Infinite loop

Posted on March 14, 2019April 13, 2019 Posted in Design, MY WORLDTagged Art, Creativity, Design, Discovery, Graphic Design, Ideas, Journal, Knowledge, Learning, Life, Mind, Photography, Quotes, Typography, Writing4 Comments

‘Learning is an infinite loop’ by Philip Abang

I created this series of works with the notion that our capacity to learn, generate idea(s) and discovering old or new things is infinite. Think about it, we are constantly learning and finding things foreign to us or discovering things unknown or unaware of, etc.

We share our old or new found knowledge by teaching it or disseminating it as information. In these events, new ideas are formed or generated, and if put in good use, amazing things are created.

This process repeats itself, on and on it goes like a loop thus the visual metaphor which I have created using pieces of strings and a scanner.

We will never stop learning, discovering or generating ideas, sharing, teaching, etc., and the process repeats itself like an infinite loop.

Design, Art direction, Post
By Philip Abang

One important lesson I learnt at design school

Posted on February 18, 2019March 5, 2019 Posted in DesignTagged Advice, Art, Collage, Creativity, Design, Ideas, Journal, Learning, Life, Mind, paper collage, People, Quotes, Tim Foster, Together, Typography, Us, WeLeave a comment

One important lesson I learnt at design school

One key lesson I learnt from one of my greatest graphic design tutor Tim Foster was flipping or reversing if you may the word ‘ME’ to ‘WE’. The message was that in uniting or in collaborating with others takes us and our ideas further than we could imagine.

To add to that, there is popular African proverb that goes, “If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

This principle can be applied in all works and facets of life.

To go further, ‘WE’ go together.

It’s all about we, we, we!

Design, Art direction, Post
By Philip Abang

Adopt Positivity

Posted on February 6, 2019February 6, 2019 Posted in DesignTagged Advice, Art, Design, Focus, Geoffrey James, Graphic Design, Growth, Inspiration, Learning, Life, People, Positivity, Type, Typography3 Comments

Adopt Positivity

I came across this article How to Create a Positive Attitude, it is worth a read.

Here are some bullets points I gathered from this insightful article by Geoffrey James:

1. Remember that YOU control your attitude.

2. Adopt beliefs that frame events in a positive way.

3. Create a “library” of positive thoughts.

4. Avoid angry or negative media.

5. Ignore whiners and complainers.

6. Use a more positive vocabulary.

Thank you very much and have a good day.

Design, Art direction, Post
By Philip Abang

Art #2. Into The Unknown

Posted on November 7, 2018April 13, 2019 Posted in Dear ZedTears, DesignTagged Advice, Art, Artwork, Body, Conscious mind, Creativity, Design, Experimenting, Exploration, Focus, Forms, Graphic Design, Inspiration, Life, Mark Rothko, Mind, Power, Quotes, Scanography, Type, Typography, Unconscious mind, Us, WeLeave a comment

Art #2. Into The Unknown [Artwork]

“To me art is an adventure into an unknown world, which can be explored only by those willing to take the risks.” _Mark Rothko

Mark Rothko’s quote inspired my initial post ‘Art‘ and also this artwork. I created this artwork ‘Into The Unknown’ as an abstract representation of the conscious, subconscious, and the unconscious mind. The eye denoting the conscious, the subconscious represented by the abstract layers and patterns of type and forms floating in space and the unconscious are the ‘blacks’ found in every existing space.

There is a complexity about the subconscious and the unconscious mind, and human behaviour is influenced by the abstract nature of this complexity. The floating layers of information in the subconscious are a culmination of things seen, heard or experienced. In the unconscious mind lays a deep tunnel of things the conscious mind cannot conceive or comprehend. In it lays a wealth of uncharted knowledge, strength, weaknesses, potential, goals, wisdom, vulnerability, power, you name it.

Like Mark Rothko’s quote, exploring that space of our subconscious and our unconscious mind can help unravel our inner stardom and realizing our full potential. Being the hero of our story lay in how deep we are willing to dive, how deep we are willing to look from within to make our story a best seller.

Lest I forget, I created this artwork exploring with torn pieces of papers, sketch and ‘scanography’. I tried something different and the result is this digital collage. Let’s take an adventure into the unknown (our inner self) and see how we become a beautiful piece of art.

Design, Art/Creative direction, Post
By Philip Abang

Change happens

Posted on November 4, 2018 Posted in Dear ZedTears, Design, Hello Quotes!Tagged Advice, Art, Body, Change, Creativity, Design, Expressive typography, Feelings, Graphic Design, Inspiration, Learning, Life, Mind, Progress, Quotes, Reality, Tony Robbins, Type, TypographyLeave a comment

Dear ZedTears, Change happens _Tony Robbins #2

Design, Art direction, Post
By Philip Abang

Change is Good

Posted on November 2, 2018November 2, 2018 Posted in DesignTagged Advice, Art, Change, Creativity, Design, Graphic Design, Ina Saltz, Inspiration, Kim Kiyosaki, Learning, Life, Life's puzzle, Mind, Purpose, Quotes, Robert Kiyosaki, Steven Pressfield, TypographyLeave a comment

Design. Change is Good _Ina Saltz. #1

Great advice from one of my favourite typography tutors on Lynda.com. Ever thought about a change in career or life in general? Well, it may seem extremely difficult in most cases especially when faced with fear of the unknown. I like the fact that Ina Saltz highlights that change in your career path (even life itself) can pay off in happiness, balance, and quality of your life. What is that thing, job or position that needs changing from your perspective? Ever thought about that?!!

Having to listen more has change the way I gather or dissect information. Taking a leap of faith in doing a graphic design course completely changed the way I viewed the world around me. My interpretation of colours, things and their meaning definitely changed. Needless to say that my problem solving skills have gone up a notch.

I was listening to a radio show called The Rich Dad Radio Show by Robert and Kim Kiyosaki on Find out How to find your Purpose in Life featuring Steven Pressfield, and I wrote these lines that Steven Pressfield had said about what stands in the way of change (if you put it that way) and finding purpose in life, thus;

It’s kind of the rule of life that anything that is really positive for the evolution of the soul is very freaking hard to do and you feel an enormous resistance to doing it. — Capital ‘R’ resistance from something as simple as going to the gym to facing your true destiny whatever that is, there’s going to be an enormous wall of resistance.

The above relates to making that change that will impact your happiness, balance and quality of life that Ina Saltz had stated.

Thank you Ina Saltz, and thanks to your Typography tutorials on Lynda.com. I have benefited immensely from these including your book Typography Essentials: 100 Principles for Working with Type (Design Essentials) which I have in my mini library.

Design, Art direction, Post
By Philip Abang

Not Just a Pretty Face

Posted on October 17, 2018April 13, 2019 Posted in Design, Hello ZedtearsTagged Book cover design, Creativity, Design, Inspiration, Life, Men, Mock up, Photography, Storytelling, Tambu Geeray, Women, Writer, Writing3 Comments

Dear ZedTears, Not Just a Pretty Face #2 By Tambu Geeray

There he stood, looking at her
In ways she’s never been looked at
There was a lot to say
To give peace to her troubled soul
But the words wouldn’t come out

He feared the outcome of his eventual outpouring may spell doom
“Hold your tongue man,” he said to himself.
Still he held her so tight and gently placed his lips
On her left ear
Like he had found that perfect diction
Again, the words failed to come to fruition.

In his frustration, he reluctantly took another deep look in her eyes
As dark clouds gathered therein
In a whisper, slowly he said her name
Then hesitantly walked away
Doing all he could to stifle the tears from trickling down
Denying her the luxury of his weakness.

She didn’t want him to leave
But made no effort at holding him back
She had felt his heartbeat the whole time in that bitter-sweet embrace
Wishing he said something, anything
Even a true lie wouldn’t hurt now
But suffice beautifully

The spasmodic rhythm on his chest was too much to bear
There was more to this than mere words
Of that she was sure
She knew him so well to understand that right there
That heartbeat was that of a bird
Like Big bird in sesame street
In dire need to flap her wings and touch the sky.

With sad eyes she let him leave
She watched him close the door
And with parted lips, she knew he loved her
But something was missing.

Check out Not Just A Pretty Face #1 in case you missed Tambu Geeray’s beautifully written piece.

Design, Art direction, Illustration, Cover design Mock up
By Philip Abang
Credit: Tambu Geeray - Not Just A Pretty Face

Focus your time on what is most important

Posted on October 10, 2018 Posted in Dear ZedTears, DesignTagged Advice, Art, Blogger, Chris Croft, Creativity, Design, Expressive typography, Focus, Good habits, Habits, Ideas, Instagram, Learning, Life, Lynda.com, Quotes, Success, Successful People, Time management, TypographyLeave a comment

Dear ZedTears. Focus your time on what is most important

It’s been over a month since I last designed a quote and posted on my site. My apologies to those who have always tuned in and to the numerous blogs I haven’t read during this period. My time have been occupied by certain events, although, I have been seldom active on Instagram if I must confess.

I still listen to talks, lectures and watch some insightful videos which is beneficial to acquiring new knowledge and eliciting growth. I thought I’d share a few lines below from a lecture Get enough time for the important things by Chris Croft, author of Success Habits on Lynda.com.

“Successful people are careful about how they use their time — because if you think about it, all you can put into an enterprise is your money and your time — as you become more successful your time becomes more valuable, not less. And the options for what to do with it usually become more complicated — So the key is to focus your time on what is most important.

— We have to deal with the urgent stuff in order to keep everyone else happy. But finding time for the important things, that’s the key.

— And anything that takes you towards your goals is important. If it doesn’t contribute to either enjoyment or achievement of a goal, then it’s not important.

— Successful people — They make time by being a little bit more ruthless than other people on the unimportant stuff.

I often question if I use my time wisely. Lectures like that of Chris Croft’s have been very helpful in keeping me focused and channeling my attention towards my goals and growth.

Design, Art direction, Post 
By Philip Abang

Take the leap

Posted on September 3, 2018September 2, 2018 Posted in Design, Hello Quotes!Tagged Advice, Art, Body, Change, Corita 100, Corita Kent, Coritaartcenter, Creativity, Design, Inspiration, Learning, Life, Mind, Quotes, Type, TypographyLeave a comment

Design. Take the leap _Corita Kent #5

“In this speedy world of ours when facts are multiplying rapidly and giant rearrangements are happening all around us, it seems dangerous to be made nervous by the new – to want what we can never have, to want things not to be rearranged. It would be better to be able to take the leap, which is to be able not only to live with change and newness, but even to help make it.” _Corita Kent

Design, Art/Creative direction, Post 
By Philip Abang

Big results

Posted on September 1, 2018September 1, 2018 Posted in Dear ZedTears, DesignTagged Advice, Art, Branding, Creativity, Design, Graphic Design, Heraclitus, Ideas, Inspiration, Learning, Life, Music, People, Progress, Progression, Quotes, Result, Sports, Typography, WritingLeave a comment

Big results. _Heraclitus

“Big results require big ambitions.” _Heraclitus

Design, Art direction, Post 
By Philip Abang