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A Rookie’s Guide to Disposable Cameras

By Neko Loh No Comments
A Rookie’s Guide to Disposable Cameras

Ah, disposable cameras. These little rectangular-shaped, plastic pieces of joy that are usually placed in the corner of your home, left to collect dust.

Well, turns out this single-use, 27+12 exposures camera is much more meaningful than you think. You don’t know how your shots will turn out after clicking that shutter button, and you can’t delete the shitty photos. And let’s not forget about the excitement of waiting for your shots to be developed. That very moment when you receive an email notification that your photos are done and ready for collection.

I’ve recently grown fond of film photography, and here are some lessons I learnt since I started using the Kodak 800 Disposable Camera:

Tip #1: Beware of the finger.

What you see from the viewfinder is not necessarily what they seem.

Look at my finger saying, “Hi” to everyone at the corner of the photo. It may look cute here, but it doesn’t apply for every photo you take. This happened, thanks to the cute structure of the camera body; the lens is so tiny that my big finger became part of the picture while I was holding it. So make sure to hold your camera properly when you shoot, unless you want your finger to be part of the picture. You do you.

Tip #2: Always check the red light.

When the red light turns on, that means your flash is ready to… well, flash.

Every time you take a picture in a super dark place, always remember to press the ⚡ button before snapping. If you don’t, your subject’s body might just go missing — like all the guys/girls you texted before, oops.

Tip #3: Mirror, mirror on the wall. Get lost.

If you’re searching for a brighter future, take a mirror shot with the flashlight on. Flash it like the MIB. None of us will forget anything but you’ll start to hope that your future will be as bright as the flash.

The problem with this is that the flash is so strong, that you’re completely blocked from the bright light and you can’t see shit in the photo. That means you’re blind AND your picture’s wasted. Why would you want that? Don’t waste your precious film. And your precious eyes.

Tip #4: Wrong angle = space warp.

According to this magical place called Google, the Kodak 800 Disposable Camera comes with a 25-28mm lens which I believe is what gives photos a wide-angle look. Because of that, some photos (like the one I shot above) can appear distorted at certain places.

It’s all about finding the right balance at this point. From my experience, you just need to hold your camera at the right angle, so you can get a nicer composition, and hope for the best.

Tips #5: Time stopping machines are cool.

The high shutter speed on the Kodak 800 Disposable Camera allows you to freeze time. (Again, according to my handy dandy Google search, it’s 1/100.) The camera comes with a fixed ISO, aperture and shutter speed, so personally I think it’s quite handy if you want to create a time-freezing effect.

All you need to do is roll the film, ask your subject to jump at the count of 3, press the shutter *kachak* at the count of 3.5, and you’re done! Now repeat 27+12 times.

Tips #6: Scroll, *kachak*, wait.

Usually after I take a photo, I try not to turn the scroll wheel until I take the next picture. This is to prevent myself from accidentally pressing the shutter button and taking a shot by mistake.

Sometimes, it can be quite fun to take an unexpected photo (a.k.a. ugly photo) but make sure you don’t mistakenly take a shot when you’re naked, otherwise people who develop your film will be surprised by how sexy you are.

Side notes: Just want to share lah.

Taking pictures with a disposable camera is awesome; you can never get the same film vibes with a DSLR. The camera works amazingly in low-light situations (remember to turn the flash on!) and no one ever looks like a ghost in the shots (except if you’re too fair). Other than that, taking a group picture with a film camera gives the photo more meaning, so grab your friends and snap away.

Itulah semua dari saya, sekian terima kasih. :3

P/S: This post is not sponsored, but I’m open to sponsorships. Please give me free things.

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By Neko Loh
Shit We Like

Our Creatives Share Their Favourite Typefaces

By Neko Loh No Comments
Our Creatives Share Their Favourite Typefaces

Even if the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog, there is still no such thing as the “best” font. Every typeface serves a different purpose for different platforms, and it isn’t an easy task to narrow down your choices to just one. I mean, there are probably over 500,000+ options out there. How la.

But we still do have our list of go-to typefaces we like to use when it comes to our designs. So we asked our UX Designer, Junior Art Director, Motion Lead, and Creative Directors to share their top picks, and here’s what they have to say.

Neko Loh, Junior Art Director • @neko_loh

To me, I think everybody’s favourite typeface changes over time. Mine used to be Helvetica. Then Railway. And then Century Gothic and Futura. Followed by Montserrat and Roboto. As you can probably tell, I’m a sans-serif kinda guy. But that doesn’t mean I don’t like serif typefaces. It just depends on the situation. I used to like Perpetua and Garamond too; both of these typefaces give off a classic style and have character to them.

But at the end of the day, to be very frank, my favourite typeface would be my own damn handwriting. Oops, this might sound arrogant but why not? Everyone’s handwriting showcases their own personality. In fact, there is a lot you can tell by a person’s handwriting alone and that’s why I love it.

Kah Suit, UX Designer • @kahsweet

The bigger the family, the better. Typically these typefaces are found on the Google Fonts library, and are 100% free open-source fonts. (And we all love free things, c’mon.)

Some of my favourites include Roboto and Nunito; they have more than 10 depths to choose from, ranging from extra light to black. With a wide variety or widths and weights, these fonts help me to create a better typographic hierarchy when it comes to designing websites. Think of all the possibilities I could have with headers, paragraphs, buttons, and links using just one font family.

Jeremy Phun, Motion Lead • @imakethingsmove  @jeremyphun

My favourite typeface is my client’s, Netflix Sans. I’ve been using and seeing this every day for over a year now, and I still don’t hate it. I’ve been so attached to Netflix Sans that writing this post with a different typeface already feels like I’m cheating on it.

I’ve always leaned towards sans-serif typefaces because of their flexibility and scalability. It also helps when this typeface is associated with all the show and movie titles that I adore. Netflix Sans is not only a beautiful font but it is saving Netflix millions of dollars a year. Fun fact: Netflix had to pay for font licenses every time they used another font, so they created their own.

San, Photoshop Witch Associate Creative Director • @blackodc

You might cringe knowing that this is my favourite typeface. But no, you are not wrong. This is one of my favourite typefaces. It’s so bad that it’s actually good. It stands out and everyone probably hates it but hey! Look at it. It has character. It could be regular. Sometimes slanted or bolded. But it still works. Look beyond the hate because no matter what, Comic Sans still gets your attention. Why be serious? Have a laugh at it. Shift your perspective a little.

But professionally, Futura, Garamond, Bodoni, and Gotham are some of the typefaces I personally admire. The extensive family which you can mix and match with is close to infinity. Sleek yet classic and timeless.

P/S: I was close to creating a GIF for this. With rainbows and stars and shiz. ?⭐

Nic Hon, Creative Director • @urbanweapons

When it comes to my favourite typefaces, it can go two ways:

1. Personal preference: Futura & Helvetica
If there’s one thing you should know about me, let it be this: I’m an innovation-based creative that loves the aesthetics of the past. I enjoy vintage clothing, classic cars and traditional tattoos. In my view, things made in the past were designed to be timeless. The minute details, aesthetics and functionalities put into design back in the day is unmatched. Futura and Helvetica have stood the test of time and are still one of the most used typefaces today. Not bad for typefaces that were designed in the late 1920’s and 1950’s, right?

2. Professional preference: Google Fonts
Yes, it’s not a typeface… but more of a font library. With our nature of work, I almost exclusively work with Google Fonts. If you’re designing for the digital landscape (websites, apps, progressive web apps, and such), Google Fonts should be your go-to library. The use of Google Fonts can help reduce page loading speeds and ease cross-platforms displays. And it’s also absolutely free to use! So if you’re sick of downloading (and re-downloading) fonts, I suggest you explore their extensive library and look at some usage examples.

So there you have it: a few typeface favourites from our Creative team. We know how Designers (and non-Designers) fall into a font-funk sometimes, and that’s okay. Just keep an open mind and experiment with new typefaces, or consider using one of our team’s top picks.

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By Neko Loh