Natalija Creates

Making Time for a Couple of Logos

2013-04-19T04:55:17Z

I have been extremely immersed in photography these past months, and specifically weddings. I shoot sometimes 3 times in a week which leaves me with 4 days of editing. Somebody recently brought to my attention that I don't have a day off... I didn't even realise that I work every day! How crazy is that!

I guess because I don't even perceive it as work. It's definitely a passion and sometimes an obsession, i just want to shoot, edit and showcase!

But I think there is this thing called 'balance' which I've left well in my past, it's where you make time to do other things, and allow yourself to forget about work and not look at the interwebs or screens or pixels... and instead do things like buy rose bushes and lie in salt and sand. So with some strong reminders of the benefits of 'time out', I've started trying this idea of 'not working on Sunday and Tuesday'. So far in the past month I've had one real Tuesday off and two Sundays... a good start :-)

And part of this process has being learning to say NO. And mostly NO to design work. I have to let it go for a while....

but occassionally I can't help meself!!

Here's why:

The Education Union came to me needing a little brand for their Stop Tafe Cuts Campaign. And I know I can help them now and quickly to get a striking little logo they can use to promote the cause.

It's a case of 'I can do it and I can do it now'.

So really I did whip this out quick smart like a stirfry.

I like to see logos in contexts as they need to work well in multiple applications, that's often part of their charm and effectiveness.

Here it is reversed out on an image.

So that is one of those feel good, contribution jobs I struggle to turn down.

And here is another, different opportunity I struggle to say NO to...
A cool one!
Design a brand for a new cafe. Um, yes please!

Little Sisto is in Doubleview on Sackville Tce. It's an understated, sleek and spacious cafe with primo coffee. The owner comes from a large Greek family and was the youngest of 6, hence her name Little Sisto which means Little Sister.

I could see this logo in my mind pretty early, as a collection of sisters and her highlighted as the little one.
If you're interested in analysis: it's the greek turqoise sea blue that is referenced, and the triangles represent women, our shape, our skirts even, all different sizes but powerful little mountains that we each are. They are a cluster, a family, but the little one can often be the stand out, the special-treated one, the base of the family.

I look forward to sharing more photos once the signage is up and the branding is rolled out!

back to the photos now...

[current mood] Roses in Rainbow Colours & Gypsy MusicSave & Close

Instagratification

2013-02-26T03:47:58Z

I got a coffee the other day and the guy said 'the soy is the angry one' and I thought, too right!

So I turned my frown upside down. And the segue to the subject of this blog is... missing...

(Hang on, I worked one out, this is a photo I instantly put on instagram instead of my blog.)

I've had a blog since the days they were called "web logs". A geek friend coded me one in 2002.
I loved this outlet, I could get my pics and dorky poems out to the world!

10 years later... with a bucket more wrinkles and cynicism... ;-)
I'm weathered by the changes of the interweb world!

There are now countless ways to get the pics and poems out there. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter... I am a mere dot in an ocean of voices.

It's mostly pics and a handful of characters... you don't see so many essays online these days! or if they are there, not sure who's making the time to read them.

Social media has come and met me with all its tools and everyone's joined in!

However my blog suffers because it's like getting on a dinosaur with a message in a bottle to throw into the milky way... cooooeeeee??

Yes, anyone, anywhere can see it without being a 'friend' on my various social media channels... but is that more valuable than me speaking with my 600 friends (some long lost) on facebook?

Or the 150 followers on my instagram?

And then there's the feedback, the instagratification! Yep, I just coined that (and I'm not going to google it to discover I wasn't the first!) I know that mostly someone is gonna say hi when I put up a pic.

Just one pic or one sentence can mean a whole dialogue.

Here I can write paragraphs and it meets silence.

So what to do? I am learning to accept that the blog is less populated, quieter, it is still read by some.
And that this is just the way its evolved. Can't fight it or myself actually.

So today, which just so happens to see me sitting on a comfy bed in Melbourne celebrating my birthday with the company of tiny tweets from birds in a fig tree, I will blog some instagram pics that if you are following me will be "old news" but if not will be seemingly fresh.

I have decided to be okay about blogging my social media activities because I'd like to curate some of it.

Travels in Instagram - a wonderful tool and reason to pause and frame

In my own community of Fremantle we share the excitement of what goes on.

Like when we're having a glitter themed party, we tease people with what's to come!

And I joke about the sign that the party was well and truly over.

When I travel then things seem far more visually interesting. Like my Adelaide backyard.

And Melbourne in all it's cruddy imperfect perfectness with countless vivid stories.

One of the keys to photography is showcasing a view that might be overlooked

And framing a contrast in colour, texture and meaning

But it's mostly about laughs!

A sea of grugs? or A bon jovi wig burial site?

[current mood] Cocoa, Date & Nut treats & Sufjan Stevens again

Nourishing Newborn Mothers

2013-02-07T08:57:35Z

Did you know that a woman's body goes through the most change after she gives birth (rather than during pregnancy)?

I didn't!

Makes sense now that the body is trying to completely re-adjust in a very short space of time and add to that the need to look after and feed your tiny child. No wonder so many new mums suffer from depression and other coping issues.

I recently met a doula (support person for pregnancy and labour) who wants to put her knowledge into a book. She believes that one of the key ways to heal a woman's heart is through her stomach.

So she's creating a cookbook designing to guide a woman week by week with her changing dietary needs to support her system, all backed up by ancient ayurvedic (indian health) tradition.

So I'm going to photograph and design the book (yay! yum!)
but firstly we're doing the crowd funding route - on Pozible!

Check out the film I made about the project. It gives you a little taste for the yumminess to be found when we create it.

(and may I add that the stew and chai were divine!! I look forward to devouring more as I shoot...)

I'd greatly appreciate your support (get a copy for $50 (rrp $75!) or share with possible new mums and related health practitioners.

[current mood] Glitter in Odd Places & Frank Sinatra

Stop Motion Wedding

2013-01-14T04:12:26Z

It's a bit of a 'thing' at the moment, the hipster stop motion wedding photoshoot.

(Stop motion is where you take a series of photos and animate them into a short film -and- do some clever things with how objects appear and move).

I could do it... but I hadn't yet because I thought it might be too much of a focus during a wedding shoot, detracting from getting really quality individual images.

However, they ARE fun and they ARE cute and so I slipped a little stop motion into a recent wedding shoot to see what we could achieve in 10 minutes.

I animated 30 seconds of footage which I repeated 3 times to give us a good chunk of visual sweetness.

So I think this is a a WIN: We have some animated cuteness to a song the couple love AND we have a series of still images of high quality for albums and printing.

yes?

Here are some of the stills to go with the animation.

All shot at the divine Karri Tree forest setting at Donnelly River Village.

More of this I shall do!

[current mood] Kings of Convenience & Mango

A List for A Lover

2013-01-12T08:58:08Z

Can you imagine if you created a list
of 100 things you wanted in a lover
So detailed that when you shared it with a friend
They'd say you're an absolute dreamer!

"You really gotta let go
Your expectations are too high
You're being far too picky
You could fall in love with any guy"

But no no no
i want to dream
and ask for all the things
that he could be

why not get specific
and ask the universe
i want this guy to
break my curse

So I made a list
it was long long long
And I put it a book
but had not forgotten

I'd pull it out and read
and sometimes do an edit
I guess I thought perhaps
this is how I shoulda said it

Then I saw a healer type
She said you write THEN let it go
and trust the universe will deliver
this really perfect bloke

So be clear
and be decisive
you may as well know
it all precisely

So I left the list a
long long long time
I forgot its details
I forgot the lines

It was many years later
that I met a man
as soon as I set eyes upon him
I thought, YOU, you I understand

I think I know you
I'm not quite sure how
There's something about you
Have we met before now?

And then just 11 days later
I opened up the book
with a deep breath
I took a long long look

And as I went down the list
I began to tick
when I got to the end
there was only one thing I didn't pick

He's not exactly 6 foot tall...

Office Stationery Inspired Garden Colour Palette Creation

2013-01-10T08:28:12Z

How closely have you looked at your leaves lately?

Micro Macros of my leaves show me a colour scheme.

[current mood] Ferris Bueller & Ratatouille

I just can't get enough

2013-01-09T04:10:42Z

I was in Turkey some years ago and made this little video at some markets in Istanbul.

I think I'm going to do more 'spontaneous acting' as this still delights me.

[current mood] Figs with Prosciutto and Goats Cheese & The Cure

The Portuguese Water Bike Dog

2013-01-08T04:55:59Z

You can't ride a bike with a dog it seems unless you want a face full of cement.

So I've trained my dog Oscar to be my bike.

Good boy!

[current mood] Squirrel with Goats Cheese

Mum's Wisdom

2013-01-07T02:01:50Z

My mum would say that she isn't religious or spiritual.

But mum is a thinker and with that she develops wisdom.

She has spent the last few days contemplating relationships and emailed me this morning.

This is what she wrote:

[current mood] Intentional Headbanging into Wet Trees

Wedding Doodles

2012-12-28T12:47:40Z

I doodled on some wedding photographs and found it kind of fun.

Here are some examples of putting digital white ink hearts onto my images.

Now to think of other ideas besides el ubiquitous heart!

How about I turn the couple into a cake?
Mmm maybe that's a bit too silly...

I enjoy cheese though.

And now, here's painting with white light during the photograph:

More unpredictable in result but excellent entertainment for guests at the reception.

[current mood] Poolside's Remix of Harvest Moon & Candy Canes