feb11/25 safari summertime

hiiiii

for a while i've been fascinated by safari or zoo imagery, especially in the graphic design associated with it that you can find on signs, websites, or maps. here's an example:

this image is glorious. the geometric patterns, very warm colours, fake wear, wooden themes, and the 3 most common safari fonts all paint a perfect picture of what i love so dearly

this fascination isn't restricted to actual safaris and zoos, though. i find that, like many other things, i have memorised certain outdoor conditions or colour palettes that remind me deeply of safaris. during late summer 2024, every time i walked out of the local convenience store, i got a wave of air that gave me this exact feeling

i'm not sure where this started, most likely in my childhood with games like animal jam (my favourite browser game) and i suppose the many times i've actually been to zoos in my life. idk, the vibe is generally a happy one, so it's hard not to enjoy looking at this stuff

i've been considering making a layout based on zoo maps, but i can't figure out what the geometric patterns are called! i've searched everything. safari pattern, zoo pattern, geometric swirls pattern, geometric safari pattern, african pattern, aztec pattern, everything.

one element of safaris that gets me involves my love for the outdoors and nature. harsh sunlight or orange sunsets decorated with bright, green leaves is such a rich visual. sunlight and summer in particular are things i've come around to in the past year

i used to hate the summer. the main reason being my love for the winter, and anything cold or dark. i came to realise in early 2024 that i can learn to enjoy opposite things simultaneously, and be happy either way! we had snowfall in february, and then sweltering heat in the middle of the year. i loved both experiences

so, much like my affinity for early sunsets, rainstorms, car lights on a dark road, and everything related to christmas, i quickly found deep-rooted appreciation for everything summer-y, especially tacky stuff like iphone and seaside gift shops. i love to get myself ice creams and ice coffees throughout to stay cool and in the summer mood

sadly, even with my enthusiasm for last year's summer, i didn't do nearly as much as i wished i had. i will change that this year, and make sure i am more active during the summer, i will try to get out and do lame, typical summer activities as often as i can.

thankfully, a new ice cream parlour is opening near me!

this is larkins (circa 2011), what was once a convenience store on the seafront not very far from the town i live in, is gradually being converted to a gift shop that serves ice cream. soooo... not exactly a parlour, but at the very least an ice cream bar, which you'd be surprised to find there are hardly any at this town (burnham-on-sea)!

very excited to see a nice and convenient place to buy ice cream cones, just a few steps away from the beach and hopefully at a good price. as well as ice creams, just like last year, i'm going to be all over ice coffee again. last year i kept making the same dang thing; a café latte with cow milk. i wanted to branch out and try more, but i was afraid as my only options would be to buy a full carton of a drink i may not enjoy, or to spend, like, $7 on a starbucks or something

i'm not sure how i will dress this summer as i don't exactly dress for the warmth anymore, but i don't want to go back to just wearing t-shirts to overcome the heat. i'll have to experiment a little as it starts warming up.

also this summer i will take more photos! i took many last year in varying conditions, but i haven't really taken much at all this year, so i will get back into that as soon as it starts looking nicer. i also plan to get myself an iphone 5c for the summertime to get that authentic 2013-2015 air in my photos. i'm also gonna use it for music

i'll be sure to post some photos on here, but for now you can have one of my older ones which i'm happy with

also check out this image, i'll talk about this in a later blog someday

that's all i have to say for now. i wanted to write another blog today but i couldn't think of what it could be about, so i just poured all the things i was thinking about in that moment onto this page. thx for reading!