What a day it was, eh? It’s a good sign when the logo’s not a poorly finished, pixelated graphic.
Stefan Sagmeister opened up.
Garson Yu finished. It was 6:30pm.
I’ll get round to adding more juicy details later…
Archive for the ‘Inspiration’ Category
agIdeas International Design Forum – Day 1
Tuesday, May 5th, 2009Free Comic Book Day
Monday, May 4th, 2009
Mmm, it was that time of the year again on the first Saturday of May. When we celebrate all that is good and nerdy—FREE COMIC BOOK DAY, YAY. I and my good mate Andrew went traipsing around north-west and inner Melbourne devouring any freebie in our wake. Victoria only has 2 participating stores: Trading Cards Australia in Moonee Ponds and Classic Comics in Bourke St, City.
I finally caved and bought a Rorschach action figure—the cheapest I could find was at the Moonee Ponds store. Will photograph close-ups when I next find spare time. They definitely have the action figures and most comics cheaper there… Good grief, why do I keep going to Minotaur (Then again, prices differ for various things. It pays to shop around)? Also got Catwoman #27 and an X-MEN: First Class special issue dirt cheap. Very pleased with my self-restraint. *cough*
Am curious to read more Green Lantern after the reading a good preview of Chuck Dixon’s newest take on the Emerald Guardian. At least, I think it was Chuck Dixon. I can’t remember at top of my head, but it was good! And that’s the most important part! ‘Sides, Green Lantern is HOT. I dunno, there’s something about Hal that reminds me of Bruce … Plus Chris Pine (of new Star Trek fame) is said to play Green Lantern in new film soon to be in production in Australia. Huzzah!
It’s also agIdeas Design Week, but I’m going to be attending the agIdeas Design Conference, which kicks off tomorrow for 3 days. 3 days non-stop of design! With the likes of Stefan Sagmeister and Tobias Frere-Jones speaking, will I live through it all from sheer awesomeness? Watch my blog for posts in the next few days.
Golden Age of Couture: Paris and London (1937–1948)
Sunday, December 21st, 2008Last Monday, as planned, I went up to Bendigo with my folks, mainly to check out the featured exhibition at Bendigo Art Gallery, The Golden Age of Couture: Paris and London (1937–1948), direct from the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. It was overall a fantastic show of outfits, ranging from refined afternoon wear to the more flamboyant evening gowns, with also a collection of fashion photography from the likes of Richard Avedon on display.
Bendigo is a lovely city. Clean, vintage and with friendly people. And there was a Katies store that was closing down with the cheapest clothes! $5 a piece for most garments, zomg! Not even DFO can compare!
I sort of splurged on the gift range… The bag is beautiful and cute however, and well worth it.
Now I wouldn’t be a true type fan without noticing the amazing signage around this historic city! ‘Total Abstinence Society Inc”—well, that’s one way of putting it, eh? I love the little flourishes and the Nouveau/Deco typefaces.
The flourish in the ‘AND’ is beautiful! But I love the little stencil someone grafittied on top of the sign. It completes the set. 
Illustration Friday: Balloon
Thursday, December 4th, 2008
It’s December, and it’s the month for the jolly, rotund old man. ‘Nuff said. You can probably tell when one is a designer—we tend to try avoiding the literal meaning at all costs…
Illustration Friday: Opinion
Thursday, November 27th, 2008
Am very late with this prompt, but I had the idea as soon as I saw the word last Friday. Meh. I’m a very indecisive person—my head is full of rationales as to why I should do this and why I shouldn’t do that. The lazy typography is pretty telling, huh? But this isn’t a full-fledged work; it’s spontaneous and fun and breaks all the rules. 
Illustration Friday: Pretend
Thursday, November 20th, 2008Just a little bit late, but it took me a while to do this one. I had a lot of fun with this one though—I have sooo missed collaging!
- Illustration Friday: Pretend
Initially I was going to be cheeky by having a woman with a very ample bosom being poked with a needle to deflate her “pretend” boobs—my first thought upon reading the prompt was, faking. Faking personalities. Faking body parts. Dualities. Stereotypes. Being someone you’re not. Recently there was an article on how Victorian women supposedly love getting “work” done on their bodies (yeah, well, not me; I have neither the courage nor the expense). I was appalled, but morbidly fascinated. So the feminist in me was lamenting again how we constantly bow down to societal pressure: drinking from the font of eternal youth and beauty to please our superficial selves or to win the attentions of men and women alike (mostly men, har). I went for a sarcastic, sardonic approach, but not entirely losing the mischief. I was inspired by the work of Jonathan Hernandez, who makes beautiful collages out of newspaper cut-outs. I haven’t glued down the elements so as to make them seem to “jump off” the page, but I’ve considered the composition in the second stage of photographing it, giving another dimension to the static imagery.
Right, well, I promised comic reviews didn’t I? It’ll have to be tomorrow instead. 
More Sunday Bargains
Sunday, November 16th, 2008I went to the Coburg Trash and Treasure market again this morning. Only the weather was srsly stinking—miserably cold and windy and changeable to boot.
Still, I got a really good bargain—20 various sized photo frames for $5:
They’re probably the most common things you’ll find in these markets, but it just so happens I’ve been looking for some decent and CHEAP frames for my photos and artwork, etc.
I regret not buying these weathered vintage Mills and Boon novels though—they’d have been great fun to make graphics/illustrations out of. eBay’s a bitch when it comes to vintage items.
Flea Market Love
Wednesday, November 12th, 2008Ever since I was a kid I’ve been taught the value of thrift, and despite my sometime dalliances with overspending, I am generally a fiscally responsible person—I baulk at the idea of paying $100 for a pair of jeans or the brand name of an ordinary-looking shoe when I can get something similar for far less, and I am wary of blindly following stocktake sales’ supposed slashed prices. So, it comes as no surprise that we loves teh flea markets! Not just for the bargains, but for all the quirky, weird things that you encounter! It’s brilliant for those days when you’re having creativity drought. I love retro kitsch, and there is no better place to find it than at a flea market (or a car boot sale, or a trash and treasure, or a second hand market, or the Sunday market or a thrift market, or whatever you like to call it). Apparently the world’s largest flea market, not counting eBay (hah!) is in the US, spanning from Kentucky to Alabama, 450 miles wide (about 724km, that’s almost the distance from Melbourne to Sydney!). God I would love to travel along there. It’d be like a road trip plus a shopping spree at the same time.
I got these craft supplies at the Coburg Trash and Treasure Market (the one with the still existing Village movie drive-in, which is probably the closest to my house, and has a bit of variety) last Sunday. Haggled them down to $5 for all, but the savings are still huge since I’m always going to Lincraft and Spotlight. At least I’ll have enough eyelets and clips to last me a while!
My frequent market haunts on Sunday:
- Coburg Trash and Treasure Market
Coburg Drive-In, Newlands Road, Coburg
8am – 2pm
New and used goods for sale. - Rubble and Riches Market
Leakes Road, Laverton
Trash and treasure stalls - Pipeworks Market
400 Mahoneys Rd, Campbellfield
Open 9am-5pm
Fresh produce, aquarium, pet shop, plants, furniture, carpets and rugs, homewares, giftware, technology, memorabilia, pictures and frames, mens, ladies and childrens wear. - Queen Victoria Market
Cnr Elizabeth and Victoria Streets, Melbourne
Closed Mondays and Wednesdays, opens at 6am
Melbourne’s famous fresh produce market. On Sundays becomes a huge general goods market.
* The Suzuki Night Market is also worth checking out if only for the lovely summery atmosphere! Begins 26 November 2008–25 February 2009!
There are plenty of other worthy markets, especially in the eastern side for more exotic riches, like Prahran Market or South Melbourne Market but I don’t go beyond my home in the north-west that often. There’s a comprehensive list of flea/art/craft markets in Melbourne here.
Have I introduced my newest tenant in my bedroom/studio/study/library?
Super hot action figure, no? If you remember, I bought it at Armageddon. I find myself staring at the extremely well defined muscles quite frequently, kudoes to the designer. Speaking of Batman, I cannot wait for Detective Comics #850, which technically should be released today, but we are always a day ahead of the United States. Damn.
Hullo!
I'm Jen, a graphic designer and (some time) artist from Melbourne, Australia. Eveninghour is a humble home for me to display things that inspire me and an opportunity to rant and rave about visual arts, design, books, film and other facets of popular culture. I have a fanlisting collective which currently houses 21 fanlistings, and also a portfolio featuring my professional work.
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