(no title)

Question

August 15, 2012 by Natalia

Her head rested on his chest. They were both naked and sweaty after sharing their bodies with each other. She lay there, pensive; thinking about the answer to the question he had just asked. She didn’t really want to reply, but she knew she couldn’t hold quiet. He would get restless and ask her again. “What is it that you want?” He had inquired. A question in nature so simple… and yet, so damn difficult to answer…

“I guess” she finally said “I want the simple things in life: joy, happiness, freedom…”

“And how are those things simple?” he asked with a cheeky smile. He felt philosophical and ready to pick her brain.

“Well…” she started, returning the smile “… they are within us to accomplish. Therefore, the only thing standing in our way is ourselves.” She blinked an eye at him. He noticed she was being slightly coy.

“Now you are just going around the bushes. Why don’t you say what you really want to say?” He asked, looking at her with his penetrating brown eyes.

She felt as if he was studying her soul, reading into her eyes and discovering the truth that lay beneath them. She didn’t like it when he knew more than she wanted to tell, although she loved that he knew her so well.

She knew what she wanted. Or did she? She thought she did. She didn’t want to utter the words because that meant expressing what was in her heart and she wasn’t ready for that. Furthermore, she knew HE wasn’t ready for it. He enjoyed her company, but to what point?, she wasn’t sure. He was hard to decipher.

“I want you” She wanted to say, but the thought of the words leaving her lips dried her mouth and created a knot in her stomach. She just couldn’t.

She smiled instead.

“Why do you have to be so fastidious? Wants come and go. What I want today might not necessarily be the same I’ll want tomorrow or a week from today. What do you want?”

She stroked his bare chest, his skin soft under her touch.

He closed his eyes, lived the moment, thought of nothing but the question. He knew what he wanted, but did she want to hear it?

“No, no, pretty lady. You don’t get to do that.” He said, held her by the wrists and sat on her, looking deep into her green eyes. His stare was so intimidating she had to look away.

“Do what?” She asked, perfectly aware of what he meant.

“Return the question before answering it.” He said, letting lose one of her writs, and passing his fingers through her chest and stomach. She felt slightly aroused and moved her neck up to kiss him. He moved away, teasing and punishing her.

“Nope. Not before you answer. What do you want?”

“Why do you want to know so bad?”

“Because I am a curious person and it’s a simple question. Why do you have to make it more complicated than it really is?”

“That’s a matter of perception.” She replied, slightly annoyed.

“So it is. But you are still evading the question, and the more you do, the more I wonder why.” He said, playful, aware of her displeasure.

“Let’s make a deal. Let’s leave the question on the table and I’ll answer it when it feels right for me to answer it, whatever it is that I want.”

“Fair enough.” He said, smiling, drawing her closer to him, kissing her neck, folding his fingers with hers, his breath in her ear, softly, he whispers.

“I know what I want. I want you.” She sighs as a mild smile grows on her face. He kisses her lips.

Posted in Creative Me, Writing | Tagged caring, life, Love, passion, questions, relationships | 2 Comments »

Welcome to my inner soul

August 15, 2012 by Natalia

I don’t usually write in English, but when I do, I thought it’d be a great idea to share with all of you out there who care to read it.

Therefore, I have decided to add a category in my blog for writing, as it’s another one of my creative outlets. I hope you guys enjoy it and send your comments and feedback, as it will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for reading!

Natalia

Posted in Creative Me, Writing | Tagged fiction, Reading, writing | Leave a Comment »

J. Edgar movie poster review

October 17, 2011 by Natalia

In this post I want to talk about the poster for the new Clint Eastwood movie J. Edgar, which comes out in theatres November 9th.

I chose this one because I found two different designs and I thought it would be an interesting contrast to see the different approaches.

The first one I want to discuss is this black and white version. The only text we have is about the director, the name of the movie (the powerful signature of J. Edgar Hoover), a tag line and the month the movie will be released. Is it enough? YES. We don’t know who the main actor is, but we know who’s directed it, which gives us an idea of the caliber of the movie. This is shown in a condensed sans serif font, unconspicuously enough not to take over the poster. It also gives us the powerful image that is the signature. It’s unique in its own way, since every signature is so by definition. Then there’s the tag line and the month. The tag line is overshadowed by the month -which is displayed in a larger size- but it stands on it’s own, giving the viewer the opportunity to draw his/her attention to it after seeing when the movie will come out. Both the tag line and the month are typed in a modern serif font, “serious” enough to gives us the impression that the movie is a drama.

Now, let’s compare it to this more commercial poster. I have actually seen this one displayed on the billboards, not the previous one.

This one tells us more about the movie, for instance, who the main actor is (by title and image), the tag line is still there, the date is still one of the most prominent objects in the poster. We have all the information about the movie (production, directing, cast, etc…). The signature is still there, but in this poster it’s overshadowed by the powerful image of DiCaprio in his role as Hoover.

It’s still an effective poster, and it gives the viewers more information so that they can chose to view it based on the director, the actor or the subject.

Personally, I think the previous one has more of a shock factor, but I believe that one was more of a teaser poster and not meant for the widespread commercial distribution that this second one was designed for.

Overall, both tell a story, one by simplicity and a powerful signature, the other by imagery which showcases the character of the person whose name gives title to the film.

If you want to know more about this upcoming movie, read here.

Next time I’ll be discussing the new Batman – The Dark Knight Rises – poster.

Thank you for reading!

Posted in Film & Television | Tagged Clint Eastwood, Graphic Design, Hoover, J. Edgar, Leonardo DiCaprio, Movie Poster, Movie Poster Design, Naomi Watts, New films, November films, poster design, Warner Bros. | Leave a Comment »

Poster review – What’s Your Number?

October 3, 2011 by Natalia

In this day and age, many movies come out in theatres every week. Competing with each other to attract as many viewers as possible. As a movie lover, what do I look for in a movie that will attract my attention? Well, for one, the cast. I believe I’m guilty of putting the story in second place at times, judging a movie by the actors it fosters. But, how do production companies attract attention? Well, this is where the movie poster comes in. THAT is the biggest piece of promotion (besides the trailer, of course) that movies use.

Today, I want to start with a movie that hit theatres this week. The particular poster I will be discussing from a graphic designer (and a movie goer)’s point of view is What’s Your Number?, with funny gal Anna Faris.

What's Your Number Poster

What first attracted my attention in this poster was the heart shape image created from the distorted typography. I love how the numbers are playfully placed and distorted, which tells us it’s a comedy. Blending the photo of Faris with the 2D graphic of the heart shape works very well, since the heart becomes her “chair”.

The clean and simple white background allows for the graphics and text to breath within the poster. There’s no clutter and the main idea is easy to grasp.

The title is cleanly centered underneath the main graphic, using a classy serif font, which is divided in two colours: black and pink. The clean and classy typography emphasizes the romantic nature of the movie (also made stronger by the pink), but the tight leading (pronounced “ledding” – aka, line spacing) makes sure that the title is not loosely spaced within the overall design and remains unified despite the two colours (notice how the question mark is black once again to “keep it together”).

Overall, the design is clean, the message is clear and there are no misconceptions about what the movie is about by looking at this poster.

Next time I will be discussing the poster for the movie J.Edgar by using two different designs to compare and contrast.

Thanks for reading!

Posted in Film & Television | Tagged Anna Faris, films, Graphic Design, movie posters, Movies, poster design, What's Your Number? | 1 Comment »

A good project takes time

July 11, 2011 by Natalia

This week I read “The Te of Piglet”, by Benjamin Hoff. I came across a part of the book that I thought was relevant to the design process.

“From the Japanese story ‘The Samurai and the Zen Master’:

A certain Samurai had a reputation for impatient and hot-tempered behavior. A Zen master, well known for his excellent cooking, decided that the warrior needed to be taught a lesson before he became any more dangerous. He invited the samurai to dinner.

The samurai arrived at the appointed time. The Zen master told him to make himself comfortable while he finished preparing the food. A long time passed. The samurai waited impatiently. After a while, he called out: “Zen Master —have you forgotten me?”

The Zen master came out of the kitchen. “I’m very sorry,” he said. “Dinner is taking longer to prepare than I had thought.” He went back to the kitchen.

A long time passed. The samurai sat, growing hungrier by the minute. At last he called out, a little softer this time: “Zen Master—please. When will dinner be served?”

The Zen master came out of the kitchen. “I’m sorry. There has been a further delay. It won’t be much longer.” He went back to the kitchen.

A long time passed. Finally, the samurai couldn’t endure the waiting any longer. He rose to his feet, chagrined and ravenously hungry. Just then, the Zen master entered the room with a tray of food. First he served miso shiru (soybean soup).

The samurai gratefully drank the soup, enchanted by its flavor. “Oh, Zen Master,” he exclaimed, “this is the finest miso shiru I have ever tasted! You truly deserve your reputation as an expert cook!”

“It’s nothing,” replied the Zen master, modestly. “Only miso shiru.”

The samurai set down his empty bowl. “Truly magical soup! What secret spices did you use to bring out the flavor?”

“Nothing special,” the Zen master replied.

“No, no—I insist. The soup is extraordinarily delicious!”

“Well, there’s one thing…”

“I knew it!” exclaimed the samurai, eagerly leaning forward. “There had to be something to make it taste so good! Tell me—what is it?”

The Zen master softly spoke: “It took time,” he said.

Although the moral of the story is patience and good things are worth waiting for, I thought, especially this last part, applied well to the design process.

In the design process, even though there are times that things need a quick turn-around or a project has a tight deadline, a good timeline would allow for the designer to come up with the best approach and, therefore, the best possible solution for the client.

I wanted to share that great story and make a small connection to design.

Thanks for reading!

Posted in Design process | Tagged Benjamin Hoff, Design, Japanese, patience, process, samurai, story, The Te of Piglet, time | Leave a Comment »

The birth of a business

May 23, 2011 by Natalia

When I started Ormiga Design over two years ago, I had just written my business plan to be approved by the Government of Canada (was doing a government program for new start-ups, and part of it was to write a solid business plan to follow) and I was ready to take on the world, starting with Toronto, of course. However, taking over the world is not as easy as one would think, especially when there are thousands of other people doing exactly the same thing I do with, let’s face it; with a different approach.

I also had this crazy notion that, to be an entrepreneur, a female entrepreneur at that, I had to be a different me. What do I mean by that? Well, let’s say we have different personalities in different circumstances. For instance, when faced with various challenges, we tend to utilize a part of our brain that doesn’t get used much otherwise. That part of the brain, has, in return, other parts that work best given certain outside conditions. Okay, I’m deviating a little and I’m even confusing myself. What I mean to say is that, with my background, my societal learned behavior and my own perception of the world, I had this idea that to be successful in business, I had to portray myself as a serious individual in business. I know now that that’s not so; thus having decided that I will show who I am in order to attract the clients I would like to work with. I have nothing to hide, and I do like who I am. I look around and I see so many successful individuals that don’t pretend to be someone they are not and seem happy at doing what they do by being themselves.

When I was a teenager, I found some drawings my mom had done in her closet. She was at the time taking drawing lessons to improve her technique. I told her I thought they were fantastic. Growing up, my mom had always painted, and most of the paintings I have hanging on my walls are ones she’s created, either with water colours or oil paint. I always thought she was good, but I had never seen realistic drawings from her. So, when I saw that stack of papers with the great contrast, the detail and the beautiful strokes that only a talented creative mind could produce, I told her I thought they were amazing. She seemed humble and insecure about it. She said to me that she had been drawing in her youth, but when she realized she couldn’t paint or draw like Picasso, she quit. She quit for a long time, but she decided to start again when she was an adult. It might sound silly, but I can see where she was coming from. Personally, I know I will never be a Paul Rand, Saul Bass or a Stefan Sagmeister, but I have learned to live with it (what choice do I have, right?). The important thing is that I really DO love graphic design. I really DO get excited when I see a good logo or disappointed when I see a crappy one. I love that there’s always something new to learn in design and, even if I’m not the best designer out there, I know I’m good and I know I can bring something good to the table. I think the important thing here is to stop comparing myself with other designers (especially those who are, well, geniuses in the field) and just be me and bring me, my brain and my unpolluted background that I’m so proud of to my designs.

Thank you for reading!

Posted in All things Ormiga, Creative Me, Inspiration | Tagged creative services, Creatives, Designers, entrepreneurs, Graphic Design, Inspiration, Ormiga Design, Paul Rand, Saul Bass, Stefan Sagmeister, Talent, Toronto | Leave a Comment »

Happy Valentine’s Day!

February 14, 2011 by Natalia

I’m not one to celebrate the day, but I don’t see any reasons not to experiment with new designs using different approaches (ribbon is one that I’ve started enjoying lately).

To wish you all, whether you are single or have a better half, a Happy Valentine’s day. I especially do want to dedicate these designs to all single people out there who love themselves:)

So here are some designs I played around with:

Origami hearts (background paper is Neenah’s Texture Esse CVR 105lb, pearlized white).

A ribbon experiment with the same paper as above in the background. Not as easy as it seems to shape the ribbon.

Finally, a card created with watercolor postcard paper. A pattern created on Illustrator was printed on the card and then traced with red glitter. The hearts I did as Origami shapes and glued them to the card. I added glitter to unify it with the red glitter.