Just as I was about to meltdown from my counterproductive thesis lockdown, D-Crit classmate and thesis soldier Tara gave me a pretty good pep talk: You’re taking your sources too seriously. Figure out what you want each part to say and use your sources to support that point. They need to work for you. It’s stupid to set goals that [...]

I’m taking a quick break from the madness that is happening right now in my life, to share with the internet a very valuable tip I’ve learnt in the last few months. Drink while editing. After a few sips of wine, you will have less tolerance for convoluted statements and long-winded sentences. You will feel [...]

This blog has 2892478 alignment issues, and this irks me as a critic because I can’t do anything about it. I think this is what I’ve been looking for to resolve my blog’s ugly problem. As much as I am happy to commission a web designer to fix things up here, I can’t wait to [...]

Sitting still, reading and writing is not enough. Some days (like today) I wake up and just want to make things I can hold. The result doesn’t have to be refined–I just want an interesting process. The art direction for the March 2011 issue of Martha Stewart made me smile this morning. This summer, I’m [...]

I recently started to pick up some new design work, and I was reminded of why I love being a designer. When I design, I can zone in for a solid 4-5 hours at a time without disruption. All I need is loud music and a good rhythm to work furiously and intuitively. Maybe it’s [...]

Before I started D-Crit, my impression of a design critic was very much like this… In my favourite The Devil Wears Prada scene, Meryl Streep who plays a fashion magazine editor, tells Anne Hathaway off for her ignorance and lack of interest in fashion: This stuff? Oh okay, I see. You think this has nothing [...]

I decided over the summer that I would like to eventually make a documentary. For the past month, I set myself a goal of watching one documentary a week for research and just entertainment. For September, I watched The September Issue, Valentino: The Last Emperor, Marc Jacobs & Louis Vuitton and Helvetica. The documentaries offered [...]

In whatever written form, I have been keeping a record of thoughts and experiences since I was 8. It can be embarassing reading these accounts from the past because they seem childish and trivial, but recently I’ve found that there is also a lot I can learn from a naïve and optimistic self. Stumbling across [...]