Okay guys, I’m here to refute rumours of me being dead, getting kidnapped or abducted by aliens to their home planet to conduct experiments on me to find out why I’m so good.

Smses from friends who I haven’t met very often started pouring in quite recently (as if they arranged to do this together)  to express their deepest concerns, just to check that I’m still alive and able to reply messages properly.

I’m fine thank you.

Past few weeks have been crazy. I worked crazily hard and played crazily harder with my closest bunch of friends (some of whom have already left Singapore last week to further studies). I’ve had some of the most surreal and enjoyable, and not to forget, the most frustrating and helpless times in the past 2 months.

The only word that I can think of which can be describe what I’ve been through is really.. just… CRAZY!!!

I’m sorry for being MIA to some of my friends. My bad. Bear with me for a few more weeks to straighten things out and we can live life normally and meet again okay?

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Movies I’ve watched during my MIA:

Inception

The ultimate story within a story within a story. Mind-boggling but engaging. Makes you go wow all the time.

8.5/10!

Despicable Me

Decent animated comedy. Rather entertaining.

7.5/10

Toy Story 3

Pixar does it again. They have ended the story in the best and most meaningful possible. Ken’s definitely my favourite character in this instalment.

9/10!

Karate Kid

A not-bad Jackie Chan flick where Jackie watches other people fight most of the time, instead of throwing punches at people himself. You can almost tell he looks bored sometimes.

7/10!

Shrek Forever After

Why the hell are they still making Shrek? You can tell that there are already no more good stories to tell.

4/10

It’s not easy being a designer nowadays.

The fictional job listing above roughly shows what the industry is expecting from these people. I’m not kidding, just go to any job search website, find job listings for designers and you can start playing ‘find the similarities’ game. I bet you can score with flying colours.

The requirements of various companies everywhere actually don’t differ much, and I can’t complain because that is the harsh truth of this increasingly competitive industry and society. This is serious business. It is unfortunate that sometimes design is reduced to being merely mass produced products, where efficiency, productivity and profitability are key.

Nowadays it is not enough to be great at what you do, you gotta be fast. People are constantly finding ways to do things better in a shorter time. Life is too short; You can’t afford to spend 3 years to work on a Mona Lisa painting like Leonardo da Vinci anymore. Someday, archaeologists digging the grounds might just discover ‘Patience’ buried down there.

Now that we are in the Web 2.0 age, a lot of commercial design works are expected to be churned out like fast food. It disgusts me that sometimes quality has to give way to speed, like how gourmet chefs might feel towards instant noodles.

But that is not to say tight deadlines and stress are bad. In fact, I think it motivates you to think more clearly and stay focused.

At the end of the day, the only thing that keeps these poor designers alive and clicking is their undying passion. If you are working for money, you shouldn’t be a designer at all. It’s really not about the money, even though we are doing this for a living.

‘Clients From Hell’ and The Oatmeal’s ‘Design Hell’ amuse me and also make me look like I’m laughing at myself sometimes. Gotta love the part where The Oatmeal describes web designers turning into robots/mouse arrows that are being controlled by clients.

Just to update here, I have already found a graphic design job, sort of. For some weird reason, I can’t wait to start work and face the challenges ahead. I have set out to be an awesome designer who wants to change the world for the better using the power of media and design.

I will learn to be damn good at what I love to do and then use my ‘damn good’ skills to improve the society.

Nearly copying what Spider-Man has said: With Great Skills, Comes Great Responsibility.

Let’s go.

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Ip Man 2 Review

This is definitely a feel-good movie for the Chinese, a nearly 2 hour long advertisement of Wing Chun and also where you can see Sammo Hung getting pwned to death. I dare say Ip Man (Donnie Yen’s version) is now the worldwide Chinese population’s new superhero and idol. As usual, great action choreography (especially the one where they fought on the table), great humour and meaningful message.