arlene sy

Ultra feminine fonts!

by Arlene on Nov 21, 2010 (2) Comments

Have you ever met such a perfectly floral, feminine, romantic font? I haven’t, until now!

Design*Sponge recently hosted an alphabet design contest, and although I wasn’t really keen on the winning fonts (see the results here), these are two of the entries that really hit the spot (because they are so French and feminine, of course!)…

The first one’s “Soft Wonder,” designed by Jordan Kay Phillip. I love the level of detail and hand-drawn effort put into this one, as well as the black outlines/inked edges that give such a subtly glam feel.

The second one I love is “Ribbons” by Alice Young. Cheeky, casual, and very cute!

All images taken directly from www.designspongeonline.com.

Lanvin x H&M = Love

by Arlene on Nov 16, 2010 (0) Comments

Speaking of things made with love… I’ve perhaps never declared as much affection for any fashion label or designer than Lanvin or Alber Elbaz. For this reason, I’ve decided to start making illustrations/paintings inspired by Lanvin couture–including items from the much-anticipated Lanvin x H&M collaboration! (You’ll notice the artwork creeping into this blog, little by little…)

For now, let’s talk about the collaboration–and I like what they’ve done with the H&M website (all images in this post, directly from www.hm.com)…

I can just imagine how long the lines will be this November 23, when the collection officially hits stores worldwide! Here are a couple of outfits I’d really go for (plus the first one in this post), if I had all the time, money and patience to queue up in Hong Kong…

I’ll never know if I’ll ever own a piece of the dream, so here’s throwing some of my wishes to the wind, and hoping they come true in Paris!

Bright light

by Arlene on Nov 16, 2010 (2) Comments

Last night, I dropped by Möbler along Wilson Street, Greenhills (one of my most favorite homey places in the world), and bought this beauty of a desk lamp. I love IKEA products and I only wish that, with more and more international brands making their way to our shores (Muji as of late), someone finally manages to bring home this Swedish giant. But for now, I’m happy there already are accessible local IKEA resellers.

This is a Forså lamp which came in two chic finishes–stainless steel and shiny black. I had some difficulty deciding until B pointed out that the black one was more my style (he was right, since silver was a tad too industrial). Now if there were a cream or eggshell-white version, I would have been twice as torn…

Right now I only wish it had a dimmer switch–I’m obviously not that used to such bright light on my workspace! Haha. But otherwise it’s perfect. Lovely style, sturdy materials at a lovely price!

My style

by Arlene on Nov 15, 2010 (0) Comments

Finding my own voice and style, fashion and illustration-wise, has been a long personal journey.

But it really all came together just a few years ago when I embarked on a short-lived (albeit immensely fulfilling and adventure-filled) career in media and publishing. I was not only exposed to so many beautiful things and possibilities, but I learned how to edit, style, and own a perspective. I’ve had a lot of influences throughout this journey, with everything culminating into who I am today.

P.S. I am in love with my new Lumix GF1. I’ve decided to call her Lenka. She just turned one week old!