bikes take to downtown streets by the thousands for cicLAvia, april 2011.
i hope a lot of you are somewhere in this picture. for me, this is a changeover week, finishing up a lot of straggling projects ready to go to final, and starting up all the new ones next in line. but i’ve got time for some fun, if you do too, check out this week’s round-up for LAist. among other things, i’ll be checking in on one day for design on wednesday.
it’s been nearly a month since doyald young passed away. i’ve found myself thinking about him, about the amazing work he did, and what a nice guy he was. earlier this month, mohawk paper offered to ship a book they did with him awhile back, the art of the letter, for free, so for the cost of shipping i didn’t hesitate. you may still be able to order one following the link in this post.
[hotel east 21 logo study]
i met doyald at my first design job, working in a service bureau on the studio city / hollywood border. i hadn’t started there with a design career in mind, but after a few years of seeing so much work from all over LA, i was compelled to make it my own. doyald was a regular customer, but i had no real concept of his legacy. he was just this really nice guy who always seemed to be tweaking the prudential stationery, ordering one sheet of paper or film with each visit, which seemed like a relatively small project compared to the 4-color ads and full book layouts that came through the shop. i remember thinking it was cool that he was still working past retirement age.
as i learned more and moved up, i landed a design position at a company with an employee education budget, so i joined AIGA and started going to events and conferences. at one of the early Y-design conferences with the san diego chapter, doyald gave a presentation of his hand-drawn logotypes and letterforms, and it utterly blew my mind. all those years i had known him as a nice, grandfatherly gentleman, but had no idea i was talking to one of the most amazing talents in graphic design. i bought all his books from the shop and asked him to sign them. i remember gushing somewhat apologetically that i hadn’t realized who he was. but this was bound to happen, after all, he was a modest guy and i was 19 & not formally educated in design just yet.
getting down to the last chance to order valentines in time for me to ship them for valentines day. if you want ’em, get ’em today!
here’s what i’m up to:
tuesday, february 8, 5:30-8pmLA east side mixed up mixer FREE! this month we’re meeting at the den of hollywood with special co-host, dave waite! join biznik and join in on the fun!
thursday, february 10, 7-10pmbehance / aiga meetup FREE! A casual evening where members of the Behance community and AIGA LA can gather and mingle over cocktails. Not a Behance member? No problem! JoiningBehance is free.
[image: matt lehman]
i don’t have a bunch to say about design today, but what i will say is that this illustrated state motto project 50 and 50 is super cool! i can’t wait till they get to california! thanks designworklife.com for the link.
[image: twig & thistle]
these have been all over the internet this week, and i think they’re brilliant: naturally sweet diy valentines! pick a fruit, pair it with a fruity pun sticker and share a naturally sweet treat with your valentine!
sustainability
it seems like a preponderance of news items involving sustainability came out this week. first of all, these services have been around for awhile, but if you didn’t jump on them before, reduce your junk mail with a selection of mail reduction services. second, if you wondered what it’s like to live as close to zero waste as possible, the zero waste home answers your questions about it. third, i’m astounded to find out that ben & jerry’s has figured out a way to run their ice cream factory on ice cream!
i love these videos that animate the text being sung or spoken, but this one takes it to another level by including all the typos and having the narrator read every one of them.
sustainability
[image: thedieline.com]
the design museum made this awesome young designers kit—but they took it further than simply inspiring young people to get into design, arming them with tools—they did it sustainably with recycled and low-impact materials. bravo! see the whole profile on the dieline.
got a minute to take the first in a multi-part series of steps in learning to go sustainable beyond ink and paper? i’m writing a piece on revisiting all the milestones in a print production process and encouraging we make more sustainable choices over on neenah’s against the grain blog. Eco-Friendly 2011: Think Forward…Then Backwards.
i’m loving this LemonAid project on good.is: a german company mixed up the perfect batch of lemon aid [to their taste, anyway], then figured out how to produce it using all fair trade resources, and then they donate a portion of their profits to fund grass-roots organizations in the countries where they source the ingredients. now that’s cooking with lemons!
one of the unexpected turnouts of the katrina disaster is that some areas are being rebuilt using much more sustainable materials, read up on utne.com: thanks katrina for greener building materials.
design industry
the first of the reviews are in from AIGA LA: Speakeasy, our fellows celebration for the 2010 AIGA fellows. check out michael dooley’s 2-part follow up interviewing john coy: influence and inspiration, part 1: john coy.
with all the talk of annual planning, i think it’s important to remember not to plan so hard you miss unexpected opportunities. justin ahrens shares his perspective on the parse blog: rain or shine: embrace the unplanned.
food
i’m on a bender about using more of the food we buy, and this week i get on everyone’s case about wasting orange peels [among other things] over at LAist. because i’m a curmudgeon who thinks you should dry them and eat them. but look—this other girl at serious eats is also nutty for citrus seasoning with her deliciously italian lemon salt with fennel and chili!
and speaking of going grassroots on the food industry, what about an old-fashioned food swap!? i joined my friend emily’s LAX swappers group here in LA, you should too!
i actually did sing the happy mondays at karaoke this weekend, and it pretty much sounded just how i remember the 90s roadtrips with jenna to san francisco. i’m going to this awesome delab tour tonight, but otherwise working and meeing with various aiga committees tonight.
thursday, january 20, 6:30-9:30pmAIGA LA Fellows: Speakeasy! $10 AIGA members / $20 non-members if you register online by wednesday, prices go up on-site. Join us in this veritable who’s who of design event, celebrating AIGA LA fellows for 2010, john coy & jeri heiden, at the palihouse in west hollywood!
parlato design studio 