in probably the longest hiatus from a blog ever known to man (or maybe not…) the design ducky is back… yes the heart beats again and unlike how it was two years back… there is a sense of purpose to this =)… in the meantime there will be a bit of a re-construction for this blog whilst things get sorted out and updated around here… (the design ducky is still running on WP 2.2?!)
follow the path with the heart and have the courage to follow it…
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i went to the bookstore just yesterday to pick up this book, “caffeine for the creative mind” by stephan mumaw and wendy lee oldfield. the book was not at the design section (as i had initially thought), but it was under self-help, together with a couple of books on creativity and innovation. being a person who sometimes buys books coz the covers look really, really nice (i’m still resisting on the gorgeous covers of penguin books), this was one of those books that i just had to get.
the book contains many different exercises to help you to think differently, a little bit more creatively and sometimes even out of the box. with 250 exercises to do, you would be pretty much occupied for most part of the year. i will be attempting some of the exercises and posting up some of the results on this blog, so keep a look out! i guess by the time i finish the 250 activities, it would constitute a review for the book. =)
as a booster shot, here’s a list of articles i found related to the subject. have fun!
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wow… just stumbled upon bannerblog (was sent a link to a banner from my alma mater) and the first banner on the root page had me interacting with it for a good five minutes (i gotta get the coffee beans out!!).
set up by two aussie creatives, the site serves more as a repository and gallery for the bits of online advertising that you might not have seen (coz we all know how cluttered the web can be…) and it is a good place to get some inspiration even for non-interactive type creatives.
i’m definitely bookmarking the site for future reference!
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the second singapore design festival will be held in nov 07 and looking at their events page, there seems to be quite a few interesting exhibitions and workshops happening.
i’ll probably check out some of the festivities then. =)
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just for the start of the week…
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i’m back… managed to surface from the haze of work and lethargy to write. the past month, i’ve not had much time to sit down and think about the stuff i’ve read elsewhere in the web so no postings.
i found this link while surfing the web and it is something that have been crossing my mind since i’ve started work. it is an article by the design institute of australia (DIA) talking about having a career in design, its pros and cons.
no matter whether you are an experienced designer or a student of design that’s just starting out in the industry… there must have been times when you’ve asked yourself ‘do i really want to be a designer? what makes me a designer? what makes a good designer? am i cut out to be one?’
i have seen a couple of ex-designers who are now in careers that are somehow related to design (eg: marketing) or totally not (eg: logistics!!). when i ask them, why did you decide to change careers?, most of them often cite the low pay, competition and that they are not good enough to make it as reasons.
then there are also those who are freelancing and enjoying the freedom whilst also lamenting the instability of the paychecks… but still designing… so it truly falls on the individual to see what their strengths and weakness are and how determined they are to succeed as a designer.
it is pretty easy to be “designer”… know the pre-requisite design software, get a few contacts and projects etc, and voila~! you are a designer! even the DIA also mentions this in their article:
Another major problem throughout the industry is that there are many people calling themselves ‘designers’ who simply don’t have the necessary skills and qualifications.
adding to this pool are designers from other practices (industrial, fashion etc) and we end up with too many designers competing for the limited amount of jobs out there, with cut-throat prices available (how many times have you seen adverts for designing services at ridiculously low pricing?)
after reading the article and thinking it through, i feel that the challenge actually comes in staying true to the chosen path. many of us may start off being a designer and end up doing other things along the way due to changing interests, or seeing friends/peers in other industries who are earning loads more for doing less (sobs) and having to struggle internally to compromise between being creative and earning enough to ensure a relatively good life ahead.
to that i would repeat what i’ve read elsewhere and what my friend have said to me: ‘do what you are truly passionate in and the money would come’
/end of ramble
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have not been posting as regularly as i had hoped but i will endeavour to do so nonetheless…
as such, i have decided to do a little research and look around for any blogs talking about design, specific to asia/SEA. i realised that alot of designers whose blogs that i manage to find and read are from aussie or uk or us… that is why i decided to start this compilation.
so what better way of starting than with my home country… singapore… with our current push for a more creative and vibrant city… i found it amazing hard to find blogs about design in this tiny island… in fact i found more blogs talking about making money online than about design… so i guess it is a very ‘niche’ subject to talk about at the moment:
and then we have the blogs from the top design companies in singapore:
i guess this mini-list shall be it until i discover more blogs hiding out there in the world wide web. if you come across any singapore design blog, do drop me a comment and i’ll update accordingly.
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