The Standard, Downtown

I endeavoured to stay at The Standard hotel, in downtown LA since it is well known as a design youths mecca. However, my recent graduate budget did not quite stretch to this and I ended up staying at the Wilshire Grand down the road for nearly half the price. I did go and have a nose around though to see what I was missing out on.

I didn't get to see any of the rooms, but after doing research, I found their information graphics to be both user friendly and amusing. I think these signs really capture the spirit of this hotel. It pioneers to be different, to be young, hip and with it as the upside down signage and logo suggests. The Standard hotels want to be seen as the last of the party hotels, still allowing smoking in some of their rooms. This would probably put me off staying there, since I can't stand the smell, especially somewhere you sleep!




Something I didn't expect to run in during my visit to The Standard, was Rudy's barbershop. One of my favourite graphic design firms in LA created the mural for this trendy budget chain and I just so happened to pass it. I took some photos with my disposable camera but they didn't come back, so here are the ones from National Forest's site, which can be accessed below.
nationalforest.com




LA is not a place I can see myself living, but there sure is lots to see and do if you have the money and the know how. It was an enjoyable, fun packed week.

P.S. If you want a really great haircut, you must look up my friend Rayzor on Melrose Avenue:

Gorgeous Hollywood

Walt Disney Concert Hall

After visiting San Francisco and Cosa Mesa (Orange County), I travelled to downtown Los Angeles, where I stayed right around the corner from Frank Gehry's awesome Walt Disney Concert Hall.

This amazing building is something which I could not have prepared myself for. After watching 'Sketches of Frank Gehry' nearly two years ago, I was inspired by his unorthadox architecture and creative approach to public buildings. He is a master of his field and I have a lot of respect for him. To see a Gehry building in reality is a wonderful experience. I stumbled across it whilst trying to find LA's MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art). I believe it must be viewed several times, at varying times of day in order to see it in as many lights as possible. I only visited twice due to my limited stay, but it left a lasting impression.

On the plane on the way back to England, several weeks later, I was subjected to the awful Steve Carrel film, 'Get Smart'. The end segment of the film is set in Gehry's concert hall and even though the film was cringe worthy, seeing the building shot by a Hollywood film crew, brought back great memories.

You can walk up and around the building, through the converging planes of silver sheets. The space is clever and exploring it is a joy. Inside there is a bar made from thick glass layers. It's a must see for those in LA.

Golden Gate Bridge

I recently embarked on a journey through California and Florida. My first stop was San Francisco, where I stayed with my boyfriends aunt, Theresa. We walked an awful lot and I got to go to some great restaurants as well as the farmers market at the Ferry Building. One of my biggest achievements in the city was that I walked from the Mission district, through the downtown area and to the Golden Gate Bridge. I took this photograph just before Theresa and I walked over the epic 1.7 mile long bridge (4200 feet).

I have to say that my feet were hurting rather a lot when I completed the bridge and so we took the bus home. But now I can say that I did it. And I have this beautiful picture with the cloud falling over the immense structure as a reward.


Click here for a flickr feed of more pictures from my travels.

Opening Ceremony of 2008 Beijing Olympics

The opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics absolutely blew me away. Politics aside and regardless of the CG fireworks, the drum countdown was so breathtaking, it made me watch the entire four or so hours of the ceremony. The power of the 2008 Chinese people who kept in time with such military precision was certainly a sight to behold. They beat their square drums, which lit up and created aerial images in lights. Probably one of the most impressive moments was when these light patterns went on to form the countdown numbers in both Western numbers and Chinese characters.

The history of the drum, sometimes called a Fou is an interesting one. Originally it was just a large pot which could be round or square. However, during social gatherings, after the Chinese people had drunk maybe a little too much, they would sing and make music as is common in many cultures. The Fou therefore became a makeshift instrument, which then found its way into popular instrument territory later on.

If you haven't already seen and appreciated this section of the Olympic Ceremony, then it is an absolute must. Do it now!

Watch now on youtube.com

Design Salary Survey

How much are designers really on? Coroflot's recent survey of salaries in the design industry tells us just that. Professions from Architecture to Fashion design were compared and coming up on top were Design Management jobs which averaged between $70K-$80K according to a 2001-2007 analysis poll.

So, are you in the wrong profession?

Web Without Sense

A very funny blog style site which, for designers epitomises everything you've always wanted to say, but can't. Brings a wry chuckle to the office or studio and for me is a welcome break from applying for jobs! The irony is that the one below very much applies to my designs and my new website which is featured in the post below!

All in good spirit.

riannawilliams.com

Now that I have graduated, I am looking for a job and so I thought it would be a good idea to makeover my website. It contains a lot of my university projects, as well as some personal ones and hobbies.

I designed the website completely myself and Blake Suarez built it for me in HTML. I shall take this opportunity to thank him again for all his hard work. Thank you Blake!

Anyone interested in employing me, feel free to download my resume and contact me.

If you have any ideas about how to improve this site, or any issues you may find whilst browsing, please leave a comment or email me.

Enjoy!

riannawilliams.com

Thai Art and Culture

Recently I spent a month travelling around the North of Thailand, touching upon Myanmar (Burma) and Laos. The vibrancy of the land and the rich detail of the art will undoubtedly play a part in inspiring some of my future design work and has informed my knowledge of cultural differences in art and design.

More photographs of this trip can be seen on my flickr

Blu

I have always been a fan of stop motion animation as you can tell by most of the content of this blog. This is a great example of primitive film using basic materials and investing plenty of time and effort. Visit Blu's Blog and play the trailer for MUTO, Blu's latest painted wall animation. It will blow you away.

blublu.org

Somethings Hiding in Here

I have always collected things. When I was small I collected foreign coins, which naturally progressed into notes and old English currency. I even collected old tooth brushes at one, not-too-glamorous stage of my childhood. I never really had a purpose to these collections, other than to pore over them late at night and marvel over the extensive mass of different shapes and colours which I had managed to accrue.




Recently I came across a blog, Poppytalk that had interviewed a couple of collectors called Somethings Hiding in Here from Philadelphia. Their collections are housed in their home and very sensitively displayed.

Poppytalk
Somethings Hiding in Here at Etsy

Asko Washing Machines

I had no idea what Asko was, until today. I was flipping through Archive magazine in the bookstore and just loved the characters in their ads. The ads were designed by SFMB in Oslo, and Chris Sickels of Red Nose Studio is our creative genius today. Not only are his characters amazing though, his set design and environments are intricately detailed, creating a brilliant world of "wit, intelligence, and charm"

Check out his portfolio here:
Rednose Studio

I'd also suggest having some fun browsing the SMFB web site. There is not an English version, so to view their work, click "Jobber": SMFB Site

And for more Asko ads, click here: Asko Ads

More Stop Motion by Sprint

A while back Rianna posted an entry on Sprint's stop motion commercial. Ever since they have been coming up with new and amazing advertisements, following the same methods. I'm not sure about the complexity of an ad that was shown today, it seems they have added a bit of computer animation with a flying phone; otherwise the same effects were achieved using only light captured on long exposures. The video will be posted when the commercial is found online.

In the mean time, here is another one they made for Valentine's Day.

Polaroid Kidd 2

Something about this photograph is very compelling. The colours are beautiful and it looks almost theatrically staged. Another Brody masterpiece. I haven't seen a modern photographer match him yet.

Bad News for Sugar

London based agency Mother created this poster campaign for Fanta's new 30% less sugar version of the original Fanta soft drink. Characterising inanimate objects related to the product has been seen before, with the likes of Peperami and in the recent Cadbury Creme Egg campaign. For me this particular advert works because of its subtle wit of the innocent looking sugar cubes and the simple strap line.