JELI DESIGNS

It's been awfully quiet here at GARUFF. So quiet in fact, that we have moved.
Garuff has now moved to www.jelidesign.com
Please feel free to click on the above link to see how Garuff has progressed from amateur designer, to profesional with experiences in Asia, America and Europe.
The new website looks and feel truly Garuff, but with a twist. The website is simple, elegant and beautiful!
Additionally, we have a successful blog that features how we got to an end result.
Garuff has been an amazing time, and it's been great to view the previous posts over the years. We are still getting hits on here, but this will be our last post.

For the last time,
Love Garuff / Jeli

x

TWO THOUSAND AND THIRTEEN.

2013 has been a super year for me. I've learnt so much, achieved so much and accomplished so much.
I have travelled to a few of my bucket list places which include, Malaysia, Thailand, China and Hong Kong.
To celebrate this great year, I am going to be creating a small and personal e-book in which showcases my year via the pictures I took.
Here is the front cover I designed last night. More to follow...
Click to make bigger and to view in HQ.

MOCK UP.

This post is continuing on from the previous post below, about Indoor Air Pollution.
The brief stated they just wanted some info-graphics on the facts and figures on indoor air pollution and gave me full control over how I showed this.
I did two versions for this brief and allowed the company to pick whichever one they liked the most.
Here are the two versions I designed.
Please click on the images to view them in more detail.

Version 1













Version 2        

Review:

So I think the biggest difference here is the colour scheme. I personally enjoy seeing info-graphics that only contains one or two colours. I enjoy this because it gives you more control over what you want the audience to see first. By changing the gradient, opacity and the size, you are creating a statement using just a few basic colours. However, I do enjoy info-graphics that contain a lot of colour as it is more visually pleasing to the audience. Having said that, the designer should always be cautious when using a full range of colours as it can also detract and take away from the overall meaning. 

Result:

The company I designed this info-graphics for enjoyed both versions, but felt as if their brand was a modern and colourful one. The company decided to pick the second design which I agree suits their company more. 

Discuss:

One thing I have noticed since designing is, what the customer wants isn't always what the designer wants. Designers are told to stay away from 'Comic Sans' and to be cautious of too much colour from their very first day at university... but since doing more and more freelance work, the design's eventually need to reflect what the company wants, whether or not the designer approves or not is a different story. 

MISC.

In the past month I have moved from the UK to China to teach. I live in a small (5 million people) city called, Wuxi near Shanghai.
Therefore, this has been the reason why I haven't posted for quite a while. I do intend to continue my regular posts with photography, graphics, arts, typography and any misc posts.
Here are some nice photos I've captured over the past few months.
Enjoy!

EXTERNAL PROJECT

In Uni I handed in a batch of projects in this book. Here is the post I did a few months back showing this, click HERE to see it. I made this book by printing out the pages in order and then binding it together, I think it was the first book I ever made whilst including my work on it. Enjoy!

Open publication - Free publishing - More art

MAGAZINE COVER & CONTENT

Like you may or may not know, I am doing some work experience for a Japanese magazine. They asked me to do a piece on Britain (anything I liked) and decided to do it on The Great British Summer (?). I'm not too sure what I think of these and even if it makes much sense but my internet wasn't working over the weekend so just messed about with different styles and took some pictures in the fields by my house. 

Hope you enjoy! 

STATS & FACTS

Was a bit bored earlier so decided to put some good fonts to use and did some infographics. Only took me about 20-30 mins so nothing too special or serious. I am aware it doesn't look great on the home page but just click the image so it can be seen in its original size!

''NEWPORT'S INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH''

EXHIBITION 

Friday I went to the launch of the 'Institute of Mental Health' exhibition in Newport, South Wales. I was really impressed with the work on show as half was fine and delicate (not my kind of thing) whilst the other half was more abstract and modern (just my thing!)

My favourite was the Fuerza Cristina Macri 2011 by Luke Pomphrey (the last two pictures). Anyone who comes here often would understand that this type of art is what I love - hence why I was enjoyed the exhibition so much!

I think from now on - I'm going to be going to more and more art and design galleries as they're great to get inspiration but also to see the range of work out there at the moment!

WORK EXP.

HELLO JAPAN.

Regular visitors to the blog may know that I had some work experience lined up in an independent and small Japanese Magazine. For the past few months, the magazine and I have been talking about what they want//what they expect and also what I think I could bring to the company. You may have noticed I have done posts on Japanese photography and other Japanese related stuff - in which I did to help me get a feel to the Japanese styles. On the magazine's blog they updated their members area with a special shout out to me welcoming me to the team in Japanese. 

The text translates into a little intro I did on myself and a little extra that they wrote in welcoming me to the team! I am so happy to be working with them as everyone knows editorial design is my ideal place in terms of graphics.

Keep checking back for updates/samples of my work! 

MISC

This is a new section to my blog called 'MISC' in which I will upload pictures of stuff I have seen/found whilst in my day to day life. I have the biggest eye for detail and am always snapping away, which is why I decided to do this.

MISC is basically where I upload anything random/arty/or anything aethestically pleasing. I will probably aim to do it once a week/once every two weeks depending on what I have to share. 

Check out the first edition of MISC below!

CAITLIN THE PAINTER

The other day I was seeing my niece and saw this painting she drew. My niece is only 5 and to the people who come on the blog often, they will know that this style of art is right up my street. Its got a feel of Jean-Michel Basquiat to it (which I bloody love), but I like how  self explanatory it all is too. It looks like Caitlin was drawing a rainbow whilst it was raining - which explains the burst of colours! 

BECKY LEWIS

My mate Becky Lewis drew me a portrait of myself as part of my birthday present and this was the final outcome. I used to have a picture of myself in where Becky drew this picture from. Its uncanny and looks so amazing! I did a post about Becky a while ago because her pictures just seem to be spot on! 

SCENIC VIEWS

I was in the back garden the other night and was playing around with my iPhone camera and think a rain drop hit my camera lens and this was the final outcome. It looks like I have edited it on photoshop, but believe it or not - the lighting from the street lamps and the flash made this picture look professional and shows its great camera!

TRAFFIC JAM GRAFFITI 

Across Newport, South Wales you will find funny and amusing prints on some of the posts around the city. I was walking to the shop the other night and saw this one on one of the main roads in Newport and thought I needed to take a photo to share with you lot! I think theres someone going around spraying on a stencil - but I quite like it, it brings a bit of character to the stands and catches the eye!

&

 before I go - I just wanted to add that I will be posting on Sat/Sun this week fo sho because I'm going to Newport Art Gallery for the Mental Health Exhibition which I can't wait for! I'm planning on taking loads of photo's so do pop back and check!

NEW BUSINESS CARDS

When I got my last business cards, I didn't expect how well they would be received. I run out of business cards a few months ago now and think I need to get some more. I really liked the bright blue - but I have been playing around with new designs and am unsure of which to get (should I get more than one colour?).

I would appreciate if you guys could email me with what you think looks best and whats your favourite. 

Thanks guys! 

DUTCH CLOGS AND BLOGS!

 I haven't gone to Holland - but my step sister did and she took some amazing snaps whilst she was out there.
In year 2 of uni, I did a presentation on the signage design in Schnipol Airport designed by Mijksenaar and asked my step sister to get me a few snaps of the signage in the airport.
She took some stunning snaps - not just of the airport but also Amsterdam itself.
Thought I would share the pictures she took with you guys because they're worth a little look!
Also the last picture is of Cardiff (South Wales) at night time. My camera broke on me and took pictures like this - a happy accident as I would call it.
Just a bit of random posting here, but enjoy!
Garuff!

GARUFF.COM HAS BEEN NOMINATED FOR AN AWARD!

Today I have received some amazing news! I have been nominated for the best welsh photography blog award! I am so happy that I have even been nominated and what a thing to add to my C.V. - being nominated as one of the best Welsh blogs out there! 

I personally don't think I will win - the competition I am up against is amazing and they are all professional photographers whilst I'm a graphic designer and do photography in my spare time. 

I think the fact that I have been nominated shows that you don't need to be amazing at it to do it! 

What an achievement - I am so glad I decided to blog, I have magazine deals, been given commission, been able to share my work and get paid for it and now be nominated for this!

Thanks again for all your support! I appreciate it so much.

GARUFF!!

P.S. Thought I would leave you with some of my most popular photography work! 

NEWPORT CITY CENTRE - WALES

I have always wanted to do something for Newport like I did with Cardiff Bay so people of Newport, listen up! 

The thing with Newport is, its being redeveloped (hmm) so a lot of it is like a massive building site. But on my way to work this morning, I thought I would quickly take some snaps of Newport because it looked nice from where I was at the top of Charles Street.

Here are the results!

Enjoyyyyy!

P.S. The picture of Kingsway is edited as most people from Newport would of gathered. I only edited it to make it look more colourful and inviting - the other picture wasn't edited because the sun was rising as it was 7.30am, so it naturally came out like this!

C.V.

I designed my C.V. a few months ago now whilst I was still in uni as part of a project. The photo really doesn't do it much justice (my camera lead has gone missing so had to take a photo using my iphone) but it's still alright. I didn't want to put many pictures of it up as its got quite a lot of personal details about myself but my initial idea was to do my C.V. based around the London Underground Map. I changed my idea to this and am quite pleased with it. Its colour coded for all the different achievements/employments/info about myself with some text coming off going into more detail.

Not the best picture, but enjoy! 

VINTAGE SHOP.

 I was walking home from town today and walked past this vintage shop. I never seen it before I don't think and it just caught my eye. I don't think the photos give it much justice but it looked awesome! I'm not sure if it was a second hand shop but I think I might pop in and have a look when its next open.
The reason why I took photos of it was because the suitcase. My regular followers may have seen the blog post of when I got my giant suitcase for a uni project (which I didn't use after), but really loved the collage on the case. I never really thought about collaging magazine and poster covers on an old suitcase but I think it works!
Just a random blog post, but enjoy!

iPhone 4

I got myself a brand new iPhone 4 and I love it! I put my logo as my background just playing around and quite liked it so thought I would blog about it! Hahaha, pointless but wicked! I don't know if you can blog or not from the iPhone but I will find out/try to because Im turning this page into a page my family and friends can come to to track my journey and see my pictures on when Im travelling. Would be so much easier if I could just upload some pictures and some text about what I've been doing for you guys to read! 

NEW PAGE.

I have created a page where I just talk about myself and what im loving and what im hating and just what i have been up to in general. My blog has been getting more and more hits, even when I dont update it - So i am going to start updating more and more, especially to this page. Its just a bit of fun for you guys to see what I am actually into etc.
Click HERE to get there (or just use the navigation bar on the right hand side of the blog...'The Ruff!'