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

MAGAZINE

I have just finished designing for a magazine in Shanghai and found that the cultural differences are very obvious between what I would consider good design to what the Chinese may consider good design.
The first picture below is my answer to the brief.  I had less than a day to do this and I was quite happy with the overall outcome. However, the editors wanted some changes. The second image fits the brief to a T and naturally, they seemed to enjoy it.
I personally rather the first image, but hey ho!

EBK

I have been working with a company in my hometown, Newport. I am enjoying it and I am most importantly, learning some more about design!
I have been give a project to create an EBK (ebook/ebrochure) for a local company. This local company is aiming to sell themselves and their products to other local companies.
One thing I would like to add is that since designing this, I have also been designing a magazine cover for a company in Shanghai. It never fails to amaze me how someone with little/no design knowledge insists on something that is going to look visually awful!
I quite like this EBK. There are some minor changes I would have liked to change - but in general, it's pretty good!
Enjoy!

KINETIC TYPE

I am currently reexploring my passion for type and flash. Today I have created another video but this time I have managed to upload it to YouTube.
I just want to say that when designing this video, the type was in sync with the song. However, when I exported this file to a .MOV, it seemed to have seriously lagged.
Try your best to ignore the lagging and focus on the beautiful type!
Xiexie / Thank you.

KINETIC TYPE

Click here to view my latest attempt at using Flash. This didn't take as long as I thought that it would.

The website used is a saviour for showing off Flash (SWF) files, however, I have noticed that it does cause a bit of a lag making it stick.

The singer is the fantastic, Tori Fuson who also wrote this absolute tune. Be sure to follow her on Facebook by clicking on her name below. 

Tori's Facebook

CLICK HERE TO VIEW

TASCHEN - FLASH MOVIE

During my third year of university I wanted to try and be as diverse as possible. One area in which I struggled with the most was Flash. I still struggle with Flash enourmously, but surprinsingly I managed to pull it out of the bag and create a visual performance of how an iPad App would work.
I decided to pick Tachen (book publishers). I hope you enjoy it!

CLICK HERE TO WATCH

CAFFI CWTCH

I always try my best to support any local and independent shops that open up on the high street.
In Newport, there is a new cafe near the train station called, 'Caffi Cwtch' (Translates from Welsh to English as Cuddle Cafe).
Caffi Cwtch is perfect for me. It's a local coffee shop, they sell Welsh products and it's convenient. However, their design is not as impressive.
Caffi Cwtch's logo is simply a red background with their name in a very basic font (looks somewhat like Times New Roman). It doesn't stand out at all and it doesn't make itself look that appealing to new customers.

Logo
I quickly knocked up this design and I actually really like it. I decided to stick to the red theme (represents Wales) and to keep it simple and basic as obviously the owners of Caffi Cwtch would want it to be basic. The font used is probably one of my all time favourite fonts, it's called Stainy Personal Use only
I think this logo just screams individuality, sophistication and being unique.
I also did a copy in black and white to see what it looks like if it were to be actually used.

Poster/Leaflet 
As this is a local cafe in the heart of Newport, I wanted to include typical Newport humour into this design. I believe that appealing to the local audience and what they like will only be beneficial to the local cafe and its profits.
I think the posters/leaflets could even span out to be their own advertising campaign by capturing popular and local sayings and including the word 'cwtch' into it. I've actually seen birthday cards in a few shops in Cwmbran and Newport that focus on popular sayings/films and turning them into an inside Welsh joke, such as, "Cwtch me if you can."

I hope you all enjoy it!

VIETNAM & SHANGHAI

I have redesigned the Shanghai ebook page. I haven't done any major changes except the colour scheme. I felt as if red symbolised China perfectly, however I don't think it looked as pleasing as it could have done.
I played around with the colour scheme and decided to stick to the main colour scheme which is a warming green. I will be using this colour throughout the ebook.
See the pictures below.

Also, I designed the page for Vietnam. It is pretty much the same as the Shanghai and the Malaysia pages with the same colour scheme and the same layout.
Of course, there will be some tweaks - but here is the page so far!

SHANGHAI EBOOK

Continuing on with my very own ebook of the 2013, I have done a page which focuses on Shanghai.
Again, this is still not 100% complete. I normally have to leave some designing for a while and then come back to it and make some tweaks.
Here is what I've come up with so far.
Click to make bigger.

So I have included 4 different coloured lines on the image page. The reason on why I did this was to show the audience my overal opinions on Shanghai in a visual manner. The bars are colour coded and represents a different aspect of the city i.e. transportation, cleanliness...

Additionally, I have stuck with the same 3 fonts, code (light and bold), helvetica and prisma black. The colour scheme for this page is red, naturally. Red symbolizes good luck and wealth in Chinese culture. 

Enjoy! 

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.

ART o'CLOCK

Now, I love art. To me, design and art go hand in hand. I can't decide which one I like best. But when you're living in a world where design is absolutely everywhere around us, it does get hard to notice and appreciate some of the finer things in life, art.
I'm on instagram, mainly for the art. I like to follow people who don't just upload 'selfies' but also who like to showcase their talents.
I wanted to showcase the talent of someone that I follow. His name is Hau Ma and his drawings are probably the most beautiful I've ever seen. Definitely follow this man on instagram if you're interested at all in art. Hau Ma even does short videos on how to draw a certain object.
Enjoy these, guys. Beautiful!

To follow Hau Ma on instagram, search: @hau_ma
And to follow me on instagram, search: @garuff

INFOGRAPHICS: INDOOR AIR POLLUTION

So as the regular readers are aware, I have moved to Wuxi, China to teach English for a year to gain experience and something to add to my C.V. Just because I've moved abroad, it doesn't mean that I have forgotten about design. I am currently working with an independent design company doing some volunteer work and have produced some beautiful infographics. Here is one that the company really liked. Beautiful, easy to understand and straight to the point! 

Hope you enjoy! 

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!

HONG KONG & AUSTRALIA

I have been away for a while in Hong Kong and Australia and have taken some stunning photos.
Lay your eyes on these bad boys. (click to view in better quality)
Hong Kong

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

CARDIFF BAY ONLINE BROCHURE

Open publication - Free publishing - More cardiff

I decided to put all the pages from my Cardiff Bay book together on an online publication. Click HERE to see the final outcome in print form. I did one in Welsh, will probably do a Welsh version of the online publication in the coming days! Hope you enjoy.

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! 

''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!