Upskilling: Drawing Sasuke With Sketch And Wacom Tablet

My most recent labour of love project began two months back when my then-11-year-old son requested for a drawing of Sasuke, a beloved character in the popular Manga series, 'Naruto'.

I've always wanted to learn how to use Photoshop, but in the course of building my career as a writer in the last 20-odd years, I never had the time. My Art Directors and I were always chasing deadlines. 

It was not meant to be.

The Wacom Tablet kindly lent to me by Primus Nair (Chief Creative Officer, Lego, Singapore HQ a year back), allowed me to explore layers and various brushes. I practised using it whenever I had time to spare, and finally figured out which pens and brushes suited me most.

This drawing ate up whatever little free time I had but it was worth it.

I framed it up and gifted it to my son on his 12th birthday, which we celebrated a few days ago. His face lit up behind his mask as he took it out of my hands.  I can say this because every mother knows when her child is happy (or sad). 

Plus, I could feel the warmth from where I sat. 

Musings: Taking on the World in Downtime

From time to time, when I am not bogged down with work and parenting, I sit down with my pen, paper and Canva app (yes, I am promoting this app for the multiple times it has helped me - to explore basic layouts, send personalised sketches to friends, and whip up the parent support group's newsletters for my kids' school).

Here are some of my musings.

Mock Radio Spots for Raya 2021: Spotify

I've been helping Fuse Adventures in Audio write several spots for their Spotify clients the past two years.The most recent job was to create several Hari Raya mock radio spots to market to their own roster of clients.

Of course, when approaching the task at hand, I tried to create several flavours in tone and manner -- emotive, serious, dramatic, funny.  After all they have clients ranging from F&B to Telecommunications.

Unfortunately, in mind-reading their own clients, they decided to keep within the safer range of emotive and as-a-matter-of-fact. 

Here are links to three out of the five spots that were produced. These are the less straight-up announcer-driven scripts, of course. 

'Rituals': https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yXhi5fUS1dV0n_t5Noz7Ov7XUFtXyca6/view?usp=sharing

'Love, Mum': https://drive.google.com/file/d/1m-iV8o4k1gfSJqswP43-xti2wtvOX6-C/view?usp=sharing

'Do More': https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VzTfPqPb_fAk31Htr1b9cR3CmRoWjMRm/view?usp=sharing

For an idea of sillier, more attention-grabbing scripts, check below:

Iftar: Giant(s)

                                           

'Sahur': With Parrot

Stories Told in Tiles: Johnson & Johnson

Imaginne Asia embarked on website revamp for Malaysia's Johnson & Johnson Tiles in August 2017.

The website was to target both B2B and B2C businesses. The brand story upon which it was designed revolves around the idea of high-performance tiles that suit various tastes and lifestyles, needs as well as criteria. We could claim this as the brand was simultaneously launching its bespoke service, allowing us to showcase the flexibility of its tile range.

Whether the target market was an architect, key contractor or everyday consumer, we wanted to promote the concept of personalisation since everyone brings to their private spaces or projects, their personal influences, personalities, ideas and experiences. 

Positioned as an enabler with decades of expertise in tile manufacturing, we created a clean look dominated by a single, strong vermillion colour for its friendliness and symbolisation of creativity. 

The tagline -- Stories Told in Tiles --was created to bring to life the concept of 'every tile for every tale'. 

To browse the website proper, click: https://www.johnsontiles.com.my/about/

Landing Page

About Us

Bespoke Service

Project Case Studies

Product Range

Product Range Selections

Tile Range Details

More Tile Range Details

Tile Locator

New Doodles, New Styles

From greeting cards to simple quotes based on my observations of life, here are a few doodles I've done using both the Paper 53 and Sketch apps. I do it all on my iPhone 6, using only...my index finger.

One day I'll buy that iPad Pro with that snazzy pen and palette of styles, colours and what-nots.

Politicians are so full of secrets
they can't hide

For a dear friend and ex-student

It was that sort of night

Experimenting with a style for son's football coach

Yes, we are, so stay humble

Bright, simple lines, child-like

Water-colour effect

A Country That Can Feed Itself: SAFEF Website 2018

The Singapore Agro-Food Enterprises Federation Limited (SAFEF) is a non-profit organisation that has been quietly working on creating a self-sustained Singapore that won't have to rely heavily on food imports in the near future.

Comprising farms from the food-fish, livestock and vegetable sectors of the industry as well as several industry associates, its aim is to actively promote local produce and encourage local farming by providing research, technological and marketing assistance to players, big and small. (No more difficult bargains with Malaysia on vegetables then!)

The brief was to create a very simple, educational website that would quickly introduce the nuts and bolts of the federation to business associates, potential investors and the general public. As a body with governmental backing, the tone and manner had to be professional and clean, yet accessible. Given a small budget and photos from the federation's initiatives, our goal for the design was simply to strike a balance between looking modern, scientific and approachable.

(I will provide a link once the website is officially launched.)

"Trapped": 3D Audio Spot for Spotify Immersion Workshop (SG), 2019

Spotify offers immersive audio experiences for its clients.  To market its product and service to advertisers in Singapore, I was tasked to create a 2-3 minute script earlier this year that could help accentuate the audio benefits of 3D sound technology. Same brief as the one for KL, only a different set of clients looking forward to something different, and bigger!

Bearing in mind the time limitations, and also how sound can travel outward, inward and from left to right (and vice-versa), I wrote a script about a couple trapped in a cave. It's just one of those settings that would offer a rich source of effects to bring the technology to life.

To build a climax, I created a monster (pun intended) twist that would allow the sound engineers to play with volume, depth and distance. And end the experience with a bang. Listen to the spot here.

Source: Unsplash