Two in Fifty Two is 104 stories of life and design over 52 weeks from two designers. Timothy Excell used to be a high school teacher and is diving into a new career in design and Kylie Timpani has around five years experience. A new post from Timothy and Kylie each week.
Here we are, post 52! There were some serious doubts about whether or not we we’re going to make it this far. It feels super odd to see an entire years worth of thought and experiences condensed into one page. Scrolling through 52 weeks with a few simple swipes of a finger makes it feel […]
Read onIt’s hard to believe that we’re at this point already. Not long ago I was hunched over my tiny Macbook Air in my mum’s 1970s kitchen that, like every Christmas, smelt like Filipino spring rolls and salted pistachios while haphazardly decorated with faded plastic Christmas trinkets. I was hurriedly designing and building this little blog […]
Read onThe weeks leading up to Christmas can be quite frantic. What a stressful slash joyous time of year… On one hand, you’re frantically working towards tying up those loose ends. On the other hand, you’re starting to run on an empty gas tank after the year has taken it out of you. What I do […]
Read onMerry Christmas! I can’t believe we are at the end of the year, and I can’t believe we are only one week away from the end of Two In Fifty Two! I’ve been working away in the office alone this week, holding the fort while everyone is busy enjoying their end-of-year breaks. I’m quite content […]
Read onOur work, often, consumes us. We give it all we’ve got, often to the detriment of our own health. I guess it’s a sign of passion, or even dedication to your work. Like an engine, the harder you push, the quicker you’re going to run out of fuel. A flat battery is no good to […]
Read onI spent this week in Melbourne on an extended girl’s weekend. There were five of us over the entire trip. From Australia, I am from Perth, another friend is from South Australia and the other is from Melbourne. Internationally, one of my friends is from New Zealand and the other is from Las Vegas. We had all spoken […]
Read onI make no secret that I am a dork. Thanks to the power of eBay, I’ve even managed to attain some collectibles from my childhood. Something has to be said about the power of nostalgia. It can stir up a multitude of emotions and, as seen, people are willing to cough up big bucks to […]
Read onI don’t know why but a week before going on holiday I completely stress the hell out for no particular reason. I decide I need to buy one new everything, I decide that every outstanding to-do item on my list has to be completed well before my departure and I definitely have some sort of […]
Read onI don’t have a problem with people being ambitious. Being driven is such an admirable quality. Of course, there are always going to be those people that take things too far. Sometimes people will do whatever it takes, even if that means pushing people under the bus. I wonder what it is that causes people […]
Read onThis week I did a 5 minute talk about some of my take aways from this year’s Web Directions at a Fenders meetup. You’d be surprised how much work goes into putting together a 5 minute talk, and yet it’s aboslute no surprise that I left the much needed preparation to the very last minute. […]
Read onEven in the lowest socio-economic areas of the Philippines, you will be bombarded with advertisements. Big corporations such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi have their logos plastered in huge letters above even the most humble of home owned businesses. I’m not going to go into a huge rant about corporate greed, or anything like that. However, […]
Read onI’ve written about Semi-Permanent 2013 several times on this blog which actually a little bit surprising to me. It was great conference but I have to be honest, I was totally distracted by my own personal pursuit to push myself outside of my creative comfort zone that many of the conference’s tangibles didn’t make it home with me. I […]
Read onI haven’t always been a big advocate of travel. Growing up, I didn’t see the appeal and didn’t aspire to go anywhere abroad. In a sense, I was perhaps ignorant to the value of not only seeing, but experiencing other cultures. Travelling to the Philippines has once again been an invaluable ‘shake-up’ of my views […]
Read onThis week I attended the the Great Scott Grads Design Exhibiton. It was the graduation show for Central Institute of Technology’s 2015 Advanced Diploma of Graphic Design students. I won’t beat around the bush, the stuff I saw on display was good. Really, really good. It’s no surprise though. Every time I’ve attended I’ve been blown away by the sheer […]
Read onColour me excited. Next week I’ll be travelling to my Mum’s home country of the Philippines. We were last there in 1998, when I was 11. Growing up bi-racial in Australia is unquestionably awkward at times. In the 80s and 90s, in particular, the emphasis was on assimilation meaning certain traditions and customs were replaced […]
Read onEarlier this week I went to an AGDAWA event at which I saw Barcelona graphic design studio, Hey Studio give a talk on their work and processes. I find it really nice to occasionally get away from the digital world and dive into the print world, where everything is tactile and ideas aren’t limited by […]
Read onWow, we did it! Australian Web Award winners for the Personal category… crazy. To celebrate our little idea and how far it has come, I’d like to share where our little idea started. We were taking a sunset walk along the beach (nothing romantic here, it was a feeble attempt at “fitness”). This was an actual snap taken […]
Read onI hope you’ll forgive me for writing about awards very close together but there is no denying that the biggest thing to happen this week was Two in Fifty Two winning the National Australian Web Award for the Personal Category. I won’t say much about the awards, because I said it all in a previous […]
Read onThis time last year I was out of my mind busy. This week, I am just as busy. However, there is a vast difference between my headspace then and now. I have a renewed sense of enthusiasm. I have a new feeling of ownership over my career. One of my greatest fears was that I had […]
Read onThis week I was lucky enough to attend Web Directions 2015. It was my second year attending and putting aside the brilliant venue of Luna Park and the wonderful Perth crew I was with (#perthed!), the Australian web conference that everybody looks forward to did not disappoint. As expected, it consisted of two solid days […]
Read onPerhaps it has something to do with the fact that we’re closing in on the last 10 posts of this year… or perhaps it’s a side effect of Christmas decorations being hung up pre-maturely in October, but I’m feeling rather reflective. I stumbled across this piece based on Adam Braun‘s 30 Mantras to Change Your […]
Read onFor the past six months I have been working on a secret-squirrel project with a team of passionate and talented people. We’re all from different agencies, from different cultural backgrounds, are an almost equal balance of male to female and range in both age and professional experience. Despite our differences, we work wonderfully together because we all value […]
Read on…Washing the Daily Dust Off Our Souls” – Pablo Picasso This Wednesday we held our school’s annual Arts Night. Having a years worth of blood, sweat and tears collectively on exhibition is a perfect opportunity for everyone to give themselves a pat on the back for their hard work. First of all, let me just give […]
Read onThis week I had nothing to write about. Actually nothing. No major learns, nothing super interesting, not even one frantic thought whirling around in my mind. Chalk it down to being preoccupied or just not being present. Whatever the cause, this week, I was at a complete loss for words.
Read onIt’s NAUGHTY FORTY Week! So, Wednesday evening was the state announcements for the Australian Web Awards night. Admittedly, social anxiety levels were off the scale. I’m not sure what I was expecting, exactly. I’m hardly what you would call a confident, social butterfly who has a natural affinity for networking… but it turned out to be a […]
Read onSo… this week, we won a thing! An award thing! Two in Fifty Two was lucky enough to win in the Personal category at the West Australian Web Awards. Yay! This means that in 3 weeks time we’ll be getting all fancy and be in the running for the National award. I couldn’t be prouder […]
Read onIt’s October and as it turns out, Inktober too. I hadn’t heard of this before but I absolutely love the concept. Kylie and I have both agreed that the accountability aspect of the Two In Fifty Two project has pushed us to grow through consistent posting. Devoting time to drawing sounds like such a simple and easy […]
Read onThis week we received the yearly domain renewal notice for Two in Fifty Two. Although I’m well aware that we’re almost at the end of our donutty journey, it came as a bit of shock. It’s hard to believe that we’ve almost been doing this for an entire year. It intrigues me that we, as humans, are constantly surprised […]
Read onI apologise for this being a short one, but as the term wraps up things tend to get a little manic in the mad rush to the finish line…
Read onThis week I gave a talk at this month’s design themed Fenders meetup. It was my first talk and I honestly hope that it’s the first of many. Speaking is something I’ve always hoped to do. When I was in high school I was part of the ‘Speech’ team, took acting classes, was involved with […]
Read onMan, it has been FLAT – OUT this week. I’m not complaining though! Every day presents itself with a new challenge, a new puzzle to solve or a new solution to be found. It’s part of what draws me to working with creative people – even in the most repetitious task, there is exciting experimentation and endless possibilities that […]
Read onGrowing up, I was raised in a way that cultivated a great sense of independence and, with the pace at which my childhood/life progressed, a certain level of mental toughness that has prevailed throughout my life regardless of any personal vulnerabilities. So, even though my childhood and teenage years were spent in a challenging environment that changed regularly and was […]
Read on… Speak Less Than You Know.” I love this quote. It’s an ideology that doesn’t win you work, job or opportunities, though. A more realistic mantra we are instilled with at a young age would be, “look what I can do, what I’ve achieved, how intelligent I can sound”. How frustrating is it that the […]
Read onI spent a fair amount of time this week agonising over a design. Don’t worry, it was the good type of agonising. I liken it to being at a restaurant, being reeeeeally into two different meals on the menu only to remember that the socially acceptable thing is to order only one.
Read onMy week ended rather somber. I was reminded just how fragile we as human beings are. We are not invincible. Disease and illness can and will catch us off guard. Whilst I am not speaking about myself, my thoughts and prayers go out to anyone who finds themselves in a testing situation. Sickness never effects […]
Read onThis week I turned 27. Truth be told, I don’t feel any different to what I did when I was 17. In fact, I still feel like an awkward teenager despite having picked up a thing or two in the 10 years since. So, to celebrate my learning of things (and my birthday), I thought I’d list […]
Read onSometimes we think of victory as running through the ribbon at the end of a long race whilst a deafening roar of cheers from supporters fill our ears. It’s nice to be reminded that for us, at some point or another, “winning” comes from simply signing up to the race or beating our personal best. […]
Read onThis week I read a blog post by Rachel Andrew titled ‘Confidence and Overwhelm’. In this post, Rachel first talks about the fast moving nature of the web industry and the way some people feel overwhelmed by the pace at which new tools and methodology arise. I was instantly hooked because “yoo-hoo, over here!” I […]
Read onThis week I once again step back into the classroom as a temporary art teacher which is always a positive experience. I don’t think many would complain about having a career which seamlessly interchanges between working with shiny graphics on a screen and getting paint under your fingernails and clay dust all over your pants.
Read onI’ve been working on new business cards for the team at Humaan for probably the past year and a half now. It’s not that we’ve been particularly slow to work on the card, rather we have explored and experimented with concepts and haven’t been totally happy with anything until very recently. Now, we have a […]
Read onI don’t remember any of this week. Seriously. I spent a majority of it in a cold and flu tablet haze either in the doctor’s waiting room or face first on my pillow. Unless I’m super snotty and gross, I don’t like taking sick days (I was raised in a very hardworking family who didn’t believe […]
Read onAnother day, another new way of looking at things. These little considerations may seem uninteresting for those who have made them habits. For those starting out, it might be interesting to see how they start out as learnt ideas and develop into second nature, down the track.
Read onI’ve been making an effort to regularly attend local meetups. I was a member on meetup.com for over a year before I built up the courage to go to my first meetup. It was a slow process, but I now I really can’t recommend it enough. My most regular meetup here in Perth is called Fenders. […]
Read onDo you hear criticism when there is none? I don’t know if this is a common thing experienced by everyone or if it is a particular personality trait in a select few. Look, I know how some people are going to think – that I am conceited and think everything I do is impeccable and […]
Read onI used to have a really strong love/hate relationship with Dribbble. Up until a year ago, I was always so torn between feeling super inspired and super intimidated by everyone’s work. If you were to map my browsing experience of a single visit to Dribbble it would start off somewhere around “OMG. Everything is awesome!” before then descending to somewhere around “I am not worthy!”.
Read onThe closest thing I’ve ever come to “coding” was back when Myspace was a thing. <howtimeflies>How good was Myspace? </reminiscing>. You’ll see a lot of people saying that a good designer will know how to develop as well. Seeing as I don’t have these skills, I created my website using Squarespace – and would wholeheartedly recommend […]
Read onI was sifting through the archives this week when I came across the below picture. From what I can recall, this is my most recent and very last full-on drawing project (beyond a quick sketch or doodle) that I completed. It’s funny to say ‘most recent’ because I drew this almost six years ago while I was doing a […]
Read onI can tick off another country visited during the 2in52 year; Sunny Singapore! Flying away from the dreary grey and frosty mornings of Perth, I learnt some important things, not just about the greater world around us but also about myself. The infamous expression goes; travel is the one thing you buy that makes you richer. I’d like […]
Read onLast week I wrote about feeling like I had lost my way, eventually coming to the conclusion that the way to find my way again was to set myself some goals. So, I spent this past week thinking about what I want to achieve in the near future. Some of my goals are half-baked, so I’ll just share the two that I think are the most solid and the one’s that I think are most relevant to this blog.
Read onI’ve been racking my brain for quite a while now thinking about what I’m supposed to write here. It’s rather inconvenient that we can’t schedule in a weekly life changing experience or quick-fire off life affirming mantras.
Read onWeek 26, the exact half-way mark of Two in Fifty Two, is proving to be a struggle. By now, I’d like to say that I’m able to swiftly flutter my fingers over my keyboard to produce word-magic at lightning speed but if I did, I would be lying.
Read onWe sure do love our pop culture expos here at twoinfiftytwo! We’ll just notch up another Supanova to our belts, thank you very much. It’s always super encouraging and inspiring to see the sheer number of artists who turn out to showcase and sell their dynamic artwork. Despite the confined space and people’s questionable hygiene […]
Read onI’m feeling the (digital) design landscape change and I’m not sure I like it. I feel like there is an overwhelming pressure to look at everything abstractly in the absence of, what they call, ‘original ideas’. I’m feeling like design is becoming less about communication and more about tools and processes. I feel like if I […]
Read onI need to preface this post by saying I don’t guarantee it to make sense. I had a conversation with someone who was considering employing a designer in an area you would not find usually find one. The following is a collection of thoughts, which sprung from that talk. You can’t judge a book by its […]
Read onThe other week, I came up with what I thought was a pretty solid idea. I thought of it in less than half an hour in the morning while I was trying to pluck up the courage to leave my warm bed for the day. By the end of the day, I had an almost fully-formed […]
Read onThis week, I’ve started work on a commission. This is the first time I have been responsible for not only the layout, but also the photographs. It’s a little bit harder to orchestrate, shoot and edit your own images but as expected the pay off comes in being complete creative control and ownership of the project.
Read onA week full of doing meant my mind was distracted from it’s usual kaleidoscope of confetti-shaped thoughts. With no significant donut floating around in my mind, this week I’ve decided to outline what Two in Fifty Two has taught me so far.
Read onEvery time I present something I tend to preface it with something along the lines of “It’s not gr8″. I’m itching to write a whole lot of apologies before hitting the post button – but as an experiment, I’m not going to say anything. Here are caps from my After Effects video which you can see one […]
Read onSomething incredible happened today. I woke up and checked my emails only to find that someone had donated $1000 to my Live Below the Line campaign. It was donated anonymously. An anonymous donor. What? Wow. I was, and still am, speechless. It is easily one of the kindest things someone has ever done for me. Just […]
Read onDo you remember that feeling you had when you opened Photoshop for the first time? Might have gone a little like this… ‘What kind of witchcraft is this?’ It certainly wasn’t the trusty Microsoft Paint we played with endlessly towards the end of the 90s – eek, children without Twitter and Instagram – we really […]
Read onSelf doubt is one of the main problems that designers people face. When we work, our work is never private. We might shield our quirky processes and messy paths to creation but at the end of the day our work is always ultimately left open for anyone to scrutinise either positively or negatively. From the moment […]
Read onI read an article recently that talked about how in countries like China that mini-sites and mobile apps were used far more than the full scale web pages we’re accustomed to. The article explained that the sheer number of mobile users meant that it was obviously more important to focus on compact design. Makes sense, […]
Read onIs it just our industry or is there something that happens, very early on, that tells young designers (or anyone for that matter) that the only way to validate their worth/skill/talent/dedication is to work all hours of the day? To work late into the night? Is it a product of formalised higher education? I’ll admit, when I first […]
Read onOkay, I’ll admit I have a bit of a problem. Ask anyone I’ve worked with and they will roll their eyes, shaking their heads over my little quirk. Yep, I’m one of those ‘a place for everything and everything in its place’ freaks. Others find endless joy in un-doing my strategic placements, perfectly aligned piles […]
Read onDesign, along with all of its complexities and at its core, should be fun. We should be having fun solving problems and creating solutions that nurture the little joyous spark that got us all started on this design thing in the first place. This should be easy to remember but instead I’ve noticed that it’s something that is easily forgotten. Instead […]
Read onSo Thursday night, Kylie and I went to the 5 / 15 / 25 event. A lot of people will tell you how important it is to network and be amongst like-minded people. It’s a real shame that I tend to mummify in a room full of strangers… – for the sake of my online persona, let’s […]
Read onThis week Tim and I attended AGDA’s 5/15/25. It was a great dose of mid-week inspiration as it’s always motivating to hear people talk so passionately about their careers and their work. This week I sum up my standout messages from the event!
Read onEveryday, teachers stand before a buffet of personalities. You see every ‘type’ under the sun. The optimist, the pessimist, the introverts and the extroverts… As a result, I’ve developed a lot of sage advice over the years. Despite being drawn to creativity and the Arts, a shared interest does not always mean work compatibility. The […]
Read onOn Saturday I stumbled across a tweet from a reporter who showed a before and after picture, just four minutes apart, of a well known temple. In the first photo, everything was fine; the temple was surrounded by tourists and locals going about their business. In the second photo, the temple was nothing but a […]
Read onAs a further tribute to the Comic Con we recently hosted in Perth, I’m doing to discuss the ideas I kept in mind whilst tackling my first attempt at an app… the twist? We’ll I’m going to use Pokémon to illustrate my points! The difficulty in simplicity Poor, Slowpoke. How would he cope with abstract designs and […]
Read onYou know, I’d really like to say that I am wonderful at managing my time. The fact is, I’m absolutely shit at it and I hate the fact that I suck at it. Here are some things that I know I should be doing and the way my brain deals with them. Hopefully, this will kick my ass a little bit.
Read onThis week, I’d like to look at a different packet of donuts, these originating from Japan. Hi, my name is Timothy and I watch Sailor Moon. Now, now, no need to laugh! Let’s be fair here, I think most creative people are drawn to odd things… Normally, my guilty pleasures are hidden well from public […]
Read onWatching Tim’s progress over the last 12 weeks has been a super interesting experience for me. In just 12 weeks and from pure discipline and self-initiated learning, Tim has gone from knowing very little about designing for the web to being a completely suitable candidate for a junior design positon; the sort of position that […]
Read onWe all remember our high school days. Those were much simpler times… before being hit with the crippling weight of adulthood, career and responsibility. Back then, teachers were these nuisances that would stress the “trivial things”. They were constantly asking you stupid questions to which you had no answer. Whilst most of these students move on […]
Read onI consider myself a pretty patient person. If you asked me to untangle a mess of 782 necklaces I could probably sit, peacefully, and go about my necklace-untangling business like a total zen-master. Long lines at supermarket checkouts don’t bother me, I’m always chill about flights being delayed and I am able to get through […]
Read onI’ll keep it brief and let the work do the talking – left is what I came up with on my own – the right is after some helpful advice!
Read onI always find the question, “how long have you been a designer?” difficult to answer. Convenience wants me to answer with the number of years since I landed my first, paid, full-time gig as a designer and philosophical me wants to answer with “for as long as I can humanly remember”.
Read onWhat am I up to this week? I agreed to a 5 week relief stint at my school as the Art teacher. I originally pursued a career in education to become an Art teacher but life and circumstances steered me away from that goal. What I am excited by is being able to watch these young creatives. I […]
Read onThis week went by so fast! Quick and quiet, I didn’t have much time to think about what was going on in my head (If, in fact, there was anything going on in my head. I don’t remember). This weekend, however, I had a little bit of down time. I spent that time getting lost in […]
Read onI’m going to approach this one with my teacher cap on. A high school teacher can potentially have up to 32 kids in one classroom. In a 45 minute lesson (and let me tell you, you hardly ever get all 45 minutes to do what you want to do) not every student is going to […]
Read onIn my mind, my 2015 didn’t start until my holiday was over. Partly because I thought there was no point in launching myself into the new goals only to disappear weeks later and partly because I just didn’t have any motivation to do so.
Read onIf I had a dollar for every time I tried to write an introduction for this project… I’d be rich. So I’m not even going to try… Did you guys read about Natalia Kills killing her career this week? No? Okay then, back to the design…
Read on… And so, after a week of exploring beautiful San Francisco, my American holiday has come to an end. San Francisco was the perfect end to my California tour. For as long as I have remembered I have wanted to visit San Francisco. It lived up to and exceeded every one of my expectations. It […]
Read onI won’t lie. Keeping up with this blog over the past four weeks has been a struggle. Not because of time, but because at the moment I am so detached from everyday life and everyday routine that I’m also detached from everyday thinking. Like a lot of people, each day I’ll usually think about whatever […]
Read onSo it was practice and experimentation on the drawing board for me this week. Normally I would create something and show Kylie so she can give me a chance to change my mistakes, consider changes… but if I’m going to do the journey of a beginner any justice for other people like me, I need to […]
Read onI’ve travelled to a few different places across the globe in the past two weeks and while there haven’t been significant culture shocks, I’ve found there to be a few quirks when it comes to coffee drinking across the globe.
Read onHow much are you worth? When you’ve only ever known volunteering your designing skills, putting a price on your time can be quite the ordeal. Hey, Google? What do you think? … Gee, thanks. That was as clear as mud.
Read onBonjour! So I’ve just left Paris after a week of exploring, mastering Metro systems, crying in cathedrals, eating nutella crepes, happily drowning in art and becoming an expert espresso drinker. It was a pretty great week and much to my surprise, I completely and utterly fell in love with Paris. This isn’t a travel blog […]
Read onWe’re all a bit obsessed with time aren’t we? Time working, take taken, time wasted… Is a day spent creating really that different to a week in the grand scheme of our lifetime? This week I did feel like I was that little kid in the back seat pestering his parents, “are we there yet?”
Read onHello there! I’m currently 38,000 feet in the air and flying over South China Sea. According to the little screen in front of me, Hoh Chi Minh city is on my left, while Manila sits to my right. I’m on my way to Paris and I have a 9 hour stop over in Hong Kong […]
Read onLook, I’m going to keep this one brief. No real progress was made, although some new goals were set in the final few hours of Sunday night. Not everyone has an inside person like I do. My pessimism might have gotten the better of me if I was left to my own devices.
Read onThis post is not a story sitting behind any great love story nor does it include Ryan Gosling. Or Rachel McAdams. It is, however, a story about my messy notebook. I won’t lie though, this is good but the movie is much better.
Read onI knew that getting my foot in the door was not going to be an easy feat. I was prepared for the ‘no thank you’, the ‘we will let you know’ or even the ‘your skills aren’t up to scratch’ … complete silence, however, threw me a little off my game.
Read onIt’s so easy to get so attached to certain ideas that you lose focus of what’s important. Sometimes all it takes to pull you out is a conversation in a tent full of sweaty people at 9pm on a school night.
Read onSo, I am currently aboard a train en route to Tokyo where, give or take a 12 hour wait, I will be boarding the plane that takes me home to Perth. I must admit, I am looking forward to being released from the grips of delicious temptation…
Read onThis week I made a conscious effort to spend my weeknights and my time away from work doing things completely unrelated to design. I just would not wait until the weekend…
Read onKonnichiwa! This international post comes direct from a very frosty Japan. I absolutely adore this country. Of course, there are the people. Polite, respectful, well dressed… but it is when it gets dark that the designer in me gets truly inspired.
Read onFor the last several years there is one resolution that has always been made but never kept — “write more”. This year, I’ve made it past the first week and it’s brought me to a concept I think about a lot: the importance of sharing as a designer.
Read onIt wasn’t exactly in my “grand plan” to find myself 5 years into my teaching career thinking, “is this really the job for me?”
Read onIf someone told the highly studious highschool version of myself that I was going to drop out of uni before completing my final year, she probably would have thrown a text book at you out of disbelief. But I did exactly that. I quit.
Read on