beyond design

| heather parlato

food

snap pea salad
[image: hedonia]
this lágrimas snap pea salad looks like a great way to enjoy snap peas this summer. try marinating your chicken in fruit vinegar with this, roasted marinated chicken. if you’re looking for some seasonal grilling, try grilled fish with tomato olive relish. all recipes originally sourced through saveur.com.

health & fitness

advice on sports bras seem to have popped up everywhere, so i thought i’d share a good resource: how to choose a sports bra, from whatwouldbettydo.com.

if you’re not aware of BPA, it’s a chemical in several commonly-handled items we interact with regularly. utne reader has an update on the dangers here: big bad bpa: now it’s killing the lobsters.

one for the mental health files, so to speak, an interesting piece from utne reader: the word’s happiest countries are the least religious.

gardening

as we head into fall, if you have a garden that’s ready to harvest, you can start planning your fall crops. last chance plants: late season veggie gardening, from re-nest.com can help with suggestions.

diy

homemade lip balm
[image: Etsy Store Babynme2]
here’s a fun project and a great way to switch to reusable containers while creating your favorite flavor: how to make homemade lip balm, from re-nest.com.

creative inspiration

| heather parlato

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=4249739&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=1&color=&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&loop=0

Hi-Fi from bante on Vimeo.

branding

secca animated logo
[image: pentagram]
this brand & identity for secca by pentagram is not only stunning, it moves! read up on it here: pentagram’s luke hayman on how multimedia is transforming branding, from fastcodesign.com.

print design

lan su visitor guide
[image: sockeye creative]
this lovely print specimen by sockeye creative for the lan su chinese garden in portland is rich in details that make the experience of interacting with it really rewarding. a custom die-cut window over a stylized illustration invites you in, then the unique binding of a gate fold over stepped pages detailing the vistas makes you want to flip through and study each one. fantastic work! see more here: lan su visitor guide, from underconsideration.com.

web design

a series i found on uxbooth.com included some useful articles i wanted to share for web designers. a complete beginner’s guide to design research, overcoming the obstacles of usability testing and the complete beginner’s guide to web analytics and measurement.

creativity

bottle rainbows by johnny miller
[image: johnny miller]
amazing rainbows and color gradients created with colored glass and light, by johnny miller. thanks, oh joy for the link!

since creativity is about how you think, here are 2 articles i found interesting from around the tubes this week. seth godin talks about how we analyze our inner monologue to help define intuitive marketing: monitoring your internal monologue, and succcess.org explores the einstein quote “imagination is more important than knowledge” here: be smart, know smarts ain’t the answer.

design industry

ravi sawhney talks about his new book predictable magic here:forget praying to the muse, create design magic on demand, from fastcodesign.com

tim lapetino of hexanine talks about how to get the most out of your kickoff meeting: the art of interviewing your client, from logodesignlove.com.

a post chock-full of inspiring resources: 25 useful videos and presentations for designers, from smashingmagazine.com.

small business owners & sole-proprietors, take note: biz ladies: free online resources for business owners, from designsponge.com

beach sunday, august 2010

| heather parlato

beach day in zuma, california

we’re having a little heat wave in los angeles, so jason and i took off for a getaway day at point dume up the coast. in stark contrast to our 90+ degree temps in echo park, the coastline was more like mid-70s with a light breeze, and so refreshing. as we drove up pch we noticed that the waves were huge!

we started our afternoon with oysters and a beer at the reel inn. once we got up to zuma, we were lucky enough to find a mini cooper-sized spot waiting for us [parking for normal cars was hard to come by]. we got all set up with the blanket & umbrella, i cracked open a book and shortly thereafter, fell asleep. beach nap!

once we awakened, we took a long walk down to point dume where the usual rock climbing suspects were scaling the cliffs. as we made our way back, we decided to try see if the sunset restaurant had room for us to have a light dinner. i’ve seen this place for years and either it hasn’t been open or i wasn’t planning to dine there, so trying it out has been a long time coming. turns out they have a nice menu and a lovely view.

we watched the sunset from our comfy booth, and waited out the traffic for a night drive home doused in bright moonlight on the water. summer has been short here in LA, but hopefully we’ll get another good beach day in before it cools down.

event calendar: august 23 – 29, 2010

| heather parlato

it’s my birthday week, so i’m taking off from networking in favor of personal time. here are some cool aiga events for those interested.

events for this week

thursday, august 26, 7pm cocktail reception and design presentations, FREE with rsvp. The co-authors of Predictable Magic have agreed to share insights on connecting emotional relevance to design success and economic prosperity, within the context of how design thinking is increasingly valued as a leverage point within the traditional marketing mix. The theme of the evening is “Developments in design strategy and emerging thought leadership in Southern California.”

saturday, august 28, 1-5pm AIGA Los Angeles Education 3rd Annual Summer BBQ, FREE with rsvp.

saturday, august 28m 2-5pm define: design, FREE with rsvp.

article of the week

| heather parlato

the secret to success. this is it, for reals! by danielle laporte

this article is short and sweet, so i won’t ruin it. but i will say i agree 100%!

beyond design

| heather parlato


words by everynone

speaking of words, if you’re really tired of hearing buzzwords or jargon of the day that are making your day suck, you can now unsuck them at muledesign’s unsuckit.com

food

i can’t tell if it’s the grilling aspect, or the hot weather going with spicy food thing, but these 2 from saveur caught my eye: grilled thai chicken with lemongrass and coconut milk and tandoori salmon.

on the sweeter side of things, i didn’t know either of these desserts were possible, but they’ve both got me curious, and i have both of the main ingredients in the house… rose geranium ice cream with pistachios, from thekitchn.com and sweet lemon and black oliver wafers, from seriouseats.com. yes, you read that right, a cookies with oil-cured olives in them.

drinks

my friend emily does it again with some delicious twists on iced tea: beyond mint & lemon: 5 ways to punch up iced tea, from thekitchn.com.

read up on the health benefits of tea & coffee: reduce risk of heart disease with tea & coffee by wellness writer, alisa bonsignore, one of a great collection on health & fitness at her blog whatwouldbettydo.com.

housewares

soft map quilt
[image: re-nest.com]
i don’t write about housewares much, but this quilt compelled me to. if i had a million extra hours in my own life, i think few things would make me more happy than creating a quilt of los angeles, but since that’s likely not going to happen, go appreciate haptic labs for doing what they do: softmap quilts from haptic labs, from re-nest.com.

los angeles

it’s the very LA reading list for august 2010 from los angeles magazine: the reading list: LA authors. LA topics. august ’10 books.

remember those devastating fires we had last year in angeles crest forest? you know how there’s that fantastic place, treepeople, that helps spread trees of all kinds all over los angeles? you know imogen heap? she’s donating the proceeds from a specially-created song to fund replanting of the national forest to the north, and i think it’s really cool: donate $1 to treepeople for a unique improv track from imogen heap, from greenlagirl.com.

the grind

i liked this piece by penelope trunk on how she’s pushed through difficult situations by continuing to write and put herself out into the world: when you’re feeling lost, don’t hide.

creative inspiration

| heather parlato


meg mateo ilasco and joy deangdeelert cho promote their new book, creative, inc.: the ultimate guide to running a successful freelance business, with this cute stop-motion video. thanks design sponge for the link.

branding

abu dhabi logo
[image: brand.abudhabi.ae]
the capital of the united arab emirates has decided to brand itself, with the help of m&c saatchi. i think this logo is really lovely, and i like how they’re using the mark alone to sign-off on all kinds of beautiful photos of the area. check out the full post for applications and the custom typeface they created: the abu dhabi brand rich, from underconsideration.com

identity

isle of skye business cards
[image: isle of skye]
a stunning alternative to commercially printing your business cards, illustrator skye jeffries has cut hers from illustrations and overprint her black plate with a hand stamp, for an original creation in each one. thanks to designworklife.com for the link.

photography

barker at the state fair
[image: library of congress]
this collection of color photographs from the 30s and 40s has been circulating around the internet, so if you haven’t seen them yet, take a look: captured: america in color from 1939-1943. from denverpost.com: These images, by photographers of the Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information, are some of the only color photographs taken of the effects of the Depression on America’s rural and small town populations. The photographs are the property of the Library of Congress and were included in a 2006 exhibit Bound for Glory: America in Color.

design industry

excellent advice for clients new to hiring designers: tips on buying design, from muledesign.com

here are some great thoughts on how we limit ourselves from being creative as we age further from our childhood sensibilities & wonders: the problem with creativity, from logodesignlove.com

san jose jazz festival

| heather parlato

driving up the 101 to san jose

this past weekend, i joined my sister in san jose for the san jose jazz festival, where she was performing with gerald clayton, alan hampton & kendrick scott. i drove up on a friday, arriving in the evening to see a much bigger festival than i imagined. there were 8 stages around town during the day, and 13 clubs participating in jazz crawls at night, blocked streets and people walking everywhere.

gretchen played at the repertory theater on saturday in the 2pm slot. it has been really fun watching my sister’s career develop, but there’s something special about being out of town at a festival where you can hear people talking about her all around you. it’s an odd feeling, it makes you want to say HEY EVERYONE you’re talking about my sister! after an oddly-public sound check [weird decision on the part of the venue], they started in on a set mostly of tunes from in a dream, interspersed with favorite brazillian and traditional standards. i’m not a music reviewer, so i’ll leave it at this: she rocked it!

gretchen parlato and gerald clayton at san jose jazz fest 2010

gretchen parlato and alan hampton at the san jose jazz fest 2010

they played to a packed house, though some people rotated in & out to see other acts. the lights were low and my camera has a tough time with stage lights like this. i heeded the no flash photography sign, and really had to work around a shoulder to get a picture of kendrick.

kendrick scott at the san jose jazz fest 2010

after the show there was a standing ovation! it was exciting! then people went out to buy the CDs she brought, and she sold out of everything she brought. then they lined up to say hi and get them signed. this was really fun to watch.

gretchen parlato selling and signing CDs at san jose jazz fest 2010

once all the festival action subsided for the day, we took our well-deserved jacuzzi break, and gretchen prepared to meet some of the sponsors. most of the band picked up tacos at our new favorite place and we all watched some well deserved wind-down tv.

in the morning we got up early to make it out for breakfast before getting to the airport on time. we chose a cute crepe place in pacifica called high tide. our smoked salmon & cream cheese followed by banana & nutella crepes were amazing! after all the dropping off was complete, i took a spin through paso robles wine country on the way home. shady lanes & oak trees!

adelaida road in paso robles, california

event calendar, august 16 – 22, 2010

| heather parlato

here’s what i’ll be doing

wednesday, august 18, 7-10pm type that moves (you) FREE with rsvp. put on by AIGA los angeles at typecon, we’ll be talking about the design of motion graphics and creating a typeface on the spot!

friday, august 21, 7-11pm house industries at reserve gallery opening FREE! Join us in West Hollywood for a House Industries show at Reserve Gallery featuring new wood serigraphs, custom Reserve/House products and plenty of House gear.