Society 6 Shop

Check it out guys, spend all your hard-earned money on my stuff next year, all right? ;) (Because you're worth it).

Figured I'd do a shop because I had a few people interested in buying something with this design on on my Tumblr. I don't have time to put up more designs yet because of Christmas and two major deadlines coming up, but I'll update when I have some more! Of course I am open to suggestions. :) This is the original design:

Yes, it's Teen Wolf. No one is surprised! It's a muse and an angsty delight.

Update: Circles

Birthday and project

My birthday was earlier this week, so I am officially 23! I have yet to have any panic attacks or worries connected to it, which is odd 'cause it tends to happen every year, twice really -on my birthday and around new years eve. I believe the reason is that I just feel very comfortable! There are fewer things I regret not doing, because I've gone after a lot more than I usually do. I've been keeping my own promise of challenging myself, actually trying and then maybe failing, but at least have being proud of having tried at all! I'm going after the position of student rep, which I haven't done since 5th grade(?), + I'm doing freelance work, working on my school work NOT at the last minute. Doing stuff socially that I'm really interested in doing rather than going to clubs I don't like with music I can't stand just because that's what I think people normally do. Going bowling later today, been to touristy stuff, indie nights, small shows at tiny venues, been swimming, jogging on my own, talking to tutors, talking to classmates. Generally just trying my best!

Soo for school work I've been making a hell of a lot of circles. I can tell as much as the way of working here is a LOT different than at Buskerud University College.. (Hibu), We get a very basic, general brief and we're told to generate from that our own take and to make our own brief basically. Which is very odd for me who is usually very worried and anal about following a brief to a tee, and I'm sure it is another sign of how right this stay might be for me. I need to loosen up and trust my instincts/knowledge. + do the friggin work, not expect it to jump out in front of me at the end of the day! A few samples, all by hand for now:

School stuff

There has been a lot of freshers-week stuff going on that I haven't been too preoccupied with so far, except for the first week's international gatherings. I guess I've been to enough of these to know the gist of it. That is to say I haven't been very anti-social, yesterday I saw Mumford & Sons at an in-store show in East-London and was about 4 people away from the actual tiny stage, so that was brilliant. Did see David McCaffrey and Joe Banfi later the same evening at "The Social", a lovely venue not far from Oxford Street. Plus I got myself some kick-ass high-heeled Doc Martins at a vintage store, which was a bold choice considering it's me, but I got a discount and everything so it was a good match. They look smoking too btw, and it's making me want a leather jacket to complete the bad-ass set. I might've gotten one right there, if I wasn't such a cheap-skate..

Other stuff I've seen? Well.. I went with another new friend to The Tower of London and was a proper tourist, and another day we went to a party +, also in London. Did manage to miss the tube though. - and then the train. So expensive cab fare = yaaay! Lovely.

My flat is a good mix of two Americans, an Indian girl, a guy from Nigeria and a girl from China.  No other Norwegians in the flat! Which surprises me as there are SO many here. But my flat is all postgraduate students so I guess the norwegians are mostly undergrad?(Doing their bachelors).

Today was actually the first time I was on my campus, which is Knights Park, the FADA(The Faculty of Art, Design & Architecture)'s campus. Very Artsy, and very comfortable enviroment so far. + what looks to be a very relaxed bar(!). It was just an English language session for international students, and even though I consider myself proficient in spoken English, I hate friggin grammar rules. I mean.. Do I really need to be able to come up with "phrasal verbs" at a moments notice? I don't even remember what the different tenses are. :] I just read and watch tv and then I just learn what's appropriate to say and what's not? Oh well, it works fine as long as I don't limit myself to 17th century classics. (My english turned extremely posh and weird the last time I did that). 

Random photos to try and cover up what feels like to me to be a massive text post!:

Block/Flat

One of three foxes that roam the grounds at night

Part of the pretty grounds

In front of The Tower of London - White Tower

Same spot as the one before, different view.
And yes I have a wonderful fisheye lens which my sister + fam got for me < 3

Project: Deck of Cards #4

Derek Hale from Teen Wolf. Played by Tyler Hoechlin. He will be playing the part of the brooding Alpha King of Spades. I'm being a perfectionist with the actual Spades symbol, so the Graphic design part will come at a later time!

Project: Deck of Cards #3

A little update: I leave for England in two weeks from today! Super excited and devastated at the same time, just about what I expected to feel right about now... I've had a full-time summer job these past two months, so there hasn't been time to really think about it, but now it's dawning on me and I feel exceptionally motivated! Thanks to the job I now have more work experience and a new computer! Yay me! + It was a very friendly place to work and I got to manage the in-house printer shop for three of the 7-or so weeks, so definitely no regrets.

Other than that I have a little thing to show you who might be stopping by. Hello there! *goofy wave* It is potentially an update on my little project of playing cards that I have mentioned earlier on the blog:

Process shot

Another Stiles from Teen Wolf illustration! I'm so predictable, I know. I'm contemplating doing him as an ace of spades central image, insted of a mirrored one as a jack, cause he's pretty much the ace of the show (see what I did there). I was doing it in blue/white, but the standard black/white one seems a bit more classic and clean.  Care to share any thoughts?

Stiles.

I might've turned into a full-fledged Teen Wolf fangirl. I must say though, I don't regret it. At all. Inspiration is always welcome! This is a digital painting/portrait of my favourite character, Stiles Stilinski. Funny as hell.

Reference picture

I spy

Mikhael Paskalev - I spy from André Chocron on Vimeo.

Shake that booty. (Love this song)

Frida Amundsen - Closer from André Chocron on Vimeo.

Just one of the cutest video I've seen lately! I was squeeing. Seriously.

Drawing male profile

Project: Deck of Cards #2

"A playing card is a piece of specially heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper,  cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic, marked with distinguishing motifs and used as one of a set for playing card games. Playing cards are typically palm-sized for convenient handling.

The front (or "face") of each card carries markings that distinguish it from the other cards in the deck and determine its use under the rules of the game being played. The back of each card is identical for all cards in any particular deck, and usually of a single color or formalized design"
(...)
"Though specific design elements of the court cards are not relevant to game play and many differ between designs, a few elements of the English pattern are notable. The Jack of Spades, Jack of Hearts, and King of Diamonds are drawn in profile, while the rest of the court are shown in full face; these cards are commonly called "one-eyed".
(...)
"The King of Hearts is the only King with no mustache, and is also typically shown with a sword behind his head, making him appear to be stabbing himself. This leads to the nickname "suicide king".^[27] The axe held by the King of Diamonds is behind his head with the blade facing toward him. He is traditionally armed with an axe while the other three kings are armed with swords, and thus the King of Diamonds is sometimes referred to as "the man with the axe". This is the basis of the trump "one-eyed jacks and the man with the axe". The Jack of Diamonds is sometimes known as "laughing boy".^[28] The Ace of Spades, unique in its large, ornate spade, is sometimes said to be the death card, and in some games is used as a trump card. The Queen of Spades usually holds a scepter and is sometimes known as "the bedpost Queen", though more often she is called "Black Lady". In many decks, the Queen of Clubs holds a flower. She is thus known as the "flower Queen" (though in many playing cards from Germany and Sweden she is depicted with a fan)"

- Wikipedia

Stuff to inspire:

There's more here: http://pinterest.com/kjeri/cards/

Oh my there's some really cool stuff out there! 

Stuff I'm considering: Doing a fandom deck. I like the idea of having as few colours as possible, and having the light/dark contrast really graphic(and awesome, hopefully). Let's hope I don't spend too much time oogling these! ^^

Project: Deck of Cards #1

 I've been pondering for some time now of what could be a fun, decent sized project for me to do during what might well be my last school related summer vacation. I apparently spent too much time thinking because suddenly I found myself with some extra weeks of work from what was only supposed to be a three-week thing at a printers office. Not that I'm complaining, I wouldn't be able to get a new lap-top which I'm currently browsing for without it. I've just decided to put this up here and hope that it will make me more inclined to work on it when I'm not at -work-.

We were given a project my first year at my Artsy upper secondary school (11th grade I believe) to make a few cards out of a deck of playing cards inspired by a era in art history that we'd learnt about. At least that's about as much I can gather from my notes. This still stands as one of the most inspiring assignments I've ever worked on. I was at the peak in my anatomy phase and slightly tilting towards the uprising emo "scene" (I never went all the way, I got as far as loving My Chemical Romance, photoshopping pictures to death, dying my hair dark red and wearing stripes and black tulle.)

Yup, pretty much. This isn't that bad actually. BUT! But my point was: I once worked on a kick-ass project and I'd like to try again! After 5 more years of creative education I'm bound to have improved.. right? Well first off I think it would be fun to show my original research and result! (All writing is in Norwegian)

So let's see what I might accomplish with a second try! Don't expect it to be done in a jiffy, I'm working full time at the moment after all!

News about my future!

Hahaa! Guess what! Or not. Just read it on the right-hand side. There you go. I've been accepted to do my Masters degree in Graphic Design at Kingston University (of witchcraft and wizardry...no?). for the next year. So I'll be practically living in London for an entire year. I must say it's a dream come true, since apparently those three months in Sunderland wasn't enough!

I may or may not keep you updated on this, let's just see how it goes and how busy I'll be.

Book recommendation (graphic design)

Ok I've had it. This book is just too nice to keep for myself.

While our class was on a trip to London a few months ago we visited the Design Museum and of course looked at some really great stuff in the exhibits, but what made me really happy that day was one of the best gift shops ever. It was more of a design + design books shop, and I'm serious, I pretty much wanted to bring all of the books back home with me. Sadly, my arms and wallet can only sustain so much damage, so I narrowed it down to one book. It took me forever, the others were literally waiting for me so we could leave at the end. The book I keep being impressed by is "Introducing: Visual Identities for Small Businesses".

The deal is they show work of somewhat small, and sometimes low-budget visual identities for small businesses. Which I'm sure you got from the title. (Oh how smart you are). There's a lot of diversity and it's great to have to browse through just to get a zap of inspiration and know that it can be done even if you're not a multi-million dollar design agency! Just check these out:
Aren't they great? And these aren't even the best of the bunch, as I got lazy/am busy and just borrowed these from the publisher's website. So you want to know where to get it do you? Well here or at Amazon are both good places to look. Or you could go to London, that's always the best choice.

Ta-da! Back to reading for my oral exam. Yup! I'm sure that would include reading CAP&DESIGN. Wink.

All pictures from Gestalten (They have a lot of other brilliant art & design books so you should check that out too while you're at it.)

Inspiration is cross pollination.

Marian Bantjes gives an interesting talk about how she has gone from the strictly impersonal graphic design work into a more personal and artistic approach, and the fact that she has never been more successful.




It's a bit of fresh air while I take a breather from the theoretical part of my studies.

Hasn't everyone seen Pinterest by now?

Well, just in case you haven't I figured it would be a good thing to show you. I keep spending a lot of time there gathering inspiration for Graphic Design, "Fashion", Interior Design, Photography, Tattoos - you name it, it's probably there in some form. Follow your friends, enemies(the competition) or strangers with great taste. Most of all: Enjoy it while it's there. (Cue mumbling about grey-area copyright wise). Just remember to give credit!

A link to my boards in case you're curious: http://pinterest.com/kjeri/

Mikhael Paskalev

MIKHAEL PASKALEV - SUSIE from Mikhael Paskalev on Vimeo.

Quite lovely.

Fresh Guacamole - Pes

Fascinating, innit? :)

kjerstinasak.com

Guess who went and finally got herself a proper domain name for her portfolio?

Go check it out: kjerstinasak.com

Planning my future?

Slowly but surely it seems my time at Buskerud University College is running out. The focus is still heavy on the school work but for some time now I’ve had a nagging feeling about how I’m going to get ready for what is to come, (real life). Of course I have been thinking about this for quite some time now, but it feels a lot more real now that I’m just months from the leap. Do I have the knowledge? Is my portfolio sound enough to start applying to junior design positions or should I continue at a private design school to get some more practice? All I know is I need to prepare myself thoroughly to make this work. Of course I’m aware that I will encounter good and bad periods throughout this and I wouldn’t be surprised if it took me more than a year to get the kind of job I’d be satisfied with as a Graphic Designer, I kind of expect it actually. This implies that I will constantly be searching for businesses who need new people, developing new work for my portfolio and in the meantime get a different job to have something to go on - I do like having a bed and eating real food you know, gotten quite accustomed to it. Plu as a side-note I also think it will be very important to make the other (hopefully) employer aware of my plans, because getting a bad rep as an employee anywhere certainly won’t do you any good.

So what do I do? I research. 

There’s a few articles I just read that I’d really like to show you:

http://graphicpush.com/hiring-a-junior-designer

 -          Not exactly new, but it shows what you’re expected to know. The comments also show a healthy dialogue of education vs. being self-taught

http://www.hugoandcat.com/careers_junior_designer.aspx

-          Some really good points about what you should try to contribute with when you don’t have too much experience. 

http://www.lifeclever.com/talent-isnt-everything-7-habits-of-highly-effective-junior-designers/

-          Some pointers to remember that you might know of but haven’t really put into context. This one isn’t recent either, but I think it shows some general ideas that transfer well into today’s market. And I’m also quite sure these three can translate into the Norwegian design business. Disagree? Please do comment! Any discussion on this will be quite helpful.

Guess who's back

Aaand then she was home again. Well I was actually back around Christmas time, but I didn't feel like writing about it then. I'm a bit miffed, yet back on track in the place they call "Norway" (It's actually Norge, dumbasses) I must say I miss all the drawing, the short travel distance and of course the people. (Which I keep repeating on facebook incidentally). It's quite a contrast going from what felt like a stressful version of my favourite playtime with coloured pencils, cutting and pasting and adobe basics, to mostly business and project related stuff here at home. I've gotten much better at maintaining focus during lectures after the substancial break from it, so I'll count it as a success. 

 Indeed.

How did my trip to Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England change me, or what have I learned? Well I reconfirmed that I do in fact enjoy drawing and being creative. Watercolours are fun. I still posess the ability to befriend new and amazing people - I have highly exaggerated my "lone wolf" tendencies before now. I'm more confident when it comes to my English (which I'm not sure I needed because I'm getting a bit cocky about it, bad Kjerstin). I can present my own work again which I was much better at before I started Uni. I love snack cheeses now. Vinegar on Chips is the bomb. Fireball Whisky and apple juice shouldn't be alcoholic cause it tastes like liquid Christmas and I wish I could drink it all the friggin time. Use any excuse to promote yourself. Be more forward to leave an impression on people. German people are cooler than I thought. Eat ALL the popcorn! I finally got the hang of paragraph styles in Indesign (about time). Always plan ahead of time, cause you never have the amount of time you think you have...

 Bye-bye Sunderland, bye Clanny House...

BBC Sherlock drawing

You should watch BBC Sherlock. Just saying!