Bea Reviews 2018!
I'm officially 2 months behind schedule so HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!
I wanted to do something a little different for 2018 (as different as it can be considering I've only done this two times, haha). Since I've been a little rusty on my Photoshop skills, I decided to try out different typography tutorials on the titles of my Top 3s! I tried to make the typography styles as dissonant as possible for maximum ridiculousness -- perfect for the year that was 2018.
I'll do it in this order: Top 3... Movies, TV Shows, Netflix Originals, Music/Albums, Things That Happened (Media/Fandom-wise), and Things To Look Forward To.
Without further ado since it's literally February 2019 already,
Top 3 Movies
Did anyone think we wouldn't start with this? Infinity War was more like an event in my life than a movie -- honestly, it was more like an event in pop culture as well. This movie ruined everyone who went into the theater and we've all just been empty pieces of ourselves walking around ever since. ... In a good way(?). Let's just say this isn't the last time you'll read this on this post.
Link to typography tutorial (Intermediate level). This was a lot of fun to make and it's one of the ones I'm proudest of in this set! I had a little strip of paper I'd fold in real life to make this as realistic as possible. Lots of fun to do if you're just looking for a creative outlet!
Goyo was one of the things I was looking forward to in 2017 and it didn't disappoint! It was mellow and it took me a while to process, but the impact on me personally and on all of us culturally is just as present. Read my full review here!
Link to typography tutorial (Beginner level for what I did; Intermediate if you're following the whole tutorial to the letter). I didn't follow the whole tutorial for this just because it looked a little wonky and I didn't like the final result with the shapes etc. I thought this was simple enough on its own and I didn't want to put too many elements.
I WATCHED THIS FOUR TIMES AND NEVER GOT TIRED OF IT. What I used to describe this when I first watched it was fanfic-as-canon, because this trope has been around forever and I've read literally hundreds of fic with it. It's nice to see it onscreen -- and with an Asian protagonist to boot! I enjoyed how equal Lara Jean and Peter's relationship was: unlike most fake relationship movies, they were both in on the deception, which makes everything much less morally ambiguous and just fun to watch. We stan! I should read the book!
Link 1 and Link 2 to typography tutorial/resources (Beginner level). This was one of the easiest tutorials I did. Cute effect though!
Special Mention: Black Panther, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Teen Titans Go! To The Movies, Wreck-It Ralph 2, Mamma Mia 2, Oceans 8, BuyBust, Love Simon, and The Princess Switch lol
Top 3 TV Shows
Okay, we're back to our regularly scheduled typography.
Netflix really changed everything this year! We got rid of our cable subscription, we invested more in a good Internet connection (wha' ha' happened PLDT), and we started watching RPRD haha. It's so interesting to me that Netflix uses prevalence in culture as a metric for success instead of the usual numbers, but hey, it seems they're doing something right!
Like many others, this graphic was more of a product of my imagination and seeing where clicking around took me than the product of any specific tutorial. I quite like how it turned out!
Top 3 Things To Look Forward To In 2019
These take the 1 and 2 positions for this because I'm dreading Endgame about as much as I'm excited for Captain Marvel!!! I already feel like an emotional mess and I'm going to need a Very Strong Support System because I am 150% sure I will Not Be Okay after Endgame. For CM, I can still kind of forget the horror and pain Infinity War caused, but Endgame will be kind of... it will be messy.
Again for the typography, I kind of just downloaded fonts and tried to play with them. I dunno. It's cute though!
I'm excited for all the Disney remakes, sure, but I'm hella excited for Lion King! Give me Donald Glover! Give me Beyonce! Give me parrot-looking John Oliver finally playing a beak-y bird! I already stan this movie.
Link to typography tutorial (Beginner level). I thought this was a fun and simple little effect to do, with such satisfying results! I definitely recommend it to everyone who wants to get into the Photoshop thing. Use Helvetica Neue if you have it!
That's it! I wanted to post my 29 Moves I've Failed To Review post before this, but it's February 2019 and the window of time I have before this gets embarrassing is a little bit short. That list should come next though, and maybe an Endgame breakdown if I'm feeling up to it! Happy (Chinese, at this point LOL) New Year, everyone! ♥
I wanted to do something a little different for 2018 (as different as it can be considering I've only done this two times, haha). Since I've been a little rusty on my Photoshop skills, I decided to try out different typography tutorials on the titles of my Top 3s! I tried to make the typography styles as dissonant as possible for maximum ridiculousness -- perfect for the year that was 2018.
I'll do it in this order: Top 3... Movies, TV Shows, Netflix Originals, Music/Albums, Things That Happened (Media/Fandom-wise), and Things To Look Forward To.
Without further ado since it's literally February 2019 already,
Avengers: Infinity War
Did anyone think we wouldn't start with this? Infinity War was more like an event in my life than a movie -- honestly, it was more like an event in pop culture as well. This movie ruined everyone who went into the theater and we've all just been empty pieces of ourselves walking around ever since. ... In a good way(?). Let's just say this isn't the last time you'll read this on this post.
Link to typography tutorial (Intermediate level). This was a lot of fun to make and it's one of the ones I'm proudest of in this set! I had a little strip of paper I'd fold in real life to make this as realistic as possible. Lots of fun to do if you're just looking for a creative outlet!
Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral
Goyo was one of the things I was looking forward to in 2017 and it didn't disappoint! It was mellow and it took me a while to process, but the impact on me personally and on all of us culturally is just as present. Read my full review here!
Link to typography tutorial (Beginner level for what I did; Intermediate if you're following the whole tutorial to the letter). I didn't follow the whole tutorial for this just because it looked a little wonky and I didn't like the final result with the shapes etc. I thought this was simple enough on its own and I didn't want to put too many elements.
To All the Boys I've Loved Before
I WATCHED THIS FOUR TIMES AND NEVER GOT TIRED OF IT. What I used to describe this when I first watched it was fanfic-as-canon, because this trope has been around forever and I've read literally hundreds of fic with it. It's nice to see it onscreen -- and with an Asian protagonist to boot! I enjoyed how equal Lara Jean and Peter's relationship was: unlike most fake relationship movies, they were both in on the deception, which makes everything much less morally ambiguous and just fun to watch. We stan! I should read the book!
Link 1 and Link 2 to typography tutorial/resources (Beginner level). This was one of the easiest tutorials I did. Cute effect though!
Special Mention: Black Panther, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Teen Titans Go! To The Movies, Wreck-It Ralph 2, Mamma Mia 2, Oceans 8, BuyBust, Love Simon, and The Princess Switch lol
Top 3 TV Shows
The Good Place
THIS SHOW!!! IS EVERYTHING. The plot, the pacing, the twists, the characters, the academic integration, the moral discussions... it's literally everything. NBC really nailed it with giving Michael Schur creative freedom and enough budget to get impressive CGI effects. It's no surprise that this is the same brain from which Parks and Rec sprung. I particularly love the message it sends about being good: that it takes effort to be good and anyone can do it -- it's not an inherent trait that's out of our control.
Link to typography tutorial (Intermediate level). This was a fun tutorial because you never know what you're gonna get until you reach the end, haha. The instructions themselves are pretty clear and easy to follow, but I'm putting this at the intermediate level because the exact execution of the effect depends on the font and words you use so it takes some tweaking to get it right.
Runaways
This show was such a guilty pleasure! It isn't technically great or anything, but it's so much fun to watch. It's everything a teen superhero show should be and it has all of the elements -- family drama, love triangles, moral questions, and a healthy dose of superhero fantasy. I remember liking the first few issues of the comic though I was never able to finish it, and based on some things I've read, this seems like a great TV adaptation of it!
Re: typography, this was more of a culmination of things I learned from other tutorials. I got the brushes here and applied the new stuff I learned to come up with this. I'm pretty happy with it!
RuPaul's Drag Race
(music crescendoes) ... cover girl! Put that bass in your walk! ♫♪ RPDR was a huge pop culture phenomenon in my life this year. I finished 6 seasons (season 4 onwards), including all the All Stars seasons, and I am fully into it. It's fun and funny, it's irreverent as drag, I have learned, is, and it's so full of heart at the most unexpected moments. By which I mean, everyone has their make up half-done and then they all start sobbing. This show is just a lot of fun and it's so witty and I just love it. She done already done had herses!
Link to typography tutorial (Intermediate level). I thought it would be funny to use the most serious typography style for something as flamboyant as RPDR (I also used the font for the Amazing Race, haha). I actually really like the effect of this design! All the masks and stuff were a little tricky to follow so I didn't experiment too much with color on this.
Special Mention: Great British Bake-Off, Queer Eye, Stranger Things (which I finally watched), Modern Family
Top 3 Netflix Stand-Up Specials
Hannah Gadsby: Nanette
Not to be dramatic, but I would die for this special. It was funny, it was smart, it was as full of heart as it was of insight. There wasn't anything about this I didn't like, and it just took me on a roller coaster of emotions. I've seen this three times and it enraptured me each time. I would definitely recommend this to anyone and everyone and if you haven't seen it, what are you even waiting for? It fully and fundamentally changes how you see comedy.
Link to typography tutorial (Intermediate level). This was one of those tutorials where I was like, how are we not yet done?? The last few steps are so detail-oriented that I found it had to see the difference they made on the final product. It was a long and winding process, and I wanted to finish three files a day, so this result, while I'm pretty happy with it, doesn't perfectly match the final result in the tutorial, haha.
John Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous at Radio City
I am not exaggerating when I say that I've made every single member of my family watch this. I watched it with each of them separately, meaning I've seen this at least five times but I was crying laughing each time. This is the brand of comedy I live for. I loved how it had through-lines and punchlines, how seamless it was, and how truly unoffensive it was without sacrificing the quality of the comedy. John Mulaney's voice is so hilarious old-schooly that it just adds enhances everything else. He deserved that Emmy and all the successes that come with it!
This was a last minute typography thing I had to come up with because when I was reviewing the files, I realized I was missing a few even though the titles were already in my list. I don't know what to tell you. I kind of like it though! Haha.
Hasan Minhaj: Homecoming King
This was a lot of fun! I don't often watch stand-ups with firmly culture-based humor but I found this really fun and endearing. It wasn't trying to be edgy or anything like that, but it told a great story, and like all the comedies in this Top 3, it had a lot of heart. I hope Netflix keeps pushing for more stand-up shows like this.
Like Kid Gorgeous, this was a last minute graphic so it's very flat and not too stylized like everything else. I quite like the color palette though!
Special Mention: Trevor Noah's Son of Patricia
Top 3 Music/Albums
Dear Evan Hansen
I know this didn't come out this year, but I listened to it almost non-stop this year so I'm putting it here. I'm not a huge music listener (lol), and I don't often listen to new music and tend to stick old ones I already know, so that's going to be a theme here. In any case, I love DEH so much. Every song, even layer of plot, every voice. So good. I cry every time!
Link to typography tutorial (Intermediate level). This was so much fun to make! I tried to make the colors more vibrant than the one in the tutorial but the washed out version is quite pretty too.
Waitress
I also know this didn't come out in 2018 but I listened to this so much this year that I have to include it. I first listened to the Sara Bareilles concept album before the actual OST and just fell in love. I remember watching a performance in the Tony Awards that really got me emotional too. This soundtrack kept me company for a whole lot of morning when my eyes refused to open and I almost fell asleep standing up in the shower. And of course I had to give it a listen or a hundred before watching the local Waitress production by Atlantis. Incredible stuff.
Link to typography tutorial (Beginner level). I'm a bit meh about his graphic but it's nice in its own way! I substituted the stars in the original tutorial with little gradient-y waves. It's overall a lot simpler than some of the other stuff but fun to learn especially if you're just starting out!
Black Panther
It's a given that the movie was insanely good, but I can't explain what was it about this OST that got me listening to it on the daily. It's just so good! I don't usually listen to this kind of rap music but the beats were so strong and it was all so catchy. I listened to this almost all the time at one point and recommended it to everyone whether or not they asked lol.
Link to typography tutorial (Intermediate level). This was one of the last ones I made and I love it a lot! It's such a cool effect and it's relatively easy to achieve once you get past the insane amount of layer effects, haha. It has such an effective finish even and it's not as labor-intensive as I thought it would be.
Top 3 Fandom Things That Happened
Infinity War
Interrupting our regular typography stuff to bring you this incredible collage I will cherish forever. ACTUAL ROBERT DOWNEY JR LOOKING AT ME AND ACKNOWLEDGING MY EXISTENCE THERE IN THE MIDDLE!!! I can't, you guys. I can't believe this happened this year and I still can't believe I'm living in a post-RDJ world. Thank you Cheska, the universe, Singapore, and PAL for letting me experience this. Like I said, Infinity War was a huge event all on its own. Not pictured: 20,000+ steps on my FitBit from that day. Powerful, powerful stuff.
Netflix
Okay, we're back to our regularly scheduled typography.
Netflix really changed everything this year! We got rid of our cable subscription, we invested more in a good Internet connection (wha' ha' happened PLDT), and we started watching RPRD haha. It's so interesting to me that Netflix uses prevalence in culture as a metric for success instead of the usual numbers, but hey, it seems they're doing something right!
Like many others, this graphic was more of a product of my imagination and seeing where clicking around took me than the product of any specific tutorial. I quite like how it turned out!
Brooklyn Nine-Nine renewal
I'd been watching B99 since it first came out, stopped for two seasons, and started catching up right before Fox canceled it, so I was extra invested when it happened. I'm glad NBC picked it up and am super glad a bunch of celebrities came out to defend its honor! I'm looking at you, Guillermo Del Toro! It felt a lot like everyone came together and fun and just cause.
Link to typography tutorial (Intermediate level). This is one of my favorite graphics I made because it's so ridiculously dissonant and it was so much fun to do! It's a little confusing because of the layer orders but the end product is so satisfying. If you're gonna try this, I recommend keeping the kerning a little bit loose so you have room for the flour to spread. So fun.
Avengers Endgame and Captain Marvel
These take the 1 and 2 positions for this because I'm dreading Endgame about as much as I'm excited for Captain Marvel!!! I already feel like an emotional mess and I'm going to need a Very Strong Support System because I am 150% sure I will Not Be Okay after Endgame. For CM, I can still kind of forget the horror and pain Infinity War caused, but Endgame will be kind of... it will be messy.
Again for the typography, I kind of just downloaded fonts and tried to play with them. I dunno. It's cute though!
Lion King
I'm excited for all the Disney remakes, sure, but I'm hella excited for Lion King! Give me Donald Glover! Give me Beyonce! Give me parrot-looking John Oliver finally playing a beak-y bird! I already stan this movie.
Link to typography tutorial (Beginner level). I thought this was a fun and simple little effect to do, with such satisfying results! I definitely recommend it to everyone who wants to get into the Photoshop thing. Use Helvetica Neue if you have it!
That's it! I wanted to post my 29 Moves I've Failed To Review post before this, but it's February 2019 and the window of time I have before this gets embarrassing is a little bit short. That list should come next though, and maybe an Endgame breakdown if I'm feeling up to it! Happy (Chinese, at this point LOL) New Year, everyone! ♥
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