theM inJAM

IN 20 DAYS...

2010-10-25T12:21:00.001-04:00

I'll be in New York attending the Future of Web Design conference. I am way too excited for words!

There are so many wonderful sessions to look forward to. This conference is perfect for me and could not have come at a better time!

Future of Web Design - New York 2010

Personifying Candy

2010-10-24T23:05:00.000-04:00


Image taken from: http://www.marketingmag.ca/

I really like the new Maynards 'Wanted' campaign. I find it really effective when personification is used in advertising. It really speaks to me that each candy suddenly has a reputation and a story because of the names given. 'Jerry Bomb' is my favourite!

New and Improved Tampon Commercials

2010-04-20T01:53:00.003-04:00

I love the new Kotex tampon commercials. I find them immensely hilarious.

Web Mockups - Nestle Purelife

2010-04-20T01:49:00.000-04:00

These mockups are for Nestle Purelife water. I am not completely happy with how the image of the mockup sits on the HTML page because at the time I did not think of separating the background image from the mockup and putting it on the HTML page background to fill the whole browser window.

Version 1
Version 2

Version 1:

Version 2:

Web Mockups - The Littlest PetShop

2010-04-20T01:43:00.000-04:00

I think that this project was very good for getting us to really work with an existing brand and create something new that didn't stray away from what a client would look for. Last semester, we did a lot of creating our own stuff and we really didn't have any boundaries. But we all know, this is not the case in the industry so it was great to experience what it would be like to work with an existing brand. We did two versions of each mockup, the second version was to follow the corrections suggested by the client (Prof. Joe Bodick).

Version 1
Version 2

Version 1:

Version 2:

iPhone App. - Nestle Purelife

2010-04-20T01:24:00.000-04:00

This one was a little difficult because it isn't easy to create an App. for water. Since Purelife is all about getting enough water into your system, I decided it would be good to create an App. that helps people know how much water they need. Everyone is different, so their needs are different too. This App. takes into account variables that the saying '8 glasses a day' does not.

Find out more about this App. - PART 1
Find out more about this App. - PART 2

iPhone App. - The Littlest PetShop

2010-04-20T01:17:00.001-04:00

This was a project I wasn't looking forward to when it was first assigned. However, I found myself enjoying the process and the end result. The project was to design a mockup of a mobile version of the web mockups we had previously done. I turned my Littlest PetShop site into a Littlest PetShop App. for the iPhone.

Find out more about the App! - PART 1
Find out more about the App! - PART 2

Eros Coffee & Tea

2010-04-20T00:43:00.002-04:00

As a team of two, Oana Romaniuc and I designed this web mockup for Eros Coffee & Tea House. We were given a list of things the client was looking for, which included designing their logo and branding. We researched Eros' competition such as Starbucks and Second Cup and made sure the look was up to par while including the required elements.

http://theminjam.com/DMA500/erosv2/

(1440x900)

Semester Two: Movin' on Up!

2010-02-04T21:32:00.000-05:00

Hello again digital world!
Well, I haven't really been gone. I just haven't been on this blog since semester 1 ended. As mentioned in a previous post, I have acquired my own domain name. And since that cost me money, I think it only makes sense that I devote more of my time and efforts on developing my portfolio website. So if you've enjoyed my blog, please come on over to www.theminjam.com .

I'll be posting all my work there from now on. Thank You!

Final Mounted SkateDeck

2009-12-17T10:23:00.000-05:00

thanks for the photo, Oana.

IT'S OFFICIAL!

2009-12-11T11:31:00.002-05:00

I AM the M in JAM!

I bought my web hosting and domain name yesterday. I watched a few tutorials, opened up textedit, watched a few more tutorials.. and BAM!
.
.
theMinJAM.com

(applause)

Hitting the Gym?

2009-12-04T09:19:00.005-05:00

bring water.

As a final project for Interactivity, we were required to create a product and pitch it to the class. I am working with Brigid Towler, Christine Sauve, and Janee Robinson and we called ourselves BETTA Courtship. The Betta fish is otherwise known as the siamese fighter fish, this incorporates our 'water' product with strength and beauty. Being a group of girls pitching a new beverage, we thought it was fitting.

CD Cover Collage

2009-11-24T00:59:00.002-05:00

This was a fun little project given to us in DMA133 Multimedia Design. We were to choose an artist/band and create a 10x10 physical collage that depicts the artist's style and music. I chose Emilie-Claire Barlow. She is a Canadian jazz artist. The reason I started listening to her music is because of my dad. He had her CD playing in the car a lot and her music just makes me feel good. I like the mix of happy songs with bittersweet love songs. Yeah, I love lovesongs.

Emilie-Claire Barlow's music kind of brings out the hopeless romantic in me and I sort of kept that in mind when I put this collage together. I figure most of these elements are things you'd find in a hopeless romantic's scrapbook. My favorite part is the decapitated, black & white picture of Liv Tyler, (part of a perfume ad). It's the first thing I ripped out of my magazine because I think it really captures what I love about Emilie-Claire Barlow's music. For a sample of her music, visit her myspace page.

Soy Sauce Painting

2009-11-23T20:18:00.002-05:00

Bleh.

This is an in-class assignment where we had to create a painting out of soy sauce for a Chinese menu. In my defense, I had the flu that week so I missed the class and when I did this, I was so out of it that I split the paper wrong. Not that I'm trying to make any excuses..

Skate Deck

2009-11-22T20:23:00.009-05:00

This is what I have been working on as far as my skate deck goes. It's still missing a few required elements.

Time Budget

Sketching - 1 hour

Illustrator - 5 hours

Total (so far) - 6 hours

UPDATE!

Here, I added my name, which is one of the requirements I was missing in my first version. I also used that as an opportunity to incorporate another requirement: a raster element. I bought $1.47 worth of gumballs and took a picture of them in a bowl. I don't really like the fact that we have to mix in a raster image with a 95% vector based piece, but the client wants what the client wants. It could be three requirements in one if my name in fact counts as typography. I also thought it might be good enough as the texture element but I think I realize now that what is actually required is something I created by hand rather than a photograph. I'm going to see what I can do with watercolours that I can work into this piece.

Time Budget

Sketching - 0 hour

Illustrator - 2 hours

Total (so far) - 8 hours

UPDATE!

My name in the cotton candy tree really bugged me, so to minimize its presence a little, I created a stronger white overlay on top of the gumball parts of the letters and scaled them down a bit. For my texture, I decided to use some watercolour splatter on the sleepy ice cream cone and I actually think it looks pretty good considering it's a raster element. I'll be sending this to the printers today,

YAY!

Time Budget

Sketching - 0 hour

Watercolours - 0.5 hours

Photoshop - 0.5 hours

Illustrator - 1 hour

GRAND TOTAL - 10 hours

Super Morlock Adventure Quest

2009-11-21T17:40:00.002-05:00

Begin Quest!

Chad the Leoninny: THE TOY!

2009-11-21T16:42:00.011-05:00

You've heard it said that it's a dog eat dog world, but what does it mean when a dog is really a mouse and the other dog is really a crocodile? This is a world where predators disguise themselves as their prey to get close enough to strike and where prey parade around as predators in order to survive. Nothing is what it seems. The appearance of this microscopic candy-land may seem sweet and simple but the candy floss is likely to strangle you to death.

Meet Chad, the Leoninny. He is in essence, a rabbit disguised as a lion. In an effort to live a life of peace, free from fear of his predators, Wolf (by Brigid Towler), and Lizard (by Janee Robinson), Leoninny dons a mask, a wig, and a bad-ass leather jacket when he leaves his hole under the Sleepy Ice Cream Cone. The one flaw in this outfit? Leoninny's rabbit tail is reluctant to remain under wraps. He would be wise to watch his back. Literally.

The Making of the Leoninny

2009-11-21T16:31:00.004-05:00

I used Super Sculpey to create this guy. There is foil armature inside his head and his torso, but the foil did not work with me when it came to his arms and legs. I spent about 2.5 hours putting him together (including baking time).

Note to self: Goash paint doesn't work!

All I had at home was goash, but I didn't know that the stuff cracks and chips right off as soon as it dries! So including the time it took to go to 2 different dollar stores to find water-based acrylic paints, painting the Leoninny took 5 hours for a total of 7.5 hours from block of sculpey to full colour ceramic Leoninny.

The Leoninny [LEE-OH-NIN-EE]

2009-11-18T23:05:00.001-05:00

Here is my final concept art of the Leoninny [lee-oh-nin-ee] a creature that resides in a micro-organismic world that took years to grow and develop on a piece of half-eaten candy.

Smart Prey Parade as Predators!

2009-11-18T22:46:00.000-05:00

Prey need to be smart to survive in a predator's world. Many species that are prey have defence mechanisms to help them evade their enemies:

- Chemical Combat
Skunks and some poisonous frogs defend themselves with foul smells and dangerous substances.

- Camouflage
          Many animals are designed with colors that allow them to blend well into their environment and go undetected by predators.

- Speed
          The simplest reaction to danger is to run! Several prey are equipped with the speed to evade their enemies.

- Trickery: false features and mimicry
          Some species have features that make them seem more dangerous than they are. Some also have adapted the ability to mimic an animal that is dangerous to their predator.

NOTE: Predators can use the same tricks. A cheetah uses camouflage to blend into its surroundings in order to get close to its prey.

Website References:

http://biology.about.com/od/ecology/a/defensemechan.htm

http://biology.about.com/b/2008/01/05/predator-vs-prey-adaptations.htm

3D Illustrations

2009-11-17T20:34:00.000-05:00

This is for a project in our DMA101 class.
I tried to make it as close to 100% 3D as possible before realizing only one component in each scene needs to be 3D.

Paper ZOO

2009-11-10T14:09:00.005-05:00

OCEAN

SAFARI

POLAR

RAINFOREST

DESERT

Vector Illustration

2009-11-04T20:41:00.002-05:00

This is my most favourite-est project so far. I spent many hours awake in bed trying to figure out what I wanted to do. I initially planned on a mermaid because faeries and mermaids are amazing mythical creatures that I wish existed. But somehow my mermaid turned into a native girl and then that native girl swapped her legs for a fish tail and I got my NATIVE MERMAID!

Who doesn't love a good HAPPY MEAL?

2009-11-04T20:34:00.001-05:00

For this in class assignment, we had to sketch out what we would imagine a happy meal might look like for the given time periods.

Prehistoric Times

Medieval Times

Wild West

Year 2500 A.D.

WHAT! No October Posts?

2009-11-04T20:16:00.000-05:00

Dang, it has been over a month since I've posted anything! Well I plan on changing that. My original intention was to keep this blog strictly for my Sketching for Communications class, but it looks so sad and empty so from now on I'll be posting as much as I can from all my classes and some little extras too.

Here is a link my best friend sent me as I needed some inspiration for my Alice in Wonderland halloween costume and I found these pictures so amazingly awesome that I have to post it here.

Click Here to experience this amazing awesomeness I speak of.

Here's a little sample.

Disclaimer: This picture was NOT produced by me nor does it belong to me.

In-Class Water Colours

2009-09-30T21:10:00.000-04:00

My first ever real attempt at 'still life' water colour painting. I was nervous at first, but I have to say I'm pretty surprised with the end results!

In-class: Week 4.

Tim Burton Inspired

2009-09-29T23:50:00.007-04:00

These first two pieces are by Tim Burton and what I gathered from them is a cutesy yet disturbing style. Burton often uses exaggerated heads and messy scribbles. I tried to incorporate this into my own artwork:

This is something that I think reflects a little bit of my own style combined with Tim Burton's.

Here, I tried to use water colours in Burton's perfectly imperfect way.

Chibi JAM

2009-09-22T21:37:00.000-04:00

So here's a little insight into my blog's name:

I have two cousins who mean the world to me. We're all the same age and have been best friends all our lives and coincidentally the first letters of our names spell out J.A.M (Julie.Angela.Michelle*). Even more coincidental is the fact that the first letters of our current boyfriends' names go into PeaNut Butter (PatrickNigel Ben). Therefore, to our family and close friends we're referred to as PeaNut Butter and JAM.

*My middle name is Michelle and Michelle is what my family has called me all my life.

Sketch Book

2009-09-17T14:00:00.000-04:00

Week 2: Creating my own sketchbook.

Suprise Project: Create-A-Bunny

2009-09-17T13:51:00.001-04:00

So this little surprise project was done week 2 of our sketching for communication class. We were told to create a bunny using paper and drawing tools in 10 minutes. Little did we know, this was to be our first project posted on our blogs.

A Few Of My Favourite Things

2009-09-09T21:24:00.000-04:00

1. For Christmas 2007, because I am a photoshop freak, I made my own line of Christmas Tags called The Chorale Christmas Time Friends.

2. This was a gift I made for my best friend when Twilight was good. (Before the Movie)

3. Just a couple of photos that I took randomly. Don't you love it when you come across a perfectly unplanned picture? The plate of clementine peels is actually published in a coffee table book titled Images for the Ages by the International Library of Photography.

Broken Silence
In my third semester of Corporate Media Production, my group and I put together the following short documentary. I am quite happy with it.