Catch-up post

Whew, it's a little dusty around here... Anyone still reading this? Well, fear not... I'm still alive... I guess it's time for a big 'ol catch-up post.

The last couple of months were a whirlwind of proposals, new projects and resurrected old projects. A couple of websites got launched. One is in production. The rest are lounging in waiting-for-client-feedback purgatory. All this staring at pixels and talking with virtual people via IM and e-mail has made my brain feel a little bit low-resolution. Regardless, I'm really thankful for the work and I'm crossing my fingers that it keeps coming despite the nasty turn the economy has been taking. Right now I have a temporary break to catch up on holiday stuff, interact with the real world, get in touch with my crafty side, and update the 'ol blog.


1. North Korean food, 2. Blowfish Bulgogi (복불고기)

I can't believe my last post was about Singapore--that was ages ago! And I haven't even posted up my report of Singapore food! Don't worry, that's coming down the pipeline.

Gavin and I have been steadily making our way through this Korean food blogger's book. We've tried a bunch of different Korean food guides including this one and this one but Jun's is our hands-down favorite cuz, like us, he rates his favorite restaurants based on taste alone, with special preference for hole-in-the-wall hidden gems. I can't read the sentences so I just scan the photos and read the location directions, which is really all one needs. Our other source of food recs is our ever-hungry friend Hyungjin. He has some sort of special technology in his brain that is forever triangulating "current location" with "yumminess" and "quickest mode of transport." You really need one of these kinds of friends in every city, I find it enhances one's travel experience immeasurably. Anyway, I updated my Favorite Food in Korea posts with some new yummies including North Korean cow tongue stew (어복쟁반) and spicy stir-fried blowfish (복불고기) . The dog soup I finally tried for the first time didn't quite make the list. Though I don't have anything against the rather non-descript flavor of bosintang (보신탕), I can't eat it without picturing these guys and feeling a pang of guilt. I know that sounds hypocritical because apparently I have nothing against eating perfectly innocent chickens and cows. For me, in the end, it all comes down to the ratio between two factors = how cute the animal is : how tasty the food is. In the end, the dog soup just wasn't tasty enough. Or puppies are just too darn cute.



This week I finally tackled my holiday card project. I always try to make the illustration non-denominational, so snowmen are a recurring theme. My first draft had a snowman holding an umbrella made out of hearts to protect him from the spring rain. It wasn't until I was midway through preparing the silkscreen for printing when it dawned on me that the logic behind the illustration was sort of tragic and depressing. I mean, it directly alludes to the snowman's demise come spring, even though the card is wishing the recipient peace & love "all year round." Ok. Scratch that. New illustration: Cloud sends some snow as a gift to the snowman. I think they would look nice letterpressed. I wish I had access to a letterpress machine. Anyone in Korea know of how I can get my hands on one?

1. 2008 holiday cards, 2. Last year's holiday card, 3. Home sweet home

Anyway, one of my minor obsessions over the past few months has been sketching out new products for my Etsy shop. It took a long time because for a while I tried really hard to design some normal-looking things. You know, like something elegant or sophisticated. I really want to be that kind of designer. It was really frustrating. Then I sat down at the sewing machine and look at what came out.


1. Dexter, 2. Bob, close up

Gah! Those crazy critters again! And they're drooling. Sheesh. I'm never going to get away from them...

Ok, now for some linkiness:

The bad news is that the good news is fake.
Rose-tinted BBC [via It's Nice That]
Some wishful thinking at the NYTimes [via Gothamist]

What have the insects been doing lately?
Fruit Flies Driving
Spiders Taking Drugs (hmm, caffiene just might be worse for web designers than LSD...?) [via NotCot]
Bug Humor

Sew geeky
Sew sound
Knit news

Numbers and figures
What people in Tokyo are doing at any given time, sortable by gender and economic status [via Kottke]
American Google search queries, sorted by state [via Kottke]
Make your own graphs [via It's Nice That]
World maps

Alternatives to Photoshop
Cardboard [via Kottke]
Aviary
Pixlr
Splashup

Next Big Thing 2008

Hop hop horray! I was selected as one of the finalists at Fred Flare's 2008 Next Big Thing design competition! Gregory, a froggy iPhone cozy that I designed and made, is being featured in the shop.
EDIT: ** Click here to vote for me July 2-16! **
You can read the article about me here and see the other finalists here.

We were on vacation in Palau when I got an email from Keith at Fred Flare that I was one of the 27 finalists and that they wanted 50 Gregories -- Yikes! When we got back, in the midst of whirlwind packing, moving and work, I stitched up all fifty froggies over the space of a few days... Yup, it was a little crazy; my fingers were a little sore and I was kinda delirious afterwards... I think Gavin suffered a little, too.
-- Ring, ring --
"Hello?"
"Hey, what's up."
"I'm running out of eyes."
"What?"
"I've done like 20 pairs of eyes. I need more eyes. I mean buttons."
"...Ohhh, you mean the frogs."


After I shipped off the 50 froggies, I went to sleep dreaming about... frogs. I got to thinking, in every large population, there are always a few mutants. Especially nowadays, due to all the pollutants in the air and water. So now that there are all these Gregory iPod cozies in the world, it seems reasonable that there might be some mutants, too. So, the next morning, I stitched up Goggles, a 3-eyed froggy iPhone cozy, and I posted him in my Etsy shop… He's sold now, but I'll be posted up some more when I have time. All proceeds from selling Goggles will go to Tree Walkers International to help (who else?) frogs!

Maybe this summer, we'll try to find some new frogs for our courtyard. They'll eat the mosquitoes! In the meanwhile, here are some pictures of our old frog friends, Mr. & Mrs. Chombagi.

And now for some happy links, my bookmarked guaranteed-mood-picker-uppers:
Fuzzy baby animals
Dancing dog!
Rapping shark & b-boy bear
MarsPhoenix Rover's Twitter

Seoul Design Festival

1. Pong, 2. Harmony, 3. Working Man Walking, 4. Abyss

Some of my favorites from the Seoul Design Festival this year.

Created with Flickr Toys.