Monday, 14th of September 2015
This morning at the subway two guys with saxophones and a boombox begun entertaining people. I think one of them was Romanian, although that’s not very important. What is important is that these guys, who didn’t seem to have higher education, managed to find a way to earn their living, in a quite original manner. I mean, how many times do you hear sax music on your way to work?
Today, while waiting for Robert I read some more about flat design. I weighed the pros and the cons, and the conclusion was quite balanced: even though flat design is the new hype, sqeuomorphic and realistic design may still be appropriate, depending on the situation. I liked the analogy one author made by comparing a classical curved sink with a modern, almost minimalistic, flat-bottom one. The flat-bottom sink may look new and modern, but when the water from the faucet runs, it splashes all over the place, while the classical curved sink, although looking rather old and outdated, is more practical since it redirects the stream of water inwards. You can read the whole article here.
Tonight I had a skype call with my dear executive board members from JCI Târgu-Mureș. It was nice to see them after more than a month, and talk about what has changed in the past period. I feel so sorry I can’t be there with them during such memorable times when we are about to obtain national membership. It is the culmination of more than a year’s work, and I am proud of what we have achieved so far.
Oh, before I go, I need to tell you that today a new record number of unique users has been recorded. Almost 220 people have viewed my website today alone. I don’t know if that sounds a lot to you, but I’m not stopping here, and I’m aiming for the next goal: 500 unique visitors per day. 🙂
Tuesday, 15th of September 2015
In Robert’s absence, today I read more about design trends from an e-book I got from UXPin, which is called “Web Design Book of Trends 2015-2016” (click here to get it). If you’re into web design, or even graphic design, I think this is a must-read.
With an intern salary, it’s a constant struggle to keep your costs under control and be financially sustainable. I was inspired by Zarko and today at lunch I had some canned soup which I heated up on the stove in the office kitchen. For 0.85 EURO, I had no idea it would taste so good. If I had lunch in a restaurant (as I usually do 3-4 times per week), the same dish would have cost me ten times more, so I think I’ll continue having soup for lunch a bit more often from now on.
Wednesday, 16th of September 2015
Today at work there was just me, Robert and Annika. Zarko decided to work from home – something I will probably also do in the future if coming by the office wouldn’t be necessary. The working day was semi-productive. I did manage to finally design a graphic mockup that I like, for the web interface. It is a combination of flat design meets minimalist design meets grid-based design. I will continue on that tomorrow and perhaps create an even better-looking interface.
This morning as I was heading to the subway station, I met Dave, who was also heading that way. We kept each other company for a few stations, and this evening, he invited me for a drink and chat. He’s a nice old chap you can learn a lot of things from, since he has plenty of international experience. He was born in Spain, moved to Poland, then to Germany, studied in The Netherlands, and finally moved back to Germany where he is currently doing an internship at Capgemini. We’ll probably go out this weekend, maybe with other friends of his. We’ll see…
Thursday, 17th of September 2015
This morning at Lidl I came across a surprise… a kinder surprise. It’s just that the price tag was placed above it, on the shelf with Durex condoms. Get it? No? I’ll explain: “kinder” means children in German, so the way that price tag was placed was indicating that Durex = Surprise Children. 🙂 Not the kind of surprise most of us would expect from a respected condoms brand.
Friday, 18th of September 2015
As I was walking back home, happy that the working week was over, I came across this beauty:
There’s something mesmerizing about matte-color cars. But I think it’s all relative. Since there are so many glossy cars, a matte-finish one stands out. It’s all about contrast. If matte-color cars were more common, then glossy cars would be the ones that would stand out from the crowd. We always seem to desire the things that harder to get, the unusual ones, the unique ones. Current trends always depend on past trends.
Saturday, 19th of September 2015
Like every Saturday, today I overslept. Later in the afternoon I went shopping at Edeka and made this picture for you:
It’s a recycling collector machine. It can recycle plastic, metal and glass. You simply insert your recipients in the special hole and you get a ticket that you can cash in at one of the cashier at the supermarket. You’re basically getting your money back, since every time you buy for instance a Coke, you pay 0.25 EURO for the plastic bottle.
Right after I left Edeka, it started to rain, then after 10 minutes or so it stopped and a double rainbow appeared on the sky:
If you’re superstitious, you would say it’s a sign from god or something. Uhm… no. It’s not. 🙂
Sunday, 20th of September 2015
Initially I planned that today I was going to visit another part of Hamburg I haven’t yet been to. But plans changed and I just stayed home and watched X Factor, The Voice of Romania and The Bachelor. 🙂 Waste of time? Maybe. Or maybe this is just what I needed to recharge my batteries.
I am a freelance designer.
Distance is not an issue. I can work from anywhere.
