This is going to be my first post in 7 months so please pardon me if I’m shooting randomly. I’m pretty sure no one’s going to be reading this but just for my own references in the future: As some might know, the past year had been a very difficult year for me and I just wanted to thank all the angels in my life who has see me through these times. 
I really appreciate how you guys are here for me, picking up my calls at 2am and simply just listening to me. Without your support, I might still be on Titanic sinking… fast. 
That aside, I am getting back on my feet and getting my blog back on track! This layout has been hovering around for the past 3 – 4 months and I have finally managed to sit down and work on it. Minimalistic – not my usual style but it really hits close to home. Life is as simple it can gets – friends, family, food, tea & just simply enjoying myself, what’s more in life to ask for? 
While I was away, so much has happened AKA lots of upgrades were required both to WordPress and plugins. I am still fiddling with what’s new on the latest version though I highly doubt I will be needing any of the new features (if any). Meanwhile, I got most of the bugs floating around fixed. I did not carry out cross browsers testing so shoot if you noticed anything quirky!
There are so many things I wanted to blog about, to remember in the future and this will be the first. 2011 was the most valuable lesson in my life thus far and I can now tell the world, I’m a better and happier person and most importantly, I am myself.
As promised, a new layout after my exams! I would consider this layout as one of the simplest I have made over the past 2 years. This design strays away from my usual cute and colourful style. There are no kawaii cartoon (or panda for that matter) characters nor bright rainbow colours. I find this change very refreshing but I’m not sure if others feel that way too. It made use of just pastel colours and the entire design revolves around the Sakura flower.
This layout is inspired by both the art and soundtrack of the animé Hakuouki: Shinsengumi Kitan. I am totally in love with this animé especially the art – beautiful cherry blossoms featured in many scenes and not to mention learning a bit more about the history of Japan. I have been listening to the soundtrack for a few days before coming up with this design. In conclusion, love or hate?
Scan credit to animepaper.net
Continue reading "New layout: Back to Basic – Sakura"
When will some people ever realise that not everything on the Internet is “free for all” to take. Just because majority of the content on the Internet are publicly available, it doesn’t mean you are entitled to take and use it as your own. You don’t just dip your hand into the sea, fish out a design, redecorate and throw it back into the ocean as if nothing has happened. If everyone is doing it, what will happen to the design community in the future?
If we are talking about images found via Google search, they may also be protected by copyright or creative commons licenses. So what makes them think they can just use and edit it? Changing the colours doesn’t make it any more unique. All I ask for is a little respect for designs and art which I think all artists and designers out there are as well. The increase of such ignorant Internet users are really frustrating for us. I value inspiration and I’m sure all designers in our community will be glad to be a source of inspiration. But there’s also a thin line between inspiration and copying. After all the time and effort we spend working on a design, it got ripped off and the ripped design actually destroyed the original creativity and concept. Though I won’t get discouraged and will continue working on my designs, it’s actually depressing to know what happen to my creations. Will such acts cause creativity and originality to die out? What are your views?
I think I have just coin a new meaning for fishing – the act of copying in the online community. I thought it sounds nicer than just copying. =p On a last note, stop fishing for designs and create your own. Let’s work together to build a better community for everyone!
