Feeling bluuuuuue….
It’s been a slower month. It’s a little scary. Not because I haven’t had slow months before, but even after 4.5 years of business, I still panic when there’s a change in activity. I keep thinking, “Is this it? Is this the big ‘recession’ everyone keeps talking about?” That kind of thinking can be bad for a small business owner like myself. I think some part of business is a self-fulfilling prophecy so as soon as such a thought comes up I try to rail back. It’s not always easy though....
read moreMistakes in Typography
The NY Times had this recent article about Typography purists…you know, those guys I’ve mentioned here and there that know everything and anything about fonts. I think the article’s got a point about the issue that as a purist you might have a tendency to “spoil pleasant moments” Kinda like how my dad can’t enjoy 9 out of 10 of the restaurants we go to because he’s such a good cook himself?
read morePlaying Cards
I stumbled across these beautiful playing cards designed by Michelle Lam. Apparently it’s intended to inspire other designers with the use of typography and iconology. I think it’s quite nice, it’s inspired me thank you Michelle! I’ve had a couple of people approach me to design playing decks for them before. Unfortunately in both cases they fizzled out for me as soon as they heard how much it might need in budget to design and print these things. Come on folks….54 cards in a deck? That’s like 54...
read moreBaaack
I think I managed to find a crack in this designer’s block I’ve had for a few weeks. At least I think I managed to come up with a website design for one of my clients that rather inspires me to continue working with it. Might be a bit too funky for this one very conservative client I have, but I think this may work out because I have another client who wants something funky anyway. If one client doesn’t like it….another might. So it’s a nice two-fer. I don’t know where this week went. It’s already...
read moreWestsiiiiiiide
So we came back from our small weekend getaway to the West side of the island over at KoOlina Beach Resort. None the worse for wear…no sunburns to report and for the most part it was a nice needed mini vacation. The weather was beautiful as you can see and there was a lot to do on the grounds of the resort. Kingston had his first real experience spending time in ocean water, playing in the sand and grass, and wading in the resort kiddy pools and warm jacuzzis (sp?) I think he probably enjoyed it more then we did since much of the trip...
read moreBlue
So daddy took me to the beach yesterday when it raining. Daddy thought he needed to bring me here because he’s been coming to this Ala Moana beach place since he was as old as I am. Daddy had homework this week in his photo class where the teacher said to take an assigned color and evoke the emotion of the color. I think Daddy had “blue”. Daddy said he had a hard time with me because I didn’t like the feeling of sand on my hands so I was feeling like I wanted to cry. And then the sky was crying on my head as well. I...
read moreDesign frustrations
I’m suffering from extreme designer’s block lately. I have a good few projects in my table that I have every intention to create something wonderful for, but I can’t get my head into the mood of design. Part of the problem is just accepting family life. While 9 month old Kingston can be inspirational at times when I stare at him, there’s only so many weekends I can handle staring at him play, eat and nap before I have started going crazy from the routine. All my old ways of recuperating and letting my mind relax have...
read morePillbox and Brooms
I had this site bookmarked for about a week intending to post it, but there was just too many distractions. This website “Today and Tomorrow” is seems to be a pretty good collection of unusual artwork found by this guy in Berlin. Great browsing through there for inspiration. I found these 2 things that caught my attention: While it’s a bit like living in a giant Tupperware box, I like the fact that it’s almost 360 degrees of open window space in some areas. Yeah, I could live in a place like this. Only problem is that...
read moreBizarre Day
I’m having intermittant problems with my cable internet connectivity today *cough* RoadRunner *cough cough* I guess if I’m slow to respond to your emails today, you’ll know why. I guess if you see this post I’ve managed to slip this in during one of the “up” times. This might be a sign for me to take some break time today. My wife is home sick with a slight cold today. We ended up having breakfast this morning with a very non-traditional chinese menu of rice juk, tripe, chicken feet, egg tart, and shrimp...
read moreFlash photography
I’m trying to learn how to use my flash better in my photography. I can’t seem to make it work the way I want it to. Here’s some of my results using my favorite model test subject. The photo on the left is with flash, the one on the right is without it. Personally I like the look of the one without flash as it retains more shadow and depth. ARRRGH. I need to learn how to control my lighting better.
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LoweStudio Inc was founded by me, Raphael Lowe, a Honolulu based illustrator and web designer. I presently design and manage a few dozen commercial websites, but my main focus these days is acting as the head developer for Kapiolani Community College and teaching