Workworkwork

Alright so after the past couple of posts you're probably thinking that all I've been doing here is going to concerts, shopping, being Christmasy, playing in the snow, and going out to eat. And I have been doing all that stuff, but in between all of it, I've been working. A lot. I think I worked harder the past couple weeks than I have in a long time. Sometimes till 6 in the morning. So it's been exhausting, but very worth it.

One of the projects I was working on was called the Pop Up Shop. And basically our group had to design and set up a shop in the college and sell some items. We brainstormed a lot, and decided to make a pretty light hearted Christmas store. I got into the team that was making a poster, so we did a lot of talking and designing, and came up with what you'll see later.

We made the poster in letterpress, which such an out of date and long process. We spent 11 hours in there printing just over 100 posters. Granted, it looks good when it's done.

We had to make the snowflake templates since they didn't exist in letterpress and it's what our design called for. (My idea :))

Beginning to take shape...

My friends/classmates Dan and Georgia printing.

Another one of our groups products that another team was working on, Morning After Christmas stickers.

We began make shop decor.

And here it is! You can see the poster in the background, hahaha. We thought the message was relatable to a lot of people around the season, and could be taken in a few different ways. And it made us laugh.

Items on sale

The forest of trees on the way to our store, which we also sold.

 And that was that! A really fun project, but I wish I could've had a bit more time focused on it. However that was difficult to do as much of my attention was on the other project, Reg Perfect and the Squeegees.

We were given a band name, Reg Perfect and the Squeegees, and basically had to come up with an advertising campaign for this band. We could choose any genre, group, style etc. 

So I won't bother showing you all my research this time, but basically I decided I wanted to make a Burlesque. From this idea I began talking to my tutor and he told me to make this Burlesque unique somehow, a Burlesque that he hadn't seen before.

So I began researching Burlesques and found out that originally they were political and social satires that eventually became strip shows in order to keep an audience.

I went with this idea and designed a Burlesque show that would integrate what everyone thinks they know about them with political and social satire.

I played with the idea of being turned on physically and mentally, about stimulating the body and the mind. And this is what I came up with!

The three posters I designed and printed in screenprinting.

I designed a whole newspaper to advertise the band, and this folder that the paper could fit and be distributed in.

The newspaper is filled with illustrations of collages I made as well as text and information about the show.

The girls of the show.

Another poster I made that became the centerfold.

This came out off center, but by this point it didn't really matter haha.

Also made these cards that could be either handed out as flyers or be slipped into the newspaper. The logo is screen printed on the back of all of them.

The project was a big one and very trying, with many problems in printing and getting my ideas to work. Just making this post is making me tired. But I'm really happy with the outcome and it went over very well with my tutor.

I also had my assessment at the end, which is basically where I show all my work and sketchbooks and essays to my tutor and the head of the department and I get, you guessed it, assessed. There were a couple projects I wasn't satisfied with so I went back and tweaked them a bit.

Here's that first Metro Remix project. I scanned them all in and did some editing, and printed them out on big sheets of paper. Much happier with this.

Got my typography project beautifully printed onto one sheet of paper.  Really happy with this one.

And then remember this? I really liked the idea, but the paper I used was very flimsy, and I was supposed to be selling this on eBay. So I did some work, got a friend to help me, and got the different layers laser cut out of wood, and then made a wooden base for it to sit on.

I have two of them, and it looks much better now! I was going to paint it black, but I really like the way this looks. And I'm officially selling it HERE!! If anyone's interested hahaha.

And there you go!! First term, done. I got really good marks, great feedback from my tutor, and I cannot wait to see what next term brings. It was a lot of work, but I'm really proud of what I've done and feel like I've grown a lot.

Now it's time to return home for a bit and finally relax. That is of course in between going to Disneyland, Christmas, parties, seeing friends, watching movies, going to Sprinkles.....

I love my life.

xxLiam

Gigs. And lots of them. (Plus other stuff)

So over the past month or so, a huge wave of bands I LOVE decided to come and play in London at around the same time. So here are little looks into what they were like.

GIGS

The first one I went to was a while ago now actually, but it was so awesome. I got to see one of my favorite bands, We Are Scientists, play a private mini acoustic show at a small event due to one of my friends winning tickets. 

As you can tell I was almost right next to them, and the whole thing was so relaxed and nice. It was very intimate, and seeing them in that environment was just such a cool moment for me and I really really enjoyed it.

And then there was basically a two week period where I saw four incredible shows. I don't think I've ever seen so many amazing gigs in such a short amount of time. Can't begin to describe how overwhelming it all was.

This gigfest started with Jonsi at the Hammersmith Apollo. Jonsi is, for those who don't know, the Icelandic lead singer of Sigur Ros' solo effort. The show was s t u n n i n g.

This was the opening band, Timber Timbre. Who were really good, very moody and atmospheric blues.

The stage show Jonsi had was absolutley incredible. Three layers of projections, including a massive broken window set piece. It felt like the entire show a storm was brewing, and in the end it just took over and left the audience in awe.

To get an idea of what the show is like, watch THIS.

After that I saw Arcade Fire at the O2 arena. Wow.

I didn't really decided I was going to this until the day before when I found someone online selling the ticket for face value. And I went on my own. But, it was completely worth it.

Again for those who don't know, Arcade Fire consists of about nine people. All switching around instruments the whole show, whether it's violin, guitar, drums, keyboard, bass, harmonium... They are definitely a force to be reckoned with. To see that many people so passionate about their music is incredible. Their whole new album is about the suburbs and the troubles that come with living in them, so the whole thing was very relevant to me and extremely inspiring.

To see a bit of what this was like, watch THIS!

And theeeeeennn I got to see Bombay Bicycle Club at The Troxy!

They're quite a new band that got popular very quickly over here. A bunch of really young, really talented musicians and audience that was giving back just as much as the band was giving out. A truly awesome show.

To get a taste of what that was like (plus a samba band) go HERE!

And for the grand finale, I got to see the one, the only, Patrick Wolf at the Bloomsbury Ballroom.

This show was absolutely wonderful in every way. Patrick was on top form, backed by three violinists, a cellist, two girls that went between saxophone, clarinet, and flue, a drummer,  and a bassist. And then Patrick went between playing the guitar, ukelele, harp, piano and violin. Just fantastic.

He's a performer in every sense of the word, and has such an infectious love for his music and an amazing adoration for his fans. He was so happy the whole time, got to hear quite a few new fantastic songs, and I was just in heaven. To even attempt at knowing what that was like, click on THIS!!

So that was that for my gigs. Wonderful stuff, I am so grateful I live in a time where performers are making music like this and I have the opportunity to see them

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And now just for a few other things I've been up to.

St Paul's is such a gorgeous building, and being able to go shopping around it at my convenience is still surreal.

And last weekend Louisa came out again to visit!!!! :)

It was wonderful to see her again, and I had an incredible couple of days with her. Due to her generosity and some money she's recently come into, she treated me to lots of delicious food, the show Love Never Dies, and the Art of Tim Burton book! I couldn't be more thankful that she is in my life, and I was overwhelmed by her generosity.

Us at Love Never Dies, which is as some of you may know, is the sequel to Phantom of the Opera. I went in EXTREMELY skeptical, but the show ended up being really decent! Incredible sets and costumes, amazing effects, great acting and some memorable songs! Pleasantly surprised.

Our dessert after having a roast at the incredible restaurant The Ivy.  Just WOW.

 And that's been that! Truly amazing experiences. Next up, the actual WORK I've been doing.

xx Liam

A Winter Wonderland

Hello!!!

I know it's been a long while since I've posted anything, but I've seriously been busier than I probably have ever been in my life. Constantly running around, doing school work, going out, taking in London at Christmastime all I can before I leave. Which is tomorrow! So as it's my last day in this wonderful city for 2010, I thought I'd sit here cozy in my bed, watching the snowfall, and catch up on a few things before I start packing. 

The view currently outside my window....

 So as you may have guessed, London is an amazing place to be at Christmas time. Well, it's amazing anytime but it's especially magical at this time of year. As cheesy as it sounds, it's true.

So this post will just be about my adventures around the city during the season. Cause I love it.

One of the main attractions during Christmas here is something called Winter Wonderland and it's in Hyde Park. Basically THE ideal Christmas place. 

The entrance...

Stall after stall of Christmas goodies, crafts, sausages, cheese and onion pies, cider... 

A massive section of the park is turned into a fantastic array of lights, stalls, hot chocolate, mulled wine, Christmas music, rides, food, and an ice skating rink.

The whole thing is just wonderful, and you can't help but get excited about Christmas while you're there.

The fun house - only four freakin pounds! (About $6)

See the moon??

As to be expected, I've also been doing a lot of Christmas shopping. Part of this included going to Spitafield's Market, which I've talked about here before. It's a wonderful place, and I knew it would be amazing at Christmas as well.

My friend and I walked in with this swing band playing Christmas music as swing dancers did their thing in front of them. So, so cool. Made me want to go join them.

Also while walking around the area, we happened upon this window. Which is seriously one of the coolest things I've seen in a long while.

The area you see is a cardboard model of the one we were in, called Brick Lane. And those little pieces of paper? Well, those fell every time anyone around the world tweeted a message about snow. HOW COOL IS THAT?!?!!

This also included a trip to Selfridges, of course. Where models periodically went up and down the long corridor of escalators. Just cause that's how they do it here.

Another one of my favourite places in London is Covent Garden, and during Christmas it's even more lovely. These were taken just last night, quite late. So it was nice to see the usually packed place so quiet. Gave me time to really appreciate it.

Me and my friends Charlie and Emily. We're the last three out of our group of friends to still be here. But we embraced it and had an amazing evening. Please note my huge furry hat. It is amazing and warm. So yeah.

Completely fogged up bus windows - a sight that has become all too familiar to me over the past month or so.

Not very Christmasy, but sitting bundled up along the Thames as the London Eye sparkles and Big Ben's bell rings in the distance.... Pretty much nothing can beat that for me.

And finally was in the area of the Natural History Museum and the most popular ice skating rink in London. So nice.

And then I woke up this morning to this!!

So, these past four months in London have been incredible. The city is so vast, so intricate, so cultured, so layered. I still can't believe I've had this opportunity, and I have absolutely no regrets. I can't wait to see what next term brings.

And I'm satisfied to say I have had a White Christmas, even if my actual Christmas will probably be sunny and warm. But that's okay. I honestly (no matter how surprising this may be) wouldn't rather be anywhere else.

See you all soon!! :)

xx Liam