0430 hours. October 30, 2009

There’s silence in the air. It’s damp, still.
There’s warmth sans the day. And there’s light by five in the morn.
There’s a laze that just wont ebb. And an urge that would not rest.
There’s a calm. And baited breath.
There’s a shade of orange. Only half hour till it breaks.
On rolls the light. And meanders across the sky.
As October draws to a close.

An October. That draws to a close.
Flurry on.

Making of an Events Booklet | Alcheringa 2010

Had been working on a booklet for quite a while. Fell sick, was hospitalised (even spent some time isolated as an H1N1 suspect :D ) and sent home for a month for recuperation (still struggling to come back to some semblance of normalcy), then faced a hard disk crash that wiped all my data off, and forced me to start from scratch (on this project, and much of the rest of my life too), then my laptop screwed up, and things just kept going wrong too often for me :( It’s been a bad semester, and with only 20 days to go, and my submissions on all my courses running atleast 2 months behind, it will only get worse.. Yeay.

Still,

I finally managed to complete the Web version of the Alcheringa 2010 Events Booklet. ..Must convey thanks to the 5 design juniors who worked with and assisted me, albeit in their own different capacities. Our collective aim was that they’d begin to learn to work on softwares, and practice them while working on what i assigned. In return, i managed some sort-of-an informal workshop, with assignments for them, and checking their work and giving feedback on it, and also managing the process for the booklet. Essentially, while they worked and i criticized it ;) i ended up teaching them the introductory basics of grid, hierarchy, a few brainstorming methods, typographic tools, visual balance and so on \ to whatever extent that i could.

In the end, i guess things turned out just about right :)

We made an attempt to follow a rather detailed process while working on booklet:

- Each module of events (and thus, each page in the booklet) was brainstormed-on and keywords based on colour, emotion and imagery were discussed, and ultimately all this was used to arrive at multiple options for the graphics to be used on each page.

- Existing images and graphics found all over the web were heavily discussed-upon. For guys as new to design as them (and me too!), i believe it is imperative to first observe work, and draw from it, while adding a little more of ourselves into each successive job we do. So – the images we observed were complimented (often!), and although most such graphics were of an exceptionally high quality, we consciously tried to understand different ways in which they could be improved upon, or simply, different approaches that could have yielded different or better results.

It is important to note here that these students who worked with me are 2nd-yearites at IIT Guwahati, and thus, only freshmen at the Department of Design (since the first year of every Design student is filled with a pathetic load of common engineering subjects – which, in some ways, is a good thing – but mostly doesn’t seem to work that way), and thus had been here only for about 3 months before work ended. So not every idea was solely original – a lot of existing concepts were evaluated and relied upon – but the bottom rule was that each graphic was to be made by us ourselves. Nothing was to be a direct copy or a rip-off, and even if we ran out of ideas and graphics, we made sure that nothing was the lift-from-the-web-and-paste-it-into-the-booklet-sort-of-a-thing that had always happened before, when booklets or such things had to be made for events on-campus.

- For each idea or concept, i encouraged discussions about whether it worked or not, and invited each person to table his views. Often, people disagreed and arguments stretched a bit, though frankly, i seemed to like it that way :) It was simple – no one was a senior or a junior among us. If you had an opinion, it had to come out. At the risk of sounding cliched: A design process just couldn’t exist if one guy dictated something and others worked as robots under him. Though, when discussions seemed to be going nowhere, i’d take a call (since i was the senior and sort-of more experienced in these matters), and unless someone had the strongest-possible conviction that said that i was wrong or being unreasonable, i asked them to go-along with me, for want of churning-out results within the stipulated time period.

I guess this worked quite well. All discussions do need to have a deadline, and then, the ideas that have come until then are the ones we ought to play along with. Else, creative thought-processes just don’t end. And while getting many ideas is a good thing, there’s this bit that Prof Ravi Mokashi-Punekar told us – learning when to stop pondering, beginning to organize the ideas and selecting the right ones is even more important, so that we may actually make something tangible, rather than only think about it.

- Each junior was to pick up one skill – one worked on floral brushes in Photoshop, one worked with simple type-based graphics, one began with the Pen tool, another was asked to create image-boards for each module, and one worked with the Glow effect for the backgrounds on pages. I did have a definitive plan in my mind, and thus selected those specific skills as the ones we’d go with. The fact that not each one of them would be able to deliver, was also accounted for – all that mattered was that they gave it their best shot, and asked me to teach them whenever they hit a roadblock.

- Discussions often related to the functional aspects of each element of graphics we used. A genuine attempt was made to try and convey the emotions with the use of the meagre-most of graphics – though i understand that our execution of the same may not have come out perfectly in the end. The juniors had only recently begun work on softwares (some, had to be introduced to the Selection and Pen tools), and i myself concentrated more on the layouts, fonts and explaining stuff to 5 guys who just couldn’t stop making mistakes every 5 minutes. But that was fun, and in most ways, i was egged on by the fact that no one (on the outside at-least) seemed to be embarrassed to hear me make verbal-sushi of everything they’d do. Then again, a lot of the work, given their newness to this all (pardon my english!), was quite encouraging, and, in some cases, simply brilliant.

Below are JPEGs of a few of the pages from the web version of the booklet. The print version, still to come, is what i’m waiting for – kinda expecting it to come out pretty decently, if the printing studio in the city can match the promises he’s made :) Also, the published .PDF can be downloaded from here.

a very short ode to good spelling

tch..

and on every status message he read, the epiphany of how good spelling was dead stared back at him, as though mute while the royal tongue itself lay bare, abused, insulted, ultimately murdered, and then left in the middle of the road, for all to see and read; and yet, none would bother to take notice, let alone run-in to help..

- random\passing thought, while mass-reading status messages on the chat messenger, in a time of absolute joblessness.

ps. it’s not as though i’m averse to change. as correctly stated by DJ, the script is but-only a tool, and spellings such as {u, y, sum1, ..} are simply dictated by convenience. in most ways, i’m akin to the uncaring passers-by on the road; and yet, romanticising the death of an old custom is.. both, serious and fun ;)

Tree. Tengboche. Sketch.

I like sketching trees. Bare ones.

Maybe because i find it much too difficult to draw foliage. Or maybe because bare trees carry with them emotions that mean much to me.

However: The number of sketches of such trees that i have made, can be counted off the back of my hand. The number that i have preserved with me, presently stands at two. And they’ve all been mostly average (or worse), and nothing i can brag about. Yet, they all carry with them, stories that i seldom think of, and yet, often thrive on in my subconcious.

This sketch (refer: image) is from the last diary i made an entry in. The diaries, themselves, are liabilities, and although near-invaluable, are almost no-longer used as record-keepers by me now. The depicted sketch, meanwhile, finds it’s roots in a diary entry on May 12, 2008, as part of an incomplete attempt at documenting the trek up the Everest-and-Gokyo valleys, in the Summer of 2008.

I’ll pull out some paragraphs from it,
[Describing the view from Tengboche]

Looking forward, there is a pretty valley (barren, even so) that terminates in the formidable pair of Sagarmatha and Lhotse. Behind us, is an entire range of mountains that are no-less charming. Also within view (forward, and to the right) is Ama-Dablam, sacred mountain to the Sherpas. Bang opposite our lodge is the famous Tengboche Monastary, which although rebuilt (post a fire), has lost none of its importance in the region. Visitors can attend a puja in the Gompa [loosely, a monastary], and that is exactly what Daddy, Mama and Debu did at 4 pm. I chose to opt out, for i had wanted to sketch a particularly inviting tree, nearby.

I spent well over an hour making that sketch, stopping post-sunset only because it had become so cold that my hands were shivering in the cold and dark, and i was unable to hold a pencil without it shaking uncontrollably. In-all, the tree had kept me rooted to the spot, till Daddy saw my state and physically paraded me off the place, into the warmth of the lodge. The sky had been overcast, and we had only gotten glimpses of the famed mountains on that day, in between the clouds. It was the middle of May, and very much near the end of the trekking-season, and although Tengboche was not as splendid as it was normed to be, the tree had mesmerised me completely.

It spoke of death replacing the undead. And also of a promise and of a flicker of life, from within a decaying body. It also uttered of a resolute will to weather storms, in face of uncertainty, whilst in promise of hope. Yes, i romanticised it. For, the surroundings were full of green trees, and yet, this one, stood at the edge of a wood, almost bare, as though in anticipation, and in distinction. It wanted to be drawn, uncaring about the lacking deftness in my hands.

That trek (especially the leg that took us up the Gokyo valley) presented several opportunities for me to sit down at a spot and draw. Sadly, we were running a tight schedule, and everytime i sat down at a quiet spot to draw, someone’d come along and whisk me away, for a destination awaited, and could not be reached any later than planned. I like to think of this as an excuse for me to go back there, someday, maybe alone, and spend days at select spots like the slopes of Gokyo Ri, and sketch my heart out.

Trees that brave the treeline. Those fairytale lakes that reflect some of the world’s tallest mountains in the purest of waters. The Himalayan birds that played between my feet when i sat down for a break, as the clouds rushed in from below me, hugging the steep slope that i’d just run up, trying in vain to outrun them. The 4am race against time, towards the top of 5000 metre high peaks, only to catch the sunrise reflect in orange on Sagarmatha’s head, and photograph the mountain for my sister. The tales about the Yeti that murdered 3 yaks in one swift motion. My first AMS attack. The pathetic despise for over-crowding by trekkers in the Everest valley and the blatant murder of nature at the behest of adventure tourism. The silent attempts at reafforestation. The snowfall at the crack of dawn. The 200 rupees we spent on boiled water. And most of all, the experience, that for any traveller, is beyond words.

Someday, i’ll head back up the route to the Gokyo lakes, with a sketchbook strapped-in, and time in my hands..

I Can But Won’t Nuke You.

Indians, when overcome by irrational and momentous hate against Pakistan, tend to lash-out and warn about how India is militarily (and otherwise) superior to Pakistan and could nuke it out of existence, and that Pakistan should not dare trouble India, if it knows what’s best for itself.

There are so many things wrong with that statement ..I won’t care to elaborate, purely out of lack of time\intent. Primarily, Pakistan as a nation may prove to be a thorn for India, but it’s peoples do not deserve the hate that is so-often showered upon them. So let’s not threaten the entire peoples of the country. It makes us (Indians) look like gloated muscular buffoons who want to pointlessly (and selfishly) throw our weight around on people much too nice to warrant such show of force (in short, it makes us look like a certain Mayawati).

Here goes –

10 years have passed since the Kargil War came to an end.

Being a citizen of India, and having been subjected to Indian propaganda for all of my years, i ought to classify today as the decade-anniversary of India’s victory in Kargil. Forgive me for not doing so, for, this blog-post is not about winning and losing. Rather, it’s about a virtue that often lies forgotten – generously evaluating how we’re living.

As as all these years passed, we continually witnessed Pakistan deteriorate – in action, and also, in being. The recent turmoil in the country has been visible to everyone. Additionally, when Bombay was attacked on November 26, 2008 (better known as 26\11 to most), several Indians – me too, for an impetuous moment – could be heard making calls for war. After all, there could be no time better than this to finish Pakistan off, no? Pakistan was weak and dis-co-ordinated. The army, the ISI, the government, the peoples, the militia, and every other piece of soceital machinery seemed out-of-place. Pakistan itself was convinced that it was going to come under fire (figuratively, and more). India (i suspect) did carry-out contingency plans for the same too. It would be foolish to think the opposite. I remember writing this down, during the days following the ordeal:

Nothing [sic] can justify War. The imminent loss of lives, the economic impact, the crumbling of international decorum; all weigh down upon a state while it contemplates violent aggression against an enemy state. Let’s focus down to the current context; India-Pakistan. [December 23, 2008]

And so i sat down to chart out (my-own) reasons for whether we(\India) should attack Pakistan or not. I’m basically just converting the points i listed down (back then) into sentences, for the sake of making it worth reading through.

Logo \\Purple Leaf Design

Yes, yet another blog-post that trails an “i won’t post no more” notice. Get used to it :D

Well, like all things, Purple Leaf (henceforth referred to as PLD) needs a logo\logotype too. I won’t outline the entire process undertaken, mainly because i’m not an authority in this matter. He, however, is. And since this needs to be mentioned:

All of us (who’ve teamed-up for PLD) pitched-in for the logo, in our own ways. For my part, i just played around with the Pen Tool in Illustrator, a little bit ;)

The intent: Since PLD is our own initiative, we didn’t really need a brief. As-such, everyone knew what was required. And even though we did struggle with this, we wished to avoid direct references to organic forms. A simple logo, which wasn’t too rigid, nor too playful, was what we wanted to have at the end of it all.

Here goes:

The initial typeface (once chosen) was suitably tracked, converted to outlines, modified, (and i guess i can still use this term for the outlined glyphs:) kerned, and ultimately, stroked and expanded.

Editing the Outlines of the Typeface:

Obviously, the Logo was still not complete. This is what the logotype looks like:

Next… the graphic element for the Logo didn’t really pop-up from mid-air. But here it is, nonetheless.
And thus-with, the completed Logo for PLD is as follows:

Logos often need to be used in Grayscale, or monochrome. A grayscale sample:

So then,
My work here is done. …O wait, i hit campus in 3 days. No rest. Hmmph!

updates

[1] enabled voting for each post. so people who’re too lazy to comment or normally prefer typing out random stuff (list appended) can go the one-click-way, and simply vote, at the bottom of each post.

[2] blogging’s off-the-menu, for a while. have about 10 essays\articles i’ve been meaning to work on, but they’re all gonna remain on the boiler. forever, maybe.

[3] in the meanwhile, feel free to go back to some old posts (like this one, this one, this one, this one and this one) and rate them :P