Practice Makes Perfect: Calligraphy / Hand Lettering

Once again, it's been a little while since I've last updated my blog! Since beginning my job at a great little design company in Leicestershire, I have a whole new respect and understanding for all those 9 to 5 (or longer) workers out there! I feel your pain! I know your tiredness and it's taken me a little while to get into the swing of things.

In any case I'm not complaining - I realise how lucky I am for going straight into a job after finishing university and it's already provided me with so much more insight and knowledge in the world of graphic design.

In my spare time, I've taken to practicing my illustration skills in the form of typography and calligraphy! I even took a small morning course to get to grips with the correct way to write calligraphy this weekend, which was great fun! Now I've just got to stay in practice!

It shouldn't be hard - I absolutely LOVE it!

My Trip To Switzerland: Video Footage!

So my last post was about the awesome time I had in Switzerland over a weekend in early May... and this... well... I've finally finished putting together and editing the video footage that I captured into a pretty cool montage for your viewing pleasure! 

I hope you enjoy!

My Weekend Trip To Switzerland

This weekend I traveled to Switzerland with my mum, aunt and aunts next door neighbour (lol) to visit my cousin who is currently working out there! As I have no work to post at the moment, I thought I would post some of the photos that have inspired me ready for my next art venture, which I am a little bit excited about to be honest! Here goes...

Day 1:

What an awesome way to start the first day in Switzerland! After leaving the airport we all walked around Lake Geneva, and I ended up spending most of my money on chocolates for people (although I'm not sure who yet, haha) and took some amazing photos! We then retreated back to my cousins house - fully equipped with a bomb shelter (?!) and got cosy for the night. Considering it wasn't a terribly busy day, the walking and the flight definitely tired me out! 

Day 2:

The second day absolutely ruined me after 4 hours of walking at different inclines around the open air Swiss museum! I Kinda forgot that 'walking around' in Switzerland generally doesn't include a level surface. It was a great day though and awesome to meet up with my friend, Joy Paton, outside of Leicester though. The views there, which included lush greenery and snow capped mountains, were absolutely incredible - as were the ones at the lakeside where we ate dinner. Absolutely mind blowing! That evening we spent watching the Eurovision song contest (more like forced to) and just chilling out. It was a well deserved rest!

Day 3:

This day was another brilliant day... possibly the best yet! We took an exciting tram and cable car ride to the top of a mountain, which slowly ascended into the snowy peaks where we ate dinner amongst the clouds and memories of the fun I had snowboarding came flooding back. It was incredible to go from standing on green pastures, to standing on snow within a matter of minutes! This was followed up by a visit to the ridiculously cute village of Gruyeres where after a challenging climb up the hill, we were greeted with cobbled roads, traditional Swiss horn players, a lovely castle and more incredible views! The castle gave me some awesome ideas for some art work, which I am eager to get on with as soon as I get back to my desk in Leicester! :)

Day 4:

The final day brought with it a mix of emotion - sad to leave such a beautiful place, but happy that my legs would get a well earned break and I could rest properly back in my own bed! This day consisted of a short trip across the lake, from Oushy in Lausanne (Switzerland) to Evian in France! As the day we went was a bank holiday however, not a lot of things were open but it gave us just enough time to eat lunch, have a short walk around and buy some souvenirs! It felt crazy to be crossing a lake into a different country as opposed to the usual sea-trips you would associate such things with! The day however, was very enjoyable and the hills in France were a patch on those we had been walking the day before! It has been a thoroughly enjoyable weekend! Another place I can cross off my 'to visit' list! 

To Do Lists: A Depressing View

I've just completed some To Do lists for the next couple of days and as much as I knew I had a fair amount to finish, well writing it out makes it look even worse. In fairness most of my projects are at the 'almost there' stage and just need fine tuning before being printed or made for assessment but I, like a lot of people I've seen on Facebook, am just losing the motivation to do it. 

I'm trying to be super organised and I've been writing check lists intermittently throughout the year, which have seemed to scare me into working, but as of late they're losing their power. Maybe I need to change their colour to bright red to represent the, FUCKING CRISIS AHEAD I feel like I'm heading for. 

This has been the most testing year I've faced academically to date (understandably) - it's not meant to get easier - and I cannot stress how much of a god send and a relief that the start of summer holidays are going to be. 

Bring on the travelling, bring on the booze, bring on the fucking sun.

Deadlines, you will not defeat me.