iWoo - design & photo

Au courant

2009-08-12T07:48:00.001-07:00

Click image to view original on Flickr

Above is a portrait of a Montreal Strobist member I met; Simon.

So... my one year anniversary of coming to Montréal has come and gone! Besides enjoying everything this city has to offer, I've been busy. The site I designed for Break Away Corporate Adventures is nearly finished, and I just received some samples of a print piece I did for them. The handout was given to competitors in the Calgary City Chase last month.

I also have two websites on the go; one of my first local web gigs for a local yoga studio, opening soon. I'm actually doing the HTML/CSS side of things, collaborating with another local designer. The other is for a previous client, who I designed an identity for; Element 5 Networks.

On the photography front, I've recently covered the Matsuri Japon festival for 2009. This event is an annual celebration of Japanese culture, with traditional games, music, food and performances. This year it was held at the Bonsecours Basin, which is a perfect venue, given that the weather cooperated for once. It's been a rainy summer in Montreal.

I've also posted some recent work to Flickr... more to come!

Henry & Angie engagement photos

2009-07-05T17:24:00.006-07:00

I just uploaded a set of photos from the first wedding/engagement shoot I did as an assistant/secondary shooter for the talented Benjamin Von Wong

view the full gallery here or by clicking the photo above.

By the way, I'm using a bit.ly ("simple url shortener") link because it allows me to track outbound clicks as well as shorten addresses for Twitter.

Ah yes, Twitter... I had signed up for it about two years ago, but only used it once. I complained about how I didn't see the usefulness of the service. Two years later, my roommate and dear friend Julie mentioned using Twitter to me, and I gave it another shot. Now, I use it approximately 1247.8% more than she does. If you'd like, follow me on Twitter.

I do find Twitter now more engaging than FaceBook status updates, as I can filter based on different criteria. Currently I have an active TweetDeck search for Montreal (to see what's going on) and for the BIXI public bike service in Montreal, which (as anyone who knows me) is awesome.

Kristen

2009-04-19T13:31:00.001-07:00

Click image to view original on Flickr

I can't believe this shot is already from three years ago, back in my last year of school. Kristen is a senior designer (I believe) at http://www.zerogravityinc.ca/

Jaimee Lee's EP

2009-02-07T12:36:00.002-07:00

Click image to view original on Flickr

On a sunny afternoon in October, I took some photos for Jaimee Lee's first EP. This is the cover I designed using one of the shots. This is also my first bilingual bit of design! The credits and the notes at the bottom are in english and french, while the copy at the top left remains in english only, as it is a tracklisting scheme Jaimee wrote.

Jaimee Lee

2009-02-07T12:05:00.002-07:00

Click image to view original on Flickr

This is one of a few shots I took a few months back for promotion of Jaimee Lee's music.

Evening lights in the city

2008-10-22T16:32:00.001-07:00

Click image to view original on Flickr

I'm coming up on my fifth month living in Montreal. Next week I start a two-month beginner French course, which will have me in a classroom every morning for the full week. Twenty hours each week! It's exciting, as well as a bit daunting, but I hope I have a natural aptitude for language. Who knows, maybe in a few years I will speak several languages?

I can at least hope to be comfortable with French by then.

I've just wrapped up a photography contract with JK VIsual, a design and marketing agency here in the city. I rented my lighting gear from Photo Service, down in Old Montreal--a block from Cathedral Notre Dame.

Other than that, I've started a new identity project for a team building company in Calgary, and I am experimenting with starting to sell prints of some of my photographs to anyone interested in having my pictures on their wall.

Fractures

2008-09-30T10:32:00.001-07:00

Click image to view original on Flickr

Another from the Botanical Gardens set...

Jardin Botanique

2008-09-30T10:31:00.001-07:00

Click image to view original on Flickr

I visited the Montreal Botanical Gardens with my 50mm f1.8 lens, and got a handful of shots I liked. More are posted to Flickr in the set "Flora".

Sometimes I draw

2008-09-11T17:45:00.001-07:00

It's been ages, but I finally picked up a new sketchbook while I was in Toronto last month. This drawing is based around someone I briefly knew in high school. I still don't have a scanner here, but I'll probably get mine shipped from my parent's place around December. I took a photo of the sketchbook page, and then did the "inking" digitally with the help of a Wacom pen and tablet.

Click the image for a larger version.

Element 5 Networks

2008-08-25T10:49:00.001-07:00

I created an identity for a new Calgary-based company that provides the know-how and the (software) tools for companies in the midst of change or upgrades to their critical systems.
The services of Element 5 Networks are targeted toward IT managers looking for custom apps dev or secure and stable off-site hosting solutions.

Courting Food

2008-08-19T17:43:00.000-07:00

_MG_9758, originally uploaded by ianwoo.

Snapped this photo in the somewhat creepy food court of a Chinese shopping mall on Spadina. Half of the stalls were without tenants, and four of the remaining fast-food places seemed to offer the exact same meals with the same price: Four items for $5. I had some really, really greasy fried rice, string beans, squid and tofu. Unfortunately--or perhaps luckily--I was only able to finish half.

Ooh Yeah

2008-07-29T14:56:00.000-07:00

Tajana Gregorsanec is a director from Calgary. There was a recent music video competition for Moby's track "Ooh Yeah", which she entered. She needed a prop flyer to be used in the film, which I created. The base image is a photograph I took in the Berri-UQAM metro station, of the wall tiles and one of the lighting fixtures.

Her video wasn't selected to be the official one, but I have a feeling that Moby himself didn't come up with the idea for a contest, and it was really his PR people that decided to get a lot of work for free. But that's another issue entirely.

Une Oignon

2008-07-10T14:31:00.001-07:00

Click image to view original on Flickr

A spur-of-the-moment still life experiment that happened while helping prepare dinner at V & K's place. I wish my apartment had the amount of natural light they get, because I had planned on taking more food pictures to learn about that niche of photography. Unfortunately, my apartment only gets incidental light, and barely any at that.

I tried buying some fluorescent light tubes, but they were from Rona, and both proved to be a bit dodgy in quality. They've since been returned, but I'd still be up for buying a good under-cabinet fixture or two to use for makeshift tabletop photography.

Lightshow

2008-07-08T13:31:00.001-07:00

Click image to view original on Flickr

This is a shot I took of the Panzera S.A.S. fireworks show that marked the last night of L'International des Feux Loto-Québec, 2008. Taken on Pont Jacques-Cartier.

view this picture larger and on black

New year

2008-01-23T12:19:00.000-07:00

So, it's 2008 already, and I figure I should post at least once every few months. What am I up to? I am still in the midst of redesigning my website, and just choosing the content right nowhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
is what's holding it up. I still have a sushi bet with a friend to getting an update, and you'd think it'd just take a weekend...

Anyway. I am currently working on a brochure and rack card for the Chinese Cultural Centre (site currently being redesigned, not be me though). It is for a campaign about the Head Tax and Exclusion Act against the Chinese in Canada. I get to connect to my roots as a Chinese-Canadian, and get some experience with campaign strategy and working with a committee. It's been a little hectic so far, but hopefully everything turns out for the best.

I am also continuing work with the awesome Jed Bouscal and Phil Johnson of Mobile Reflections. If you're looking for professional auto detailing in Calgary, Mobile Reflections is the company to go to. They'll make your car look like it just came off the showroom floor, and they'll bring all their supplies right to your driveway. I'm overhauling their identity and working on the stationary, though the latter has taken a bit of a backburner to redesigning their website. I will try to get a shot of the business cards up soon!

I am working with the talented and very knowledgeable web developer Mike Tighe of the Calgary web design studio Medium Rare to provide short-term updates to Mobile Reflection's current interim site. Meanwhile, we continue to design and develop content for the final iteration of the website. It's been a huge learning process, and I'm being introduced to the world of search engine optimization and marketing strategies.

And lots of caffeine, thanks to the wonders of my coffee press.

Mobile Reflections

2007-10-24T06:38:00.001-07:00

I went to a press check yesterday at Apache Superior Printing for the cards I designed for Mobile Reflections. I met Derek, my sales rep that I have been dealing with by email and phone until now, as well as Lisa. Both are very nice people, who were more than willing to answer any questions from myself or my clients (who very nice people too).

Anyway, I approved the proofs as the cards look fantastic. All 4000 cards should be boxed and sent over this morning! More details and a photo of the cards soon.

They actually look a million times* better than the first go we did using a printer from Lethbridge. You know that saying... "You get what you pay for"? Well, unfortunately that is usually true. And sometimes you don't even get what you paid for. More details on that later.

*approximately

I'm also continuing to work on the redesign of Mobile Reflections' website, in partnership with the fearless Michael Tighe of Medium Rare. The initials of his company and my client are entirely coincidental!