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        <title><![CDATA[Stories by Dionisius Kartalaksana on Medium]]></title>
        <description><![CDATA[Stories by Dionisius Kartalaksana on Medium]]></description>
        <link>https://medium.com/@dionisiusk?source=rss-9879736e9230------2</link>
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            <title>Stories by Dionisius Kartalaksana on Medium</title>
            <link>https://medium.com/@dionisiusk?source=rss-9879736e9230------2</link>
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            <title><![CDATA[Visual Storytelling for Animation: Where to Start]]></title>
            <link>https://medium.com/@dionisiusk/visual-storytelling-for-animation-where-to-start-4f697782366?source=rss-9879736e9230------2</link>
            <guid isPermaLink="false">https://medium.com/p/4f697782366</guid>
            <category><![CDATA[3d-design]]></category>
            <category><![CDATA[design-process]]></category>
            <category><![CDATA[creative]]></category>
            <category><![CDATA[animation]]></category>
            <category><![CDATA[design-thinking]]></category>
            <dc:creator><![CDATA[Dionisius Kartalaksana]]></dc:creator>
            <pubDate>Sun, 20 Sep 2020 17:55:25 GMT</pubDate>
            <atom:updated>2020-09-21T17:50:16.846Z</atom:updated>
            <content:encoded><![CDATA[<h3>Creating Visuals That Relate to Audience</h3><p>Language is more than words. A story begins with the foundation of language, a structure of written and spoken words. As a creative, I believe language is way more than that — it is a way of communicating a single idea, certain topic or issue to life not just in words but in visuals as well. It is said that the human brain processes images <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/3035856/why-were-more-likely-to-remember-content-with-images-and-video-infogr">60,000 times</a> faster than text, and 90 percent of information transmitted to the brain is visual. When we are communicating a story or an idea, visual language may be one of the most important languages of them all.</p><iframe src="https://cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fembed%2FL5dTgIvGnkM%3Ffeature%3Doembed&amp;display_name=YouTube&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DL5dTgIvGnkM&amp;image=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FL5dTgIvGnkM%2Fhqdefault.jpg&amp;key=a19fcc184b9711e1b4764040d3dc5c07&amp;type=text%2Fhtml&amp;schema=youtube" width="854" height="480" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"><a href="https://medium.com/media/044e486ba77def3839db8e44b052e997/href">https://medium.com/media/044e486ba77def3839db8e44b052e997/href</a></iframe><p>Just like any conversation, creating design or animation is no different than conversing with people.</p><p>As a creative, I create visual language that has to resonate with the audience.</p><p>In this article, I will break down the thought process that I usually go through in designing for an animation campaign.</p><p>This is an important process early on in the creative process and it will be the anchor for the creative decisions ahead.</p><h3><strong>CREATING A PERSONA OF THE AUDIENCE</strong></h3><figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*0LcUb4jqc_voQ7gack8-1A.png" /></figure><p>Before anything else, the first important thing is to know our audience. Creating a persona that represents most of the audience will help to gain clarity on the targeted audience.</p><p>This is a little exercise that I discovered to be an anchor, helping me stay on track in directing a spot.</p><p>I usually like to do a small exercise to define the ideal audience after knowing the objectives.</p><p>I like to think of it like an ‘avatar’ of my audience.</p><p>Creating an avatar means getting a clear idea of an ideal audience specifically in terms of the age, gender, occupations, the challenges he/she is facing and what his/her goals are.</p><p>This is a simple way to work out an avatar which will represent our main targeted group of audience.</p><p>Who is this person? It is always a good idea to create an ‘avatar’ of an audience in mind. Who is actually going to watch my animation? This is a quick example of the ‘avatar’ of my audience profile for the project. The avatar will represent most of the target audience:</p><blockquote><strong>NAME</strong>: Bryan<br><strong>NATIONALITY</strong>: Singaporean<br><strong>AGE</strong>: 35 Years Old<br><strong>OCCUPATION</strong>: An engineer<br><strong>ABOUT</strong>: A family man. He has 2 children. He is curious, detail oriented, he loves to read.<br>He is concerned about what’s ahead for his children. He is wondering if the government is supporting the development of his children.<br><strong>OBJECTIVE (Bryan’s response after watching the animation):</strong> Awareness — He will be entertained, at the same time be informed/aware of what the government is doing for his children’s future.</blockquote><p><strong>NAME, GENDER, AGE</strong><br>The audience name or gender will be the first step for me to visualise who this person is. Defining the name and gender will usually create a stronger understanding with my audience. For this project, our target audience could be both male and female. So, I decided to just create either one which is a male avatar for the audience.</p><p><strong>NATIONALITY/GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION</strong><br>A nationality or geographic location of the avatar will play an important role in this case to make sure what we create will be relatable to Bryan. Where he stays, where he grows up or works, etc. This is a piece of information that will be useful in creating the visuals that could relate to Bryan.</p><p><strong>ABOUT: CHALLENGES AND GOALS</strong><br>This is the scenario I create about Bryan based on the project requirements and objectives. The two things to highlight are Bryan’s challenges and goals. I usually ask myself what Bryan faces everyday despite the good job he has. What could be his motivation beyond his day job? He might be wondering if there is more for him to look forward to in the future, what the government is planning that will have a direct impact in his work and life.</p><p>I imagine Bryan to be a friend of mine who happened to be having a chat over a coffee. His concerns are voiced out to me and I will have to gather as much information to answer his doubts in the form of animation. This part of information is useful in the message and visuals that will be crafted in the animation.</p><h3><strong>VISUAL DECISIONS BASED ON THE PERSONA</strong></h3><p>Once I define an ideal avatar of my audience, I will then continue with the process of creation. Pretty visuals are just the tip of the iceberg. What we are doing now is to look below, into more depth of it. Our visuals must say something to them. When we were tasked, we were given an initial drawing from the advertising agency on how the overall set might look like. Our job was to look deeper and further beyond pretty visuals, the sketch and layout.</p><figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*AFgJ-RoBZpIgCRJ5jxummw.jpeg" /><figcaption>The sketch that was handed to our team from the brief</figcaption></figure><p>This image below was our first take on the education and jobs related visual. Nothing significant was done and it was mostly blocks without any significant or relatable visuals.</p><figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/960/1*EnH9ztg8jh6eqeJIbk6n2A.png" /><figcaption>Early visual development in CGI</figcaption></figure><p>After doing such blocking in the visual, I would then think deeper in the lens of Bryan and myself conversing with him. What kind of environment did Bryan grow up with? What is he accustomed with?</p><figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*YuPMMyh6K2XQjw3wCDb81A.jpeg" /></figure><p>When I was thinking of such details, this is when I also go back into my own experience and memories that I can relate with Bryan. Something that speaks to me and him. Things that will connect me and him on the same level when he sees certain visuals so he can relate. This is more like creating a connection with a new friend we have just met, finding something in common so we can enjoy our conversation ahead. The places you’ve been near to his workplace or his house, that nice coffee just across the library. For instance, part of it is playground area or library. So I went through my own memory lane throughout 14 years in Singapore and tried to recall everything I remembered about playgrounds and the libraries I have seen in Singapore. After remembering those, I then tried to integrate those images in my mind into the visual that was going to be created with some twists of colors.</p><figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/960/1*EnH9ztg8jh6eqeJIbk6n2A.png" /></figure><figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/0*PESJeyYe3HxA1j5C" /><figcaption>The visual before (left) and after (right)</figcaption></figure><p>These are some examples to make a creative decision in creating visual language that communicates to our audience based on the background, environment and challenges that they are facing. I have seen these at some places that I am sure Bryan, as a Singaporean has seen them too. I decided on those objects of reference and added my own twist to them. The color, the way they are being arranged. Bryan will relate to the actual objects when he sees them, but he is now seeing them in a different flavor that could connect to his experiences.</p><p>This is how animation fills in the gap between challenges and goals of our audience. We can either create an awareness or challenge him in taking certain actions after watching it. I believe this applies to any form of communication we will be having with someone. How do you create your anchor when speaking to someone new?</p><img src="https://medium.com/_/stat?event=post.clientViewed&referrerSource=full_rss&postId=4f697782366" width="1" height="1" alt="">]]></content:encoded>
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            <title><![CDATA[Journaling — A Simple and Powerful Way to Get The Most Out of Your Day]]></title>
            <link>https://medium.com/@dionisiusk/journaling-a-simple-and-powerful-way-to-get-the-most-out-of-your-day-ccc283ab3a31?source=rss-9879736e9230------2</link>
            <guid isPermaLink="false">https://medium.com/p/ccc283ab3a31</guid>
            <category><![CDATA[productivity]]></category>
            <category><![CDATA[reflections]]></category>
            <category><![CDATA[creativity]]></category>
            <category><![CDATA[entrepreneurship]]></category>
            <category><![CDATA[self-improvement]]></category>
            <dc:creator><![CDATA[Dionisius Kartalaksana]]></dc:creator>
            <pubDate>Sat, 15 Aug 2020 16:14:11 GMT</pubDate>
            <atom:updated>2020-08-15T16:14:11.390Z</atom:updated>
            <content:encoded><![CDATA[<h3>Journaling — A Simple and Powerful Way to Get The Most Out of Your Day</h3><figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*M9mf7q4pFTue01SU6FVQIQ.png" /><figcaption>Image Source: <a href="http://stories.freepik.com/">Freepik Stories</a></figcaption></figure><blockquote>“Don’t merely go through your days — GET from your days.” — Jim Rohn</blockquote><p>This quote got me thinking on how I run my days. At times, I struggle to get my priorities checked and get things done according to those priorities. When there are a lot of things to do, so much information and content to be absorbed. Not to mention the plans I have, the sudden, unexpected calls from clients, colleagues or friends. It’s so easy to get overwhelmed by all the things that have happened throughout the day. Great ideas pass by so quickly and they are so easily forgotten.</p><h4>Knowing How to Capture The Knowledge</h4><p><a href="https://medium.com/@dionisiusk/3-things-to-do-in-setting-your-goals-f69cc796bc75">In the previous article</a>, I shared what I experienced in Jim Rohn’s first strategy for wealth and happiness. The second strategy to live a fulfilling life is knowing what information we need in order to achieve our aims. Not only knowing how to get the information, but also knowing how to capture them is very crucial.</p><p>Our experience can be a great source of value if we take the time to record them and ponder it and then turn it into something of value. The events of our life are some of the best sources of information.</p><blockquote>“It’s not what happens to a person that makes the difference in how his or her life turns out. Rather, it’s what he or she does with what happens determines the outcome.” — Jim Rohn</blockquote><figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*AL5ruDbfeE8rqJcU0LW7jA.png" /><figcaption>Image Source: <a href="http://stories.freepik.com/">Freepik Stories</a></figcaption></figure><p>When I fell into a depression and PTSD 9 years ago, things got really overwhelming. I couldn’t contain my thoughts and my emotions. My spiritual director taught me to write down all the things that I experienced during that time daily. And she mentioned the importance of keeping a journal to be in touch with our emotions and thoughts. More importantly, we will also be able to make them visible. Little did I know, it was such a powerful thing to be able to see our feelings, thoughts, aspirations and fears in writing. I realised the tremendous clarity they could give on how I had been navigating my life and how to go from there.</p><p>Up to this day, my way of journaling daily has evolved and become more intentional than before. I found great benefits of keeping this a daily habit. I do this every evening before going to sleep. The first thing I do is to close my eyes, replaying everything that has happened throughout the day from the moment I woke up. I then break them down into 4 main steps and this is my way of capturing knowledge and wisdom at the end of my daily activity:</p><ol><li><strong>THE GOOD</strong> — <strong><em>Writing all the good things that happened during that day, no matter how small</em></strong><br>Remembering every single detail, I will then start to notice all the good things that happened throughout the day; the look of it, the taste, the smell, the feelings. I will try to recall every single detail about all the good things. No matter how small it is, I will write them down. It could be the good food that I ate during the day, the texture, the taste, the color, the smell of the food. It could also be a simple greeting from an old friend that I appreciate that day. Or it could also be getting a new project that I love. It is surprising how much life has in store for us when we are being mindful about it.</li><li><strong>THE ‘BAD’ — <em>Writing all the things that did not go too well<br></em></strong>Aside from the good, I will try to recall the things that didn’t go well in my day. The unpleasant, painful things that might have happened throughout the day can teach me some lessons in getting to know myself better. And more often than not, I learn more from my failures as Jim Rohn mentioned, “failures are better teachers than successes.” If it was not for my depression, I wouldn’t have seen the importance of journaling in my daily life.</li><li><strong>TAKEAWAYS — <em>Writing all of the things I’ve learnt throughout the day<br></em></strong>Once I’ve listed down the good and the ‘bad’ throughout the day, I will then reflect based on the things I have written. What did I learn today from all the good things I received, my mistakes, my painful memories? Is there anything I should take note of? What do they teach me about? The moment I do this, sometimes a little bit of revelation about myself could happen. I got to know myself a little better.</li><li><strong>ACTION — <em>The plan for the next day</em><br></strong>I have had the good, the bad and what I’ve learned from them. The next thing to write is usually my intentions and what I am going to do about them for the next day. Is there anything I forgot or didn’t manage to finish up today? Are there additional things that built up from what I’ve done in the previous days? I will then list down all the things that I need to do for the next day. Listing down on what to do for the next day has been helping me to gain so much clarity about the direction I am going with a full awareness.</li></ol><p>Before I knew about the above steps, I used to scramble every morning with my racing thoughts with all the things that I intended to do for the day. My mind was unclear. However, my mind is much more calm in the evening and this is the best time to do some review, reflections and planning for the next day. There are urgent things on top of my mind and I will have more time to prepare because the plan is to do it the next day. I have a head start. As compared to planning in the next morning, that thing will most likely wait for another day.</p><p>I still struggle to accomplish what I planned the night before at times. But that’s okay because as long as I have them written down, it’s easier to keep track and make plans to catch up and re-prioritise on those.</p><p>I love to combine these steps in the awareness of a powerful meditative prayer taught by Ignatius Loyola back in 1522–1524, called <a href="https://www.ignatianspirituality.com/ignatian-prayer/the-examen/how-can-i-pray/">the Examen</a>. The Examen prayer has helped me to go deeper in discerning about my vision and purpose in life.</p><p>John C. Maxwell, said that <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siQwuDe07co">reflection will help us maximize the experience that we had</a>. In the second <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0761506160/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=0761506160&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=dionisiusk-20&amp;linkId=f47e1ea682b28f076f36b78105cbc677">strategy for wealth and happiness</a>, Jim Rohn also mentioned that in order to have a fulfilling life, learning how to capture knowledge is essential for tracking growth.</p><p>Try setting aside 10 – 15 minutes in the evening for today. You will be surprised how much life can give hints, knowledge and wisdom throughout the day.</p><p>Doing a daily journaling and reflection in capturing knowledge throughout the day is just like brushing teeth. We do not see the benefits just by doing it for only 2–3 days. But done over a period of time, we can then start to notice the great benefits of it.</p><p>Do you have your own way of capturing knowledge? I would love to hear some ideas.</p><img src="https://medium.com/_/stat?event=post.clientViewed&referrerSource=full_rss&postId=ccc283ab3a31" width="1" height="1" alt="">]]></content:encoded>
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        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[3 Things to do in Setting Your Goals]]></title>
            <link>https://medium.com/@dionisiusk/3-things-to-do-in-setting-your-goals-f69cc796bc75?source=rss-9879736e9230------2</link>
            <guid isPermaLink="false">https://medium.com/p/f69cc796bc75</guid>
            <category><![CDATA[business-development]]></category>
            <category><![CDATA[entrepreneurship]]></category>
            <category><![CDATA[personal-development]]></category>
            <category><![CDATA[self-improvement]]></category>
            <category><![CDATA[creativity]]></category>
            <dc:creator><![CDATA[Dionisius Kartalaksana]]></dc:creator>
            <pubDate>Wed, 05 Aug 2020 04:03:52 GMT</pubDate>
            <atom:updated>2020-08-05T04:03:52.265Z</atom:updated>
            <content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*jHbgmgpFhlES5SfYTUDV-w.jpeg" /><figcaption>photo created by <a href="http://freepik.com/">freepik</a></figcaption></figure><p><em>“Without dreams and vision, we perish.”</em></p><p>The Book of Proverbs in the Bible resonates so strongly when I reflect on it.</p><p>That couldn’t be more true. The pandemic gives me opportunities to reflect on my goals that I set for myself throughout the years. One of the books that helped me was <a href="https://amzn.to/39XLlyM">Jim Rohn’s 7 Strategies for Wealth and Happiness</a>. The first of the 7 strategies is about making goals work for you.</p><p>Jim Rohn said, “Our goals will affect almost everything you do all day long. Your handshake, manner, tone of your voice, dressing, the way you feel — all will change once you have goals. Because your goals matter, everything you do becomes related to their accomplishment.”</p><p><strong>MAKING GOALS WORK FOR YOU</strong></p><p>For goals to really move you, to take charge of your life, they must be worthy. And to have it transform you, you have to set them high. These are the 3 things I picked up from the books and relate them back to the goals I’ve set for myself.</p><ol><li><strong>Set Them High Enough to Reach to Cause You to Grow and Stretch<br></strong>I used to be (and still am at times) a very reserved person when it is about dealing with people. I was so shy and I couldn’t talk to anyone when I was a child. I remember always running into my bedroom whenever there was a guest coming to our house. And when they looked for me, I pretended to be asleep to avoid conversations with them. I prefer to be closed to just 2 to 3 friends in school and I could not mix well in big groups. When I decided that I wanted to have my own animation studio, I knew that this had to change. I had to constantly learn as many things along the way. Not only how to create good design and animation, but I also realised that more importantly, I had to develop communication, organisational skills along the way. Being an introvert, it was always a dreadful challenge to deal with people. I was fortunate that my parents signed me up for many Church organisational activities in teenage years. I did not know how those activities could help me back then. It was a hard process for an introvert to get used to this. It took me a while to appreciate what my parents put me through not just into good education, but also soft skills that I needed to hone by running organisations. Even during my university, I struggled to get myself active in some campus organisations but I knew I needed to stretch myself in leadership skills aside from all the hard skills that I learned. Having a goal of having my company one day has helped me to be aware and stretch myself of honing my soft skills and many other necessary skills constantly.</li><li><strong>Set Them High Enough to Excite Your Imagination and Motivate You to Action</strong><br>When I was about to board on a plane back to Singapore during my university days, a middle-aged man came to initiate a conversation with me asking the usual question when someone is bored at the airport, “Are you studying in Singapore?”. Knowing that I am an Indonesian who studied in Singapore, he then said something that I always remember till today, “Don’t get too carried away once you have started working there and remember to give back to the country where you came from. We need you here.” It’s funny how a random conversation with a stranger could have an impact in shaping my goal. His words got me thinking constantly on how I could actually give back to Indonesians who did not have the same opportunity as I did. It gave me a clearer perspective throughout the years on having a goal that has clarity, evolve and excite me. That moment gave me the idea to establish an office in Indonesia. That goal of having my own company evolved to an even worthier one when I realised that this too could benefit others. I could share the opportunities I was given to be involved in some of the international projects with Indonesian artists and designers who had the talent but did not get any opportunity. That gave me an even greater sense of purpose in doing what I do today. I have that stranger uncle to thank for!</li><li><strong>Don’t Set Too Far Beyond That You’ll Lose Heart Before You Begin</strong><br>It seemed ambitious during my teenage years when I dreamt of having my own company in Singapore. It got even more exciting and overwhelming at the same time when I imagined to have teams both in Singapore and Indonesia. How was I supposed to achieve that?<br>Desmond Tutu once wisely said that, <em>“there is only one way to eat an elephant: a bite at a time.”</em> What he meant by this is that everything in life that seems too overwhelming, and even impossible can be accomplished gradually by taking on just a little at a time. We can set the goals as high as we can but we have to be able to dissect them into easy, actionable steps today. Yes, today. The moment I knew that I wanted to start a company, the easiest step back then was to buy books on entrepreneurship and business, getting some ideas on how the business world looks like. Start on the smallest step and build upon it.</li></ol><p><strong>TRUE PURPOSE OF GOALS</strong></p><p>However, the real value in goals is not the achievement of things, but who you have and will become in the process.</p><p>During our conversation with Aditya Triantoro, he shared that the true joy of his success is not in the result itself. It was in the process of attaining his success with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCV2jNjJEtO0Hr3b1Es3xPJg">Nussa</a>.</p><p>In setting a goal to have my own company, the true value is not the company itself but in the skills to communicate better, manage my time wisely, and be a better leader in attaining that. It’s the experience I learn in planning and developing the strategies needed, as well as the inner strength to have enough courage, commitment and willpower to make it happen.</p><p>Jim Rohn continued to say that the real value in goals is not the achievement, but who you will become in the process. The acquisition of the things you want is strictly secondary.</p><blockquote>“The major reason for setting goals is to compel you to become the person it takes to achieve them.” — Jim Rohn</blockquote><p>He said the greatest value of becoming a millionaire is not in the millions of dollars but in the skills, knowledge, discipline, and leadership qualities you’ll develop in reaching that elevated status. It’s the experience you’ll acquire in planning and developing strategies.</p><p><strong>What kind of person will you have to become to get all you want? <br></strong>Write down the kinds of skills you’ll need to develop and the knowledge you’ll need to gain. The answers will give new goals for personal development.</p><img src="https://medium.com/_/stat?event=post.clientViewed&referrerSource=full_rss&postId=f69cc796bc75" width="1" height="1" alt="">]]></content:encoded>
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        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Finding The Work and Life We Love]]></title>
            <link>https://medium.com/@dionisiusk/finding-the-work-and-life-we-love-df36901a9031?source=rss-9879736e9230------2</link>
            <guid isPermaLink="false">https://medium.com/p/df36901a9031</guid>
            <category><![CDATA[careers]]></category>
            <category><![CDATA[life]]></category>
            <category><![CDATA[self-improvement]]></category>
            <category><![CDATA[business]]></category>
            <category><![CDATA[work]]></category>
            <dc:creator><![CDATA[Dionisius Kartalaksana]]></dc:creator>
            <pubDate>Sun, 17 May 2020 09:55:37 GMT</pubDate>
            <atom:updated>2020-08-03T18:59:19.269Z</atom:updated>
            <content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*JzmFQ8iZd_mZKh7KjrhInw.jpeg" /><figcaption>Image taken from <a href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/arts-and-crafts-child-close-up-color-159579/">Pixabay</a></figcaption></figure><p>What makes you weird as a kid?</p><p>The things that make you weird as a kid make you great today (James Victore)</p><p>Your mom used to nag at you for playing too much video games?<br>Your friends called you a bookworm when you prefer staying home to snuggle and read your favourite books rather than a social hangout?<br>You had an unusually loud voices that your friends always made fun of?<br>You had a weird obsession with insects, stones, plants, marbles, etc?</p><p>Those are some examples of what shaped us into who we are today for better or worse.</p><p>The things we did when we were kids could affect us in many ways today whether we realise it or not. They can even make you great today if you manage to connect the dots. They can shape you into a character that is uniquely you, living a fulfilling life the way you want it to be.</p><p>Bad habits are no longer called bad if you can make them into actionable steps that could lead you to your passion, career, vocation or mission. Ultimately, personality that is uniquely you. Something that is only reserved for you in this world.</p><p>My parents used to worry so much when I was a kid, especially when I played hours of video games when I was young. Even when my friends came over during school holiday, we would continue playing even longer hours. Most of the time, I would prefer to stay home to either read my books or play my games at home rather than going out to socialise with my friend.</p><p>Aside from their worries, being typical Asian parents who wanted their kids to excel in many things, they enrolled me to many extra courses after school, such as soccer, tennis, taekwondo, swim club, piano, guitar, painting, table tennis and the list goes on. I picked those up in different ages and stages of life. I realised that some of those skills are still with me all this while. Some evolved into career. Some were reacquired as my hobbies or leisure.</p><figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*fZ2i7qbBzNkgRTNUhVKP5Q.jpeg" /><figcaption>My very first oil painting attempt in 1996</figcaption></figure><p>One of the extra courses that sticked with me very dearly was painting lesson that I was enrolled every weekend. I remember skipping my meal times just to polish up a small area of details in my paintings. I also ended up in a few painting competitions and contests back then.</p><p>By playing lots of video games and watching lots of cartoons, I picked up interest in visuals throughout as I grew up wondering how those beautifully made games were being made. I then started to learn digital softwares such as Photoshop, Macromedia Flash, Corel Draw, and I eventually landed a few freelance projects in creating montage video for birthday events when I was 15 years old. I enjoyed doing those very much, I could spend hours or even not sleeping during weekends just to experiment and finish up the videos that I made. My fascination of the software’s features blends in well with some artistic skills I’ve learnt during art and painting courses.</p><figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*fNsXjjoGI9YbpShXsgfBgQ.jpeg" /></figure><figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/0*LE1vVgYyQ7vlCjYO" /><figcaption>I am always fascinated with the beauty of mountain sceneries in Indonesia and I can now see how it has always been reflected in both my paintings or digital arts.</figcaption></figure><p>Enjoying to do a lot of those during my holidays and after school hours, I realised that it would be great if this could be my career. I could earn money by doing what I am interested in. That interest lead me further to pursue a career in the creative industry. Not to mention that I was fascinated by a lot of animated 3D movies during that time.</p><p>Learning musical instruments such as piano and guitar for a while helped me to read at least some basic musical notes, chords and I can play some basic guitar. Basic and barely good enough to play it for my girlfriend on her birthday. Or some of the other occasions, to play during small community gatherings. Not too bad. Some people can also use my help in basic, barely good music skills.</p><p>Another thing to keep things in balance is the swimming lessons when I was 12. I did the swimming lessons for only about a year. This is another hobby that I reacquired as it has been the greatest sport escapade for me. It brings me a lot of tranquility through stressful times when I swim.</p><p>I have come to realise that I am the combination of all the ‘weird’ things when I was a kid. Some people saw that hours of playing video games were very bad when I was a kid. Some told me I should go out more and socialise when I prefer to be reading books, watching cartoons or playing video games at home.</p><p>I can now call myself a geek, artist, designer, (almost) a musician, a professional swimmer wannabe.</p><p>Those things aren’t bad after all only if you are able to connect the dots and make something out of them. The things that you loved doing as a kid will make you who you are today and it can lead to your passion, your calling, most importantly to your unique self.</p><p>This is a beautiful, ever growing process in life. This will go on as long as you do not stop learning and discover new things.</p><p>So, you can start going back the memory lane, look back at yourself when you were a kid. What did you love doing back then? Do you still love doing those? Have you continued or stopped doing? What is stopping you?</p><figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*pG1SDxchmIScWVYi0mbFzg.png" /></figure><p>Some of them could be your hobbies, vocations, missions, career, passion, or even a dream business when you are able to connect these dots. The Ikigai diagram and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B5nQiX5pXi6/">Thefutur post</a> could help you map out some of those.</p><p>During this extraordinary time, it could be a good opportunity to look at who we were, what we are currently doing and what we would like to become.</p><img src="https://medium.com/_/stat?event=post.clientViewed&referrerSource=full_rss&postId=df36901a9031" width="1" height="1" alt="">]]></content:encoded>
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            <title><![CDATA[Get Up, Dress Up and Show Up for Life]]></title>
            <link>https://medium.com/@dionisiusk/get-up-dress-up-and-show-up-for-life-4d5f62c5cef2?source=rss-9879736e9230------2</link>
            <guid isPermaLink="false">https://medium.com/p/4d5f62c5cef2</guid>
            <category><![CDATA[growth]]></category>
            <category><![CDATA[personal-development]]></category>
            <category><![CDATA[perseverance]]></category>
            <category><![CDATA[life]]></category>
            <category><![CDATA[consistency]]></category>
            <dc:creator><![CDATA[Dionisius Kartalaksana]]></dc:creator>
            <pubDate>Tue, 27 Aug 2019 14:50:07 GMT</pubDate>
            <atom:updated>2019-08-27T15:15:35.621Z</atom:updated>
            <content:encoded><![CDATA[<h3>Get Up, Dress Up, and Show Up for Life</h3><p><em>A Little Reflection on Perseverance</em></p><figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*EvYuOnGXbL5IVMyNSc0bmw.jpeg" /></figure><p>As I was traveling in Kobe, I saw this big spinning ferris wheel at Harborland. Paying attention to one of the cabins, it went up to the highest point. And not too long after, it was at its lowest position. So then it continued till the whole ferris wheel stopped.</p><p>Our life is just like one of the cabins. At one point, we are at the top, another time we will be helpless at the bottom. What matters most is our attitude towards it regardless of where we are.</p><p>I’ve come to learn that my business, important relationships and other things exist till today because I show up no matter how I feel on the good and bad days, rain or shine.</p><p><strong>The business that has been up and running for the past 4 years. </strong><br>I know 4 years is not a long time for someone to say much about running a business. But I have learnt a great deal of character building, consistency and perseverance. Getting into the wrong projects and ended up losing money, working with the wrong people, working extra nights and weekends, impossible deadlines, difficult clients, not taking enough salaries to live below my means. I have had these bad days to name a few. I still do and will always do along the journey. On those bad days, I am tempted to call off work and not showing up. However, I have also noticed that the best work, great business deals, great talents, good solutions and the brightest ideas sometimes happen during those bad days when I almost feel like giving up.</p><p><strong>The true friends that stay on since childhood no matter where they are.</strong><br>On normal days, I will randomly call my childhood friends who live in different countries. I call them without any agenda, nothing to talk about. We ended up talking about our lives and secrets for more than 2 hours. They were the people that I sometimes fought and argued with countless times early in my childhood. And here we are, sharing our lives in the most authentic way for the longest time in my life. I am certain that they are my friends for life.</p><p>These two things remind me of a chapter from a book I read a while ago by Regina Brett about showing up and giving our best in life regardless of how good or bad it is today.</p><blockquote>“No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.”</blockquote><p><strong>Get up:</strong> The first battle in life is as simple as getting up from bed in the morning and it’s super difficult when times are tough. Face the day vertical, instead of surrendering horizontally.</p><p><strong>Dress up:</strong> As soon as I’ve gotten up, taking a morning shower and putting on clothes from head to toe triggers new hope. That’s why even in the poorest countries, women adorn themselves with bright scarves, colourful beads, and glittering shells.</p><p><strong>Show up:</strong> To be able to achieve results in any aspect of life, be it at work, relationship, or service to others; I’ve learnt that we have to do the best we can. And our best varies from day to day. Doing our best today might not even be good enough. But if we show up, we’ve done the best we can do today.</p><p>If that’s all we do in the olympics of life, we are a success. Getting up earns us a bronze medal. Dressing up gives us the silver. Showing up wins us the gold. Once we do these 3 things, anything can happen.</p><p>Our cabin will soon rise up to the top and go down again before we know it. No matter where we are, get up, dress up, and show up for life.</p><img src="https://medium.com/_/stat?event=post.clientViewed&referrerSource=full_rss&postId=4d5f62c5cef2" width="1" height="1" alt="">]]></content:encoded>
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            <title><![CDATA[The Power of Personal Projects]]></title>
            <link>https://medium.com/@dionisiusk/the-power-of-personal-projects-2c119865f8b8?source=rss-9879736e9230------2</link>
            <guid isPermaLink="false">https://medium.com/p/2c119865f8b8</guid>
            <dc:creator><![CDATA[Dionisius Kartalaksana]]></dc:creator>
            <pubDate>Thu, 23 Jul 2015 17:34:54 GMT</pubDate>
            <atom:updated>2015-10-08T08:07:47.190Z</atom:updated>
            <cc:license>http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</cc:license>
            <content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*ceWchg0D_RRtY5pUV2i_BA.jpeg" /><figcaption>Geometric Sunset: One of The Art Prints for Personal Project</figcaption></figure><h4>When and Why?</h4><p>Five years ago, I was so excited about starting my career in 3D Motion Graphics, creating TV Commercials and all kinds of promo videos for brands, thinking that it was cool to have some of my works used by some of big brands on the television and social media platforms. Sometimes they screened them on big screens, billboards and those giant screens at Orchard road. It was a pretty awesome feeling.</p><figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1000/1*6n2mLiTc08dHzfu0ASqYWQ.jpeg" /><figcaption>Galaxy in The Jar. A result of daydreaming when I was walking to grab my lunch.</figcaption></figure><p>After a while, I started to feel that the ideas revolved around the same process. There was a certain pattern that always happens in the process of creation. It all started to feel the same and I didn’t feel much of the excitement anymore. I was wondering why and looked closer into the process of making those videos. There was actually a lot of bouncing ideas back and forth with agencies, clients, their bosses, etc. throughout the process. That killed my excitement over time when I got some of these replies:</p><blockquote><strong>“It looks great, but I don’t think it’s suitable for the project at the moment.”</strong></blockquote><blockquote><strong>“Let’s just stick with our brief and give them the safest bet. I think our CEO would not prefer to go too far with this.”</strong></blockquote><blockquote><strong>“We love your idea, but I think we should just follow this </strong>(..insert some cliché TV Commercials that have been done over and over again..)<strong> closely as our reference.”</strong></blockquote><blockquote><strong>“We would like to go with the safer option you guys provided earlier.”</strong></blockquote><blockquote><strong>“Can you do something like this but change it to our corporate colors?”</strong></blockquote><p>These are the words that creative people face every single day. Sometimes great ideas are lost in the midst of all the discussions, clients’ business policies, systems, egos and all of other things throughout the process of creation. When the final result is out, we sometimes say,</p><blockquote><strong>“Oh well, it could’ve been done better if …..”,</strong></blockquote><blockquote><strong>“The initial concept was a hundred times better than this. Such a waste.”</strong></blockquote><p>Familiar?</p><p>Commercial projects have to be done in such a way to suit clients’ business. And sometimes they know better how to reach to their customers. There will definitely be restrictions of what can be done.</p><p>As a young creative person facing a lot of these everyday, a lot of my visual ideas were being rejected or morphed into something else to suit client’s requirements. I came to realise that all of those are not my idea anymore. Sometimes the final outcome looked so much different from the initial plan and I hated myself after seeing it.</p><p>I asked myself, “why do I need people’s permission to create something? I can actually just do it myself and invent my own projects.”</p><figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*fNhb3GxhtXbD9kChYc_u9Q.jpeg" /></figure><figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*SgeaVwmslBckQhzOPX_6nQ.jpeg" /></figure><figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*QEHPKrCcdgBkszP_FMd8pQ.jpeg" /><figcaption>Some stills inspired by Pixar’s Short Film, La Luna (2nd from the left) and Pacific Rim title sequence (3rd from the left)</figcaption></figure><figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*32PqpXuQJJiiKpcovqWTvQ.jpeg" /></figure><figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*rtiunx4LUJjiSDifOKDtJw.jpeg" /><figcaption>Some of the images from 2013 personal projects when I started off to do 2–3 design frames weekly.</figcaption></figure><p>So I decided to start my self-initiated projects after my day job. It was a small start by just doing one image every 2–3 days. I sometimes participated in online events like GSG <a href="https://vimeo.com/58332578">5Seconds project</a>. Those images I created every 2–3 days were slowly becoming a daily habit for me. After 3 years of doing it, I decided to put them on a better platform. I bought a domain and created a professional website dedicated for my personal works. <a href="http://www.onehourgallery.com/">One Hour Gallery</a> was then born.</p><figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*WpJUWoNsxpfbUolv7B2Lmg.jpeg" /></figure><figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*vpGPgEwag1eP5ISB2CKWiA.jpeg" /><figcaption>“Paperworld”. I participated in 5 seconds project, an online contest by Greyscalegorilla</figcaption></figure><iframe src="https://cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?src=https%3A%2F%2Fplayer.vimeo.com%2Fvideo%2F58332578&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fvimeo.com%2F58332578&amp;image=http%3A%2F%2Fi.vimeocdn.com%2Fvideo%2F404803107_1280.jpg&amp;key=d04bfffea46d4aeda930ec88cc64b87c&amp;type=text%2Fhtml&amp;schema=vimeo" width="1280" height="720" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"><a href="https://medium.com/media/943835514d74ebfff6b772547184d01c/href">https://medium.com/media/943835514d74ebfff6b772547184d01c/href</a></iframe><h4>Some of The Perks of Personal Projects</h4><p>To sum it up, I tried to reflect on what I have learnt by committing my time to my passion project</p><ul><li><strong>Sharing my passion, connecting to people through my art:</strong> The first year I completed, I finally put it up online on Tumblr to update it daily and interact with people on the internet. I got to interact with people from different industries, asking about things. Being able to share with them is a pretty rewarding feeling too! Here are some friendly conversations that happened. Little sparks of motivation to keep going.</li></ul><figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/544/1*-BGMhViKSoEwY50_WprsVw.png" /></figure><figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/675/1*DsFxp-lAIvuXtRX6CeHclQ.png" /></figure><ul><li><strong>People start to discover my works:</strong> Some friends and people stumbled upon <a href="http://www.onehourgallery.com/">One Hour Gallery</a> and they ask me about it. Some are willing to pay me for commissioned projects using the style they found on the website.</li><li><strong>Keeping My Ego in Check: </strong>Doing my own projects after my day job has been keeping my ego in check, by not being too attached to my commercial works when they are rejected by clients. I would simply listen to them, asking them what they prefer and tell myself, “I’m going to make this rejected ideas into my personal project instead and do whatever I want at home later. No judgement!” In fact, it has been therapeutic as well.</li><li><strong>A Few Cups of Coffee:</strong> I managed to sell small numbers of them as<a href="http://society6.com/dionisiusk"> art prints and laptop covers online</a>. A couple of Starbucks cups from personal project earning is pretty rewarding after all.</li></ul><figure><a href="https://www.snupped.com/sg/u/onehourgallery?section=spacecase"><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/546/1*5iWSilNS3gmsMLx-BkUlVA.png" /></a></figure><figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/580/1*Q5SyeAZreABi8MhSJbDwCA.png" /><figcaption>Some of the prints I sell online.</figcaption></figure><figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*aCE6O8CVUGj_9tySHqQPkQ.jpeg" /><figcaption>“A ship in the sky.” I got this idea when I was on the plane. I got down and I knew I had to do it immediately.</figcaption></figure><figure><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*mhum40TwBo4b3A2tWYOCXg.jpeg" /><figcaption>“A beach in the can. You can beach anytime.” A piece made prior to my summer holiday.</figcaption></figure><ul><li><strong>Personal and commercial projects compliment each other: </strong>I used to think that personal and commercial works are two very different things and could not be integrated. But I have learnt that they actually compliment each other in the creative process. I learnt how to keep the balance between injecting my own creative voice and client’s requirements into commercial projects.</li></ul><figure><a href="https://www.behance.net/gallery/10463421/Extraordinary-JennyJones"><img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*eAUaDH007ovuUMFFQaUpVQ.jpeg" /></a><figcaption>Commercial project in 2013. This has been one of my favourite projects because of the freedom given by the awesome client and the boss.</figcaption></figure><ul><li><strong>Adding value to my works:</strong> Personal projects teach me how to add a little bit of my character into commercial works (my choice of colors, design languages that I use, etc.) Commercial projects usually have very tight deadlines. They teach me to be more efficient in time management and communicating my ideas in my personal projects so that people understand what I am trying to say.</li><li><strong>Get things done and better each day:</strong> I have made this project a priority as a way of keeping a visual journal, working on my craft by taking one small step each day and telling myself, “Not that good, but I know I will get better tomorrow.”</li></ul><p>Here are a few links to articles and talks from some of the great creative professionals on the power of personal projects:</p><ul><li><a href="http://www.beeple-crap.com/">Beeple — Everydays</a>: Beeple, a great artist and designer that sparked my interest to start my own passion projects. He gave this super inspiring and funny talk at FITC.</li></ul><iframe src="https://cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?src=https%3A%2F%2Fplayer.vimeo.com%2Fvideo%2F125524216%3Fapp_id%3D122963&amp;dntp=1&amp;display_name=Vimeo&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fvimeo.com%2F125524216&amp;image=https%3A%2F%2Fi.vimeocdn.com%2Fvideo%2F695154454_1280.jpg&amp;key=a19fcc184b9711e1b4764040d3dc5c07&amp;type=text%2Fhtml&amp;schema=vimeo" width="1920" height="1080" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"><a href="https://medium.com/media/aedb56e735e5ae24b7f61ef9f660372e/href">https://medium.com/media/aedb56e735e5ae24b7f61ef9f660372e/href</a></iframe><ul><li><a href="http://99u.com/workbook/39253/your-just-for-fun-projects-are-what-sets-you-apart">Your &quot;Just For Fun&quot; Projects Are What Set You Apart</a></li><li><a href="http://99u.com/videos/6231/ji-lee-the-transformative-power-of-personal-projects">Ji Lee: The Transformative Power of Personal Projects</a></li></ul><p>Do you have something you have been working on or wish to create? I would be happy to hear more about yours. Drop me an <a href="http://onehourgallery.com/contact">email</a> and let’s share the excitement or even collaborate on something!</p><img src="https://medium.com/_/stat?event=post.clientViewed&referrerSource=full_rss&postId=2c119865f8b8" width="1" height="1" alt="">]]></content:encoded>
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