures and fabrics.

“The other way to do it would be to start with something you already have, something that you love whether that’s a vase, or a cushion or a painting, use it as a starting point and add pieces that match it, but also items that just make you happy.” Maya x

  The perils of styling with children about….

WIN! A $500 BAMBURY GIFT VOUCHER

The team at Bambury are really kindly giving me an epic competition prize for one lucky House Nerd, who’ll score a $500 Bambury gift card!

Think of all the gorgeous goodies you could get with this! Would you give your bedroomor guest room a stunning new look? Replace all your old bathroom towels? Refresh your living room with some beautiful new cushions or throws? Get kitted out with colourful new beach towels and beach bags for this scorching summer? Or maybe your kids rooms could do with some fun new cushions and bedsheets? The choice is totally up to you.

There are four ways you can gain entries into the draw:

Visit the Bambury website and leave a comment below telling me which piece you love from their range (1 entry).

Visit the Bambury website and sign up for their email newsletter (worth 5 entries).

If you’re on Facebook, follow both Bambury @BamburyPtyLtd and House Nerd @Housenerd (1 entry). Tag a friend on the Facebook competition post for an additional draw entry. One friend, one additional entry, five friends, five entries and so on.

If you’re on Instagram, follow both Bambury @bambury and House Nerd @housenerd (1 entry). Tag a friend on the Instagam competition post for an additional draw entry. One friend, one additional entry, five friends, five entries and so on.

COMPETITION RULES:

Winner will be drawn Jan 10th, 2019. There is a complete release of Instagram and Facebook by each entrant. Promotion in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by or associated with Instagram or Facebook. Competition open only to people living in Australia or New Zealand.

Good luck!

The post Make Your Home Beautiful with Bambury (and WIN a $500 Gift Voucher!) appeared first on House Nerd.

from Home Improvement https://house-nerd.com/2019/12/15/bambury-win-a-500-gift-voucher/

[yesterdaysdreams]

Our Renovation Inspiration & Materials

Hey guys! It’s been a while since I’ve had a renovation update for you and in case you were thinking it had completely stalled, it has, in fact, been the complete opposite.

In true Ben style, there’s been no dilly-dallying on this project. ON TIME AND ON BUDGET (as he always says), and indeed that’s *pretty much* been the case. Very soon I’m going to be sharing with you a looonggggg video of all the behind the scenes of construction process (including a very edited selection of imagery of us at the hardware store, because it turns out that going to Bunnings is a twice daily occurance when you’re renovating) but in the meantime I thought it would be nice to quickly run you through a few of the inspiration and materials we chose for the house. You guys helped with the paint selection, which I am most grateful for!

The Inspiration

We ran you through all the plans for the house in this post, but what I didn’t touch on was the inspiration for the feel of the house – something that related a lot to the materials that we choose (along with the design elements and details). In general, I was inspired by light bright spaces with personality, with a big open air living space that really felt like home. Rugs, plants and strategic pops of colour would play a role in adding personaility to the space – as I really wanted to steer away from a black and white palette. Below you can see the images that filled my moodboard – with spaces that have a lot of light, vintage details and decor that brings a lot of personaility.

Choosing The Materials

In truth, if it was up to me I would still be stuffing around workshopping different tile options, but if there’s one thing Ben’s good as it’s not wasting time, so we chose the materials for the house relatively quickly. That said, I had spent a decent amount of time in the lead up to the actual choosing making mood boards and understanding what styles we thought a) would suit the house b) be interesting and c) not date too much. It’s a challenge to balance those things but I THINK we’ve done ok.

Our Renovation Materials

Tiles

As you would have seen in the post where we discussed tiles in more detail, we chose a very simple slightly textured subway tile for our wall tile from Tilecloud and decided to lay it… Vertical! This might come as a bit of a let down to some of you who were all for the herringbone. But after discussing it long and hard with Ben, we decided this is a style that best suited the house and the rooms we would have it in. Not only did we take inot account aesthetics, but Ben reminded me that various tile layouts will have different labor costs involved, something that is so so obvious but I hadn’t thought about. Once we did the numbers this one was our chocie! It looks great now that I have seen it up so I’m glad we chose it, you can let me know what you think soon! (Another tile I absolutely love love love, but which was sadly released after we bought ours, is this one).

For the floors, one trend that I have been loving in the tile department is terrazzo. But I was always a little nervous that it would date too much, particularly if we chose it in a coloured style. For a second there I was realllly into this pink terrazzo tile… But luckily I moved on from that because I think it would have been wayyyy too much. Instead, we went for a more subtle version of the terrazzo tile – this grey terrazzo style tile.

Metal Tapware

This is an area I was sooo excited to get stuck into – taps, door handles and metal details… You know you’re OLD when this stuff starts to excite you. I have always loved brass fittings (ie gold) but was surprised about how hard it was to find really great ones that didn’t blow the budget and didn’t look too shiny. After searching high and low I stumbled upon ABI Interiors, which have an amazing (and affordable!) selection of brass metal tapware of all types, all in matching colours so that all the metal details of a space will match (you can even shop by colour). Because we have been designing a separate upstairs and downstairs, we decided to do really nice matte black tapware upstairs (Mondella & Caroma from Bunnings), and brass hardware (from ABI Interiors) downstairs. Ben’s view is that you don’t want to mix up hardware colours across the one dwelling/space. And I do what I’m told! I was surprised by just how much different hardware you need for a space – not only taps and shower heads but bottle traps, waste covers, sinks etc etc etc. Oh and in case you’re interested this was my ultimate but it was outside the budget… Maybe next time!

Paint

For those of you who kindly made suggestions on this post, we decided, in the end, to go with the green and dusty pink palette, with the colours from Haymes Paint. It was a surprisingly hard decision to make, but seeing it in place now I think it works really well. That said, we’ve used the coloured paints quite minimally throughout the house so in case you’re thinking it’s going to be a colourful nightmare you don’t have to worry (at least I am hoping not!). I guess at the end of the day I wanted the house to have personality without being too overpowering… Although those of you who gravitate towards black and white might find it too much. But you can let me know when you see it!

Main colours Minimalist (white), Intimacy (dark grey)

Highlight colours Marengo (mustard), Humas (dusty pink), Cordovan (light pink).

Walls & Floors

In keeping with the traditional style of the house, we chose to keep all the existing walls and floors, and matching the walls and floors in the back extension. We went back and forth about making the extention more modern (as a lot of architects would do) but I think in the end I really liked that we kept it traditional. We had the choice to redo the floors for the whole upstairs, and this was somewhat appealing because the existing floors are a) very warm toned and b) a bit knocked around. But at the end of the day we decided that the floors and the walls contained so much character, that is was worth keeping them as much as possible. That means the floors are a bit knocked up here and there, and some of the walls are hilariously askew, but I love that about it. For downstairs, we went with more of an industrial feel, with sealed concrete floors and flat panelled walls. As simple (and affordable, haha) as possible!

So that’s our materials guys! Crossing my fingers you found it intersting. And in case you’re wondering, yes it has been a little bit intense doing all this while pregnant, but I’ve been lucky that Ben a) does this sort of thing every day so there’s literally zero stress involved and b) he was happy (I think) to take a bit of the load off me.

I’m really excited to share with you very shortly the BTS of the construction for the house,  and then the formal ‘after’ shots very soon. Wah!

Read the rest of our renovation series here!

The post Our Renovation Inspiration & Materials appeared first on A Pair & A Spare.

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[originofmind-us-blog]

Youth Workshop with CFJ: How Can We Use Creative Design for Social Impact?

This week, we visited Californians for Justice (CFJ) to discuss economic justice and income inequality. Californians for Justice is a grassroots statewide organization that fights for educational and racial justice by building the capacity, knowledge and power of young people of color. Every summer, they host an intensive training called Summer Youth Leadership Academy (SYLA) for 5 weeks where they equip young people with political education and community organizing skills.

Using the framework of Origin of Mind, we shared and identified examples of economic injustice within our communities, and brainstormed creative ways to highlight and communicate these concepts.

The overarching theme of the day: How can we use creative design for social impact?

Steven Cheun and Angelo Remsen pose together during our economic justice workshop at CFJ. 

What are the stories we identify with?

We started by trying to pinpoint and articulate how we could create a message or brand that resonates with others. We shared some of our personal favorite brands, and discussed the stories, concepts, and themes that inspire loyalties to Nike or Jordans.

Angelo Remsen, a sophomore at Fremont High, inevitably brought up one name that’s gotten a lot of attention recently: Big Baller Brand. The room was split on how we felt about it, but Angelo was able to sum up the story behind the label:

“Once upon a time, there was a guy named Lavar. He had three sons, and he pretty much blueprinted that his kids are going to play ball and be on the same NBA team... and it’s kinda happening. One day he decided to make a shoe brand, and he’s selling the shoes for like $500... So, that’s Big Baller Brand! You’re only gonna get it if you’re a big baller.” 

Angelo Remsen, junior at Fremont High, explains the story behind “Big Baller Brand” 

How do we define economic justice?

But today’s main topic: “economic justice”.

Together, we wanted to identify the different factors that contribute to and result from major differences in income, access, and opportunity across different groups. We began by discussing some of the most obvious examples of injustice we see in our communities today.

Some of issues raised included the concept of equity vs. equality, generational poverty, and how systemic inequality contributes to the wealth gap:

“A family of four might not need as much support as a family of six. But the families below the poverty line... once you hit that line, it’s hard to get out of.” - Kweko Power, 11th Grade, Oakland High

“In one of our classes, we looked at the statistics of money throughout the whole United States. The middle and working class was closer to or on the same level as the very poor… and what they had didn’t change much over time. But the rich - their amounts just basically spiked up and kept going.” -Zykkia Armstrong, Freshman, Alameda College

“Basically ... the rich gets richer and the poor stays poor.” - Steven Cheun, 11th Grade, Oakland High

The students at Californians for Justice swap stories as we discuss examples of injustices in our communities.

What are some examples or representations of injustice in our communities?

Next, in a rapid-fire session of #moodboarding, we pulled out images, words, textures, and colors to fire up our creative energies and continue thinking about what economic justice means to us.

Robert Green, 11th Grade, Mt. Eden, explained his favorite image on the mood board: a full-page photo of #blackexcellence featuring Carmelo and Lala Anthony and their son. Each of them is decked out in red, white, and blue - surrounded by and creating a portrait of modern-day American success. Robert explains:

“I love how it shows the African American family, which you don’t see a lot. It kind of shows the American Dream…. if you work hard, you can get a sense of happiness in your life. But it only shows a little aspect of how it really is, because the American Dream doesn’t work for a lot of people. It only works for certain people who can smile and look good in pictures.”

Robert Green and Kweko Power flip through magazines to find pictures that helped create our moodboard.

Other voices also raised their perspectives on how wealth inequality are inevitably linked to racial injustice. We shared our thoughts on how negative perceptions of minorities exacerbate the problem, with minority stereotypes and tropes reinforced everyday across various mediums and environments.

Kweko Power, 11th Grade, Oakland High, called out one example of the portrayal of Black women in the media, holding up an image of Halle Berry as Catwoman. She shows how these portrayals feed back into the discussion of economic justice, explaining:

“The catwoman photo right here… is tied back to the systemic disadvantages and benefits [facing different groups]. Because Halle Berry is light-skinned, she is fetishized by the movie industry. So this catwoman, compared to other catwomen, is more oversexualized.... And Halle Berry is praised because she’s seen as this sexual goddess. It’s like how society sees a lot of folks of color: we’re only good when we fit into society’s image of us. So if we don’t fit that image… we’re just poor folk, like we don’t know how to do anything. We don’t fit into the rest of their plan.”

How can we communicate ideas around economic justice?

As we neared the end of the day, we wrapped up with a brainstorm of the different visual and narrative ways we could communicate some of the concepts that were raised during our discussion.

As an ongoing part of our design process at Origin of Mind, our goal is to incorporate diverse perspectives across our communities to highlight the experiences, triumphs, and challenges that each of us encounter everyday.

In workshops like this one, we’re able to learn from young folks about the topics and issues they care most about, and have fun brainstorming together on how we can get others to care about them as well.

Many, many thanks to CFJ for welcoming us to the space, and to the awesome students for sharing in honest and thoughtful discussion on these topics! We’re excited to continue to learn/ grow/ build with this group. For more on CFJ and their work in empowering communities or color, check out their website here.

For more on Origin of Mind and how we incorporate community dialogue into our clothing and designs, check out our website! A don’t forget to follow us on Instagram @originofmind.clothing and Twitter @originofmind_, for your freshest fix of social justice, fashion, and community news.

Authors: Frances Belleza