I Need

Source: Pinterest

Have a feeling I'll be needing one of these over the next couple of weeks. So much to do and so little time.

Forever Young

Source: The Cool Hunter

These days, vanity consumes society. Be it in the culture of celebrity, where women and men vie for media attention with their award-winning good looks; seamlessly coloured hair well into their 50s and 60s; perfect curves and flawless skin, or a teenage girl touching up her Facebook picture so she looks as skinny and flawless as those women in the magazines. So it came as no surprise when I came across this ad mock-up on The Cool Hunter, advertising Photoshop as a skin cream that restores people's looks, making them appear perfect. This advert is witty and clever and mocks the people that use Photoshop for these reasons, as well as highlighting the genius software that Photoshop is.

Who Am I?

As I've mentioned previously, part of my current assignment is identifying who I am as a professional, and along with that comes the design of a business card and CV etc etc. So here are some ideas I've had for the business card, this time promoting my blog. I've had a couple of ideas that I have begun to execute regarding other topics but until they are finalised I'm keeping them under wraps! These are what I've developed to promote my love of writing and blogging.

New Identity

All my own graphics

The time has come and 2012 is now officially here. And with a new year, I felt that it would be fun to bring a new identity to Curiosity Killed the Cat, a blog I have now had for nearly 2 years! So I've been playing around with a couple of ideas for the header and I'm trying out this new one (as you can see) but I wondered on your thoughts of a couple of these. Have a gander and tell me what you like best?

Queen of the Road

Source: Fashion Gone Rogue

Oyster Magazine

Photographer: Jason Lee Parry

Stylist: Cat Wennekamp

Ashley Smith stars in the December issue of Oyster Magazine in a shoot that I can only describe as a rebel's road trip. A prime example of how cost is indifferent to a great photo shoot, the styling is wonderfully simple yet the fabrics used such as leather and denim create such hard overtones, creating that grungy look. I love the piling on of jewellery and the overall looks that Wennekamp has assembled. You can check out more of her work here. Mostly I love the composition of the photos, I love the juxtaposition of the space around the woman and her car in some of the shots against the close up shots of Ashley Smith's face. The variation created is interesting to look at and if you go to Cat Wennekamp's personal site you can see how it has been used within the context of the magazine which is even more brilliantly composed.

The mood of the shoot has a 'fuck the system' attitude and appears to share a careless teenagers dreams, and love of life, the world and travel. It has a similar tone of voice to Rihanna's video for We Found Love, her collaboration with Calvin Harris. Again brilliantly styled. It seems there's a bit of a rogue trend going around.

There are 9,000,000 bicycles in Beijing.

So, home again. Back for Christmas in the Beautiful South. So knowing this you may also realise the reason for my lack of posting over the last month: some ridonkulously big deadlines which we've all worked hard for so that we can get back home, eat, drink and be merry (hooray) !

Source: Copenhagen Cycle Chic

So to celebrate my return I thought I would write about a new blog obessession that I am nursing. Probably slow on the uptake, and I can't believe this because I really do like this blog, but I have only recently stumbled across Cycle Chic. One of the Guardian's '10 top Fashion Bloggers' Mikael Colville-Andersen, has based Copenhagen Cycle Chic around the concept of street style photography with a twist - the subjects of his photography are riding bicycles. His definition of the term being people that cycle in everyday  clothing as opposed to sportswear. As you may remember from various images I have posted on here in the past, I have a bit of a strange thing for bicycles in photos and Mikael has found a way to express this through a style blog. A lot of the photographs have a truly voyeuristic tone of voice, which is different to a lot of street style photography that we see today, as he has to capture the cyclists on the move instead of stopping them in the streets.

 Kudos Mr. Colville-Andersen.

A new love.

Pinterest. A site pointed out to us this term by a lecturer has become an immediate love of mine. Almost taken over weheartit.com in the addictive stakes, pinterest has a similar concept whereby people can 'pin' images on the web and add it to 'boards' that they create on the site. You can also 'repin' images that others have 'pinned' on the site and browse through other peoples boards and favourite images. It really is a great place for collating inspiration. Take a look HERE.

Christmas is coming...

Source: All from youtube

The power of advertising. It is amazing the way certain ads can make you feel. All of these, for me, deliver a multi-sensory experience. Particularly, I think you will agree, the Coca-cola ad which after being shown on the breaks of Saturday nights x factor managed to take up all of my twitter and facebook feeds! 

The above and a city break in London over the weekend have definitely got me in the mood for Christmas, a period I love more than any other.

Source: Various Google Images

A heavy focus within my current university project this term has been upon identifying myself as a creator. But a creator of what? This is the question that I have been tirelessly asking myself. Growing up I always knew I wanted a career within the widespread fashion industry, but only in the last year or so beginning my degree studies have I fully understood just how little this really helps me in defining my specific career choices. 

One of the tasks I am trying to get on with that will eventually be a part of my portfolio for this term is the design of a visual CV and business card/press pack. Truly deciding what it is that my self-promotion should say about me is a tricky task, especially as I am yet to really discover that myself. Finding something that truly depicts my design aesthetic as well as me as a person. With a couple of career paths in mind I'm finding it difficult to define my place in the industry, knowing where you want to be is hard enough these days without even thinking about how to get there!

That time of year

 

Sourced (In order): Asos (x5), American Apparel, Links, Urban Outfitters

It's that time of year again. My favourite time of year. Christmas. Which incidentally also means that its time to write my christmas list. As a poor poor student this is something that I have taken great pleasure in starting, given how very limited my budget has become these days. These are just a small number of things that I need in my life. Opting for a lot of black lately, I don't know if that's reflected from the grey weather we've been having here in lovely Nottingham or just the fact that I'm not feeling particularly creative when it comes to colour. Bright things never seem to feel right in the winter.
Can't wait to get home and sit in my christmassy lounge by the fire.