It has been more than a year now since I last worked at Bent Image Lab. When I was there, I had a wonderful time getting to know the studio and participated in several cool projects. Before knocking on Bent’s door, my knowledge in the field of CG animation was very limited, as a matter of fact, I don’t do CG at all. I walked in with the intention to put my design and illustration skills to good use, little did I know the result turned out quite perfectly.

Bent definitely has taught me how to advance my technical skills and speed more efficiently. Each morning I always feel like I’m in a rush to get something done, but no matter what the circumstances were, I had to deliver all the projects on time. Since Bent Image Lab is a production house, we pretty much produced all of the final touches from scratch. The amount of labor and sweat went into each project was inconceivably intensive. I worked long hours and was constantly on the edge of deadlines.

When Nando Costa (founder of Nervo.tv) began collaborating with Bent, he brought his creative expertise in motion graphics to the team. Luckily, I got a few opportunities to sink my teeth into doing motion graphics. It was a lot of fun designing styleframes and preparing some of the animation assets for the compositing department. One day, I would love to be able to experiment and produce amazing projects in After Effects.

Thanks again for given me this greatest experience in the animation & commercial industry. Bent has taught me so many things, from every aspect of concept designing to the outcome of developments in production. Being surrounded in the core of many diverse talented people have made me realized how we each carry unique set of skills. I’m happy that I got to share part of my skills with the rest of the team at Bent.

Below are a few examples of what Bent Image Lab can do:

“Whale Song” for Modest Mouse

Coke: Hidden Formula

Lux Provocateur

BC Dairy Foundation “Russian Dolls”

Scott Naturals, “The Right Blend”

I am so honored and excited to have the privilege designing for Mike LeBlanc at Holden Outerwear on a few freelance projects. Lately I’ve been tackling some of the banner designs and rack-top displays which will be used eventually throughout all of the shops. I can’t wait to see how the production will turn out; hopefully it will worth all of the efforts I have put in. I am not a snowboarder but as my creative ideas flow within the company’s brand, I think I’m somewhat being exposed to it now. When I first met Mike, I didn’t have a clue who he was until I stumbled across ridesnowboards.com and what do you know…this guy turns out to be one of the best in North America.

Check out the interview below:

Check out In Short: Not Just Snowboarding> here

Holden definitely has its own unique style and people really don’t have to be snowboarders to wear the brand, it’s the fabrics they use is what make them stand out. Hemp and Twill Herringbone are not commonly used for snowboarding clothes, but the materials are durable and everyone can save the environment by wearing it. They’re all reproduced from recyclable materials! Take a few minutes to check out the website: www.holdenouterwear.com

For this entry, I would like to give my special thanks to Scott Zergebel and Mike LeBlanc for keeping me busy throughout this time. Thanks again!

I have wanted to build a blog for a long time now. When I first completed my website (www.minhwind.com), I was drained after spending months of conceptualizing, sketching, designing, and coding. When it comes down to coding strictly in HTML & CSS it is like having to learn another language. As I juggle through complicated and tricky syntaxes, not to mention the frustrations of assuring things are functional in Internet Explorer, I can see the results of my hard work. I hope and trust that I will improve and strengthen my web design skills over the years.

I look at it this way; the main website’s theme is about my talent and my skills given by nature and enhanced by formal education. The vast majority of the time I have self-taught and colleagues and friends have asked me how I got there. So the blog’s theme is more about the interpretation of my ideas, my working process, and influences that have informed my work. I decided on utilizing a tree for the theme of this site where each branch represents the essence of growth, inspiration, and imagination. My intention is to make this blog memorable and one that you will come back to visit to see how I have grown and evolved.

Take a look at some of my sketches below:

As you can see, everything I do has to be done on paper first. I hate jumping straight into the computer without any solid design in my hands. Sure you can call yourself an Adobe wizard, but without any thought process behind it you’re just creating a sketch in the computer. Now that I have the opportunity to finish up my blog, it is time for me to keep adding until I run out of space.