Welcome to Part 2 of the July 2012 edition of Soshified Spotlight. In Part 1, we featured Chocoful, or Sara, a K-Pop idol hopeful from Helsinki, Finland. In Part 2, we feature cream, or Michelle, the hard-working Aussie student who also pulls double duty at Soshified, leading both the Graphic Designer and SoShi Styling departments. Before we continue, though, just in case some of you still haven’t gotten the gist of how Soshified Spotlight works yet:

Just like every other month, we’re once again highlighting a regular member in Part 1, and a Soshified staff member in Part 2.

With that out of the way, here’s Michelle:

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What is your first name?

Michelle

How did you find out about Soshified and why did you decide to join?

It was actually ‘Soshi Rolls’ when I joined! Soy was chatting to me on MSN one day and she was telling me about a forum she was creating and gave me a sneak peak of the site. I can’t remember how it came about but next thing I knew I was a Moderator!

How did you come up with your screen name?

I was listening to Sunshine of Your Love by cream one day and spontaneously decided to change my username to that. I’ve been tempted to change my username a few times after that but I was worried that too many people would be confused with who I was.

Where are you originally from, and where do you currently reside (city and country for both)?

I was born and raised in Sydney, Australia and still live here

If we were visiting you where you live for one day, where would you take us? Why are these places so significant?

I think anyone who visits Sydney needs to go to our landmarks – Sydney Harbor Bridge, Opera House, Sydney Tower, Bondi Beach because that is what Sydney is famous for. But I would also take everyone to Wild Life Sydney which is a zoo, it’s a great place as they allow you to pet and feed them unlike Taronga Zoo! I would also take everyone to Hunter Valley (a Winery) and Surry Hills (there’s amazing cafes and restaurants in this area!)

Tell us a little about your life. What do you do full time and in your free time?

I’m currently a full time student at the moment doing a BA in English Lit which is a polar opposite to what I do on Soshified ahaha. I love trying different foods so my friends and I are always finding different ethnic restaurants to eat at no matter how far it takes to get there.

What’s the most interesting thing about you and/or that has ever happened to you?

I do have a friend that works in the media industry so whenever he goes to interview or meet a celebrity he sometimes takes me. I once met the Glee cast after they were doing a media junket in Sydney and Dianna Agron invited my friends and I to lunch with her and the cast which I thought was cool.

I got offered to do Honors after I finish my BA this year in cinematic studies by my professor so that I guess that is something that is interesting that has happened to me lately

Usually when people think of English Lit, they think of books. How do cinematic studies fit into English Lit?

Some cinematic units can fall under a English Lit major because when you’re studying English Lit, you are analyzing techniques, cultural and/or historical context and use of narrative to convey a sense of reality or ‘unreal’ for the reader.

The same goes for films, instead you also take in to consideration not only the narrative form but also the non-narrative form and the techniques of production that has been used to convey the diegetic world for the viewer. Books and films although are produced on different mediums, do the same thing – tell a story or encourage the reader/viewer to feel something.

For people who are first meeting you (like most of us), how would you describe yourself?

I think it really depends but usually I’m really chatty and I’ll ask a lot of questions about you that or if I am with friend I’m usually more reserved and shy for some reason. I prefer to listen then to talk.

You say you’re really chatty and ask a lot of questions, but when you’re with friends you’re shy. Usually it’s the other way around. Why is it this way with you?

I think I’m more reserved around new people when I’m with my friends as I feel that someone is there to take on the role of the ‘welcome parade’ so I can just do the listening and metaphorically take a step back from being in that role. It seems like a big contradiction from when I am alone and meeting someone for the first time but I guess that’s just the way I am.

You also say you’d prefer to listen than to talk. How does that fit in with your chattiness? Or is it that you ask a lot of questions so you can listen?

I much prefer to ask a lot of questions and listen so I guess the chattiness from me is essentially derived from questions and just comments that relate to the answer.

What are your interests outside of Girls’ Generation?

I love fashion! I think that and films are my major interests outside Girls’ Generation. I feel that fashion can be a reflection of someone even if they are wearing something that is not their style it still represents a facet of one’s personality.

How did you first become a fan of Girls’ Generation?

When SNSD released ‘Into the World‘ I became a big fan of theirs. They showed great potential, their song was catchy as well and I think also the fact that they proved some critics (who predicted they would not have the same success as Super Junior) and people who were skeptical of their talent wrong really made me fall in love with them.

Who is your favorite member and why?

Hyoyeon! I really enjoy dance and had watched a couple of videos of Hyoyeon pre-debut doing some dance numbers and the fact that she is SNSD’s lead dancer just sorta cemented her place as my favorite member. I love and hate at the same time that the SNSD stylists love taking risks and experimenting with her style also.

What is your favorite Girls’ Generation song and MV and why?

It’s too hard to pick!

What is your favorite Girls’ Generation moment and why?

I think the infamous incident at the Dream Concert. It really showed how dedicated they were to their performance in light of the environment they were in and also how strong they were as not only individuals but as a group.

How has Girls’ Generation impacted your life, in specific areas or even as a whole?

It really makes me appreciate the dedication and effort they put in all areas of their job and makes me want to be more dedicated and work harder.

What do you like most about Soshified, and why? Any section in particular you’re attracted to?

I think the thing I love most about Soshified is the members on the forum. It’s amazing to meet new people from around the world and from different walks of life and knowing that we’re all here for the same thing. I really love the Photo and members section as they are probably the most active sections (well to me)

Why did you decide to join the Soshified staff, and why the particular job you have now?

Just continuing on from my first Q/A, I was originally Moderator/Graphic Designer/Stylist and that was really hard to juggle while working and going to college. So now I’m primarily a Stylist but I’m a Graphic Designer on the forums as I’m working on the new Soshi Styling layout (confusing isn’t it?).

What exactly do you do? Do you enjoy this position? What do you like about it?

Well for my graphic design position at the moment I am working on the Soshi Styling layout and I’m currently in charge of the web design and other aspects of the background and header design. I really love being a graphic designer as it allows you to experiment a bit and allows you to express your imagination and ideas into something for others to enjoy while say browsing a site.

As a Stylist I post items and clothing the girls’ are seen with as well as composing ‘Get This Look‘ posts and sometimes writing up reviews on items featured on the site and/or articles on the girls’ style and fashion. I also check up on other Stylists to see how they are going with their jobs. I love being posting on the site and forum about the girls’ style as it serves as an outlet for me to express my passion for fashion and at the same time the SNSD members.

How do you juggle leading two Soshified departments on top of your studies?

It’s not an easy task at all, I have no idea how I do it sometimes O_O
It’s much easier to work, of course on holidays but when semester starts I usually will be trying to work on Soshified in between study breaks or at 3:00AM in the morning I will be working on a layout, posting on the Style site or roaming around the staff forums.

What is your favorite project that you’ve ever been involved in?

I think the creation of Soshified Style has to be my all time favorite project I have been involved in. I remember approaching Soy with the idea of creating a sub-site for Soshi Style because we used to have a thread in the forum that did what Soshi Style does now (providing information on what SNSD were seen with) and I remember how annoying it was to browse through so many pages just to get to a post that I wanted. Originally Soy was reluctant about the idea but came around so I was put in charge of Soshi Style of putting the site together and running it.

It can be a tough job sometimes as the style site has been expanding into different areas and trying to touch base with everyone on the team while trying to do your job but it’s worth it.

I also loved working on the Fanport layout, it was one of the most demanding layouts I have ever worked on and took almost over half a year to complete but it was the best ever graphics project I have ever been a part of *petitions for the Fanport layout to come back*

Fanport was definitely different compared to previous Soshified layouts. Could you take us through the process of how Fanport came about? Also, as good as the layout was, there were also some complaints about user-friendliness. What would you change if it did come back?

I remember that the graphics design team and Soy were talking on Skype about ideas for our new layout and I suggested ‘Airport’ inspired by the film, Up in the Air which I had seen at that time. When we were all sold for the idea, it was just a manner of looking through images of airports and coming up with drafts and sketches until we were satisfied and started putting things into concrete to to speak. In a earlier draft of a layout before we came up with the airport idea, Soy was really pushing for us to do something different in terms of fluid layouts and dinoyul came up with the side walls which we used in the Fanport layout.

As the old saying goes ‘simplicity is the key’ and in using that old saying, I would definitely make the layout more simpler and less image heavy so that it could be more user-friendly.

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Huge thanks goes out to Michelle for participating in Soshified Spotlight this month. As usual, you can submit nominations for future Soshified Spotlights if you’d like to participate or if you’d like to get to know a fellow member better. Instructions on how to do so can be viewed at the Soshified Spotlight Solicitation announcement.

You can also read past Soshified Spotlights by clicking on the “Soshified Spotlight” tag below.

Compiled by: residentbenchwarmer@soshified
Graphic by: cioco@soshified

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