spreading the love for dayna stephens

sure, you’ve seen these before—but this year i’m adding a special twist to the otherwise-consumerist practice we call valentine’s day. see, instead of trying to make you buy a dozen roses or chocolates, i’m suggesting you use your much-more-meaningful heartfelt words to tell your friends, family, co-workers and all-around-favorite people how awesome they are on sustainably-printed, environmentally-friendly cards. and once i sell them all, instead of keeping the money, i’m sending it over to help dayna stephens in his efforts to raise awareness about testing as a kidney donor, and in support of his own operation and medical care. help me sell them all, and i’ll double your money with a matching donation of my own.

so, why would i do this besides the fact that dayna is a fantastic guy who needs a kidney? well, if you’re a freelancer or otherwise self-employed individual, you know that one of the biggest issues we face is affordable healthcare. with a pre-existing condition, dayna’s choices are limited, funding is not all-inclusive, and qualifications to get that funding are rather exacting. as a witness to the ongoing folley we call healthcare in this country, i find it outrageous that a sick person should accept the possibility of being a casualty to a system that could otherwise help him save for so many rules and tricks and hoops to jump through. so, he’s doing what he can, following the rules and jumping through the hoops, and what we’re doing is helping with the remaining balance.

so, what is $1200 really going to do for someone who needs a kidney? the amount i can raise personally is just a brick in the wall, but there are a few efforts rolling out through the jazz foundation that will help get dayna’s costs covered. stay tuned for more perks and special events that will go toward the efforts of helping dayna. in the meantime, by some valentines!

i like valentines, but i can’t think of how i’d use them. i get it dude, here is a list:

> give them to your kids to fill out and take to school
> pretend your job is as fun as school and fill them out for your co-workers
> write 16 separate compliments to your partner and stick each valentine on a notched chop-stik in a vase to make a compliment bouquet
> make a valentine’s promo of your own and use them as the notecards you send to your own clients
> write nice notes to your family or co-workers and hide them in drawers, cabinets, on shelves and in books
> use them as an opportunity to put a little hello in your neighbor’s mailboxes
> write nice notes to your family and construct a valentine mobile with sticks and string
> donate them to a school or after-school program for a fun kid activity
> write your future self compliments and words of encouragement and read them whenever you need to
> stick them on your mirrors so you can remind yourself that you rock and to stay awesome!

got it? time to get awesome!

hp+gp holiday special — one week only!

hp+gp holiday pack 2011

my sister and i got our heads together and made you a very special holiday pack, including items designed by each of us. cozy into your super-soft tee or tank, warm up with a pot of tea and get into a thoughtful frame of mind for writing your holiday cards while listening to the lost and found. need more than 12 cards? order more in sets of 12 in the store. this package includes:

• 1 i heart gp tank [black or white, womens sizes] or tee [black only, mens sizes] of your choice
• 1 signed copy of the lost and found cd, named in npr’s best music of 2011
• 1 4oz bag of how we love loose tea: earl grey tea with rose petals and lavender [contains caffeine]
• 1 4oz bag of still loose tea: peppermint, lemon verbena, rose petals, lavender [herbal]
• 1 variety pack of 12 holiday cards from parlato design studio

the complete hp+gp holiday pack: $45 + postage
standard shipping is $10.95 domestic, $27.95 to canada / mexico, and $45.50 international, in USD.
our paypal button defaults to domestic shipping—you will be contacted if international shipping is required.

this holiday special is available for one week only!
order anytime during the week of december 5 – december 9, 2011 [that’s until 11:59pm ET, december 9, 2011]; all orders will ship december 10 by priority mail. once it’s done, it’s done!

i heart gp white tank i heart gp black tank i heart gp mens tee, black
click on thumbnails above to see all options for tanks & tee.

Case Study: A Modest Makeover for Tony’s Darts Away

tony's darts away web site

We recently gave Tony’s Darts Away a little makeover online and wanted to share it with you. If you’re familiar with the All Craft, All Draught, All California bar in Burbank, you know they’ve been making a name for themselves as celebrationists of some of the finest California craft beer. Before we even got involved, LA weekly cited their site in a top 5 of LA restaurants others could learn from, so we wanted to keep it as accessible and informative as it’s always been, with more muscle on the back end and make it more easily expandable as their web presence grows. Their contact info & hours are built into every page, their site pages have been sorted into simple main categories, and we’re porting tweets into a sidebar so they can announce events and late keg tappings after opening.

tony's darts away, interactive beer list

Similar to what we did for Mohawk Bend, we gave Tony’s Darts Away an interactive beer list to make browsing, searching and sorting easy. On the back end, this list is easy for employees to manage and update, so the menu stays updated all the time.

tony's darts away, beer styles library

Something unique that has garnered this site some attention is the beer styles library where visitors can research and read tasting notes and anecdotes on all kinds of craft beer styles they might encounter at Tony’s and beyond. Click a style in the sidebar and the text loads in the center. We also set up the brewers list the same way, so if you’re curious who’s who and what’s what, take a look!

Finally, we did some streamlining to their menu workflow, to integrate menu layouts that allow for styled updates they can print as needed and then paste right into wordpress. The main idea here is, we want to make it easy for them to get done with setup and serve us all some beer, which is exactly what will happen if you drop into Tony’s. Visit the full site: tonys.la

+ Read more case studies here.
+ See more of our work for tony’s pubs.

Case Study: Mohawk Bend Brand & Identity Development

mohawk bend brand & identity

As the saying goes, I love it when a plan comes together. When I first talked to Tony Yanow about his newest venture, Mohawk Bend, it was nearly a year ago, midway through the Ramona Theater’s renovation process. While we’d be working from scratch design-wise, Tony had a very clear idea of who he was serving and what the attitude and voice of Mohawk Bend would be, which made the preliminary research and brand brief development really easy. He also had an interior design team working with the raw materials of the space and adding beautiful custom furniture in light wood and warm, orange tones. From the outset, we knew the setting of where the identity would live and how we could make it stand out appropriately within that environment.


mohawk bend logo

logo development

Mohawk Bend has a few different areas of focus, but it’s first and foremost a celebration of craft beer from all over California. The most exciting and innovative of these is the hops-forward west coast IPA, and in that vein, the hop flower became a main feature of the logo.


mohawk bend icon system

mohawk bend business cards

building an identity

Beyond beer, though, their plans included California-sourced spirits, a bottle-free selection of California wine, local / organic food that spans the vegan-omnivore spectrum, and a low-waste operation in the kitchen. Tony really wanted an icon system that could represent each of these aspects and work interchangeably with the main identity, play out on the web site, and associate with core staff’s areas of expertise. We developed a color palette and selection of icons that swap out with the hop flower in the logo for specialized uses, and become indicators for each area of the web site. For future signage and events, they’ll have the versatility of growing this icon system with new developments.


mohawk bend web site home page

keeping it simple & highly useful online

Creating the web site was a fun exercise in brainstorming all the things we hate about restaurant web sites and putting them at the top of the list of what not to do. No flash, No pdf menus, No hard-to-find location information. Tony was always very clear about the voice of Mohawk Bend, that it’s craft first in a simple and honest way. We were still excited to talk about all the great things Mohawk Bend does, however, so we built all of it into the about section, so the information is there without being an obstacle on the home page. Instead, a styled twitter widget announces daily specials and events, with clear postings of hours, location, directions and a list of menus: get the info you need and come on over!


mohawk bend web site interactive beer list

the interactive beer list

One particularly fun feature is the interactive beer list. During our preliminary talks on functionality of the site, Tony said “What I’d really like to have is a beer list you can sort by any category—brewery, style, alcohol volume…” And so we thought about it, and worked out a solution that integrates directly with WordPress, allowing all the searching & sorting a curious beerophile would want. Click any column header to sort by that column, or use the search field to isolate beers containing your search terms. We also translated everything to a nice mobile site, so anyone can find just what they’re looking for [even search the beer list] on the go.


mohawk bend menus

beyond design: a workflow that works

Behind the scenes was the real challenge: developing a workflow system that would allow daily menu updates in print and online to be done easily and quickly by employees. A system that still uses nice typefaces and formatting in print, but doesn’t require any coding online—and all simple enough to execute well without a design education. Once we settled on a menu format, we built in-house layout templates using paragraph styles that would transfer heading tags and basic bold and italic formatting to WordPress. The WordPress interface is extremely user-friendly, with a visual editor, so everyone has taken to it quickly. To keep the carbon footprint low, the menus are printed on Neenah Environment 100% post-consumer waste recycled paper.


mohawk bend extended identity

and they’re off…!

As I’ve watched this roll out in action and seen the Mohawk Bend staff make it their own, I’m proud of the system we created together. They’ve been able to switch around the menu formats easily using feedback from customers, and we’ve been able to build more of the identity into ads, stickers, signage and support collateral. Best of all, they are all super-nice people to work with, so we’re always happy to walk down, have a beer, find out how everything is going, and help them work out their next adventure. Bottoms-up to Mohawk Bend!

+ Read more case studies here.
+ See more of our work for Mohawk Bend here.

robert boardman promotional dvd

robert boardman dvd packaging

how do you grab attention in a competitive job market? if you’re in one of the performing arts, compiling your best clips into a promotional reel as part of a mailing makes it easy for any prospects to see exactly what you do as soon as they receive it. as an addendum to his web site and youtube channel, conductor robert boardman contacted me to create a dvd in the same style as part of his intro kit mailing, for maximum exposure to music department decision makers. i was happy to help showcase his energy and personality to get him one step closer to connecting with his dream jobs.

make it mod!

make it mod! cover & interior spreads
make it mod! cover & interior spreads

another fun cover & layout for quayside publishing, make it mod! is 224 pages of full-color retro recreations you can do yourself with found, upcycled or everyday hardware store items. this book was super-fun to create, full of color pops and mid-century details.

see more recent work here.

how to paint flames by bruce caldwell

how to paint flames
interior spreads from how to paint flames by bruce caldwell

another fun project from motorbooks international, how to paint flames by bruce caldwell, a book all about the techniques of painting several styles of flames on any car or truck. the projects are detailed, showing all different types of stencil and mask creation, or how to use air brushes and layer transparent paints and glosses, and the photos are super-fun for any car buffs out there.

see more of our recent work here.

colLAboration april 2011

colLAboration glass
first-ever colLAboration craft beer garden glass with the mohawk bend logo front & center

this past weekend, i attended the first of what will hopefully be many colLAboration craft beer gardens, the inaugural of which celebrated tony’s darts away‘s first anniversary, and joined forces with major bars and breweries featuring craft beer a-plenty! mohawk bend’s opening is still a few weeks away, but seeing the logo here & there has been a great introduction of what’s to come.

school-style valentines are back!

parlato design studio valentines

it’s february 1, which means it’s time to get awesome with a fun throwback to school-style valentines. get yourself a set, fill them out, and then sneak over to your co-worker’s desk, hand them to your friends, or stick them on your cereal the roommate’s always eating and tell them they rock! they’re awesome! hanging with them makes your day! if that doesn’t say i love you, the fact that they’re printed responsibly on 100% post-consumer paper in an odd size to maximize sheet use should [i’m just sayin’].


parlato design studio valentines

school-style valentines

bring back the fun of school-style valentines! cards come in 4 styles, full design on the front, space to fill in a personal message on the back. all cards are printed on neenah environment 100% post-consumer recycled paper, 100lb uncoated cover stock.

• variety pack: 5 of each style [set of 20], 3″ x 3.75

set of 20 cards: $6 includes shipping