Blog

STEALING is NOT COOL!

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 20:32:17 +0000

Okay people, there are just some things I assume most people know are generally "right" and generally "wrong." Killing people, not okay, cheating, not okay, STEALING, hello?! NOT OKAY! I'm kinda ticked, lol because I recently discovered some jack@$$ stealing my design work that I did for my design studio website, 21 Ruby Lane. TOTALLY NOT COOL - JACK@$$! I mean common, there's a just a certain amount of trust all of us put out there when it comes to the web. And some people just think it's one big free for all. You wanna take a piece of art, use it on your desktop, fine - but don't be stealin' sh!t and saying it's yours. That's just ridiculous. How do you not feel ashamed for taking someone else's hardwork and blatantly labeling it as something you did. I just don't understand. So this is what I stumbled across:

And compare it to the design that I came up with:

I mean, look at that, they stole our code, MY DESIGN, MY PORTFOLIO, lol, everything! And how did we find this, Valerie was googling for our name to see what would come up, and because they had stolen our code, that website shows up. It's just ridiculous. The only thing that can really be done is just us calling it out. Even if it doesn't immediately affect us - I mean, I have no idea where these people are, but looks like their not aiming for an English-speaking market - I want to point out how guilty and shameful they should feel for STEALING someone else's work and calling it their own. What a bunch of lame, lazy hacks - and not only are they so obviously untalented and uncreative that they had to go so far as to steal my sh!t - they couldn't even do it right. I mean that is one hack-job of a site.

So what now? Well, obviously I was just far too trusting, every one of my large images is going to have some kind of ugly watermark sprawling across it saying "© 2009 Rhiannon Cunag. All Rights Reserved." Because obviously you can't just trust people to look but NOT STEAL! And really, what's most disappointing is that almost everyday, something I see, read, or hear about just causes me to lose a little faith in humanity. Whatever happen to good, decent, and honest hardworking people? :shakes head: very, very disappointing...

Interviewed by Spicy Web Designers

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 17:14:16 +0000

For those who don't know, I have a graphic design website which I have dubbed 21 Ruby Lane (to view 21RL V1.0 go here). My friend Valerie, is my partner on that project (and quite a few other projects really) and we recently launched 21RL V2.0! Lol, it's kinda funny to say that. Anyway, she's real good about submitting to CSS and galleries and such, and we were featured on quite a few. Luc of Spicy Web Designers approached us about doing an interview and we were ecstatic, to say the least. So be sure to check out my interview and vote! Luc's got a great site, so definitely take the time to peruse his collection of many other designers' websites and interviews.

Etsy

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 18:56:44 +0000

Strangely, I never jumped on the Etsy bandwagon, though I did make an attempt by listing some Scotty V stuff on there . Even in just the general shopping sense, I don't ever think to just peruse Etsy for the everyday necessities, or even just some basic "wants." Though lately I've been going on there to checkout the jewelry that's listed. I really enjoy handcrafted jewelry, and found that I can find a variety of unique pieces on Etsy, rather than scouring the web; which is the great thing about a community, like this.

Now often you'll find a lot of similar jewelry pieces using the same technique or "charms," such as that whole "two swallows on your neck" deal or the ever popular "nest" necklace with beads for eggs. Which, I do like them! But soooo many to choose from, they all begin to look alike, and I would just assume, "Hey, I'm just gonna make my own then, since everyone else is doing it." But, haha, I don't the time - I have so many hobbies as it is, I would feel lucky if I got the chance to take up jewelry making. After thoroughly rummaging through many of the similar jewelry offerings, I did come across one artisan I really liked, whose pieces where consistent and had a subtle style that was uniquely "her."

She goes by lizix26 on Etsy, and I just love how delicate and sweet her pieces look. They have a quality about them, and where others look "tried," "rushed," and "overlabored," hers look effortless. And though I imagine it is not "easy" to do, her pieces seem to look as if the design, the technique and process come naturally.

This is probably one of my favorites of hers:

Though I think all her designs are quite lovely! And she's got great prices, we all need a helping-hand in this economy! So go on, help yourselves to something sweet that fits your budget and support a small business! Check it out here

Girl's Life

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 07:32:11 +0000

I'd say that when I was younger and I had specifically decided that, should I actually grow up to be an artist, I wasn't to be a painter or a sculptor, an animator, designer - I had specifically wanted to be an illustrator. And I didn't know what medium I would work in - I knew I didn't feel comfortable in the traditional mediums, but I hadn't know at that time what it would be. Maybe I'd grow into pen and ink, or acrylics ... But I found it eventually - the computer. And I remember first realizing that I wanted to illustrate when flipping through art books of the works of Michael Whelan and Frank Frazetta. It wasn't that they were awesome painters, it was that they were awesome visual storytellers. I wanted to tell stories too ...

When I was in my teens and I'd flip through girly magazines, my attention always gravitated to the illustrations. And definitely I had hoped that one day I could draw for the magazines too. I found the illustrations inspiring, they made the articles come to life for me. Even though it had always been my goal, first in the back of my mind - growing steadily bigger till it was just something I had to make happen - I am still amazed that I am DOING it. I AM an illustrator, a visual storyteller, and - lol - I get to draw fashionista teens in "embarassing moments," crushing on cute boys, hanging out with friends, shopping, etc. etc. etc.!

One of my favorite mags to work on is Girl's Life. I do the Guys section. Pretty much ever article has to do with a guy oriented diemma. I LOVE it! Lol! It's just always so cute and funny. Light-hearted.

I thought I'd upload my most recent piece for them, which is out now in their February/March issue.

It's all about being bummed out about you and your crush breaking up, but then he wants to get back together and you have to decide whether it's worth it or not - taking into consideration allll those bad habits he has!

True Jackson

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 04:26:20 +0000

So a while back I was asked to do some sketch and color studies for a flash game. I think a few illustrators were doing some tests. Nothing came of it unfortunately .. the flash game was going to be centered around fashion and had to do with Nickelodeon's show True Jackson. Among my sketches and studies, I was also asked to do a study of the character True Jackson, in the my style. I really liked the way it came out; especially considering I felt under the gun to deliver. Hopefully it's okay I post this ... I don't see why not ..... :shifty eyes:

I am really enjoying a lot of the projects I've been working on lately. And hopefully I get to post some more of the projects I've been working on. Probably a bit in the future once a few of these things have launched and I can properly give credit!

Wedding Invitation

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 05:42:31 +0000

I use to work at an invitation/stationery store part time, designing invites, stationery, and doing sales. It was a lot of fun, and had been a passion of mine - that even though I've left, I still try to find opportunities to work with paper design. A recen project I am working on that is a lot of fun is a wedding invitation for a friend of a friend of mine. Her wedding is taking place in Mexico, and she had been inspired by the Mexican tile designs. So I did an emblem for her, that was reminiscent of that, but more graphic and modern. I worked on her Save the Dates as well and we had gone from a navy and sort of lime green, with chocolate color palette for the Save the Dates, to a navy and coral palette, with chocolate for the Wedding Invites.

This is just a JPEG of my work in Illustrator. The pink band in front of the navy card and behind the top layer of the invite, is a ribbon. When turned over, the RSVP and Details card, which are tiered, will stack one on top of the other, and tucked behind the band!

I put together the mockup tonite, and am really excited to see the whole thing together! Once she's approved the invites, I'll be making 80 of them! I'll post pictures at some point.

Scotty V Says HELLO!

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 03:59:15 +0000

so today i mess around with the blog! this entire site has been designed by me, but only exists with the help of my dearest friend valerie! who is extremely talented with THE code! lol! i could never have done this on my own~ so thank you - thank you ^_^b

it's pretty dang cold today - in AZ, like, mid to upper 70s? haha yesss, i'm being serious! i'm a bit sensitive to the cold, just a touch of chilly-ness - and my body goes into auto shut down! in fact, today i have a cold ;_; blech! the only thing i find comforting while being sick, is chicken noodle soup. and oddly, i like the condensed campbell's kind! something about it seems nostalgic i guess.. i also like wearing warm, fuzzy socks! i know, i know - who doesn't? but i would describe the feeling as like, hugging 1000 kittens! just an overwhelming feeling of radiating love - wrapped around my feet!

these are a pair of socks i got from my vacay in tokyo! i love how they are packaged to look like a cupcake @_@ so delicious!

i got my sister a pair that looked like an apple! i bought both pairs of socks and a bunch of chopsticks at this store where everything was 3.33 yen! lol! when i walked out, my boyfriend says, was everything in the store 3.33? and i was like, HOW DID YOU KNOW?! he points at a sign ;_; haha!