Judi Tahunan

I have an unofficial schedule called: Judi Tahunan (Yearly Gambling).   As you may know I have a fulltime job at an educational software company.  I kinda like this job and I want to keep it as long as I could, but as an artist, I need to have my own project whether yarn related stuff or animation.   I promised myself that I would make at least one animation a year or an amigurumi every months.  The simplest way (not easy, just simple) to get fund for the animation is by sending it to the competition or festival.  Even though I didn’t win I could get a motivation to create the animation and show it to the audience.  Last year my animation got screened at Hellofest 2013, it was the best feeling I ever had as an animator, it felt even better than winning previous contests.

I don’t remember what I’ve done from January to March, I only remember that I started my Judi Tahunan at April 2014 by joining an animation competition held by a book publisher.  It was my very first horror themed animation, inspired by Eunice Nuh’s Poem: Seribu Mata (thousand eyes). the art was inspired by iOS Game: Yearwalk by Simogo.  It’s also the very first time I work with a narrator, Sari Kemala who is also a narrator at the company. The BGM and SFX was created  by Sandi Mardiansyah, a very good friend of mine who was a coworker at ZeusBox Studio.

The character (the girl) is based on Miriam, the girl from “ Si Manis Jembatan Ancol” , a popular ghost TV series back at the 90s.  At the TV series, Miriam braided her hair and she was bringing a food canteen for her boyfriend, a painter, but she got rape by some drunk men and murdered at the Ancol Bridge.  Later she became a ghost, a pretty ghost with white mini dress and long hair.

I didn’t win, but that’s not the worst thing.  Since it is based on a book and copyrighted, I can’t show this animation without screening right by the publisher and the author.  I already contacted Eunice Nuh, the author, and I already show this to her, she says she liked it.  I tried to contact the publisher so I could share it on youtube, and they said they will screened it on their own youtube channel after the contest over.  However, up to this day, this animation remain hidden.  

I though of uploading this animation secretly, and share it as a “cursed” video, so it would go viral, anybody who saw it will have constipation in 7 days.  No… it’s not The Ring :D

Then from May to August I worked on the animation for the ASEAN Animation Festival 2014.  I think I really hit the jackpot, thanks to this Festival, I got not one but two trips to Bangkok :).  I think it’s the best contest I ever joined.  Thailand has the best hospitality as the event holder.  They not only make a great ceremonial event, but also arranged a city tour for the participant.  Now I really love Bangkok and the people.  I also made some friends from the other ASEAN countries. it’s kinda funny we lived as a neighbour but know almost nothing about their culture.  Now I’m considering to visit Myanmar, because the winner of the contest came from Myanmar.  so I really would like to know the place who inspired them.

I became greedy, while waiting for the result for the first round of ASEAN Animation contest, I started making an animation about Earthquake for another animation contest.  I got my bachelor degree by making an animation series about Earthquake, so I still have a lot of references about this topic.  The challenge was to make a new animation about earthquake.  I decided to make a  more fun animation so the character were Bambang Bombay & Brambang.  it’s a pun of my family name: Bambang.  Onion in bahasa called Bawang Bombay, and shallot in bahasa called Bawang Merah or Brambang (if it’s fried).  Bawang. Bambang.  Do you see the similarity? 

why do I use onion or vegetable as the character?  Because I was bored of using animal and human character.  And Nature is the best teacher right? Vegetable and plant are part of the nature.  And... you can't learn about earthquake without knowing that Earth consist of many layers.  As Shrek said, Onion has a lot of layers, right :)

I didn’t finish the animation, because later I was working on the ASEAN animation. but maybe someday I would finish this animation.

From July to September I also worked on some project with my recurrent client.  I was very busy and tired with work, contest, and side project.  So by the end of the project I decided to take a break while sending submission to a residency program.  It felt funny to suddenly not doing anything beside my fulltime job.  So I go shop a lot, watch a lot of movie, even the crappy movie,  it gave a great damage to my wallet :p  I even bought a PS Vita, because I was so bored I didn’t have a mood to knit.

During the shortbreak, I made a very short animation called “Televisi” or Television. a short animation about energy (electricity to be precise).  I made it for Festival Sadar Energi, a festival about saving energy. The animation is done within 2 days, and the sound was made by Sandi Mardiansyah again.  and YEAH, I got a bad pain in the shoulder because of this animation marathon.

The animation didn’t win, but it’s really fun to make the pooping toaster scene.  (I didn’t make a typo).  

The festival was held by the ministry of energy (actually I forgot), and there was an awarding night near the place I lived, but it’s a closed event.  I didn’t got the invitation and I was in my pajamas eating Nasi Padang when the comittee suddenly called me. 

C(Comittee): “Hallo, Dessy, we are waiting for you and the team at the registration desk”

M(Me): “HUH?  What registration desk?”

C: “You are one of the finalist”

M: “But nobody told me that”

C: “HUH? Wait a second, I will call you again”. 

but nobody called me. I never knew what she meant.  it’s just too funny. I skipped a free dinner invitation by ministry.  who am I anyway LOL.

Few days later I got a call from hwbefgertlert  okay let’s skip this story for now for a surprise.  it is some kind of bonus round from a Jackpot machine.  I will tell you later cause I need to prepare a new Kebaya for this event. 

NAH… not a wedding nor an engagement party. it’s bigger than that :p

there are 2 months left before 2014 ends, but I don't think I will participated in any other animation event apart than I already involved.

NomNom and the BIAF award

I was participating on a short animation idea competition held by BIAF (Baros Animation Festival).  So I made a story, design character, storyboard, and of course the concept of an animation.  The theme was deforestation and reforestation.
The character for my animation named NomNom, a monster who lives in the forest and eat everything. He can eat as much as he can, and once he started, he can't stop before everything is gone.
the same problem with deforestation,  the deforestation major cause is actually not illegal logging but the greediness, and we (who live in the city) share the same responsibility as the people who cuts the tree.
NomNom eat more than he needs and before he realize, everything has gone.  Pretty similar to what happen to human.  NomNom is a cute monster, and human could also become a monster.  So Are You a NomNom?
I designed the short animation as a part of a campaign, so I also designed a website too.
all this was just a concept, if you are an organization or institution who concern about environmental issue and you are interested to funding or working together to make this project comes true, please contact me :)

NomNom and the trophy

the animation sample were made in 2D, but there's a possibility that it could be done using stopmotion.

NomNom and The Forest.

The forest is designed like a wide cloth that could be pulled like a blanket

the website design,  there are actually some more pages.  it's just a dummy, I just grab some logos of the organization and institution who are concern about environmental issue.

Sea of Inspiration

The Beach and The sea always be my favorite scene to draw.  I don't know how many time I made designed (never being animated) animations with the sea as the background.

like this one I found from my archive. It's one of the illustration for an animation I never made.  Despite its bright scenery, the title was "dear tortoise" and the story was about a griefing hare.  it's too sad that I don't want to finished the script.

 

"Dear Tortoise"

And then, There's also "ke laut yok" (let's go to the sea).   I originally designed the character for comic, but later published it as comic strip. I though of making the animation version (more like a music clip), but back then I was busy working on college assignment. The story was about three teenagers found a boy who is stranded in an island and there's no logical explanation of how.  

 

  Ke Laut Yok

The story inspired another animation I made together with my friends.  The animation title is "Si Bodoh" and of course 90% of the story changed into a very different animation.  too bad my hard disk drive was stolen, I don't have the copy of "Si Bodoh" :(

The animations was very rough, we work in a team of four with different style of drawing, and we were a total amateur.  Thanks to the solid team work and good presentation, we got A.

The latest one is "Cece & Cece", animation for my sister's wedding invitation.  Last year on her birthday, she asked no gift but an animation for her wedding.  My sister's fiance's name is Caesar who is called "Cece", and my sister's name is Severine, who is called "Cece" too by our nephew.  it was started as a prank, my nephew who was 1 years old back then called me "Cici" cause he can't say my name, so I taught my nephew to call my sister as "Cece" cause it's resembled Caesar's nickname (they were just started dating back then and of course she asked for this animation after they got engaged, about two years later)

Cece and Cece

The first animation  design was like the above, cause I wanted to make some experiment using black and pink, and the theme was the same as the wedding: the sea.  She asked me to make the animation since October but all I made was that picture.  I didn't have inspirations for the story.  I could think of various slapstick story or cheap romantic story, but I don't think it fits my sister image, and of course I don't want to be rude to my future brother in law.  so I didn't use this design at all and totally change it few days before the deadline :p

There are actually more animations with sea or water or beach theme that I ever made, but I will safe it for the next time.

AgentC- backgrounds and icons design

at the late 2011 I designed some backgrounds and icons for a mobile game for Adhi.
back then I didn't know the title yet, but more or less I was told that it was going to be some type of pet game.
Few days ago, I e-mailed Adhi and found out that the game is already published (many times ago).  You can download the game here.
though before this project, I have spent my last 4 years designing game assets, I rarely got task to design game background.  and just look at my animations, I rarely put any backgrounds on it.  so I found this job challenging yet fun to do.  Cause, I never thought I could do background designs before.

This is one of my favorite cause I love the purple-ish sky, and the balcony.

Rejected design: a cat illustration

Again, from the archive, an unpublished design.
rejected design, it was an illustration for a birthday party.
no.. it's not my birthday, read it carefully, it's 20-10-2012, not 20-12-2012 :)
tho it is rejected I kinda proud of this illustration, since I'm not a big fans of feline.

From the Archive: Game Design

while I wasn't actively design many things at the past few years, I actually have some artwork that I haven't share.  Like this one.  I made this at 2011 as a test to be a game artist in a game studio. The test was to design a background for fighting game and one character design.

as you can guess, I was inspired by Venetia, and the masked hero is of course based on Venetian masquerade party.  Believe me or not it was the first time I draw a full background from scratch.  I love the moon. (fyi, I passed the test, but foolish me became to greedy).

Below, is another test for another game studio.  The test was to make a character design.  the studio didn't even reply my e-mail T-T.  No hard feelings, anyway.

by the way, I also made some icons and background for a real game, but since I haven't ask permission to publish it here I can't share it yet.

Oh, if you have any game project and need to design some game asset, do not hesitate to contact me ;)

Crochet meet visual design

I more likely to introduce myself as a knitter or animator than a graphic designer.  I don't have such confidence to be called a graphic designer.  However, for the Worldwide Knitting in Public event, I tried to give my best designing skill instead of selling my amigurumi (crocheted doll).
I will meet a lot of knitters, probably the best of the best Indonesian knitters, they could easily make amigurumi, if they wanted to.
so, this time, I designed various printed pattern/ guide. to make it more appealing during the bazzar, I designed the display too.

I use a woven basket from Cikini Train Station for the base, then add some recycled boxes to place the items.
it was basically coffee box I collected, then covered it with brown paper (called samson paper).  and instead of using glue, I sew it on using hot pink thread.

I also add some hot pink crocheted lace to make them cuter and to fit my blog identity. Then finally add some printed label for additional informations.

I had some extra days to make a neon green amigurumi with pink nose to guard the items.  and of course he has to knit for the worldwide knit in public event :)

wanna meet the neon green man?
come to the Worldwide knit in public Bazzaar at Museum Tekstil Jakarta,
June 17th 2012 starting from 9 AM till 4 PM.
I will be collaborating with my colleague from Gondangdia Afterwork.

flamingo flamingo

yesterday I made a new Flamingo amigurumi, which reminds me of the game which inspired me to make the first flamingo amigurumi 2 years ago.
it was our (Zeusbox Studio's) project and the game's title was Social Stars.
It was a virtual world- simulation game, similar to the Sims.
We are proudly says that the game was on facebook long before the Facebook version of The Sims.
My job was to animate the clothing for the avatars, slicing the room, working together with programmers to make it playable, and of course designing items.
the project manager usually have decided a list of items to make, so when I saw the Flamingo is on the list, I HAD TO BE THE ONE TO MAKE THE FLAMINGO.
well I was the only girl on the team which designed the items, so they let me draw that flamingo.

so here's the screenshoot of the game.  see that flamingo? yes! I made that.

right click to zoom it :)

the amigurumi I made inspired by the one I draw (read the blog)

and the new Flamingo, a remake based on the first flamingo amigurumi

well of course I didn't just make the flamingo for the game, I also make some more items, at the same screenshot picture, you could see the bushes that I made :p  

There are some more, but I'll share it in another day

My business card or something like that

Unlike my knitting blog which is updated every once a week, this blog is rarely updated.
The thing is, I could make knitted/ crocheted project with less responsibility than when I was making graphic design.
the creativity process were basically the same, they were all began with sketches,
I'm thinking seriously too when I was designing my crocheted toy.
I could knit/crochet while watching TV but I can't make animation/ illustration while doing something else.

ah... I made too many excuses.
so for the monthly update, I'm showing you my real business card.

it has my real name and my blog addresses on it.  Enough for me.
I don't think it would be necessary to have my phone number, I'm really bad at answering the phone :p

I'm not a minimalist designer, I'm a lazy one.
the large white area is meant for it's second function, which is as a label tag for my crocheted toys.
just punch a hole at the top of it and it's done. a Label Tag :)

Okay.. I'm a lazy and stingy designer.
by the way "karya dessy TAB" means created by dessy TAB.

I'm using "karya" instead of "created by" because I'm an  Indonesian Designer :)

Orangutanku packaging

When I started the OrangUtanku project, I spent weeks, even month just for the packaging design.
I want to make them special, exclusive, cheap, and simple.
Boxes are cheap, so I was thinking of using designed boxes. (I'm a designer, I could design it, right?)
But, I HATE MAKING BOXES
I'm a person who can't cut straight
The other alternative was using plastic boxes which are available in certain store.
Cheap and Simple, no sweat. But it's wrong.
It didn't go along with the mission to save the orangutan.

So.... maybe the orangutan helped me, because suddenly I got the idea of using pouch.
The problem was I can't sew... (yeah, I can't cut and sew in straight lines)
So my dearest mother helped me (Merci, Maman <3)
She bought the fabric, cut it and sew it (and put some embroidery on it)
All I did was give some brief and make a tiny thank you tags.
isn't it cute?

of course for shipment I wrapped it again in a box, and the box was also special.
I thought it was brilliant (no, it was silly actually), I would share the tutorial for the box soon ;)


PS: the doll in the picture is Ginanjar, he still need a new home :)

My Name Card

Finally! I have a name card!
Nope, not a business card, only a name card.
No titles because titles don't give me the right definition.
I'm a designer, maybe an animator or something else,
but I don't think people would likely give a call only by looking at my titles.
I must be lucky if they do call me, but I'm not sure that I would be happy.
They wouldn't know what they are buying, if they didn't see my portfolio.

So here's my name card design.
I already print some on Java paper.
of course the real number and email address are in the printed version.
Plain but it's enough for now.