Aria in the Starless Night

Its been a while since I've posted anything meaningful - life's been too busy! Danny's Oppai's been maxed out; or at least pushed pretty far, thats for sure! But none the less, there's always more to do, and always more after that. Then again, thats where the fun lies, amirite!?

I just finished a few-hour run-through of Code Academy's HTML and CSS course, and hopefully in the coming months some major UI overhauls can get underway and turn this blog from a 10 to an 11!

Beyond that though, hobby and career wise, I can't ask for much better - I'm painting warhammer and dreaming up D&D Characters for our newest adventure, I'm learning autoCAD and working on the layout of an office (and my home office no less!). I've even got a batch of business card designs in the works - stay tuned for the debut of Mirai Designs!

I believe some people are gifted with Vision. Some people have it, some people don't - and the people that do are possessed with an unshakeable urge to Design; They need to impart their visions on the real world and bring the incorporeal contents of their imagination into physical real. They need to make their dreams a reality.

Maybe thats what they call the God Possibility, 可能性. 

But nevertheless, I'm heading towards the future. Eyes straining, staring straight into the sun, running towards the horizon. There's only one way to go, and thats up! 

建築学、デザイン、統一：ＰＨＡＳＥ０２開始！

Just a quick update on life, thoughts, plans and goals for the future~

I was able to make time to go into the Daniels Faculty at U of T and speak with them about their masters of Architecture program, and was not disappointed. It was the place for me! If nothing else, the vibe, the energy, the 空気 of the space was just brilliant. It was creative and inspirational, welcoming and awe-inspiring, but with a deeply-thoughtful, razor-sharp precision in its appearance. It was clean, professional and brimming with artistic sensibilities. I can think of no better place to realize my dreams and designs and bring the contents of my mind to the physical realm, in the hope that I can, in my own little way, make the world a better place.

That aside, getting in will be tough, but I feel that if I give it my all, work and cultivate myself as much as possible in the coming months I will be free of regret, and can realize my goals in one way or another.

A take-away I received was the concept of design. Not something foreign to me, the concept of design is more than simply the creation of something, in the narrow, practical, descriptive sense, but rather appeals to the broader notion of creation, realization, innovation, and so much more. Perhaps for my sleep-deprive, coffee-addled mind, it evades the scope of my articulative abilities, but none the less, the feelings were strong. Design. A world, a concept, a socratic form to strive towards.

Mapping this onto my life, my goal for the spring/summer would be appropriately summed up in that very concept: Design. Not only in the creation of my portfolio and the honing of my creative abilities, but also in the way my goals, wants, desires and life choices are manifested. I need to better exercise my humanity and impose my inner designs on the world around me. We as sentient, intelligent beings are designers by nature, it is in our essence that we shape the world around us, and in turn affect our destiny. On a less grandiose level, I need to better create a space and a system of living that enables me to experience life to its fullest. Be the happiest I can be, be the most productive and inspired I can be. Be the healthiest I can be. And most of all, lead the best life I can.

Finally, along these lines, I think it would be good to repeat my idea of consolodating my digital life to portable devices - iPhone, iPad, and Macbook. My Raven would be there for larger tasks, storage, gaming, higher performance workloads, but through efficient means, I feel its entirely possible to enjoy the same level of power-usage that I do on a regular basis through these apple devices. It would take some cleaning, some simplification, some elbow-grease, but such is the act of turning my imagined world into a reality~

Life has never been so Fate :P

With that, I leave to ponder, brainstorm, and if I'm lucky, preordain what lies in store~

PS. Considering selling my macbook and using the funds towards investing in a new Macbook Air... seems like a decent choice, lighter, faster, newer, etc... if only there was someone noble and zen with a a proud legacy that was looking for a macbook.... or a god of snow that would ensure it wasn't dropped into a pit of deathness.... hmmm 

Tachibana Karen: Summer Lovin' Had me a Blast

So the other day, I was perusing my way through pixiv, and I stumbled across this little gem! Sorry young-Japanese-artist-san, but yo' design gon' get stolen! No, seriously though, I thought it was really great, and had very nice balance of typical anime design elements and a clear personalty came through, so I decided to use it as a strong inspiration for a new character brewing in the 'izzet steamworks' sitting between my shoulders.

What she'll be doing, is anyone's guess at the moment. Unlikely new-type stumbles upon a prototype mobile suit, pokemon trainer in the making, combatant in a virtual dungeon-crawling-death-game, who knows?

But, as always: 

次のコーナ〜

Just testing out a banner design~

Perhaps for a sub blog, or just a post series - maybe a random set of discussions, thoughts, musings, opinions and speculations....

If nothing else, I just think it looks good!

Stay tuned! 

あまり見ないで.......恥ずかしいから～～

Just firing off another quickie - a bit of an alternate take/fusion/evolution of the look, turning the corset into more of a belt-like thing and adding a chiffon babydoll to it, showing a little skin but also making use of the design space around her mid section. これだ！！ってきがするね～

Also just for added reference, some sample expression that suit her character, taken from characters that are also similar in personality.

And as a final tidbit, the main characters of the entire overarching story have been sketched out - no visuals yet, but conceptually they're coming to life nicely. The theme of "Three" will be pretty heavily focused on - Real Life, In-Game-Life, and Metaphorical-REAL-Real-Life, in terms of layers through which the story will unfold; or Courage, Wisdom and Power to borrow from  another franchise! Three guesses which one this girl embodies :P

The story's 'main' antagonist will embody one segment, and the 'victim/sidekick/romantic foil character will embody the other.

Warp Desu~

Just a quick update, offering up an alternate take at our main character, <Estelle>.

Hiiragi Yuuki in the real world, a girl best described as quirky, energetic and always filled-to-the-brim with determination, had the misfortune of being the first to play her friend's copy of Sword Arte Online. What hope does a klutzy, air-headed teenage girl with little to no gaming experience have of surviving a ruthless virtual reality death game? 

Yuuki will symbolize courage within the story: the courage to carry on in the face of insurmountable odds, the courage to break from the norm and do the unexpected, the courage to always get up when knocked down

She will evolve from a boarder-line comic relief n00b to a front-line fighter that lives off the motto "with hardwork and guts, you can accomplish anything!~"

A bit of a departure from the original image of the character, but I think this will prove to be more entertaining and lead to a better story overall - her foil, and main romantic interest will be a more stoic, cynical, 'cool' character - think Kousaka Kyousuke, Kyon, or Hikigaya Hachiman.

トップをねらえ！

Oh wait, there's more!

Just a dropping a quick visual update for Estelle's character sheet - hopefully when I stop having to read Lenin (if ever >_>) I'll be able to make a more in depth description of the goings-on in this splash of pictures, but until then I'll leave you with the mystery and intrigue that is my thought process. Ooooh ahhhh such mystery, much puzzling~~

This isn't even my final form!

A quick look at what's been cooking lately - we can see some examples of gear progression for Estelle. If we compare these to the earlier developed concept piece, a number of recurring themes emerge, something I want to incorporate in the designs of each character in the story.

On the far right we can see examples of her starting gear, black leggings, a thick shirt with ribbed detailing (not drawn in yet) and rolled cuffs revealing a burberry lining. I want to keep the 'lots of belts for no reason at all' theme present where possible, because... come on - belts, guys! For no reason at all!!?

On the left we see the next step in the gear ladder, her typical white stockings with leather garter, her dark shorts with burberry lined cuffs, a leather bustier and metal breast plate and single pauldron. White long gloves with burberry detailing and more belts around the waist and leg complete the gearset. To its immediate right, we have an unfinished design which was folded into the middle design, the third rung to the ladder. Babydoll top with leather breast armor, metal breastplate over top, small puffy detached sleeves with leather detailing and burberry lining, shorts with small leather hip detailing and burberry cuffs, more intricate stockings, and small leather gloves with similar design elements.

In terms of the hair, we have a long ponytail, reaching to her mid back/hips, two braids in the 'side bangs' slot, and a three-part arrangement in the front. Her large, perhaps oversized bow ties the whole look together and adds dimension to her face, offsetting the vertical movement of her braids, bangs and ponytail with some horizontiality (yes, I made that word up).

All in all, the design is coming together - expect to see a more polished rendition of Estelle's design in all 6 stages in the near future, and following that.... the pilot chapter of Sword Arte Online!

楽しんでね～～

A New Challenger Appears

The moment I've you've all been waiting for has arrived!!! I'm happy to present 瀬乃宮あかね Senomiya Akane, <Estelle> in-game.

<Name>: 瀬乃宮あかね Senomiya Akane

<Age>: (Book 1) 16

<Race>: Japanese

<Country>: Japan, Nishinoomote-Shi, Kagoshima-Ken

<Occupation>: High School 2nd Year

<Reason for playing SAO>: A gift from her older brother with whom she rarely speaks. She was reluctant at first because of her lack of interest in gaming, but finally agreed. 

Obviously there's more to it than that, but I can't spoil it all at once now can I! But before we move on to bigger and brighter things, I'd like to point out that the use of Asuna's face is merely a placeholder - Akane will have a similar range of expressions and similar features but will have a unique look. Her unarmored character art is still in the works, but until then, enjoy the first step into the re-imagined world of Aincrad!

Swords and Stitches

You know what's the best thing about having a fashion designer as a girlfriend? Getting her to help with character designs of course! 

Stay tuned for a look at the main heroine of Sword Arte Online, and a look at the directions I would like to take the series, how they may deviate from the original and why I think those deviations are necessary.

Dragons, Kobold Lords and Armored Titans

A brief look into the main Heroine of the series as well as a few tidbits of what to expect and some of the thought process that goes through the head of this over-worked-sleep-deprived-philosophy-student~