etch

etchbook.com is undergoing constant changes for the next few weeks. things may look uncoordinated, links may not work and images may not load.

bear with us as we find the perfect look for our website!

cheers and beers,
geri and joe

my workspace is strewn with pens, books, electrical appliances, magazines, dog hair, CDs, random receipts and dirt. but one thing that struck me today was how i have a growing collection of sketchbooks. half-used, brand new, completely used up… you name it.

it is obvious that one really needs only one sketchbook at a time but having a variety of books to reach out to for different occasions and locations (for being too much of a bum to walk to the “main” sketchbook 2 metres away) is the closest thing to heaven for illustrators.

leaving a trail of ink or lead behind on a textured piece of paper evokes emotions you don’t get when you design something on the computer. the smell of paper, how each piece of paper guides your pen along differently, facing a world of endless possibilities when you flip to a fresh page, being able to express yourself in your secret world without being judged… sketchbooks are just awesome.

part of my collection

the white sketchbook on the right and the two brown ones closest to it are from chengdu, china. they came in a cheap crinkly transparent wrap (you can spot it in the photo) which i haven’t seen in ages back home. makes the whole experience of opening up a new sketchbook even more exciting.

everyone needs a moleskine and i bought myself one in tanzania at an exorbitant price with no regrets. the pages are sometimes too precious for me to doodle on. i also own a moleskine replica of a larger size but the quality of the paper and book cover is just sub-standard. nothing beats a moleskine.

for etch’s work, joe and i like to doodle a little on paper before translating them into digital art. our sketchbooks also double as notebooks when we have our discussions over coffee at (where else but) starbucks. yea, these little booklets of paper are pretty much indispensable to us.

we could be showcasing some of our sketches on our etchbook really soon. our website is also undergoing a major facelift right now. it’ll take some time but i think it is going to be something joe and i will be extremely proud of.

do stay tuned.

- geri

etch’s preface has been updated!

(for now)

we need an etch mould.

asap.

loft had a soft opening from 1pm to 10pm at 34 haji lane level 2 today and in our opinion, it was a pretty good start. i was there several times in the day and there was a constant stream of people at the boutique. in fact, at one point the queue at the changing room snaked half way across the room!

thanks to the friends of etch who came down to bring some cheer to the opening even though etch only played a small role in it. in fact, we are hardly even launched! hope to see you guys coming back and spreading the news about us as well.

special mention goes to Li for his surprising basket of flowers! lol. u da best.

congrats to deneng on the success of loft. to a great partnership!

Fairytale

Cinderella’s on her bedroom floor
She’s got a crush on the guy at the liquor store
Cause Mr. Charming don’t come home anymore
And she forgets why she came here
Sleeping Beauty’s in a foul mood
For shame she says
None for you dear prince, I’m tired today
I’d rather sleep my whole life away than have you keep me from dreaming

’cause I don’t care for your fairytales
You’re so worried about the maiden though you know
She’s only waiting on the next best thing

Snow White is doing dishes again cause
What else can you do
With seven itty-bitty men?
Sends them to bed and calls up a friend
Says will you meet me at midnight?
The tall blonde lets out a cry of despair says
Would have cut it myself if I knew men could climb hair
I’ll have to find another tower somewhere and keep away from the windows

Once upon a time in a faraway kingdom
Man made up a story said that I should believe him
Go and tell your white knight that he’s handsome in hindsight
But I don’t want the next best thing
So I sing and hold my head down and I break these walls round me
Can’t take no more of your fairytale love

I don’t care
I don’t care
Worry bout the maiden though you know
She’s only waiting spent the whole life being graded on the sanctity of patience and a dumb
Appreciation
But the story needs some mending and a better happy ending
Cause I don’t want the next best thing
No no I don’t want the next best thing

by Sara Bareilles

 click above for a larger image

Etch will make its debut @ loft come May 2008.

i’m with joe now sitting at (yet again) starbucks. the central air conditioning has been switched off since 2pm today (every sunday) and we’re sweating buckets. he doesn’t know i’m typing a short message for our blogthing coz we’re geeking it out on our macs facing each other.

right now, we’re working on some very fun designs inspired by fairy tales and i wish to tell you more. but i think it’s best if i show you the stuff when things are more concrete. it’s also a way to keep you guys reading and *hope* that we have something new up on our site. we’re so clever i tell you.

i should really start on my designs again. toodles. i promise more excitement soon.

- geri

thought i should start the blog rolling. hello, friends of etch!

etch has been around for less than a year and we’ve had very very fun times. joe and i came together one very boring work day (for myself) / school day (joe) and decided to make some magic out of our passion for design. you know what? i’ll save this bit for the “about us” section of our site which is totally under construction now. let me just ramble on a bit about things that are more current and random for your eyes to feast on.

my dad’s gf brought home this device that sucks dirt off my floor on its own. no, it’s not just any ordinary vacuum cleaner. it’s a ROBOT vacuum cleaner. basically you charge the thing up all night (it goes ‘tick-tick-tick’ all night) and the next morning you switch it on, press ‘play’ on the remote control and the device would just move around the house on its own. you know how some toy cars turn around once they hit a wall? this thing does just that. it’s pretty amazing. oh, it’s now in my kitchen. … now, i wonder if it’d ever suck my dog up by mistake… *shudder*

i love going to disneyland. i love fairy tales. i love meadows that seem to go on forever. i love houses made of candy. i love fairy dust. i love princesses living in castles. i love living happily ever after… i think we should be looking at a very whimsical year for etch. fun schtuff.

keep coming back to this page to see what’s going on in our heads… i’m pretty sure you will never be bored.

- geri