articles

beyond design

| heather parlato

food


[photo: greenpeace]
after much pressure from greenpeace, trader joes has adopted sustainable seafood policies. this is great news considering how widespread trader joes is and the fact that it’s a go-to for so many people. i caught this story from greenlagirl.com and laist.com.

with the change of the seasons has come new & exciting things to eat for those of us on a seasonal diet. this fennel, beet and orange salad from emily ho at thekitchn.com are flavors that go together so well because they’re ripe at the same time. these savory allium recipes from faith durand [also at thekitchn.com] are a delicious showcase of tasty ways to use leeks, shallots and onions.

wine


[photo: thekitchn.com]
get to know what the reserve label means with reserva, riserva, reserve wine: what do these terms on a wine label mean by mary gorman for thekitchn.com.

in the same vein of diy wine education, become your own wine expert by merideth sumner for corkd.com is a good primer for everyone out there who thinks learning about wine requires some kind of class or expert. jump in & enjoy!

creative inspiration

| heather parlato

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=9418449&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1

Augustine Kofie:Echo Park Triangulation:Time Lapse from Augustine Kofie on Vimeo.

design industry


[photo: isaac arthur]
designer isaac arthur brewed his own honey apple mead and designed this lovely label. from designworklife.com.

going to the creative freelancer conference this year? i am, and i’m doing whatever i can to make the most of it in advance! this rundown of product releases will help you shop around at the conference, from the <a href="how magazine blog.

ever need a reliable list of universally recognized symbols and signs? the aiga has one for you! from aiga.org: A first set of 34 symbols was published in 1974, and received one of the first Presidential Design Awards; 16 more symbols were added in 1979. These copyright-free symbols have become the standard for off-the-shelf symbols in the catalogues of U.S. sign companies. They are now available on the web for the first time.

typography

did you know that hoefler & frere-jones offers suggestions for type combinations? they do! say you want to use their super-cute slab serif archer in a layout, just hit up the page, scroll to the bottom, and see the h&fj suggests section for suggested font pairings with graphic samples. brilliant!

solar beat bonus!

this lovely infographic music box is in a category of its own. solarbeat is a planetary simulation set to music i found on informationisbeautiful.net. i’ve been letting it drone away all morning [about 5 plutonian years], it’s very comforting.

biznik article of the week

| heather parlato

Identity Crisis by Erica Hesley

here’s a unique perspective: approaching an identity makeover from a client’s perspective! normally i read a lot of brand & identity experts talking about it from our side of the fence, but i think hesley’s article about her own experience of realizing her business was in need of an identity refresh sheds some good insight on how you can analyze where you’re at with your business growth vs your company identity. she even did her own needs audit, which is something any experienced identity designer would talk about with a client looking to update their identity, but knowing the answers to these questions going in makes it that much easier, putting you in the “dream client” category with the designer you choose to help you refresh your identity.

beyond design

| heather parlato

places


watch the LA marathon in time-lapse photography from a point on the route in silver lake, edited down to one minute!

obscura day: preservation by exhibition. alyssa walker participates in atlas obscura‘s obscura day expedition to explore california city, an unfinished urban plan that sits in the mojave desert.

food


[photo: yummy supper]

if you have access to a field of dandelions and haven’t figured out how to use them, this dandelion jelly recipe from yummy supper looks like a really special treat. i don’t usually make sugar-based preserves, but perhaps there’s some way to use this recipe as a base for a dandelion sauce or bread or addition to a refreshing drink?

passover is around the corner, and i found this south of the border seder article really interesting. maybe an exciting new twist for your passover dinner?

wine


[photo: mary gorman]

how do you like to learn about wine from thekitchn.com. everyone has their own method for how they research an interest. personally i like to jump right into the action, visit wineries, talk to people, ask questions, write notes, quiz myself while tasting, run information from one source by another and get their take on it, and of course taste whatever i can. i think the best advice i’ve heard is taste as much as you can and drink what you like, and i follow it.

continue getting to know your grapes with bonarda and bourboulenc from drinksareonme.net

creative inspiration

| heather parlato

design industry


[photo: department of graphic sciences]

my friends over at department of graphic sciences were featured in under consideration’s for print only blog for their outstanding packaging for original beans chocolate. they even utilized the long-coveted custom paper services over at french paper. truly lovely work!

another colleague of mine, velvette de laney of dew drop studios wrote a great piece for jeni herberger‘s blog: no designer is an island. and it’s true! when we work on our own we realize how much we need our network and support system. great piece, velvette!

who’s going to CFC this year? if you’re going to the creative freelancer conference and you’re on linkedin, come on over and join the discussion. let’s get to know each other a bit before the conference! or comment here!

neighborhoods


[image: jenny wang]

awhile back, good put out a call for submissions to design an infographic about a neighborhood, putting out a few parameters to follow. they’re reporting back on some of the submissions and they’re really cool to look at & analyze. check them out!

beyond design

| heather parlato


[photo by mattel]

not that i would buy specialty barbies or anything, but these dolls based on the characters of the tv show mad men are far more appealing to me than my 70s revisionist barbies & kens i grew up with. additionally, these dolls are at least in my same industry.

food & wine


[photo: 365daysofkale.com]

i know i’ve been on a crazy kale kick. i just planted 2 varieties in the garden after watching my mom’s kale plants last right through the entire year. then, a friend posted this link to 365daysofkale.com dedicated to kale recipes, so i have an endless supply to try. [thanks @zoetica].

can-free cooking made easy: avoid BPA and save money at the same time. i have been buying dried and sprouted beans from some farmer’s market sellers [and sprouting my own] mostly just to support local food, but greenlagirl.com has a point, BPA is found in many canned foods, and a great way to avoid them is to eat fresh and make your own preserved foods in glass jars.

dale cruse continues his get to know a grape series with bluebell and bobal. he also suggests this super-cute moleskine wine journal as a helpful way to keep notes on what you’re tasting.

creative inspiration

| heather parlato

typography


this display face sans merci by SMeltery reminds me of so many vacations, postcards, cafe signs and posters i’d see along my travels. i think this typeface does a great job of recalling the flavor of many european visual type styles.

want a font created from your handwriting? fontifier will provide you with the tools to create one with simple instructions and costs just $9 per font.

design industry


the earth glass project is turning glass bottles and containers into upcycled jewelry. some of these pieces are quite exquisite, and as a wine lover, i think it would be really cool to have one of these rings [each one is a different size].

box bottle bag is a new book by andrew gibbs inspired as a best-of collection from his blog the dieline where he collects samples of all types packaging design. if you’re into packaging design, or you have a product that needs packaging design, this book & blog are a great survey of packaging material everywhere!

color

the 50 best color sites for designers from print magazine is a great list of everything from color palette software, usafe matches for readability, and help with color theory.

creativity

as creatives, we have to keep a steady stream of tricks and workarounds to keep things feeling fresh so we can prevent burnout. 5 ways to regain your creative joy from freelanceswitch.com outlines some simple practices you can implement so creative flow isn’t such a struggle.

edward tufte: presidential appointment

| heather parlato

on march 5th, president obama announced the appointment of information design expert edward tufte to the recovery independent advisory panel. tufte is a master at information design, bringing artistry and clarity to intricate graphs and charts so the many relationships displayed are better understood visually. the white house office of the press secretary announced that tufte’s appointment to the american recovery and reinvestment act’s advisory panel was “to provide transparency in the use of Recovery-related funds.” i say, if anyone can bring transparency in the form of information design, edward tufte is the man to do it.

for more on edward tufte, wikipedia has a good starter article. also, see the books and posters on his site for an idea of the level of information he is able to tackle in a single visual. he has also written an interesting & humorous essay on powerpoint and how its use in presentations often decreases effectiveness and analytical quality.

to me, the appointment of someone like tufte is a statement about the sad state of transparency and information corruption in our government. i wonder if we’ll ever get to see any of the informational graphics he creates to make sense of the recovery & reinvestment act [maybe in a history book someday in the future]?

beyond design

| heather parlato

rsvp to view an advance screening of DIRT! [thanks greenlagirl.com].

diy


[photo: gregory han]
how to clean and deodorize with tea from <a href="apartmenttherapy.com

green your dental hygene from re-nest.com. i’m always looking for workarounds, and dental implements are one of the harder things to do yourself.

food

if you’re in california and have lemons [or eating seasonally and want to keep them through to the next season] here’s a great way to put them up: how to make preserved lemons from thekitchn.com.

i’m doing a lot of cookbook cooking this week, so copyright prevents me from sharing those recipies, but i did pull out this old favorite from a few years ago fish with curried cucumber & tomato salad from epicurious.com.

drinks!


[photo: missginsu.com]
make your own citrus bitters from missginsu.com. i make a lot of extracts and infused vodkas, so i think this bitters prep will be a nice addition to my pantry & eventually my cocktails!

i bought blood oranges this week specifically to make this! spicy blood orange jalapeño margaritas from thekitchn.com

dale cruse continues his get to know a grape series this week with blanc du bois.