2012/07/07

May I have one, please?

miniature of japanese ramen stall
In Tokyo after dark, you can easily meet this kind of tiny mobile cart, usually they were operated by one chef; oden, ramen, deep fry snack...are what they've sold. They are "heaven" for late night pals especially in Winter time.

Tiny light bulb in paper lantern spreading a warm atmosphere all over this small corner, steam rises from hot dishes; chatting with the chef or even have a drink of hot sake is the most relaxing moment. Or, if you want to enjoy your private minute..."be my guest", this lonely stranger will sincerely prepare your food behind the scene.

This may not be a perfect job for most of us, it earns little, lonely, working late night, no prospect in most people's eye...but it keep oneself survive with dignity.

Wherever there is free air in the country, we can have our choice, there is no need to live in others measure or in another way round, being follow the majority below pressure. Will it be only a dream? to some country, Yes! If we don't have to live in threat, we are so lucky...and it's always my pleasure to have another night here.

May God bless Hong Kong.



2012/06/29

做個無悔的設計師

個題目好似沉重咗啲,不過適逢七一將至,實在不得不令我又再思考係呢十五年國家“領導”下,身為設計師嘅我哋,究竟做口咗啲咩?

設計需要有自由嘅土壤去作為基礎,如果冇,世上就唔會有創作空間,我唸呢樣大家都好明白.以往我哋呢類人多數都對政治冇咩興趣,無論係辦公室政治或者係社會上嘅政治,總覺得只要冇人限制我哋做咩同唸咩就得啦...真係冇?

“基本法廿三條”,“網絡廿三條”,電視新聞/報紙嘅選擇性報導,高鐵事件,領匯事件,谷歌事件,普選問題,人權問題,各式各樣嘅壟斷情況,禁呢樣禁嗰樣...幾時我哋變得咁無知,咩嘢都要“人”管,要“人”教,連辛苦搵番嚟嘅錢都強迫要比人扣起,係要你去“投資”!

你仲覺得我哋嘅自由土壤好穩陣?如果你覺得只要仲係設計行而又搵到食就懶理週圍發生緊咩事的話,又或者覺得用七一遊行去提醒國家我哋係有自由意志嘅人=無聊搞事;咁我寧願任你話都要係香港仲有機會發聲嘅時候行出一步,做個無悔的設計師(香港人).

2012/06/15

心思 just a little bit more...

精緻可愛的卡通人物日式便當


從來都覺得日本人對做便當很有心思,即使家庭主婦每天為家人預備上班或上課的便當,為了保持新鮮感及食慾,即使日復一日,她們仍能在飯面上做出各式各樣色彩繽紛而又有趣味的裝飾.上圖這個雖然有點商業味,但仍不失為一個精彩的設計.

對,是設計!我想,要用食材擺出這個畫面,其實不知不覺間已運用了平面及立體設計的技巧.只是在日常瑣事中,我們不太留意罷了.下次再遇到要處理一些慣常事務時,不妨加多少少心思,也許會有新的體驗?!

Lunchbox - to us, it's only a kind of daily supply : a piece of sandwich, some red green vegetable salad, rice, noodle and soup... but most of the Japanese housewife spend great effort to decorate them for their kid & husband; we can see from lots of the TV drama, it's a kind of proud for a man of having a wife who can prepare a delicious and pretty decorated lunchbox which is more superior among others.

Even it is only a routine work for a housewife, they just add a little bit more of creativity, they may not even recognize it is related to graphic & 3D design, but simply aim to refresh their family member's appetite..... the result is difference. 

It may apply to us, too; how about just step a little bit further, be a little bit more well thinking, or creative, may be we can turn a bore/messy work into a delicious "bei' don" (lunchbox)!

2012/06/09

Before And After

There is a folder on my desktop which I've been keeping for a while, the original is a html shared by a friend whom I forgot who she is (sorry pal!) But the content inside is really amazing, although you may find something similar recently in the internet, those were done on the ground, these... are all onto an exterior of a building or wall; what the artist did not only enhance the overall environment, but create a virtual space for us to take a break with an applause to their creativity and superior technique.
Have your coffee ready, lets enjoy :)






Building exterior without wall mural 1
Before

Building exterior with ancient Greek wall mural enhancing
and After


Building exterior without wall mural 2
Before

Exterior wall mural with arch and fountains
and After






Building exterior without wall mural 3
Before

Wall mural of liberty
and After




Building interior without wall mural 1
Before

Building interior with wall mural to create another space
and After




Building exterior without wall mural 4 
Before
and After








Trompe l'oeil Murals by Eric Grohe
Trompe l'oeil Murals by Eric Grohe

2012/05/18

Farewell to Restaurant City

Restaurant City is going to close in the coming June, a lot of 'fans" feel disappointed or a little anger because they put so much effort into it, to build their dream cafe; some may even pay cash to buy their favor items.

I've checked my post and there was one in Mar 2010 "No risk no gain?"  talking about this game which I did enjoy playing with some more reason behind.

Now it comes to an end and what we've got finally?

Same piece of virtually land gives you the flexibility to build your favor moment...in the side walk cafe? at a busy night market? enjoy a big meal in a small Japanese inn? a never ending party in an icy cold castle? Lots of imaginations you can have.

If you told me that you've learned the clue to create your own cafe business, or how to fine tune your buying behavior, or how to make good use of your time avoid being a RC addict...congratulations.

To me, it's simply joy : because I love to layout, especially with such beautiful elements that the team created + Dream - the energy source in our life.  

Thank you! Restaurant City :)
         

Spring - a nap at the pool side cafe of Hyatt Regency Macau  

Game scene of Summer - have a Tong Yum Kong at twilight moment in Phuket town
Summer - have a Tong Yum Kong at twilight moment in Phuket town   

Game scene of Autumn - enjoy an onsen spa in a Ryokan
Autumn - enjoy an onsen spa in a Ryokan
Game scene of Winter - 24/7 Halloween+Christmas party
Winter - 24/7 Halloween+Christmas party

2012/05/08

Hard day...

Bert's Bath by James Flad
Had a hard day? How about a COOL shower :)

2012/05/01

3D Ready?

3D in rendering process
從針筆到電腦, 由AutoCad到Sketchup, 不知不覺又走進3D Rendering的世界,真的無可避免嗎?如果可以,我還是想逃避...但當你一踏入這個虛擬空間,又會被那種無限制的可塑性深深吸引着.

以往我們所熟識的3D軟件總離不開3dsmax, Autocad 3D, V-ray, Maya, Z Brush, Maxwell...等,有些以程式員作為開發對象,所以介面設計得異常複雜及沉悶;又或以集合所有對手軟件功能於一身為目的,結果落得粗製濫造收場,單單打開軟件已花了不少時間,更惶論真正運算時要用強勁的硬件組合去抵銷.另外有些其實是比較適用於動畫製作上的,硬要用於室內或產品設計,就變得大才小用,難以發輝軟件的強大效能了.

Sketchup的出現,令3D發展成由一般設計師及建築師亦可自行由概念演繹至立體空間,不用假手於人,設計流程變得更暢順,效果也更易掌握.3D Rendering 軟件亦百花齊放:Blender, Shaderlight, Twinlight, Lightwave, C4D, Kerkythea, Artlantis, Rhino.......等等,等等!問題是,現今的硬件及軟件雖然頗成熟,但在香港,人材仍然缺乏.何解?進深研習,不停測試,對光線及美感的掌握,對各種物料受光及反光特質的研究等...又是回到“時間”及“基礎訓練”這兩個問題上.

無疑我們的“快餐文化”容不下“精心”製作,但期望仍然有一些在3D效果製作上有熱誠的同行,用心去發展,令我們的成品水準不至過分落後於其他西方設計師.

Starting from technical pen on paper, move on to computer Autocad in 2D; a bit further from 2D to Sketchup 3D, and now? ready for 3D rendering? As a designer instead of a 3D modeller, truly speaking I would not prefer to step into this field...this is what my original thinking was because it's a "technique" and very time consuming. But once you've step in, you will be addicted to it's power of "nothing is impossible".

3dsmax, Autocad 3D, V-ray, Maya, Z Brush, Maxwell...,etc. are some of the common use 3D softwares that we are familiar with; some were developed on a technician base and resulting in a non-human user interface, or some were aimed to gather all functions from their competitors to form a "super all-in-one" rendering software, guess what? you will have problem to open the software if your machine is not powerful enough, not even think about of their millions hidden tools. And some are actually built for animation, well, you can use it to render your interior, but it's a bit under-use instead of using a matching software due to the different tools design in purpose.

The birth of Sketchup leads designer /architect into a totally new design thinking pattern, we can work from our concept to 3D world easily, more accurate of space study, more foreseeable and controllable result = more complicated design to be created and save much time to liaise with a third party who can't 100% know what your final picture is. As a result, more and more companies are willing to develop some new 3D rendering software or even plug in. Blender, Shaderlight, Twinlight, Lightwave, C4D, Kerkythea, Artlantis, Rhino.......etc, etc. Today, there are numerous well developed software and supportive hardware that we can make use of, but the major issue is...we are lacking of "Mr. Right"!

If you make a search on Internet, you will find a great difference of quality levels in those 3D models created by what we've seen in Hong Kong and from other foreign countries. What actually happen is we can't /don't spend "time" to study deep into this field; art sense, lighting behavior, material behavior, camera adjustment......these are not important via a quick template like outcome, both in time and money affortable, as we think?!

Although it's a bit sad, I still hope that there will be a 3D modeller, or an architect, a designer somewhere in Hong Kong who aware of this situation and is willing to dedicate more to increase our 3D production standard by their great experience and enthusiasm.