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Still busy… final schoolwork of the year.

soundtrack: Beck - Timebomb
I kind of feel like a timebomb right now. Angry, frustrated, excited, sad.
Lots of change to deal with.

I got my exchange portfolio for KABK ready and mailed two weeks ago. I wasn’t happy with how the portfolio turned out at all and keep having this sinking feeling whenever I think about it. It is difficult to want something as much and for as long as I have wanted this. It’s self destructing somehow. And now there is nothing more I can do, it is out of my hands. Whatever is meant to happen, will happen, I guess. So now, I wait.

Oliver Jeffers, via my friend Hilda who went to his lecture the other day. Lucky her!

Soundtrack: Ingrid Michaelson - Keep Breathing

School started with the bi-annual portfolio presentation (where all the teachers and classmates are present and you get to show whatever you’ve been up to in the last six months). Don’t know about the other students but those critiques always leave me in pieces, everyone else’s work seems so much… more. And being an illustrator just never is that punk rock. (Me and my ever-present want to be cool… )

I’ve been veering off the thought of illustration as a career for some time, thinking that design is the way to go, but it keeps pulling me in. Now I’ve decided to make peace with it. Working with illustration makes me a better designer, learning about design makes me a better illustrator. I also start to like more the label “artist” because of the fluidity of movement between different media. More and more I start to dislike the idea of “a career”.

Careers don’t allow us to be fully ourselves; careers take as an index of success money and status rather than pleasure in work and creativity. ‘Vocation’, on the other hand, means ‘calling’, and it is a task that earns you a living and which you enjoy doing. … We have a duty to look into our hearts and discover our vocation, our gift. Once we have done this, we will find that other parts of life follow quite naturally.

- Tom Hodkinson: How to be Free

When I think of it like that, it all seems pretty clear.

(Oh yeah, and I turned 27.)

P.S. Still lots to do with this renewed blog, but at least there’s a working feed now. Sorry about the old comments, they are gone.

soundtrack: young folks

At school this week: a very serious art project (above). End result will be a poster. All the other school deadlines are piled on top of each other and I have to get all the work done in the next six or seven days. I wonder why I don’t feel more stressed out. I plan to make cupcakes and work-work-work all weekend.

I love this time of year, the darkness feeling much warmer than the constant rainy gray. Soon it’s completely dark at four in the afternoon, perfect to come home and wrap up for a little nap. Or, like yesterday, sitting at a candlelit cafe table with a friend, watching people rushing by… And after talking for ages we went to see the Stockmann Christmas display windows… both all excited like little kids.

Today when I woke up there was snow.

Greetings from Lithuania! Vilnius was very cold, kind of grey, and… different. But an experience nevertheless. After spending time at the local art academy I am even more thankful for everything about my own school TAIK: computers, workspace, teaching… well, pretty much everything.

We had a weeklong workshop with the local students; a group project. My classmate Mirka and I got to work with lithuanian Rokas, and it went well, considering the language barrier and all. But it was a reality check in terms of how difficult it really is to be, work and interact in a foreign country - considering my plans to study abroad. Of course it would get easier with time.

Now I am happy to be at home, sleep in my own bed, check up all the mail and catch up on blogs (and sleep). I will try to post some photos of the trip soon.

KamKam from Paris, postcard from Brussels (mystery postcard #3)

listening: kent -747 (actually the swedish version of 747, which is way better, and the lyrics much more beautiful. )

I wonder where all the time is disappearing. I guess it rushes past while I’m busy at school. Not much computer time lately since I am also doing a three week yoga course. It’s the best thing in a while… yoga suits me.

And school - I really like the courses we have this fall; logo and identity design, typography. Don’t know if I am going to be a typographer, but at least I want to work in something heavily related to it: magazines, books etc.

Guess what! In November my class is traveling to Vilna, Lithuania. We are having a whole week of typography workshop at the local Art Academy. I am looking forward to it.

today’s notes:
Typographicas favourite fonts of 2006
Experimental JetSet (Amsterdam, sigh…)

How is Helsinki, you ask. Colder and crisper than Brussels, probably. But sunny, at least today. Good for long walks, but don’t forget to wear mittens!

“Happy new year!” we said to each other in the morning. And it’s fitting. The fall is always a new start for me. I feel a lot of things are changing - shifting. I like it, I feel awake.

One of my goals this year is to report here more on what I am doing and learning at school. Writing things out like this will probably help me make sense of my education and perhaps even be of interest to someone.

One other thing I decided on today was to start a proper skethchbook/scrapbook/notebook for school, similar to the ones I kept at fashion school. It worked wonders in clarifying my design style and will probably work again. Also I hate it when I feel like I have nothing much to show for my work, a few grubby sketches maybe and a finished project. I want to chart the process too.

I go to a great school, and I really want to experience that to the fullest, that’s why I am trying to concentrate on school more and cut back on work projects now. I feel last year I just waltzed it through… well getting good grades but nevertheless… I was pretty burned out in the end. I hope to spend a bit more time socializing and just lazing about as well.

Today’s highlight was the presentation of Dai Fujiwara at the opening ceremony of the university. He works as a creative director at Issey Miyake (one of my all time favourite designers). I love the A-POC concept. It reminded me what I really want my future work to be - developing ideas and concepts.

The rest of the week will be about more inspiring people. Starting tomorrow we have four days of nothing but guest lecturers talking about things relating to graphic design and design (and sometimes life) in general. It was excellent last year, so I hope to be inspired…

And on Friday there is a party.

Yesterday afternoon, sunny street, moment of peace and relief. Remember that feeling.

I’ve been feeling scattered, distracted, not good at all. My mind spent on these things, stuff I have been pushing away, but I now have to deal with. It is funny how when you start to value yourself in some aspects (work, school) it becomes impossible to ignore other things eating you up. I guess that is called good self esteem.

It’s another busy week at school. A concept for an event, then graphic design to match. Entrance ticket, flyer, probably poster next. Did I say school was easy? I take that back now. Yet I like it that way.

On monday we also had to turn in this big magazine design job, which I slaved over all weekend. That one got so much praise, I felt like blushing. I need to learn to value myself. And better yet, take care of myself.

Scanned some old work. This is actually from entrance exams, last spring. Probably my favourite work then.

At school next week, we have a workshop held by some people from the Anteeksi collective. Should be interesting! All the info we got was to bring a big bunch of stuff: newspaper clippings, thread, buttons etc. Nice change from all the drawing!

Unlike I imagined it, Graphic design school has been less about sitting on the computer and more about pen and paper. Drawing. Illustration course, drawing human figure and drawing from life. (See some of the work, scanned here)

And it’s very different in other ways too. Much less about history and theory and more about just doing stuff. No books to read or papers to write. But maybe there is a hidden agenda, something seeding in our minds, making us go and learn by ourselves… which is surely the best way. I have to admit it was a shock at first, me calling the school a daycare centre, constantly wondering when “the real work” was going to start… But it’s been fun, and challenging and tiring and exciting.

Lately I’ve been busy packing stuff to officially move in with the boy. We are settling in, little by little, soothing all glitches as they come along. Important things, copic markers, shoes and computer, have lived here for a while already and I have started to call it home.

P.S. Oh look, one day the crazy hubby-to-be made this! No toasters, but design books, naturally!

(of course I had to scan it)

I got in!

The results were supposed to come on 21st day, at the latest, but they already came yesterday! I am so incredible happy it is hard to describe. Socks rolling on your feet, like Eero, the friend I got to know in the exams said (he also got in, yay!). Although I feel so weirdly calm, that the whole thing probably hasn’t really sunk in yet.

My total score was 48 (out of 55), and 40 was the lowest score to get in. What makes me most happy is that I got full points for the interview. And for the comic book as well.

What more can I say? Life is changing again…