I feel so motivated and focused whenever I design for either personal, work or leisure purposes. I'm no expert, but it feels like an accomplishment to make a work of art. Is it just me or is graphic designing therapeutic?

I self-taught designing through practice with PicMonkey in my mid-teens, then proceeded to learning how to use Photoshop CS6 last year. From then on, graphic designing has been one of my favourite jobs as well as pastimes. Yes, jobs. I was the yearbook editor last year and now I am the public relations representative for my scholarship programme. It's really fun actually.

I gained useful skills and developed a personal style every time I came up with an original design. I'm proud to have satisfied the people I worked with this year and have been given more and more oppurtunities to design.

Much experience. Such exciting.

So as a self-taught designer who indulges for leisure and destressing, I thought of laying out the simple Do's and Don'ts when it comes to Graphic Designing for you fellow readers. (Just in case you need basics for a society or for leisure.)

Before the real work, it's always good to brainstorm. Whether you are with a team or going solo, get some scrap paper and get drafts done. Alternatively, you could just begin playing around with your designing software and piece a graphic design together. I recommend this option for more experienced users. If you really have a creative block, there's always Pinterest.

Google Images and Pinterest will be your new best friends. They are your buffet of digital materials. Let it be clip arts or backgrounds or textures, MAKE USE OF THEM. Be as creative in searching images as you are typing out hashtags for Instagram. Something you absolutely need in your design is bound to appear at some point.

One thing I always do when given a task is to over prepare. Not too much though, one extra design is my limit. Unless you are publicising on a big scale, I suggest keeping your scope to 1-2 different designs only. Besides, you can always vary designs for big scale publicising by mixing up arrangements, which brings me to my next point.

Variations come with enlarging some parts of your design or rearranging the layout. Whatever it is, be open to testing out different arrangements before deciding which one is the most aesthetically pleasing. As for fonts, find new ones online that suit your theme of design to give you new options. I always visit Behance.net, Urban Fonts and Da Font to source out my fonts. Like I said - it is best to over prepare.

Don't copy a design entirely, it's an ammateur move. What I used to do as a beginner was find designs for similar causes and surveyed the arrangement, input, etc. From there, I would develop my own style into my design yet consider what to include to make my design stand out. It definitely shows if you plagarise, because it does not exhibit YOUR personality and YOUR input.

"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." - Leonardo DaVinci

Best to keep your designs slightly minimalistic with a sorted colour scheme. Find colours that do not clash and create a vibe to your design. With practice you will find this problem easier to avoid.

If you are designing solo for a cause, it is always best to seek opinions. Only ask two peers - your department head and the boss. You can show people outside the committee as well, just to see how the public eye will react to it. Too many opinions will make it hard for you and no opinions at all will cause miscommunication.

MY T-SHIRT DESIGN FOR THE ANNUAL PRODUCTION IN MY COLLEGE

Ever since my examinations ended, I managed to resume my avid reading schedule. Phew! I do miss the moments in my early teens where I would indulge myself in a novel that intrigued me as well as excited me. It’s a thrill to relive those moments once more.

For me to skip sleep for a book is a huge thing, it just shows how addicting that novel is. I usually come across and read these kind of novels, so it is quite hard to choose my favourites. A lot of them gave me a newly-found appreciation for the endless possibilities in fiction. Nevertheless, to cater for a range of genres, here are some of my Fiction Favourites - favourites which I think you should indulge in!

This book - the entire trilogy in fact - is my current obsession. I received it as a gift from a friend, and he convinced me about how unique this book is. The best part in my opinion, is how rich and deep Mistborn is, addressing various issues related to the now and having characters so beautifully written.

To summarise it, Mistborn begins with a young man with incredible abilities destined to protect the land from apocalyptic threats. Ironically, he failed. So this story centres around one big theme - what if the Dark Lord won? More importantly, Mistborn introduces strong female characters, an original magic system and a new perspective of revolution.

Trust me. It will leave you in a stream of tears, like how I ended up.

Gosh, I don’t even know how to start with this one. Reading it felt like a whole new interest conquered me.

Let me tell you now, I was never really a history enthusiast. Maybe that’s probably why I enjoyed it so much. The blend of fiction and historical events was well written - because c’mon - it’s Dan Brown.

It is a story connecting a rather unusual murder in the Louvre, European art and history as well as the works of Leonardo Da Vinci. The investigation is led by atheist and expert symbologist Professor Robert Langdon followed by police cryptographer Sophie Neveau. Mind you that to be able to read this novel and enjoy it to the max, you need to have an open mind. It is after all - fiction.

I read this book when I was in my early teens, and even then it broke my heart. I chose this as a favourite because of how real it felt to me.

It addressed female empowerment, African-American culture in the 1930s, racism, rape and the strength of sisterhood. AND the main character - dear lord - is an angel bounded by the chains of struggle, heartbreak and injustice, desperately trying to break free.

Another thing special is that The Colour Purple is an epistolary novel (a novel written in a series of documents, usually letters). In this case, the main character Celie addresses God - because who else does she have to confide in about her suffering?

Fun fact : I didn’t watch the movie. I know, I know, I missed out on a badass movie featuring Brad Pitt and Edward Norton. To be frank, I thought it was overrated. But once again, I received this novel as a gift from a dear friend. I didn’t know then that this dark novel would entice me.

Chuck’s writing in the perspective of the unnamed protagonist was full of satire and some hardcore issues. Yet, it was addicting to keep reading. If you are looking to test the water with new genres like I did, I would chuck this book at you *pun intended*.

Perhaps now I will finally watch the movie, though I heard the movie ended differently compared to the novel (hint hint).

“Eleanor was right. She never looked nice. She looked like art, and art wasn't supposed to look nice; it was supposed to make you feel something.”

I usually do not read romance themed novels. Same goes for films. But this novel took a new turn which I never thought I would enjoy so much. So you got the Irish-Korean music/mixtape junkie a.k.a Park and the misunderstood/new kid red-head Eleanor. They meet in unexpected circumstances, they get to know each other through unusual methods, but they fall in love - and are brave enough to try it for the first time.

Now, I don’t want to give too much away, otherwise I am basically giving away the entire summary. But it isn’t "nice", it makes you feel something extremely strong instead.

Check them out! And what are some of your Fiction Favourites?

Let me know!