lol.

Ok, so I guess I shouldn't feel so inadequate when clients don't choose my designs. This is what two different clients went with:
So gross. It confuses me.

Freelance :O

Recently I've been trying to get into freelancing. Right now I'm designing handbills for an Asian American variety show at the Palace of Fine Arts in SF. They want something hip, clean, bold, sorta retro (and said something like the (r)evolutions design would work). It's all very rough right now (i.e. the text, colors, etc), this is just for the client to get an idea of the different directions I could go in.Nothing very asian american about these designs, but... not so sure how to pull that off without doing the obvious KANJI here, PAGODA there, and a lil bit of GENERIC ASIAN FONT.

I'm not charging nearly as much as people suggest that I should, but it's what I gotta do to keep the clients happy... and to keep my clients. period. It's kinda rough, but at least I'll be getting SOME form of compensation.. blahblahblahblah

im tired. time to sleep.

Progress

So within two days of my last entry, I did what I said I wanted to do. I finished tweaking my old portfolio and I applied to three jobs. Yay?

Only kind of yay. I really suspect that my old portfolio can't compete with people who actually studied/majored in graphic design. So... it's back to designing that new one. My portfolio should show what I can do and should reflect my design style. I have a new set of eyes vs. 6 months ago, so making a new portfolio makes sense. I decided to make intro pages for each section of my portfolio - graphic design, architecture, and art. These aren't done. I want to include pictures of the projects and their page numbers somewhere. I just put placeholder text there for now.
For the graphic design page, I wanted it to look like pixels or something. It looks more like plaid to me right now (which isn't a bad thing). I think it looks fine. For the architecture page, I modeled an old project from 11B in SketchUp (luls), and made an axon. Finally, for the art page, I drew the titles and such with my tablet.

New Portfolio

It has been a while.

This is my last week working at the architecture and graphic design firm I've been interning at for the Summer. I'd love to stay, but I just can't afford it. So I'll be moving back to Vallejo... until I can find a job.

I've been meaning to apply for jobs for the past two weeks or so, but progress has been slow. I've been updating and redesigning my resume. And I just decided that I would also redo my portfolio. Yikes. It didn't take me very long to dislike my old portfolio. I figure I might be able to get a better job with a better looking portfolio. So far...
...Not much. Let's just hope this doesn't take too long. And let's also hope that I won't get tired of this one in 10 seconds either.

There goes the fear

To stay or not to stay in Berkeley???? :(
I haven't applied for any jobs yet, even though I told myself I would a month ago.

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My brother got me this cool book from Japan. It comes with 140 different fonts. Exciting.

Web concept stuff

These are design proposals I made for a newletter management company. A couple days ago, I was worrying about not having anything new to put in my portfolio, but I'm extremely satisfied with how these turned out.

By the way, I have an online portfolio @ coroflot.com/brianjocson

Creeper

I guess my new hobby is finding people who are either sleeping or not paying attention to me and sketching them. I can't help but feel like an awkward stalker/creep/weirdo/loser, but.... i feel like it's really good practice. And everyone's favorite building on campus. /sarcasmThe past few days have been pretty eventful, but today has been really relaxing (or boring?). It's got me thinking about what I'm going to do after this internship. I want to be paid. I started looking on Craigslist for full time jobs... there are a ton more graphic design jobs than architecture ones. Too bad I don't feel quite qualified enough for those. I don't like my portfolio anymore, but most people know how long that took me to put together (HAHAHHA......). I'm hesitant to apply for anything - I don't know if its because I'm procrastinating or if I'm scared.

More sketches

Sketches of Seattle, the airport, some old dudes sitting, and the view from my apartment.

Still Life: Teapot

Just a quick still life. I tried a different technique than usual. The actual teapot had colorful flowers on it, but I thought it looked too distracting/out of place when I tried it out. Overall it looks flat IMO. And I don't like the background.

New Sketchbook

I got a new sketchbook! I bought it before last semester ended. I've decided this time around, it will be more of a book of sketches. I think I tried too hard/spent too much time on each drawing in my old sketchbook. I also want to try to do more life studies, etc.

Today I went on campus for a little bit and sketched Stephens Hall. I would've sketched more, but it got cold. I always find drawing in new sketchbooks intimidating - I don't want to mess up the crisp, pristine pages. I also have a tendency to leave the first page or two blank. I have no idea why.

Within me a lunatic sings

If you don't already know, I'm back in Berkeley. After being sad and sentimental about how much I'll miss everything, I spent a week at home, only to move back to Berkeley again for the summer. I have an unpaid summer internship at an architecture, web, and graphics design firm on University Avenue. It's a super small firm (there are only 2 people), but I figure I'll be able to gain a lot of experience in three different fields I'm interested in. That's not something I could do with any other position. I've been able to learn more about Flash, CSS, Drupal, and we might enter a architecture competition. I've also been proposing new design ideas for their new website. It's pretty exciting, but it took getting used to 8.5 hour shifts. I was initially thinking of working back at the library part time in the evenings, but... I like/need my free time kthx.

Being back in Berkeley feels strange.
It's comforting to see familiar places.
It's weird that certain people aren't around.
It's a lot more quiet.
It's not the same.
I still miss it.

Directions

1. Clean the floors. Wash the dishes. Wipe the dust in those untouched places. Make sure the place looks cleaner than you've ever seen it.

2. Collect your belongings. Turn in your keys. Throw away the things you don't need. Make sure there's no trace that anybody lived here.

3. Turn around. Take one last look. Look long and concentrate hard. Make sure not to forget the things that were once inside.

Closing Time

I know the last days I'll ever see certain people are approaching. I think it's already happening. I randomly saw an old friend yesterday and we had a short conversation. We ended with "See you later," even though I think we both knew we might never see each other again.

I can walk across campus now and feel like a student, but once I graduate I know this feeling will change. Berkeley will slowly change without me and it'll become unfamiliar. I thought about this after the last day of my decal on Northside. Is this the last time I'll ever see this side of Berkeley? Sometimes I want to go to certain places and just soak in the atmosphere. I don't want to forget what a lazy weekend feels like in Berkeley, or what watching the sunset from the 6th floor of Wurster Hall looks like. Right now these memories are vivid and I'm living them, but I know the details will eventually be lost over time. If only there was something to rescue this phase of my life from ending.

This town has been ours for the last four years. We walked up and down its streets, made friendships here, and lived here for four years. Here's to three more weeks of possibly the best experience of my life.

Finals Schedule

Here's my life for the next two and a half weeks.
Conclusion: Next week will be insane. Finals week will be relaxing.

I didn't get the Pixar internship.

Oh well... there's always next year?? lawl.

Fat Cat's Dilemma: part I

So I'm taking this decal on how to use Maya, a 3D modeling and animation program that big time companies like Pixar use. By the end of the class, we're supposed to have a short film. My group is making one about a cat who can't get on the bed because he's too fat. lawl.

Here's what I've been working on.

The only things I didn't do in this room was the night stand next to the bed, and shade the purple cat clock. But other than that I did all the modeling, lighting, texturing/shading, etc.

But I didn't make the cat. But it looks insanely awesome

Portfolio

Here it is. Not bad for 3 weeks worth of drawing.
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At the post office, this was my ticket. Is it a sign??? I think Earl Stevens a.k.a. E Feezy is trying to tell me something.