design, process, research & other bullshit

  • Fresh Meet

  • freshmeet-600x600

    Happenstance magazine cordially invites you to sink your teeth into FRESH MEET, and see what happened when we let some of Sydney’s finest loose on a bunch of body parts.

    With delicious contributions from Ben Ong, Will Loeng, Gemma O’Brien, Jin Hien Lau, Charles Dennington, Daryl Prondoso, Del Lumanta and Rebecca Murphy, FRESH MEET promises an exciting visual feast.

    Come help us put the can back in cannibal from 6pm Thursday July 9, in the basement underneath the Marsu Homme pop-up store, 263 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst. Refreshments provided.

    I’m sick as fuck with swine flu or some shit but I managed to finish this piece for a group exhibition this Thursday, featuring some amazin’ artists and friends, it should be fun times if I manage not to spew everywhere on the night, but I guess that’d be quite fitting. These are going to be hung by meat hooks in a creepy basement. Say hello.

    15939190

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  • Uncategorized, booze, reflection, sex, typography, work // No Comments // 05:08 pm 07-7-09
  • time wastin’

  • I’ve been ignoring this place like I’ve been ignoring sleep and general wellbeing as of late. Boss is out of town so I’m looking after the business for a little over a month,  and while I’m surviving okay it’s the usual case of me taking on more than I can handle without any regard to my sanity - yesterday’s seven deadlines didn’t do me too well. But even so, there’s so many things I’m excited about and inspired from and things I want to create and places I want to go, I’m thinking of taking a few weeks off once my boss comes back just to concentrate on making zines and drawings and recording shitloads of music and put out a bunch of records and cassettes. Or most probably sit around and get stoned and watch Vampyros Lesbos on repeat.

  • booze // No Comments // 11:21 pm 06-28-09
  • ieyeayedentity

  • Last week I turned 22. Last week I also received my new business cards from the printers.


    Logotype set in Alejandro Paul’s ‘Affair’, body type in ‘Minion Pro’


    Eye am me.

    The moniker ‘ieyeaye’ is taken from an album by Rahsaan Roland Kirk, a blind avant garde multi-instrumentalist who was known for playing 3 saxophones at once. I’ve always been a fan of jazz, especially the more improvised and experimental side of it, and Kirk’s ‘The Inflated Tear’ is probably one of my favourite records of all time. In “Bright Moments : The Life and Legacy of Rahsaan Roland Kirk (2000)”, Kirk is quoted to have said “That’s what freedom’s all about learnin’ somethin’ then throwin’ it away.” I can’t play the sax, nor will I ever reach his amount of talent - but, like Kirk, I believe that this way of thinking also encompasses my own design process where freedom, expression, experimentation and improvisation is valued most – and anything and everything goes.

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  • booze, reflection, visual identity // 2 Comments // 06:48 pm 11-8-08
  • Australian Graphic Design Association (AGDA) Awards 2008

  • One of the subjects at our final year at university asks each student to collaborate as a team in an effort to get us familiar with working in a quasi-studio environment.

    We were presented with a brief which involved the visual branding, design and production of a suite of strategic visual communication materials designed to promote and add value to the fourth year design professional creative studio at the University of Western Sydney. The objective was to create a visual brand that: » Expresses the professional standard of the students » Is recognised outside the confines of the university » Is fun yet professional

    Branding your own identity is possibly one of the hardest things you can do as a designer; and after toying with ideas ranging from the playful and rude (4th Base?), we settled with - ‘Rabbit Hole’. A name which probably won’t grab your attention at first glance, but will no doubt grow on you. The name Rabbit Hole stems from Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. The Rabbit Hole is forever changing and expanding, is a place that is creative and unexpected. Not to mention, the studio is hidden away in our humble building, much like a rabbit hole.

    Our brand identity included a number of applications and promotional items; from flyers, stationery, website, motion graphics, to a gallery space and environmental signage, this project was in no means a small undertaking, but it was something which we poured everything into, and something which we are very proud to have completed. You can see more images here.

    Months ago we had decided to enter this project into the AGDA 2008 Biennale Awards and had almost forgotten about it, until a week ago when we were asked to attend the awards evening in Adelaide. Not sure if we had won anything or not (and not expecting to, either), Fiona and I hesitantly packed our bags and headed down - hey, if we didn’t win, at least we would get some free booze and possibly meet Shaun Micallef or Adrian Shaughnessy, right?

    Adelaide, the city of churches, and ‘the city that always sleeps’. I guess Adelaide isn’t really known as a design capital, in fact, all I know Adelaide for is for Coopers beer - which, to be honest, is what I was looking forward to most. I’d never been before, but AGDA’s set of call for entries posters were quite reaffirming.

    “It’s pretty much a small going nowhere town with a lot of dark seedy murders/child mollestations/rock spiders/ etc etc not the sort of town one would move to in a hurry. It has nothing going for it and is boring and gossipy. Turn the clock back to the 80s is what this boring town is all about. Who wants to go there? Delta Goodrem’s mother lives there and Lleyton and he’s a mindless jerk. Who else? A few nobody celebs might call Adelaide home. Why is anyone’s guess.”

    Not surprisingly though, Adelaide is quite a beautiful city with a lot of charm. Though after a 6 am flight, and arriving at our hotel completely ragged after an hour of sleep, the first thing we did was have a nice long nap. This was a recurring motif during this trip, because, despite Adelaide’s charm, there’s absolutely fuck-all to do there.

    On the Friday night we headed to the National Wine Center for some free booze and a chance to see some of the entries and winners. Typically, there were plenty of mentions of Frost, Landor Associates, Saatchi Design, M & C Saatchi, Saatchi & Saatchi, etc. and although it’s expected, their work is usually deserving. There was a lot of hit and miss throughout the exhibition (generic ‘branding swooshes’ of Boystown & spaghetti in a bowl as a visual identity? Please.) but the definite standout to me was Mark Gowing Design - a name which has been around for a while, but was new to me. The poster entry ‘Oil Kills Peace’ deservingly also won the 21st International Poster Biennale in Warsaw, the first Australian designer in its history to have won the gold medal. This is definitely what good poster design is about - simple, bold, and hits straight to the point. ‘Oil Kills Peace’ has such a clear message without ever reaching that cliched territory that most anti-war images do.

    It was definitely bizarre seeing our work hanging up next to some of these designers, like some Disney story where two kids from the shitty side of town go against all odds and make something good out of their lives - but I think that it’s a testament to the work we put into the project, and proof that there’s more to Western Sydney than domestic abuse and junkies. The other student pieces entered were also really amazing. Evi O’s book ‘The Dream Thief’ was a work which I recognised from last year’s UTS Design Graduation Exhibition and really blew me away at the time.

    Our (tiny) work on display at the Wine Center

    Saturday night’s awards dinner hosted by the wonderful Shaun Micallef at the Adelaide Convention Center was a really fancy affair, red carpet and all - although Fi and I almost thought we were in the wrong place as we seemingly wandered through a sea of baggy pants, unshaved moustaches and the stench of Lynx deoderant from the year 10 formal that was being held next door. All of a sudden we didn’t feel so young anymore.


    being cheesy / the room / our work / accepting the award

    The first award announced on the night were the student awards, which myself, Fiona, and five other students received (Shaun Micallef pointing out that while we were the youngest people there, at least our collective ages were older than him). The CEO of Wacom Australia presented this award, and we not only won a golden spoon, but also a new 6x8 Intuos. Expect more doodles from me in the near future.

    The afterparty was fun while it lasted, especially when the DJ spun Make The Logo Bigger. If they had played Original Design Gangsta then we probably would have stayed longer. Hopefully next time.

    Adelaide’s a bit of a shithole but overall, this was a really fun night. It’s not often that everyone from this small industry can come together and stroke each others’ egos pat each other on the back.

    Photos courtesy of Fiona Yap and Samantha Edwards

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  • booze, process, visual identity // No Comments // 01:57 am 10-28-08