Confessions of a Creative Mind

Sketches 15.02.12

2012-02-15T19:43:00.001Z

Did a few sketches focusing on getting proportions right. It was such a cool session, I can't wait to get better

1000 views - THANK YOU ALL ♥

2012-02-14T23:18:00.000Z

Please keep promoting and supporting CoCM x

Last minute essentials for Valentine's day

2012-02-14T10:19:00.000Z

Ok, so in general your a last minute.com person, or you've been so busy with everything else going on in your life that you've forgotten to plan something special for your other half.

Or, you could just have company on short notice... Haha

So...the story goes

You've woken up this morning and you have no clue what to do. And before we start I'm hoping to dear God that you have clean fresh sheets. Silk sheets would be nice, if not...at least something that doesn't feel or look like cardboard.
You want to try and create a romantic atmosphere right? Ok let me tell you now, a few church candles and some flowers you picked up from the petrol station are NOT romantic. You may as well use birthday candles if that is what you planned on doing.

"What will I need?" I hear you asking.

Well here are a few essentials you can get in and around town quickly without having to break the bank as such.

Survival Tips for Feb 14th:

Tea Lights

ok, tea lights are a simple start and can add atmosphere to a room instantly. Try and get some scented one's such as these to add a little something extra to it. A pack like this would cost around £5 from Marks and Spencer containing about 24 or so. Or you could just opt for a bag of about 100 which would cost £4 but would be scentless. In that case you can always opt for some gorgeous tea light holders such as this from again Marks and Spencer's at £15

even this one from ASDA which is a bit more cost effective at a £ saving £6!!!

I Actually personally have this one at home myself so it's more of a recommendation if anything lol.

Now moving on to dinnerwear. Some of you may have some plates at home which are quite dates with floral patterns etc on them that would have been bought by mother as a gift or still living with her that just happened to be her taste (no offence mum's we love you loads)

BUT

For a stylish and more sleek look why not opt for one of these absolutely gorgeous 'adante' plates by Marks and Spencer or the 'maxim' below (second image). Seeing that there will only be two of you dining in this evening (hopefully) these plates wont break the bank as the adante is only £3.50 per plate while the maxim is £5 per plate. There are also accompanying side dishes and other stoneware to go with these collections. Marks also do wine glasses and champagne flutes at a rock bottom price of £1 each!!! And they are surprisingly good quality at that price (again I have some of these at home). And they have a 20% off home event at the moment so all there items are 20% off there original marked prices which only means one thing....

where you have saved in one area you can spend more and be extravagant in another

Flowers Flowers Flowers.

Some people don't like flowers because they die and perhaps get superstitious about that being a metaphor for the relationship. However if you have an other half who perhaps doesn't read so deeply into things, go and get them a fantastic bouquet of flowers, however you will need to be on your toes flowers tend sell out pretty quickly on a day like this. I don't think I should have to tell you that but just incase you think "ohh i'll do it later..." DON'T. Do it now!

RULE NUMBER ONE: "never leave what can be done today till tomorrow"

or in this case don't leave what can be done now till just before the shops are about to close and they have absolutely nothing left!

There are loads of little flower shops around and even some of the supermarkets do nice bunches if your really pushed for time and money. Make sure all the petals are intact and that the flower is not browning as that is a sign of the flower dying, and we wouldn't want that now would we? Now that you've bought some flowers you can buy a nice vase to put them in can't you; I mean you don't make a n apple pie without apples now do you?

And this little beaut below is on sale in asda for about £5!

Now the rest is up to you to sort out, food, wines, champagnes, chocolate...and desert.

Final essential of the night...?

Give your other half all the attention in the world, let them know much they mean to you and how much you actually appreciate them.

Thought for the day:

Having enjoyed the good food and company of the night don't ever forget that Feb 14th is not the the only day of the year that you can show how much you care.

Love CoCM x

2012-02-14T00:01:00.000Z

Happy valentines day all! Hope you've all got something lovely and romantic like this planned for your other halves. How dreamy would it be to wake up with an amazing view surrounded by luxury fabrics and all in all a cosy but spacious room. Inside and outside are merged through the glass pains and you can imagine the view would seem endless hopefully like the love you share with that special someone.

If not I may have something that will interest you...

2012-02-12T22:48:00.001Z

Wholly simplistic and I love it. No chaos, no clutter. What does that do for me? It causes me to feel much more appreciation for the room as it makes it feel three things: FRESH, LIGHT and AIRY.

2012-02-11T16:35:00.004Z

I absolutely love this, it's like living in a picture frame. Imagine waking up in a room like this everyday. It would be like looking out to see a painting.

Sourced from: http://stylishomes.com

New iPhone apps

2012-02-11T16:08:00.001Z

Hey guys, so me being me I need to have everything accessible. In everyday life I buy loads of something just to make sure that tomorrow I won't wake up and be like "ooh I could have really done with that". Oh no my dear I like to try and get it all done at once. And so last night out nothingness I went into the app store and searched design and I actually found some pretty nifty little apps on there. I didn't go overboard as much as I could have perhaps but I did download 4 apps. Lol but then again some may consider 4 to be a lot for one night.
The 4 apps I downloaded were 'Paper Sizes', 'Houzz', 'Design Observer' and '100% Design'. I downloaded paper sizes purely on the possibility of my brain exploding trying to remember all the paper sizes and then possibly the trauma of having to convert these sizes into something annoying like inches. Design observer seems to be quite interesting as there are lots of interviews with designers and architects etc. The 100% Design app is purely to keep me informed of the upcoming events as I plan on going to the next show. But I must admit the Houzz app has to be my favourite if the lot from last night. It offers up the option of creating your own idea book as well as browsing through hundreds of designers and their personal work as well as ways of contacting them. However it's not even been a full 24 hours having had these apps and I'm already singing one of their praises (until perhaps one of them takes over my phone and causes it to crash LOL). However I shall let you all know how things pan out with these apps and how they may have helped.

Till then yours truly CoCM x

2012-02-11T15:45:00.001Z

A little doodle I did whilst bored at work

Sketching

2012-02-10T22:47:00.001Z

Just having a go at some sketching, practice is key! This is one of the main ways that I as a designer will be able to communicate my ideas. I'm having a look at a book by Thomas C. Wang called Pencil Sketching which I ordered a few weeks ago on amazon. So far so good.

Oh joyful inspiration

2012-02-10T15:05:00.001Z

So yesterday as I said earlier on in the week I attended the surface design show in Islington. And what was my verdict on it? One word - INSPIRATIONAL *throws in jazz hands*.
I mean I was completely in awe of some of the things I saw. This was definitely a turning point for me as in the past I have been somewhat reluctant to attend design shows. But without a shadow of a doubt I will now repent for my sins against the design show lol *hangs head in shame*.
I really got a better understanding of the range of materials that are available out there to designers such as myself and how exactly the creative industry works and what we can all do for one another.

This is my confession for the day, until next time keep it CoCM x

First day back

2012-02-06T18:20:00.001Z

So today was my first day back in the mix and I was happy to be back, everything went pretty smoothly. I'm do ready for the new projects we are about to start. Already I can tell that I may take a shine to manipulation of space. This is essentially looking into studying people and their patterns with regards to purpose to which the space was intended for.
Ever wondered why you buy so much when you go out shopping? Well it's because people like me manipulate retail shops in the best way possible in order to get you to part with your cash. There are a range of ways in which we achieve this. Some retailers are more successful at this evidently than others. However other things such as the product actually being sold will obviously be a large factor in this. Did a quick sketch of a possibly successful shop layout. There is more development and research to follow as I hit the shops later on this week to decide what makes them so appalling or quite the opposite.

Just a snippet

2012-02-06T00:21:00.001Z

A few bits and pieces from various projects

Browsing

2012-02-05T23:47:00.000Z

I came across this whilst browsing the internet for new rss feeds. This is an image from the Kings Road Towers Jedda Restaurant in Saudi Arabia. Pretty impressive for a restaurant right? Yeah i thought so too. This is without a doubt a pretty cool space and would definitely make for an interesting eating spot. Not only is this a restaurant but the exterior of the building also doubles up as a the worlds largest LED advertising screen which happens to be installed on three sides of the tower itself.

On first seeing it, it instantly oozes futurism to me; it kind of reminds me of the film iRobot. But none the less it still screams luxury. You don't have to look twice to understand how well crafted the items in the room are and see the quality of the materials used.

AIDI have done well with this particular project and have some other interesting projects that they have completed on their site http://www.astoundinginteriors.co.uk/ and I will be regularly updating myself with their new clients and projects.

Homing in on the obvious

2012-02-05T22:36:00.001Z

Currently I work for Marks and Spencer's and they are one of the UK's biggest retailers. It didn't actually click in my brain the possible opportunity before me till I was speaking to a colleague today at work. Marks and Spencer's are extremely well established and a multi-channel business(customers can shop instore, online and over the phone 'shop your way'). Marks and Spencer are generally known for selling great quality products at affordable prices. I have in the past spent a number of months working on their Home department and their products are pretty fun and quirky. Lovely colours and prints, there's always something to suit all of their customers. Last year they teamed up with designer Sir Terence Conran to produce a range like no other and exclusive to M&S.
It's very interesting in the sense that this collaboration could in turn boost sales in this area of the business. I'd personally like to get a little scope into how the buyers work with designers and how they go about making their choices to push into their home and furniture collections.
In line with Sir Terence Conran, I've downloaded this pretty nifty app called magpie, I can see this being extremely useful over the next few weeks.

Here it is

2012-02-05T01:48:00.001Z

This trusty A6 moleskine sketchbook wi document my day to day journey. They say it's the note/sketchbook of legends here's to hoping I'm one more to add to the list

So it begins

2012-02-05T01:38:00.001Z

So here I am in my living room, it's currently 1.35am. I'm thinking to myself I want more. I've had a tumblr blog. You know it's been fun. But finally I'm realising I need somewhere to grow professionally to be the best I can be and get myself out there. So hello and good morning. I'm Peju and welcome to my world. Thanks for tagging along for the journey, please fasten your seat belts xo