tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91649953342240548312024-03-14T04:45:04.696-03:00air: work in progressBillyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07566459269797239267noreply@blogger.comBlogger332125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9164995334224054831.post-7038023658532936732011-02-06T11:41:00.000-03:002011-02-06T11:41:10.100-03:00We´ve moved!Hi everyone!<br />
<br />
Despite my recent rant concerning the use of wordpress, I have to say that I spoke too fast. I tamed it! <br />
<br />
It´s still a work in progress, but <a href="http://www.airdesignstudio.com/">this blog is now being merged with my portfolio site</a>. So, head on over to <a href="http://www.airdesignstudio.com">airdesignstudio.com</a>, browse around and subscribe to read my posts the moment they´re published.<br />
<br />
It´s right here: <a href="http://www.airdesignstudio.com/">www.airdesignstudio.com</a><br />
<br />
See you there!Billyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07566459269797239267noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9164995334224054831.post-49297916246019213582011-01-28T15:26:00.001-03:002011-01-28T15:38:40.653-03:00It´s here!<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/airdesignstudio/5396257564/" title="January issue of "We´re in Panama!" now out by Ana Isabel Ramos, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5294/5396257564_5bfcf129d3_z.jpg" width="469" height="640" alt="January issue of "We´re in Panama!" now out" /></a><br />
<br />
Yay, January issue of "We´re in Panama!" is now out. As usual, you can download it free <a href="http://www.airdesignstudio.com/downloads/air-zine_2011-01.pdf">here</a>. Please leave a comment telling me what you liked - or didn´t!<br />
<br />
Have a great weekend! We´re heading to the beach for the weekend with a group of friends. Have fun!Billyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07566459269797239267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9164995334224054831.post-50750524556951525982011-01-27T21:24:00.000-03:002011-01-27T21:24:10.316-03:00Almost!<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/airdesignstudio/5393832379/" title="Working on the January issue of my e-zine by Ana Isabel Ramos, on Flickr"><img alt="Working on the January issue of my e-zine" height="480" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5016/5393832379_fc6ed09f3e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/airdesignstudio/5393831951/" title=""What are your goals?" by Ana Isabel Ramos, on Flickr"><img alt=""What are your goals?"" height="480" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4091/5393831951_e66110632d_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
<br />
This week I´ve been frantically working on the January issue of <a href="http://airdesignstudioworks.blogspot.com/p/were-in-panama-my-free-e-zine.html">"We´re in Panama!"</a><br />
<br />
I had a late start, with Christmas vacation in Portugal, but now it´s almost, almost ready. This issue is made with freehand embroidery on paper, and it will be available... hopefully before January is over!Billyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07566459269797239267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9164995334224054831.post-87249340370941684282011-01-24T19:57:00.001-03:002011-01-24T21:01:34.055-03:00Uh oh...These last few days I´ve been trying to give my portfolio website a revamp. It needed some updating, and since I was jumping into the wordpress pool to do it, I´d also change theme and refresh things a bit.<br />
<br />
I think wordpress is a great platform, full of people who work for free or on a donation basis. It´s open coded and everything, and expandable <i>ad infinitum</i>.<br />
<br />
But it just does not work for me. All my experiences with wordpress have been terribly complicated, even if the instructions provided (again, for free) are very detailed. To cut a long story short, I´ve made up my mind - though I grief for the loss of the look I really wanted for my portfolio - and am moving to blogger.<br />
<br />
So, sometime in the near future, this blog will be effectively morphed into my portfolio site (something I wanted to do with my previous portfolio site, with no success).<br />
<br />
I think wordpress is great - just not for me. And I´m very sorry for that.<br />
<br />
Any comments or suggestions regarding portfolio sites and blogging platforms? Please let me know!Billyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07566459269797239267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9164995334224054831.post-61372423449824937982011-01-15T10:55:00.000-03:002011-01-15T10:55:21.952-03:00Sketchbook Project<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/airdesignstudio/5357163624/" title="Sketchbook Project - front cover by Ana Isabel Ramos, on Flickr"><img alt="Sketchbook Project - front cover" height="300" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5090/5357163624_1bf686e5de.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
<br />
Just sent out my sketchbook for <a href="http://arthousecoop.com/projects/sketchbookproject">Sketchbook Project</a>. I had a lot of fun putting it together! My theme was "in five minutes...", so I decided to add "...or less" to it. It has many quick sketches, and then freehand embroidered drawings - which obviously took longer than 5 minutes to make, but time went so fast it felt like only a short while had passed.<br />
<br />
I´ll post more pictures soon and you can find its flickr set <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/airdesignstudio/sets/72157625702773241/with/5357163624/">here</a>.<br />
<br />
(Background is a wonderful "<a href="http://www.google.com/images?client=safari&rls=en&q=chita+de+alcoba%C3%A7a&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=86YxTdauCofpgAeO2tC9Cw&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CCIQsAQwAA&biw=1146&bih=722">chita de Alcobaça</a>" my mother in law gave me for Christmas.)Billyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07566459269797239267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9164995334224054831.post-63094626716094980882011-01-12T21:32:00.000-03:002011-01-12T21:32:38.185-03:00Happy 2011!<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/airdesignstudio/5350123845/" title="Cartaz O Lugar do Bairro by Ana Isabel Ramos, on Flickr"><img alt="Cartaz O Lugar do Bairro" height="500" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5287/5350123845_7a2d936df1.jpg" width="354" /></a><br />
<br />
I had a wonderful holiday season, how about you? There were the typical colds and sore throats (too much of a temperature change, going from the tropics to the winter in Lisbon), but seeing friends and family was heartwarming and... plain good.<br />
<br />
Now I´m back to Panama, to work, to my routine. I missed it too.<br />
<br />
I´m finishing my sketchbook for the sketchbook project going on. Deadline is friday, so I´m giving it its final tweaks. Experimenting without restrictions has been fun. I´ll post some pictures when I send it off.<br />
<br />
I´ll leave you with a poster I made for a conference, next week in Lisbon. It was my last project of 2010 and it was so much fun to do that I definitely hope that 2011 brings more work like this.<br />
<br />
Happy New Year, everyone!Billyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07566459269797239267noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9164995334224054831.post-19485737509542167482010-12-17T13:12:00.001-03:002010-12-17T13:45:32.803-03:00Happy Holidays!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GywEKAtdrj8/TP65fRVl7PI/AAAAAAAACaA/BvvZM73zBZk/s1600/flocos+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="337" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GywEKAtdrj8/TP65fRVl7PI/AAAAAAAACaA/BvvZM73zBZk/s400/flocos+copy.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
2010 is close to its end and the holiday season is upon us. Handmade presents are wrapped (and photographed, but not posted due to potential spoiler danger), bags are packed with winter clothes and pojects are all finished. <br />
<br />
I´m not even bringing my knitting - just a <a href="http://arthousecoop.com/projects/sketchbookproject">sketchbook</a>- as there´s plenty of cooking, baking, wrapping, decorating, meeting friends, being with family... all that waiting for me there!<br />
<br />
Happy Holidays everyone, and see you in 2011!Billyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07566459269797239267noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9164995334224054831.post-13818663986538217842010-12-09T12:50:00.000-03:002010-12-09T12:50:45.778-03:00"We´re in Panama!" #7, the moisture issue, is here!<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/airdesignstudio/5246839062/" title="We´re in Panama! #7 by Ana Isabel Ramos, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5130/5246839062_7bb6677abf.jpg" width="400" height="565" alt="We´re in Panama! #7" /></a><br />
<br />
The December issue, dealing with those (bad) mouldy surprises we´ve been having, is <a href="http://www.airdesignstudio.com/downloads/air-zine_2010-12.pdf">here</a>! Download it here, it´s free!<br />
<br />
Please leave a comment or send me an e-mail with your stories and photos reading it. It´s always a pleasure to know how you enjoy and explore it! Thank you.<br />
<br />
Links to previous issues are right there on the sidebar. Enjoy!Billyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07566459269797239267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9164995334224054831.post-41044301956972486702010-12-06T17:55:00.001-03:002010-12-06T17:55:37.591-03:00All work and play<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/airdesignstudio/5238634897/" title="Playing with rubber stamps by Ana Isabel Ramos, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5041/5238634897_1ac9af71fb.jpg" width="400" height="312" alt="Playing with rubber stamps" /></a><br />
<br />
I think that the best part of my work is that so many times it feels just like play. I´m now working on the December issue of my e-zine but stamping all these words just make them look and feel so much better.Billyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07566459269797239267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9164995334224054831.post-73748978855175469642010-12-01T21:05:00.000-03:002010-12-01T21:05:51.944-03:00Life in PanamaThe other day I was painting away on my balcony. There´s plenty of sea view (I can even see the entrance to the Canal) but there´s also this view:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/airdesignstudio/5225143878/" title="see our "neighbours"? :) by Ana Isabel Ramos, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4087/5225143878_d1f9735055.jpg" width="400" height="300" alt="see our "neighbours"? :)" /></a><br />
<br />
And as latin as Panama is, everytime I step on the balcony (be it to water my plants or hang clothes to dry), I hear the men working there whistling and shouting comments. This may sound like I´m bragging, but hearing the comments you´d know that I´m not. Just not.<br />
<br />
Anyway, so the other day I was painting and I start hearing this guy shouting and shouting, and repeating the same word over and over. Normally I just ignore it as white noise and concentrate on the waves, but this time it surfaced to conscience. <br />
<br />
I pause. I look over.<br />
<br />
There´s this guy, holding his protective yellow helmet on one hand, waving and shouting: "paint me! paint me!".<br />
<br />
I wonder what he´d think if I asked him to model. In the nude.<br />
<br />
Anyway, I finished my first canvas here in Panama:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/airdesignstudio/5225143916/" title="It´s finished! by Ana Isabel Ramos, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5047/5225143916_552f0fc35b.jpg" width="400" height="300" alt="It´s finished!" /></a><br />
<br />
(...and I really, really need to replace my camera. It will be 6 years old in February.)Billyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07566459269797239267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9164995334224054831.post-64442237747296080032010-11-25T10:37:00.000-03:002010-11-25T10:37:10.099-03:00Issue #6 of "We´re in Panama!"<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/airdesignstudio/5206729922/" title=""We´re in Panama!" issue #6, November 2010 by Ana Isabel Ramos, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5246/5206729922_3bd13c819c.jpg" width="400" height="492" alt=""We´re in Panama!" issue #6, November 2010" /></a><br />
<br />
November issue of "We´re in Panama!" is now online! As usual, it´s free to download, and you can find it <a href="http://www.airdesignstudio.com/downloads/air-zine_2010-11.pdf">here</a>. Print it out and enjoy it!<br />
<br />
I love receiving all your comments and e-mails, so this month I´ll be raising the feedback bar: I´m preparing a presentation about my e-zine and want to include photos of readers - of you. Please send me your images of you, your kids, your friends reading this e-zine, or this e-zine travelling to different parts of the globe. The best images will be included in the presentation! <br />
<br />
Oh, I can´t wait!<br />
<br />
Enjoy reading it!Billyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07566459269797239267noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9164995334224054831.post-44495409910812338882010-11-24T20:08:00.000-03:002010-11-24T20:08:28.201-03:00Buenos Aires revisitedGoing back to Buenos Aires felt a bit like going home. I needed to get a haircut, to visit my osteopath, buy some buttons (as if there were no buttons in Panama) and go to my favourite restaurants. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/airdesignstudio/5205429374/" title="Salmon ravioli asian style by Ana Isabel Ramos, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4145/5205429374_5f1933ef0a.jpg" width="400" height="300" alt="Salmon ravioli asian style" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/airdesignstudio/5205446934/" title="Tiraditos in Osaka by Ana Isabel Ramos, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5205/5205446934_1fde36d10b.jpg" width="400" height="300" alt="Tiraditos in Osaka" /></a><br />
<br />
I didn´t visit one single museum - but I walked and walked, sat under the blooming jacarandas and took my sketchbook out to draw. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/airdesignstudio/5202538016/" title="Floralis Generica, Buenos Aires by Ana Isabel Ramos, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5001/5202538016_8e804933e7.jpg" width="400" height="533" alt="Floralis Generica, Buenos Aires" /></a><br />
<br />
I had tea with friends, making up for a social life I still don´t have in Panama. I realized, those ties and friendships I created there were thicker and deeper than I had thought. <br />
<br />
I saw Christmas decorations (this is end of November, already?) and felt cold, after six months of hot, humid weather. There was cold wind and sleeping with a blanket, hot sun and lots of blooming roses at the Rosedal de Palermo.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/airdesignstudio/5204854799/" title="Roses at the Rosedal de Palermo by Ana Isabel Ramos, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4124/5204854799_5e939b2829.jpg" width="400" height="300" alt="Roses at the Rosedal de Palermo" /></a><br />
<br />
There was the girl in Osaka who recognized us and helped us with an off the menu request - she made me happier than she knows. As if it weren´t enough, I bought myself a good, solid portion of choc-salt cookies. And for once the lack of coins served my purpose: change was given in cookies. Oh, yum!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/airdesignstudio/5205447062/" title="Choc-salt cookies! by Ana Isabel Ramos, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4151/5205447062_31d0f03629.jpg" width="400" height="533" alt="Choc-salt cookies!" /></a><br />
<br />
After five days of walking, feeling, experiencing a return to a city where I lived, where I was happy (and unhappy too), where I met so many new friends and met a new me, I came back to my new home in Panama. We´ll see where this ride takes us.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/airdesignstudio/5205429412/" title="Where Retiro meets Puerto Madero, Buenos Aires by Ana Isabel Ramos, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5042/5205429412_924afba5d1.jpg" width="400" height="300" alt="Where Retiro meets Puerto Madero, Buenos Aires" /></a><br />
<br />
(Guess who came along? <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/airdesignstudio/5204859027/" title=""We´re in Panama!" goes south... by Ana Isabel Ramos, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5204/5204859027_af4e1e1bf8.jpg" width="400" height="533" alt=""We´re in Panama!" goes south..." /></a><br />
<br />
Oh yeah.)Billyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07566459269797239267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9164995334224054831.post-68077487334100644422010-11-22T20:40:00.001-03:002010-11-22T20:41:55.921-03:00After many, many months...<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/airdesignstudio/5199986352/" title="I´m painting again by Ana Isabel Ramos, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4107/5199986352_099d83c754.jpg" width="400" height="300" alt="I´m painting again" /></a><br />
<br />
...I´m painting again and it feels so good. I missed all the brushes and colours and the freedom they contain in themselves.<br />
<br />
Painting makes me happy.<br />
<br />
(more photos <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/airdesignstudio/5199986352/in/set-72157625449094804/">here</a>)Billyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07566459269797239267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9164995334224054831.post-33749771413891674732010-11-19T18:49:00.001-03:002010-11-19T18:50:09.907-03:00Just because it´s pretty<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/airdesignstudio/5190694168/" title="Estrelas do mar em Bocas del Toro, Panamá by Ana Isabel Ramos, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1016/5190694168_e75375e1cd_z.jpg" width="400" height="300" alt="Estrelas do mar em Bocas del Toro, Panamá" /></a><br />
<br />
(photo taken back in October in Bocas del Toro, Panamá. Nice, nice place to visit, but remember to bring mosquito repellent.)Billyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07566459269797239267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9164995334224054831.post-83863603746194946332010-11-09T16:03:00.001-03:002010-11-09T16:04:41.375-03:00A first: azulejos!<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/airdesignstudio/5161604436/" title="Azulejos by Ana Isabel Ramos, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4039/5161604436_2d8f59bf21.jpg" width="400" height="287" alt="Azulejos" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/airdesignstudio/5161000973/" title="Azulejos :: painel by Ana Isabel Ramos, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4028/5161000973_d7e65521a7.jpg" width="400" height="400" alt="Azulejos :: painel" /></a><br />
<br />
Sometime ago my friend A. asked me to design a panel of portuguese traditional, hand-painted tiles ("azulejos") to match the coat-hanger she wanted to have by the main door in her new flat. <br />
<br />
I was thrilled with this project! Not only it was the first time I ever designed an azulejo - I studied lots and lots of designs when I was in university, but unfortunately never got to design my own -, but also because I love, love patterns and that chemistry that happens when you put modules side by side and repeat them. <br />
<br />
The brief was to design something that was based in traditional patterns, but with a modern twist. I came up with a design and crossed my fingers. The tiles were brilliantly executed at <a href="http://santiagoatelier.blogspot.com">Azulejaria Santiago</a>, where they were brilliantly hand-painted and later installed in their spot. <br />
<br />
I´m thrilled with the result and looking forward to working again with patterns and azulejo!<br />
<br />
(Not so much a) sidenote: if you´ve ever been to Lisbon and rode the subway or just wandered around the streets, you´ll know how much azulejo tiles are used in public spaces. One of the greatest panel designers is the living legend Maria Keil, a huge inspiration to me. Check out some of her work by clicking <a href="http://www.google.com/images?client=safari&rls=en&q=maria+keil&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=LW3ZTNvjFoL88AafoLTHCQ&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CCUQsAQwAA&biw=1146&bih=722">here</a>.<br />
<br />
All images by <a href="http://ajude-o-artista.blogspot.com/">Christophe Sauvage</a>.Billyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07566459269797239267noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9164995334224054831.post-35423837015730131182010-11-08T19:29:00.000-03:002010-11-08T19:29:39.403-03:00So many thingsThese have been very introspective times here in this studio of mine. I´ve been having loads of work (which I´m thankful for) and am, constantly, searching for more work, creating new projects and presenting new ideas to potential clients.<br />
<br />
It´s been busy, busy, and I haven´t felt like posting much. Sorry.<br />
<br />
One thing that has been on my mind is the (long overdue) <a href="http://www.airdesignstudio.com">portfolio website</a> redo. Oh dear. I wonder if I´m alone in this, but just thinking about having to change it makes my heart shrink a bit. It´s not that I don´t think it needs to be updated - it´s just that working on something that I can´t control (because I don´t know enough when it comes to web design) and therefore takes me three times longer than it should makes want to jump off my 49th floor balcony. Ok, not so literally, but you get my drift.<br />
<br />
Other than that, it´s still kind of weird not to have four seasons, but only two: it´s still pretty much rainy, terribly wet all the time. Not too hot, though, which is fine. It´s almost the end of the year and I don´t feel it around me. No yellow leaves on the floor (as during my northern hemisphere days) nor purple jacaranda trees (as in Buenos Aires), so sometimes I must check the calendar just to be sure. It´s November. It´s chestnut and fireplace time in Portugal.<br />
<br />
Anyway, enough about this. Here´s some of the things I managed to do on my breaks from my design projects:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/airdesignstudio/5159529252/" title="Third attempt at a Christmas present by Ana Isabel Ramos, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4066/5159529252_7909ede0ba.jpg" width="400" height="300" alt="Third attempt at a Christmas present" /></a><br />
<br />
This is my third attempt at knitting a Christmas present for someone mysterious - can´t say that person´s name as he or she does not know he or she is a recipient of a knitted gift.<br />
<br />
The first finished sweater was too small (but too cute to frog); the second one was rightly sized, but not well designed; therefore, frogged. <br />
<br />
This is the third go. We´ll see how it goes. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/airdesignstudio/5158921531/" title="Napkins by Ana Isabel Ramos, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4083/5158921531_75ae88cd57.jpg" width="400" height="300" alt="Napkins" /></a><br />
<br />
We use cloth napkins at home and needed our stocks refilled, so I bought some native kuna design fabrics (100% cotton, unfortunately not organic) and sewed a pretty simple hemline on them. There´s a learning curve in sewing, people!<br />
<br />
And I finally started painting again. This time, there´s no class, no studio, no model, just me, my brushes and the beautiful view from the balcony. We´ll see where that takes us.<br />
<br />
What have you been up to lately?Billyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07566459269797239267noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9164995334224054831.post-22389977829091452032010-10-15T18:11:00.000-03:002010-10-15T18:11:35.511-03:00An issue with clouds<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/airdesignstudio/5084286371/" title="An issue with clouds by Ana Isabel Ramos, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4108/5084286371_cdbe3c2bbc.jpg" width="400" height="566" alt="An issue with clouds" /></a><br />
<br />
An issue of <a href="http://airdesignstudio.com/downloads/air-zine_2010-10.pdf">"We´re in Panama!"</a>, that is! This time around it´s all about the clouds in the sky during this (very) rainy season. Check it out <a href="http://airdesignstudio.com/downloads/air-zine_2010-10.pdf">here</a>!<br />
<br />
You know how it works: download it, print it, fold it and comment! Or better still: <a href="mailto:billy@airdesignstudio.com">send me a picture</a> of your copy of the zine in the wild!Billyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07566459269797239267noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9164995334224054831.post-31594699186510659712010-10-14T21:00:00.000-03:002010-10-14T21:00:19.477-03:00Let´s be escapees?<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/airdesignstudio/5081528848/" title="clouds, clouds, clouds by Ana Isabel Ramos, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4148/5081528848_39b50d8fbf.jpg" width="400" height="300" alt="clouds, clouds, clouds" /></a><br />
<br />
While I draw <a href="http://airdesignstudioworks.blogspot.com/2010/10/clouds-clouds-clouds.html">clouds, clouds and more clouds</a>, I´ve been listening to the wonderful podcast <a href="http://escapefromillustrationisland.com/">"Escape from Illustration Island"</a> and the interviews its host, Thomas James, conducts. <br />
<br />
First of all, let us all thank modern day technology that has me here, sitting alone in my studio, listening to wonderful interviews of people who have been through the same experience as me and also other people who have lots of good information and advice for me. <br />
<br />
Then, not only interviewees have interesting testimonials to share, the questions they are asked are very pertinent too. Sometimes it feels like Thomas actually reads minds (or maybe my questions are the same as other people´s?) and asks exactly what I was thinking. <br />
<br />
Anyway, this has been an excellent resource for me, specially now that I´ve moved to another country and need to start a new client database here, from scratch. <br />
<br />
If you haven´t yet, I encourage you to download <a href="http://escapefromillustrationisland.com/">"Escape from Illustration Island"</a> now. All in all, very good. Praise to Thomas!Billyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07566459269797239267noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9164995334224054831.post-20157838111440999572010-10-14T13:02:00.000-03:002010-10-14T13:02:11.835-03:00Clouds, clouds, clouds<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/airdesignstudio/5081528964/" title="working on my clouds by Ana Isabel Ramos, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4060/5081528964_c2dc97e5e1.jpg" width="400" height="300" alt="working on my clouds" /></a><br />
Among other projects - in the middle of them, in the little spaces between them - I´ve been working on the October´s issue of my e-zine "We´re in Panama!" (links to previous issue on your right).<br />
<br />
It´s amazing how much one project can bring fun and joy to a work´s day!Billyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07566459269797239267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9164995334224054831.post-67613469307899599422010-10-12T19:20:00.000-03:002010-10-12T19:20:27.504-03:00Largo do Conde Barão, Lisboa<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/airdesignstudio/5076036829/" title="Largo do Conde Barão, Lisboa by Ana Isabel Ramos, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4055/5076036829_0513085310.jpg" width="400" height="300" alt="Largo do Conde Barão, Lisboa" /></a><br />
<br />
Went to Lisbon for a couple of weeks to visit friends and family and perform (very happily, I may add) my aunt-duties. Among these duties is taking the older niece to her music class, wait, pick her up and drive her back. While I was waiting I went for a walk and stopped to draw this. It´s strangely quiet at that time, maybe because it is one way only and the exiting traffic must go through another street. Beautiful - and very lisbonesque.Billyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07566459269797239267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9164995334224054831.post-42615721435339447442010-10-07T11:54:00.000-03:002010-10-07T11:54:47.576-03:00Happy sight<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/airdesignstudio/5059479509/" title="I like to catch them in the wild by Ana Isabel Ramos, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4103/5059479509_80e997c633.jpg" width="400" height="300" alt="I like to catch them in the wild" /></a><i>Poor lightning, crappy photo, happy sight.</i><br />
<br />
You can catch them all <a href="http://airdesignstudioworks.blogspot.com/search/label/e-zine">here</a>.Billyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07566459269797239267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9164995334224054831.post-77797635016836755672010-10-04T20:51:00.000-03:002010-10-04T20:51:06.183-03:00Home. Finally.<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/airdesignstudio/5052794276/" title="Home. by Ana Isabel Ramos, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4092/5052794276_4d72a555ff_z.jpg" width="400" height="300" alt="Home." /></a><br />
<br />
After four and half months of "camping" under a roof, we are now officially at home, with our precious mattress and bed and pillows and bed sheets. <br />
<br />
(Rented furniture smells, rented bed linen is polyester-made, rented dishes are ugly. I am grateful that there are companies specializing in temporary furniture rentals, but guys, let´s try to make it look like a home - albeit temporary - and not just a prison cell with smelly wood and baroque details.)<br />
<br />
Yay!<br />
<br />
(I talk about the adventure in the last issue of my e-zine. <a href="http://airdesignstudioworks.blogspot.com/2010/09/yay-were-in-panamas-issue-four-is-now.html">Check it out!</a>)Billyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07566459269797239267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9164995334224054831.post-6072374725307637962010-09-30T08:43:00.000-03:002010-09-30T08:43:00.280-03:00Yay! "We´re in Panama"´s issue four is now out!<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/airdesignstudio/5038046156/" title="September issue now out! by Ana Isabel Ramos, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4149/5038046156_ff24d9ccb9.jpg" width="400" height="566" alt="September issue now out!" /></a><br />
<br />
As usual, it´s <a href="http://www.airdesignstudio.com/downloads/air-zine_2010-09.pdf">free to download</a>. Print it and fold it and you´re ready to go! <br />
<br />
You can send me an <a href="mailto:billy@airdesignstudio.com">email</a>, comment below, or use the tiny facebook button below to share it there; bottom line is: just spread the word!<br />
<br />
<br />
P.S.: If you´ve missed any of the previous issues, you can find them here: <a href="http://airdesignstudioworks.blogspot.com/2010/08/e-zines-august-issue-is-out.html">August</a>, <a href="http://airdesignstudioworks.blogspot.com/2010/07/july-issue-is-now-out.html">July</a>, <a href="http://airdesignstudioworks.blogspot.com/2010/06/new-e-zine-first-issue-is-out.html">June</a>.Billyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07566459269797239267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9164995334224054831.post-5511760139082204172010-09-06T21:30:00.000-03:002010-09-06T21:30:13.285-03:00Some thoughts on north-american design<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/airdesignstudio/4965405811/" title="graphic design and home appliances by Ana Isabel Ramos, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4090/4965405811_af881465d3.jpg" width="400" height="300" alt="graphic design and home appliances" /></a><br />
<br />
Whew, what a grand title this is! I´ve been writing this post in my mind for a long time now, basically since I arrived to Panama and had first-hand contact with american-designed home appliances. <br />
<br />
As you might have read on the <a href="http://airdesignstudioworks.blogspot.com/2010/06/new-e-zine-first-issue-is-out.html">first issue of my e-zine</a>, my first impression of home appliances was that they´re disproportionate large in size: in Argentina, my washer, a top-loading machine, had a capacity of 5.5kg, which was absolutely perfect for the two of us. I just had to make sure not to put too many towels to wash at the same time, because the effort would make the machine stop and not spin water out. Other than that, it worked just fine, with extra points for low energy consumption.<br />
<br />
Here in Panama most of the household appliances we had back in Argentina do not work or will need an adaptor, as electrical current is 110 here, versus the 220 in Argentina (and Europe as well). <br />
<br />
So we sold or gave away most of the appliances and now are faced with a totally different reality: big flats, enormous appliances and the close contact of north-american industrial and graphic design.<br />
<br />
Apart from the size, one thing that really stands out is the fact that efficiency is not a concern here. Some appliances - the ones prepared to be sold in Canada, apparently - have energy comparison charts displayed; but most do not. Small appliances, as a blender, for instance, have no such thing as energy efficiency information (to be fair, I think that these appliaces are exempt from those charts in Europe too). <br />
<br />
Let´s talk about small appliances now: bread-making machine, blender and the likes. They´re mostly large and volumous for their useful area (bread mould or blender jar, for instance). They´re incredibly heavy. The blender? It smells like burnt plastic after 4 seconds of being in use. The toaster gets alarmingly hot on the outside too, risking a burn to the uncautious half-asleep person who operates it in the morning. <br />
<br />
Really? A toaster that burns on the outside? Sad, but true.<br />
<br />
The large appliances, such as washer, or dryer (why, why, why isn´t the dryer on the same actual machine as the washer? Why do I need the bulk of two gigantic appliances? And why do I need something that takes about 10kg of clothes?) are absolutely not efficient in design or consumption. The large capacity on the top-loading washer means that I almost need to dive into it to rescue those socks that got to the bottom of the pile while washing. And the dryer... why on earth is the dryer a front loading thingie? I have to kneel to save those socks that get in the bottom! Being from the same family as the washer, couldn´t they at least be front or top loading - both of them?<br />
<br />
Do not get me started on the fridge, that is as large as my first wardrobe and, in the end, doesn´t fit that much inside. <br />
<br />
Finally, to the graphic design part of all of this: it appears that everyone must speak english to operate these machines because not only they have no pictograms whatsoever (for wool or synthetic fibre, or wash-cycle, for instance), they have lots of text. Lots and lots of text. Even the dishwasher, a model very, very similar to the one we had in Argentina, has text here above its little LED illuminated buttons, instead of the pictograms we found back there. <br />
<br />
I think there is an explanation to this design-culture-shock: in Europe (and Asia, from my experience), there are many, many limitations for designers when working on both industrial and graphic aspects. Some of them are:<br />
<br />
- space and weight constraints: fuel is very expensive in Europe and therefore the cost of transportation must be as little as possible. Housing is expensive too. This means that appliances are as small and light as they can be for their function, so they need to be designed very smartly.<br />
<br />
- a market with many languages: this means that all the information conveyed must be expressed in an easy to understand way. Appliances are small, anyway, so there´s no point in describing so profusely all those instructions and danger alerts. Pictograms are used and text is only used when absolutely necessary. You´ll see a danger alert have the word "danger" in more than one language, but other than that, information is given through pictograms.<br />
<br />
In face of all this, I can only say - and I know how biased I am by being portuguese - european design is a lot more developed and smarter than north-american one. I know that this is a huge generalization and mean absolutely no offense to anyone who does not share the same view, but I have yet to come to find evidence that convinces me otherwise. <br />
<br />
Constraints and limitations are the two main things that drive designers to push farther and work better.Billyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07566459269797239267noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9164995334224054831.post-4395506045638637912010-09-01T20:47:00.002-03:002010-09-01T20:47:56.169-03:00Sunday morning at Casco Viejo<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/airdesignstudio/4921327985/" title="Sunday morning in Casco Viejo, Panamá by Ana Isabel Ramos, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4143/4921327985_330b8e5660.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="Sunday morning in Casco Viejo, Panamá" /></a><br />
<br />
With some iced tea and a couple of bee visitors.Billyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07566459269797239267noreply@blogger.com0