KRISATOMIC

Offset 2010, day 2

2010-09-06T11:03:56Z

More here.

Offset 2010, day 1

2010-09-05T11:56:21Z

These are a few of the pictures I took at Offset Festival yesterday. We’re here again today and updating the photo gallery live, phew!

Creative, Inc.

2010-09-04T15:09:03Z

Creative, Inc. is a new book co-written by Joy Cho and Meg Mateo Ilasco and published by the fantastic Chronicle Books. I was asked to take part in their blog tour (scroll to the bottom of the post for the other blogs involved) and got a review copy, which I pretty much devoured in one sitting.

Meg is a freelance writer/designer/illustrator/stylist/superwoman and has written two other books. Joy is a graphic designer, has a stationery line and a wildly successful blog. I presume at some point they both sleep, or possibly they are some sort of wizards. Basically, these ladies get things done. I read Meg’s first book Craft, Inc. ages ago, so I had high hopes for her latest work.

This book is essentially a guide aimed at all kinds of creatives – from photographers, to graphic designers, stylists and illustrators – who are starting out in freelancing. I’m still only in my first year of being a full-time freelancer, so I feel like I’ve got a lot to learn (especially since three years at university taught me nothing relevant to running an actual business). I would particularly recommend the book to arts students, as most schools do a woefully poor job at preparing us for real life!

The book is divided into 8 chapters which can roughly be broken down to: an introduction to freelancing, getting started, promoting your work, working with clients, money matters, agents, work/life balance and next steps.

What I really liked is that it’s not geared at any one specific discipline. The examples and interviews feature insight and advice from all kinds of talented people. These days it’s common to be a multidisciplinary creative (“slashies” in Meg’s words – like a photographer/illustrator), but this is actually the first time I’ve seen this mentioned in a book. It’s also nice to have a guide that’s in line with the current world of freelancing, i.e. the importance of the internets. Way more than half of my work comes from abroad, so it feels relevant to read about video conferencing, working with clients in different time zones, self promotion online and so on.

There’s a lot of excellent practical advice for setting fees, building a portfolio, writing a business plan, promoting your work and dealing with taxes and paperwork. As an illustrator, I particularly enjoyed the interview about commissioning artwork with the Art Director from the NY Times and the whole section on agents, as I’ve recently started getting approached and been tempted by the prospect (not sure it’s for me yet though).

On the whole, I learned some new things and did a lot of nodding the whole way through. I love that the book is written in an informal, almost chatty, voice so it feels more like a good talk with a mentor, rather than sitting in a boring lecture. After reading it I just wanted to sit down and write a huge long list of Things To Do (update portfolio! sort out expenses! get a personal life!), which is actually the best praise I can give it. If a book gets you fired up to stop reading and get working, then it’s definitely doing something right.

8/25 SFGirl By Bay http://www.sfgirlbybay.com/
8/26 Mint Design http://www.mintdesignblog.com/
8/27 Wit + Delight http://katearends.com/blog/
8/28 Cathy of California http://www.cathyofcalifornia.typepad.com/
8/29 Book By Its Cover http://www.book-by-its-cover.com/
8/30 Not Martha http://www.notmartha.org/
8/31 Frolic http://elseachelsea.typepad.com/
9/1 UPPERCASE http://www.uppercasegallery.ca/
9/2 Craft http://blog.craftzine.com/
9/3 Decor8 http://decor8blog.com/
9/5 Grain Edit http://grainedit.com/
9/6 Make Grow Gather http://www.makegrowgather.com/

Brighton in colour

2010-09-01T18:31:27Z

Another little mention

2010-09-01T09:46:16Z

My girl in leopard Moschino Cheap & Chic is one of the editors’ picks in the September issue of Elle Mexico. So nice, thank you Laura!

Come on, Vogue (Girl)

2010-08-31T08:25:38Z

So excited to finally be able to share this illustration (and a bit of hand lettering) I did for Vogue Girl Korea‘s September issue. It’s a four page article about this season’s it-bags, drawn with the matching runway looks. Not gonna lie, I’m majorly team Vuitton on this one. How about you?

One of the first things I ever posted on this blog was a load of super cute Vogue Girl Korea editorials, so needless to say I’m psyched to get my copy in the mail.

Close-ups below, because you know how much I like small details that no-one can ever make out with the naked eye. Yes, that’s teeny-tiny stitching on the Miu Miu bag!

This is the first sketch, before the Marc look got switched out for Miu Miu.

And the early line work.

Aya Brackett

2010-08-30T12:10:01Z

So hung up on Aya Brackett’s photos and her impeccable colours, gorgeous light and artful arrangements of objects. I read that she does most of her own food styling, which is probably why the composition looks so perfectly natural.

(all photos by Aya Brackett)

Under the hammer

2010-08-28T10:45:36Z

I won’t beat around the bush, I’m selling a load of stuff here on ebay so do have a look! At the end of every season, I always feel the urge to get rid of everything I own and start anew, so there’ll be more to come.

I’ve also had a few requests for ebay tips, so I’m putting together a post to spill all my saucy selling secrets. Is there anything in particular you guys would like to know? Any problems or issues you’ve come up against, or just a general overview? Let me know and I’ll try to help!

Zara ah ah ah

2010-08-27T23:38:15Z

I’ve never been that into Zara. I would always hear of people getting amazing things there, but whenever I went in it was always a bit too boho-sienna-hippie-floral-smocks-broderie-anglaise and I just couldn’t see the appeal. Anyway, last week Hannah tweeted about getting a great Vuittonesque knee length skirt from Zara and I got curious and made a quick visit. If you follow me on twitter you might have seen me screaming about their knitwear and leather shorts and getting overexcited over elbow patches. I officially take back all my previous judgements and will probably ruin myself come september 2nd when their online store opens.

They’ve done a super cute job with the styling of these lookbooks. The layering in the top ones reminds me of J.Crew (who always have me shaking and crying), while the bottom ones have a nice Celineish simplicity, always a breath of fresh air on the high street. And let’s talk about that leather skirt!!!

(all images from Zara.)

More to mull over for a/w

2010-08-18T11:11:57Z

Stills from A Single Man, copyright The Weinstein Company et al. What an outrageously good looking film/cast.

This will be our year

2010-08-17T21:17:46Z

You know in fashion when trends for a season magically intersect with all the things you like and suit you and suddenly shopping is a joy rather than a drag? No, me neither. But I think my time has come! AW10 is looking to be excitingly relevant to my interests and I’m getting kind of phsyched to see all this sexy stuff filter through to the shops in the coming months. Knee lengths, calf lengths, ankle lengths! roller curls and massive beehives! all kinds of red lipstick! socks with shoes! 50s high waisted full skirts! ladylike framed handbags! things with waists at the waist! motherfucking KNITWEAR! leopard print! gloves. elbow length gloves. leather gloves. all shades of camel! pencil skirts. leather cropped trousers?!

Honestly, I think I need a lie down.

All images from a variety of august/september ’10 issues of magazines via the glorious Fashion Gone Rogue.

iphoneography | july

2010-07-24T15:02:38Z

High summer

2010-07-07T15:22:20Z

(the sartorialist)

(black eiffel) & (splat worldwide)

(川貝母 Inca Pan)

(cuba gallery)

(superbomba)

(frolic) & (cheri neufeld)

(saga)

(ricenz) & (the cherry blossom girl)

(superbomba)

(antoaneta)

(nataliecreates)

Sign painters

2010-07-06T19:46:06Z

Completely smitten with the Sign Painters project Jay B Sauceda, a match made in heaven of photography and typography.

(via designworklife)

Weddings

2010-07-06T00:43:53Z

In the last year Andrew and I shot a few weddings, had the best time and got pretty excited about doing more. I’m dying to do an outdoors-y wedding abroad at some point… I don’t know why weddings get a bad rep in the ~photography community~, they’re so much fun! Maybe some people are doing it wrong.

Anyway, we’re working on setting up a special site for our joint endeavours, but until that’s done I’ve uploaded a small selection of my photos on my portfolio site. Let me know what you think! And of course, if you’re getting married and want to see more or hire us, you can email me!