A Logo for Cambodia Trip Part II

my Flash 8 workspace where I used vector art to design the official logo

As you can see I designed two logos side-by-side since I need to seek approval from the CIP committee. That's the tough part of designing. You may think that your designs are good but if the latter are rejected, then it is back to the drawing board.

Anyway, both these earlier designs were rejected. The left design looks like sand dunes and the one on the right looks like outline of skyscrapers. So will my design ever be approved? Will Mr Danny give up? Stay tune for the last and final entry of the Logo Design saga :)

A Logo for Cambodia Trip Part I

Recently, Mr Danny's been assigned to design an official logo for YTPS 1st external CIP trip to Cambodia with the P5 this coming September '07. So with whatever free time that I have, I have been committed to designing the best logo that I know how.

To design the logo, I needed an inspiration. What better representation for Cambodia than UNESCO's World Heritage Site;- the Angkor Watt. The Angkor Watt is a large ancient complex consisting of over one thousand temples, ranging in scale from nondescript piles of brick rubble scattered through rice fields to the magnificent Angkor Wat, said to be the world's largest single religious monument. Many of the temples at Angkor have been restored, and together they comprise the most significant site of Khmer architecture.
(It is of key interest to note that the movies Tomb Raider and Mortal Combat 1 were shot on location at Angkor Watt. The Angkor Watt is deemed to be so important that even the flag of Cambodia has a picture of Angkor Watt!)

So I had to browse the net for a nice picture of the Angkor which will provide me the inspiration behind my design.
After a few tries, I finally found what I was looking for;-

Though I've designed some logos over the years, most, if not all my designs are graphic intensive. This time I've decided to use vector art to design the logo and I used Macromedia Flash 8 as my design platform.

Good Luck For the Exams!

The best of luck in your exams my fellow pupils. Don't get too stress out for you know what comes after the exams right? That's right! The holidays are near :)

Stay focus and just do it!

PS: Hope you enjoy the comics above :)

Oral Examination Tips

It's that time of the year again! The oral exams. Though some may view it with trepidation, others will see it as an opportunity. An opportunity to bag as many marks as possible. To get that proverbial money in the bank :)

The oral examination is divided into 3 parts;- Reading, Picture Discussion and General Conversation

Reading
In the reading component, read the article with clarity and watch your pronounciation. Do not mumble. If the examiner starts to use expressions such as these;- "Hahh?", "What?", "Say again?", "Can you read louder?", "Are you talking to the table ?", or Zzzzzzz (Examiner is sleeping), then you run the risk of getting into trouble.

Use varied intonation in your reading. Do not read in monotone. Nobody likes to hear a voice like a 'robot' right?

Picture Discussion
In the picture discussion component, talk about;-
1) the settings (where you think the event is taking place)

2) general observations of the incidents in the picture which are normally spoken in the third person eg, The boy is seen walking with his sister.
(Note: This is a low-level skill and one with which, if you are skilled enough,talk about till the cows come home. Not encourage.)

3) infer some details about the pictures. Use your opinions to talk about what you think will happen in the next moment. Voice your opinions in the first person eg " I think...", "I believe....", "In my opinion....."
eg, In my opinion, the boy should be holding onto his sister's hands when they are crossing the road. This is a safety aspect one should consider when crossing a busy road like the one depicted in the picture. Failure to do so may result in an accident since the sister looked so lost and occupied with eating her ice cream and may not be aware of the dangers on the road.

4) Sum up your picture description with a lesson that can be learnt from the picture
eg, From this picture, one lesson we can learn is to be careful when crossing roads, no matter how 'safe' they may look since danger can be found everywhere and not to take safety for granted.

5) Above all else, remember to use present tense to describe the picture.

General Conversation
This section ties closely with the topic of the picture description. For this section, just relax and try to engage in a meaningful dialogue with the examiner. Be friendly. Smile. This is the time for you to shine :)

That's all the tips that I can think of at this moment. All the best for your Oral Examination and carpe diem!

DC Universe Heroes

Heroes from the DC Universe. The most recognisable being Superman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman

Heroes and Super Powers

Which type of superhero are you?

Heroes. Who exactly are they? At some point in our lives, I'm sure we all want to be Superman (or Supergirl for the ladies), Batman, Wolverine and so forth. What attracts us to them could be the fact that they are unique individuals; - righting wrongs and doing deeds that are both noble and selfless. In a way they inspire us to reach within and bring out the best in all of us. Or it could be that we may just fancy their cool super-powers such as flight, X-Ray vision, projecting webbing from our hands and such and secretly wish we could claim them for our own :)

I mean, think of all the possibilities one can do with superspeed. Waking up one second before school starts and 'superspeed' your way to school without getting caught for latecoming, leaving your competition in the dust during Sports Fiesta and be the envy of your peers and completing your exams in record time (of course you must first have the super-brains to go along with that. What's the use of speed if you still can't solve the problem right? :)

Anyway, we all have our moments where we wish we have a superpower or two right? Just thinking about it can easily make one fall into a sense of revelry.

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What does a hero mean to you? If you are to be bestowed with only one superpower, what would that be and why? Can you provide some ways whereby your superpower can be used for good/evil?

Just to share with you, I once asked my friend about this and he wanted to have the power of invisibility. His reason was that he wanted to observe other people being themselves when no one else is with them . Weird reason huh?

Oh! And in case you are scratching your head 'shopping' for the type of superpowers you would like to have, below are a list of superheroes and a description of their superpowers.

Examples of SuperHeores and their SuperPowers:

Wolverine: Healing factor, heightened senses, unbreakable, Adamantium-laced endoskeleton

Incredible Hulk: Limitless strength proportioned to his anger. Possesses accelerated tissue regeneration. Able to leap across miles in a single leap. Can generate shockwaves by clapping his hands together.

Invisible girl: Can turn invisible and other objects invisible by maipulating light. Able to generate forcefield

Human Torch: Ability to manipulate fire. Uses thermal updrafts for flight.

The Price of a Dream

Just like to share with you this video entitled Kiwi. It's basically a video about this flighless bird who went through hardship and difficulties to realise its dream of flight.
The lesson we can all learnt from here is to never give up on our dreams, no matter how impossible it may seem.