Today I traveled across the Tower Bridge, and let me tell you...it was windy. ^ But beautiful. It was an absolutely perfect day to see the bridge and the skyline of London reflecting in the waters. I got the pleasure of seeing it during the sunny day and the beautiful reflection on the water at night.
The reason I crossed over the Tower Bridge was because I was on my way to the Design Museum. The Design of the Year 2015 exhibition was going on and it was absolutely incredible. I have read about this design museum in many of my design classes and never thought I would have the pleasure of going.
Seeing all the different designs really inspired me. It is crazy what these young designers are coming up with and physically building models of. Some of my favorites included a dress made with C-3PO on it, a vest with a built-in air bag for motorcyclists and the specially designed Women magazine.
One thing that also struck me was the typography in the logo for the exhibit. The use of vertical text makes it very visually appealing, as well as the color choice. The neon orange and the hot pink work together against the white, even though the two colors clash themselves. The way the word DESIGNS is longer and then OF THE YEAR go from shortest to longest afterwards demonstrates the importance of proximity in a textual design.
Not only was the exhibit itself wonderful, but so was the talk afterwards. I found the fashion designer to be so interesting and I really enjoyed her viewpoint on how a fashion design could potentially win the design of the year in the future. Listening to how much she knew about the world of high fashion makes me want to explore the field even more when I graduate from Cal Poly.
Only the most legendary house and techno club in London; a club I never thought I would ever be able to go to. I am a huge fan of the monthly compilations released by fabric, collecting all the fabric and FABRICLIVE mixes from one to 82. fabric is not only a club, but a record label. The best thing about the label is they are one hundred percent about the music, letting the producers do what they want in the mixes they put out.
fabric is in high demand, other record labels always wanting to colloborate, but they put only one compilation out a month; just enough to keep all the fans pleased.
"I wanted to sell them at on our website, which I felt was indicative and reflective of how I saw the product; as licensed rave tapes." - Keith Reilly, fabric Founder.
The compilations are not only sold on the website, but in vending machines at the club. If there is anything better than candy in vending machines, its fabric and FABRICLIVE cd's! What a rad idea!
Last Saturday night, on July 4, 2015, I got the opportunity to see one of my favorite producers take the tracks...mister Jamie Jones himself.
Fortunately, the trip to fabric was only one subway away and it was easy peezy lemon squeezy to get there. As soon as I got in line, I couldn't believe it was happening. This is the type of club all house and techno lovers have heard of and dream about attending.
Finally, it was my turn.
The second I walked in, I was taken aback. Three different stages, all with their own individual sound system and various bars located around each stage. The production value in this club is so unbelievably impressive, with a "body sonic" dance floor, where the floors emit bass frequencies being attached to 450 bass transducers. Body shaking, hips shaking, good vibes, good music...what could honestly get better than this.
The club is unlike any other club I have ever seen because for once, a good majority of the people weren't there to just "party," they are there to absorb their surroundings and groove to some good music.
Music. That's what it's all about, isn't it? It's refreshing that there are other people out there that get that. Because it isn't the norm.
The lineup included Jamie Jones, The Revenge live, Secretsundanze and 10 Years of Kubicle.
Yup. Stacked.
Jamie Jones absolutely blew my mind. Unfortunately I missed him at Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas in 2014 by total accident, so this was my first time seeing him live, and it definitely could not have been a better set, at a better location. But this doesn't dis-include the other artists who took the stage. Every dj that played, slayed and I was definitely not the only one feeling it. The crowd was going wild, dancing the night away into the AM.
Jamie Jones played around a three hour set, ending a little past 8 AM. Yes, 8 o'clock in the morning. Unreal, right? The doors open at 11 PM and the music ends at 8 AM. You definitely get your moneys worth at this club, there is no question about that.
Here is a little clip from Jamie Jone's set, and a look at some of the lasers used in Room 1.
If you ever have the opportunity to attend a show at fabric, I would highly recommend it. The lineups are pretty much always stacked and the club itself, incredible. There's nothing else like it out there, so go to London and dance the night away at fabric; you won't regret it.
I can now check this off on my bucket list, and I could not be more stoked.
The night of July 3, 2015 was one heck of a night.
It all began with a bottle of Prosecco...
Last night was the night I had been waiting for for a hot minute. It was the Justin Martin and Kill Frenzy show located at the Nest in Dalston, London. I purchased my tickets for this show about three weeks before I even left for London. The second I found out about Justin Martin's Hello Clouds tour and found out a show was in London when I was going to be in London, I wanted in immediately. Nine pounds later, I had myself a ticket and a really awesome night waiting for me.
The Night Begins
A few of my flatmates and I were all preparing for the show and got off to a late start.
We ended up leaving 15 minutes before it started at 10 PM and of course, I forgot my Oyster card. You can't ride the buses or the subways without your Oyster card, so of course I had to go back and get it. Unfortunately Dalston is not the closest journey from Hyde Park. It was a 54 minute quest and we were already late.
I, of course, was freaking out because the website said the doors close at 11:30 PM and no one will be granted access after that. I am the biggest Dirtybird Records fan of all time, so I COULD NOT...I mean COULD NOT...miss this show. It just could not happen. This was my show.
The Journey
So after running back to my flat after walking halfway to the subway, we hop on and get off at Finsbury. Lucky for us, the exact arrival time of our subway happened to be when everyone was leaving the Wireless festival. The streets were jam packed with people. Literally jam packed, and we were essentially swimming against the current.
Every single person was walking in the opposite direction and none of the buses were running. WHAT THE HECK WERE WE SUPPOSED TO DO!?!
None of us had service because we run our phones on Wifi, so we were all running around asking police officers where to go. We asked one and he pointed one way, and the next police officer would tell us something different. It was a complete and utter mess.
I was on a mission to get to this show because I was not NOT going to this show. It was not going to happen.
My flatmate and I started power walking through the mall of people and lost the rest of our group. Lucky, again, for us a massive thunder storm was rolling through. It started pouring and huge bursts of thunder and lighting were filling the night sky. Dramatic, I know.
I, being a huge drama queen, began to cry. Yes, I am pathetic. But I do really love my Dirtybird, okay, and it makes me really emotional.
We wandered and wandered and wandered, and finally came to a pub where a bartender was outside putting all the chairs away. He saw me crying and immediately helped us, called us a cab and we were on our way again. Bless this angel. He saved us.
At this time, it was 11:45 PM and we had thought the doors closed, but we were still determined. I was getting into this show.
We got dropped off and there was a huge line outside the club, and we were astonished and confused. I walked up to the security and said, "Wait, I thought the doors closed at 11:30?"
He responded, "Hahahah, most definitely not!"
Well, that was that. We had made it. And this was a struggle worth fighting because what an absolutely mental show. Dirtybirds Bout' to Get Dirty
Kill Frenzy opened and played an absolutely amazing set. This was my second time seeing him and my first time seeing him after his new album Taylr Swft came out; this album is a total banger. I was absolutely stoked to hear all the tracks from it because, to be honest, there was not a single one I didn't like.
Not only was Kill Frenzy perfection, but so was the environment. The Nest is unlike any club I have ever been to, even in Los Angeles or San Francisco. It was so intimate and the vibe was off the wall. Every person in there was one hundred stoked about the music and was getting down and groovy with the beat.
Having gone to many shows in my lifetime, I know better than to think the music is enough for a good time. The vibe is equally as important, because if you can't get down with the crowd...then the crowd is obviously not there for the same reason as you (which is just awkward). Everyone likes to dance with people who appreciate the music just as much as they do.
The Nest has one tiny room as a dance floor with a small bar located on the right hand side. The tiny room added to the atmosphere. It was hot and sweaty, but that almost made it even better. (gross I know). But, TRUE!
Right after Kill Frenzy destroyed, the one and only, Mr. Justin Martin came on. Bless all of our ears.
This was now my fourth time seeing him and I swear to God he gets better every single time. This was by far my favorite set I had ever seen him play.
Why?
Because he played a set totally different than any of the sets I had seen previously. Last time I saw him, it was in the States and the vibe in London is totally different than America. I think Justin Martin appealed to the London crowd. The music scene in London is totally different than America. They worship drum and bass here, and you are lucky if you can find someone who even knows what that is on the west coast, at least where I am located.
It was not as bass heavy, and had a little more funk to it than usual. Justin Martin goes back and forth between throwing in some heavy basslines, turning the whole crowd into a puddle, and funky house music that you just can't stop shaking your hips to. The perfect mixture was different than the other sets I had seen because it felt like it was a little more upbeat. More dance music and less heavy. The whole time I could not stop dancing, where normally at Justin Martin sets I can't stop being like "OOOOOHHHHHH!" because he's throwing down such heavy womps. It was a pleasant, hip shakin', change. I was into it.
To top off my whole night, as I walked outside after the show, Kill Frenzy and Justin Martin were walking out at the exact same time. I exchanged a few words...."fan girling" incredibly hard...because this is frickin Kill Frenzy and Justin Martin...and we took a photo. It was great.
I can't even put it into words how incredible this show was. Experiencing the house and techno scene in London is even better than I could have ever expected. The people, the club, the atmosphere, the music...every thing was perfect to the T.
It may have been the most unlucky and luckiest night of my life.
It is easy to say, last night was one for the books.
This past weekend my roommate and I went on a little adventure to Exmouth and Islington. Exmouth has a great little street called Exmouth Market lined with Christmas lights. The street is filled with really cute coffee shops, mom and pop stores and classic pubs. It is a great place to socialize or even get a tattoo at a famous tattoo parlor called The Family Business. You can wander beyond the streets and find yourself lost in between gorgeous brick buildings with hidden restaurants, parks and churches scattered throughout. It was a quaint little adventure, and quite pleasant after so much walking through the busy city.
As we made our way from Exmouth to Isling we stumbled upon this lovely mosaic. The font used on this piece is sans serif and the use of blue and yellow creates a contrast, making the font pop and the piece more visually appealing.
Islington was a little different than Exmouth. It was much more populated, but a totally different feel than central London. It felt a little bit more norm. Not scattered with the richest of the rich people, but more of a middle class area. It was a nice change.
On Thursday I attended the New Designers exhibit in Islington, London. Being a double major in Art & Design and Journalism, I found this exhibition so incredibly fascinating. There was so much talent amongst all these young designers, it was so inspiring. I could just stare at everything for hours in awe of the detail and how much time and hard work the designers put into their projects.
This piece located on the second level of the exhibit immediately caught my eye. It really intrigued me because obviously it just a huge pile of fluffy balls (some even make noises when you squeeze them). The use of a dark blue and white really aids to the visual appeal of this piece because it creates contrast, as well as the repetition of the same shape just in various sizes. The way all the fluffy balls are stacked on top of each other and some scattered outside creates a connection between the objects, because of their same texture. All these different design elements are so simple, yet they really tie the piece together.
This was another piece that stood out to me. The woodworking skills to create these tables is incredible. I have worked with wood before and I cannot even comprehend how they did this. Everything was so perfectly sanded and all of the cutouts perfectly placed. The use of the squiggly lines overlapping one another but still allowing the viewer to see all the way through the table at certain parts is very visually appealing. It creates a very dynamic piece, because it is not only the tables we are looking at, but the shadows they create. The way the three tables were all set up next to each other was another thing that was very aesthetically pleasing. Individually they are very different, but they all feel connected by how they were placed and by the specific design of each table.
This past weekend a few of my friends and I decided to take a trip to the beautiful city of Brighton. Brighton is on the coast of England and is literally the most incredible city. It has a mixture of a Venice Beach vibe, with a tint of San Francisco, but managing to keep its British feel. There was so many things to see, the two days we spent there were jam packed with tons of activities. We visited the famous Brighton Pier, the Royal Pavilion and the lanes that are jam packed with pubs, shops and vendors.
One thing I noticed on the pier was the typography of the Brighton Pier light up sign. It appears the font is within the slab serif category because all of the letters have prominent serifs. It is really awesome learning about all these new different types of fonts because I really start to notice them whenever I walk around. I take note of the different lettering and truly observe it, which is really awesome while adventuring in this brand new city.
In my first week studying abroad in London, England, I have seen and walked more that I thought imaginable. Averaging about 10 miles a day, I have experienced the richest part of London, Kensington where not a single piece of trash is in sight in all directions, as well as what people like to call "real" London.
I am a huge fan of the music scene and made it an immediate goal to venture outside this lovely little district where our flats are located and experience where the middle class people hang out. This brought me to a district called Shoreditch.
I went to Shoreditch this past Sunday and there were tons of vendors on the streets surrounded by a vast amount of retro thrift shops and posh underground boutiques. It was honestly dreamy. Perhaps this isn’t the classiest town, but it definitely has personality. It is colorful as can be and is surrounded by arts, fashion, food and music. Something that especially stood out to me and is super relevant to this class, was the street art.
The image below is graffiti in one of the ally ways of Shoreditch. It appears to be a decorative font, where the artist just created it out of his mind. It is two of the same letter layered upon the other, giving it an almost 3 dimensional look. It immediately caught my eye because it is absolutely ginormous. It took all the wall space down the whole entire ally way.
I highly recommend taking a visit to this awesome district because there is loads to see and it is an experience in itself. Just standing there and observing your surroundings will keep you entertained for hours. It has an almost San Francisco-esque vibe; very liberal and open. One popular group of people I saw a lot of were the British punks you always see on TV. The punks are alive! Perhaps not in Kensington, but there are still alive!
Another piece that stood out to me was this awesome art installation I came across walking to Shoreditch. I have absolutely no idea what is is or what building it is front of, but to me it was very aesthetically pleasing, so I thought I would share.
