50 Weeks of Creativity: Week Four

This week marked my first week in London, and my first week interning at Fast Web Media. I was quite busy, but it was a week of creativity at work! I read up on two new services FWM offers, and was given the task of designing a brochure and powerpoint presentation for one service while Alice was away in Vegas. Here is the initial draft for the inside and outside of the brochure:

This provided the bases for the final draft, which reflected the rainbowy colors established for the BIGprofile project. So here is the brochure as it currently looks. I'm sure there is more to be done on it, but this is what I spent my time creating this week:

Anyway, after working on that, I got started on copywriting tasks. So Friday, I was busy learning everything there is to learn about Twitter's new 6-second video app Vine. I'm now addicted to Vine you guys, not to mention my newfound expertise on the subject. You can watch new Vine videos being posted in real time on Vinepeek, or (my favorite), you can watch cat videos on Vinecats. It's like lolcats with video.

While researching all of this, I figured the best way I could learn about Vine was to try the app myself. Naturally. I discovered that 6 seconds really flies by quickly, and you have to carefully plan out what you will create in that 6 seconds. Even if you plan out what you are doing, you can still lose track of those precious 6 seconds. None the less, I came up with a few Vine videos myself, which you can find on my Twitter.

I leave you now with my Tube trip home, in 6 seconds:

An American In London: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly Internet Laws...

The Internet is a wonderful, super awesome thing. It's world wide, you guys. I mean like, a world wide web. Connecting anyone around the world to each other. The UN even deemed access to the Internet is actually a human right (don't believe me? I know some Americans don't believe it's a human right...but here's a nice NY Times article to prove it).

But the Internet has some funny rules that apply to it, and those rules vary from country to country. Licensing rights dictate what can be accessed in certain countries, and content providers then use your IP address to determine where your whereabouts are. Of course, there are always ways around these, but if you don't feel like expelling the energy, it can be quite frustrating when you are used to accessing certain sites and content, and you suddenly can't. It makes me want to throw an American-style fit, contact the provider, and say "but I'm an AMERICAN, I'm just IN ANOTHER COUNTRY". That last bit may be a bit exaggerated for entertainment purposes.

I discovered yesterday, for example, that Pandora is not accessible in the UK. Apparently, it is only available to US, Canadian, and New Zealand IP addresses. Seems a somewhat odd mix, but hey. There you have it. I did see an ad for Netflix in the Tube recently though, so I figured "okay cool, Netflix should work!" So I gave it a shot. And lo and behold, it happily let me in. And I was pretty excited to see that ALL THREE seasons of Downton Abbey are up. A little surprised, since the second one wasn't even up last I looked, but hey.

Then I tried to find Mad Men, to see if the fifth season was FINALLY up yet. And..."sorry, this title is not available for streaming." What? Mad Men is always on Netflix. They have a contract to have every episode available eventually. Poop. The Internet rears its ugly head again. My Netflix content has been changed based on my IP address. Nevermind the fact I am using my dad's Netflix account with a US billing address; I'm in the UK, so I get different content than when my family accesses the same account at home. Crazy.

Some aspects of the Internet have loopholes though, that are quite nifty. Google Voice is a US-only service; but I've discovered that if you set up your Google Voice account in the US and then link it to your email account, you can continue using it free of charge outside the US. I can call any US number for free from my laptop, anytime I want. I can text from my phone, on my UK data plan, for free, any time I want. Oh, Internets. I guess I forgive you.

Jolly Old London Town

Okay, I will begin this post by acknowledging the fact that I am TWO weeks behind on my 50 Weeks posts. I do have work to show for those two weeks, it's just been a busy time, as I was getting ready for London and then actually traveling to London at the end of last weekend.

So; here I am now in London. I had a rough start; after arriving at 6:00 AM, I found my ride with relative ease and he drove me to Hammersmith, where I am living for the next two months. The problem was that we got here at 7:00 AM on a Sunday. Nobody was available to let me into the building or check me into my studio. Fortunately, the driver let me borrow his phone to call the 24-hour call service, who found somebody inside who could come take care of me. This was another American student who evidently works in the office at the apartment building. The poor girl didn't know anything though apart from the fact that there were three rooms for our group. She gave me my pick of rooms and let me in, and I was very distressed to find a disgusting mattress turned on its side, no bedding or pillows, and nothing to cook with in the kitchen. I was supposed to be supplied with all of these items, and it is still being sorted out now; in theory, we will each have bedding, bath towels, and kitchen supplies by Thursday. Oy.

Anyway, I calmed myself down by wandering around London, waiting for shops to open so I could get a UK sim card and local phone number. I bought a Tube pass and rode the Tube over to some familiar locations, which instantly calmed me down. Although I was initially very stressed out, it has not taken me long at all to settle in and readjust to London. Some things you just don't forget, and London has quickly felt like home once again to me. It's wonderful to be back.

The big news right now, of course, is the identification of King Richard III. The most interesting part of this story to me is that his skeleton was found in Leicester (that's pronounced Lester, against all English rules). I have a bit of a personal vendetta against Leicester right now; I pass through the Leicester Tube station every day during my commute, and I switch between the Northern and Piccadilly lines at that point. I got lost yesterday, because you have to walk to the end of the Northern platform to get to the Piccadilly line, which is entirely different than basically any other station I have ever been through. And then I wandered down a long corridor by myself, and wandering around the London Underground is terrifying when by yourself. Those stations are UNDERGROUND, and many of them are 150 years old. No thank you. No wonder they found a 500-year-old skeleton near there!

I've also now been to two days of my internship, and it's a really great situation. The people are friendly and helpful, the atmosphere is laid back, we listen to really good music all day, and nobody has complained yet that I sing along to everything on the radio. My supervisor Alice is in Vegas right now attending a conference, so it's a bit of a crazy week. Our office reminds me of The IT Crowd, which is probably a mix of good and bad things, but I think it's mostly positive.

I'll start taking and posting pictures one of these days, and I'll get caught up on my 50 Weeks posts (which I will promptly backwards date).

50 Weeks of Creativity: Week Three

This week, I spent a day working on making a padded carrying case for my Nikon D3100 DSLR camera. I hate lugging it around with me (I'm barely a photographer, you guys), but I payed good money for it and it's nice to have a fancy-pants camera sometimes. I didn't have the money or the interest to pay for a nice fashionable camera bag, so I started looking around online for more inexpensive options.

I found this great tutorial on how to turn a purse into a camera bag, and it inspired me. Rather than commit an entire bag to my camera, why not take this concept and create my own case for my camera, which I can then throw into whatever bag I'm carrying about with me?

So I went to Hancock Fabrics, where I bought a square of eco-green foam and four squares of fabric scraps. Then Erica came over, and we had a craft night where she edited photos from an engagement shoot and I put my camera bag together. Also, she brought her sewing machine over for me, which cut back on time immensely. Plan A was hand-sewing.

I should have documented the steps, but I didn't. If you want to know how I made my bag, use the tutorial linked above for steps, and augment it with the following information:

Obviously, I had to iron the fabric first. Got to get all of the kinks out of the fabric so it will look pretty. Washing it first will help, but I was trying to do laundry so I could get packed for London, so I skipped that and went straight to the ironing.

Next, measure the size of your camera. You're going to create a box for it to fit into, so you need to know its dimensions. I tacked on an extra inch to ensure that it would fit nicely inside. I determined that two sides should be taller than the other two; this is because I decided when I sewed the whole thing together, I would have two pieces on TOP of the bottom piece, and the other two pieces on the SIDES. If you want to sew all four pieces on top, make sure the bottom piece is big enough to still fit the camera.

Once you have the measurements, you can cut individual pieces of foam out that will make up the sides of the box. I chose not to make a lid for my box, so I had five pieces of foam, not six. Next, measure the fabric. Tack on enough fabric to cover the sides of the foam, plus a 1/4" for sewing allowance. The blog tutorial provides great explanation of that. Despite my affectionate feelings towards math and my anal OCD tendencies, I went the eyeballing-is-good-enough route. I measured according to the foam, rather than using a ruler.

I decided that I wanted the inside of my box to be a different fabric than the outside; this was done mainly because I didn't have enough of one fabric to do the entire thing. So with this in mind, I needed more of the outside fabric (to cover the sides of the foam as well as the outside).

Once everything is measured and ready, lay the fabric on top of each other, with the design facing inwards on both pieces. Sew along three sides, leaving the fourth side open. Turn the fabric right-side out, so the seams you just sewed are inside, and squeeze your foam inside. It should be a snug fit, but it will work. The foam is flexible, which helps greatly. Go to the side that is unsewn, and turn the fabric inwards, then hand-sew it closed. Do this for all five pieces of foam.

Once your pieces are put together, you have to sew them all together! This part is the most annoying part of the process. You won't have much structure or sturdiness until you have all of the pieces sewn together, so you have to hold your pieces in place as you work. Just be patient, and it will come together. The above tutorial didn't give the best instructions on this part, so I had to wing it.

I started with the bottom piece. I placed one side piece where it needed to sit, and began sewing the fabric to the fabric. I found I didn't need to sew through the foam; it holds well enough sewing just the fabric, and it's far easier on you to sew it that way. For the sake of having minimal visible seams, I sewed the hand-sewn seam of the side piece to the hand-sewn seam of the bottom piece. This also reinforces the hand-sewn seams. Once that piece was sewn on, I put another side on. Again, I sewed the bottom to the side, then I sewed the sides to each other. Continue in this fashion until all four sides are sewn on, both to the bottom piece and to each adjacent side piece. Ta-da, you have a padded box!

I tested the final product out, and found that my camera fit inside nicely. Due to the shape of the camera, there was a bit of space left next to the lense. I had left over foam and fabric, so I cut a basic rectangle piece of foam, covered it, and can stick it inside the box as a removable divider when I want to throw my little point-and-shoot camera in as well.

Since putting this posting together, I have traveled to London with the camera packed away in its box in my suitcase. Everything made it for the transatlantic journey quite nicely! Successful project.

50 Weeks of Creativity: Week Two

So, for the second week of creativity, I was very busy getting ready to leave for London. I did experiment a few times in the kitchen. We had left-over homemade tomato sauce, and some pepperoni slices as well, so I felt like making some pizza bagels one day. Talk about a quick, easy, and tasty snack!

First things first, I pre-heated the oven to 350 degrees and let that get going while I set up my pizza bagels. I used a non-stick pan, which doesn't require any kind of greasing down (you actually shouldn't use anything unless you like a nice big mess).

I used bagel thins, which I think are the greatest thing ever, mozzarella cheese (when I remade these pizza bagels later, I mixed in some smoked gouda and gruyere as well, along with some seasoning), homemade tomato sauce, and pepperoni slices.

Lay out however many bagels you wish to make on a baking tray. Then, using a small spoon, put some tomato sauce on the bagel. Put however much or little as you wish. Next, sprinkle cheese on over that. Try not to get cheese on the baking tray, as this will make clean up easier later. I found that holding the bagel thin over the plate or container of cheese helps; that way, any cheese not staying on the bagel falls back into the cheese. Anyway, I like to put a light covering of cheese on first.

Next, place pepperoni slices around the bagel. I would say place anywhere from 4 to 6 slices, depending on how much pepperoni you want. Then, top with a bit more cheese. I personally love cheese, so I like to nearly hide the pepperoni with cheese.

Once you're ready to go, pop them in the oven. They don't take long to cook; literally less than 5 minutes. I never bothered to actually time, I just stayed in the kitchen and peeked in periodically. When the cheese is melty on top, they're good to go.

The end result is a soft bagel with pizza on top. The homemade tomato sauce I used was delicious; the tomatos had come from my mom's garden and were incredibly sweet. These can also be made with Laughing Cow cheese in place of tomato sauce for a lighter flavor.

I also took some pictures in Seattle with Erica, Zoe, and the Fremont Troll on Saturday, but I can't seem to find my pictures from that day, so I guess this recipe will have to be it for the week in creativity.

50 Weeks of Creativity: Week 1

Well, today marks the end of week one of my 50 Weeks challenge. What do I have to show for it? So glad you asked!

I am preparing for London, so this week I spent a bit of time designing, printing, and publishing business materials to help market myself. I already had business cards designed, but I added a QR code to take people to my personal website.

And that's the big creative task I accomplished this week: I built my own portfolio website. For the website, I created a background image to reflect the design of my business cards, and then designed a favicon for web browser tabs. Now I have a concise branding for myself, and am ready to sell myself!

I also spent some time working toward my final project for SCAD; I named my art exhibition PY // Art from Parkland's Youth and created a Facebook page for the community to learn about it. The page needed some pizzaz, so I quickly designed a cover image for the page. I will work on a more focused branding for the project when the spring quarter begins.

So, in conclusion: this week was a lot of design and branding work.

Sarah Wise Choice:

PY // Art from Parkland's Youth:

50 Weeks of Creativity

Welcome 2013! I apologize once again for the delay in my updates, but I bring good news: I'm off to London once again. This blog was created in preparation for my semester in London during my junior year at PLU, and we are now coming full circle as I once again cross the pond over to the UK. This time I am going to complete an internship for my masters program. I will be working with Fast Web Media, assisting with graphic design, marketing, and social media campaigns while taking my classes at SCAD online.

As I prepare for London, which will of course bring with it blog updates about my new experiences, I've decided to also spend 2013 working on expanding my creativity. Beginning this week, I will create something new each week and share it through my blog and my Behance portfolio. The project is 50 Weeks of Creativity, and each post will be tagged. So here's to a new year, full of exciting and inspiring new journeys!

Cheers.