beyond design

creative inspiration

| heather parlato

illusration

work life by darren booth
[image: darren booth]
this piece was a monday inspiration pic on fudgegraphics.com and it’s easy to see why. what a great combination of words, hand lettering and illustrative awesomeness!

i’m an undying fan of maira kalman, and as any undying fan should, i promise to post any article on her that crosses my rss reader. this week, she’s the focus of what’s in your toolbox, from designsponge. take a peek inside her studio!

typography

finishing touches by hoefler & frere-jones
[image: typography.com]
the people at hoefler & frere-jones have done it again with an outstanding post outlining the finishing touches of typeface design in which they show you how they mind your p’s & q’s.

if you’re looking for a good review of the latest web font embedding services, smashing magazine offers: review of popular web font embedding services so you can choose your tools wisely.

print techniques: letterpress

letterpress cards by lulu dee
[image: lulu dee]
one of the great letterpress artists i saw at the 2nd annual LA print fair recently was lulu dee, who’s work has just been featured on for print only. her work is so cute, pairing song lyrics with delicate illustrations.

design industry

if you do packaging design, HOW and thedieline.com have partnered to bring a conference just for you: the dieline package design conference, presented by HOW.

this week in the biz ladies column: biz ladies: how to create digital products, from design sponge. if you’re thinking of writing a white paper, an ebook or selling other digital assets online, they’ll help you get started.

if you’re looking to make sustainable choices in your future print projects, check this out: choosing sustainable paper made easy, from the living principles. find the most sustainable paper that’s appropriate for your project!

beyond design

did you just ask what’s going on in echo park? well… if you’ve known we’re going to drain the lake and update the plumbing system, and you have questions, the city is offering 3 rehabilitation pre-construction tours to anyone interested. we’ve also got the rock n roll los angeles half-marathon running right through our neighborhood this sunday!

in food news, this weekend is artisanal LA, where you can do home gardening & food prep workshops, learn about all kinds of neato techniques, and taste a selection of wonderful artisanal foods! from the seasonal eats corner, if this completely insane rundown of apple recipes isn’t enough for you, consider enflorinating your tastebuds with this lavender recipe rundown from thekitchn.com. and for the non-recipe food piece, the utne reader pointed me to this very interesting our meals, ourselves: a short history of food writing, from themillions.com.

creative inspiration

| heather parlato


check it out, fallen fruit has a video about mapping public fruit. they’re walking all over my neighborhood!

identity

de vine vineyards label
[image: de vine vineyards / thedielinewine.com]
this identity system for de vine vineyards by hired guns creative is absolutely beautiful. you can see a full photo shoot of all the pieces involved at thedielinewine.com.

another outstanding sample that caught my eye was arido by estudio amaya pulenta, also featured on the dieline wine.

typography & maps

axis type maps
[image: axis maps]
more map love, this time with typographic interpretation, from axis maps. check out the profile on fastcodesign.com. i love how the type is so well chosen for each area it represents.

speaking of maps, the cartography of bigotry, from utne reader has some interesting, humorous & un-pc maps according to different cultures & groups.

design industry

sayl chairs
[image: herman miller / fastcodesign.com]
WANT! want want want. this chair is so fantastic, and knowing it’s herman miller, i’m sure it’s supportive and comfortable too. love the white frame with red seat. it’s okay to surprise me with this as a gift, anytime you like.

in the spirit of insinuating myself everywhere, i am back on the creative freelancer blog again this week: one designer’s marketing mix, where i talk about what new things i’ve added to shake up my promotional funtimes.

beyond design

i’ll take a break from recipes this week to bring instead: the food lab’s top 6 food myths, from serious eats. bust those myths already!

seeing green: visions of LA’s new cleantech corridor, from fastcodesign.com. woah, wait–we have a cleantech corridor?! just outside downtown!?

creative inspiration

| heather parlato

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=15335684&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=1&color=&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&loop=0

Genghis Kern – A Letterpress And Design Shop from Jesse R. Borrell on Vimeo.

identity

dig for fire identity
[image: kelli anderson]
since the pixies are near & dear to my heart, i’m doubly endeared to this identity system by kelli anderson for dig for fire. thanks to designworklife.com for the link.

packaging

yunyeen yong juice box packaging
[image: likecool.com]
check out this awesome juice box packaging by yunyeen yong. seems like an obvious choice, but i’ve mostly seen only square boxes and bottles in the past. thanks alltop for the link.

design industry

another strike against the print is dead choir: a new design magazine 8 faces is out, a new print magazine for devotees of typography. profiled at underconsideration.com.

beyond design

sea scallops a la caprese
[image: serious eats]
add some delicious scallops to your heirloom tomatoes with sea scallops a la caprese from serious eats. or try a couple fun fall cocktails for the gin drinkers out there: an orange rosemary concoction sorbo serpico, or proserpina if you’re feeling more pomegranate / limoncello, both from lacucinaitalianamagazine.com.

for a fascinating take on creative ways to deal with invasive plants by finding uses for them, turn to one for the herbivores, from utne reader. want to rid your landscape of kudzu? eat it!

creative inspiration

| heather parlato

branding

michelle obama garden branding
[image: fastcodesign.com]
lovely packaging for specialty items from michelle obama’s vegetable garden, designed by cronan give home grown handmade items a classy look.

typography

hanging wall letters for home decor
[image: iron accents]
if you’ve been looking for more ways to bring the signage you see on the street into your home, re-nest.com has a great profile on a company that can bring them to you: hanging wall letters from iron accents. cute!

packaging

the tentacle wine packaging
[image: thedielinewine.com]
here’s my favorite for wine packaging this week from thedielinewine.com, the tentacle designed by john schall.

design industry

check out part 2 of my creative co-working adventures on the creative freelancer blog!

a really informative piece from rochelle fainstein of sterling brands on how wine packaging can become more sustainable in both materials and manufacturing: message in the bottle: repackaging wine, from thedielinewine.com

beyond design

you’ve probably noticed i write about food and diy projects, and i put up a fair amount of preservation projects. an interesting piece on this growing movement is home canners wield pickles against food giants, from utne reader. my interest is first to buy fresh food with as little interference in the farmer’s profit margin as possible, and second to replace commodified convenience foods with my own preservations from scratch. i find the assertion by rachel lauden that preservation projects are “…making too many women slaves to their stovepots and canning jars…” completely absurd and sexist. it’s a lifestyle choice and an activity that is hugely rewarding. i love my stovepots and canning jars!

speaking of food, i got myself 2 bunches of dandelion greens from the market this week and went looking some delicious things you can do with them at epicurious.com. i typically stay away from salads with added sugar or bacon [though there are some good ones out there], so here are my picks: dandelion greens with hot olive oil dressing which is a way to wilt the greens without cooking them, greek country salad which you can do with any combination of the listed greens in the recipe, and the standout for me, wilted greens with garlic and anchovies. i love anchovies, this is just what i’m looking for!

creative inspiration

| heather parlato

A Letterpress Legacy with Lucky Duck Press from Etsy on Vimeo.

identity

botanical bakery identity design
[image: david brier]
i am loving this fun identity and packaging for botanical bakery by dbd international. so colorful with a homemade twist. see more at identity designed.

packaging

killibinbin wine packaging
[image: thedielinewine.com]
this wine packaging for killibinbin wines is an amazing combination of wine and noir horror flicks done in a nostalgically tasteful way. see more at thedielinewine.com

for more from the dieline in wine packaging, check out: the dieline wine’s latest top 10 wine designs, or for a great selection of packaging of all types: the dieline’s latest top 10 packaging designs.

design industry

oh, hey, look who’s writing for the creative freelancer blog these days. more on creative co-working from yours truly!

beyond design

LACMA The Linda and Stewart Resnick Exhibition Pavilion
[image: fastcodesign.com]
LA welcomes one of the world’s largest naturally-lit spaces, The Linda and Stewart Resnick Exhibition Pavilion, profiled on fastcodesign.com.

i just got my fall garden planted, but in other places, cool-weather items like swiss chard are already ripe for picking. serious eats profiles some great recipes here: in season: swiss chard, and cucina italiana offers some delicious stuffed pasta: swiss chard and ricotta tortelli.

there’s all kinds of exciting wine news. this winery isn’t exactly new, but it’s new to me, we have a local winery right here in echo park: d’augustine vinyard! serious eats brings us what are your wine discoveries which includes a list of 100 wines to drink now. and if you’ve ever wondered what the definition of meritage is, goosecross is happy to explain it for you: what is a meritage wine?

creative inspiration

| heather parlato

branding


one of a few commercials in the effort to rebrand baby carrots.

while carrots try to appeal to kids by looking more unhealthy, high fructose corn syrup attempts to win its way back onto the table with a simplified name change and ad campaign: the sticky, tricky rebranding of corn syrup as corn sugar, from good.

found objects

B&B diaries
[image: brian mcmullen, imprint]
i knew i wasn’t the only one who reads B&B diaries and museum exhibit & nature center guest books! loving this post i love bed and breakfast diaries, from imprint

design industry


is there even a category for this curiosity? a drawing machine that parses the language of stories into a string of words, cross references them with the archive of patent illustrations as provided by the US patent & trademark office, and draws them into a string of visual narrative. you might call it a perpetual storytelling apparatus: drawing machine tells the story of innovation via patent drawings, from good

another point against the print is dead battle cry: a new design publication anthology magazine.

what’s a dream come true for a designer who loves wine & wine packaging? this new blog from the dieline: the dieline wine, a blog dedicated to wine packaging design. thanks how design for the link.

beyond design

spaghetti carbonara
[image: lacucinaitlaianamagazine.com]

spaghetti carbonara is the perfect comfort food for any season. if you want to learn to make it “the right way,” look no further than my favorite italian food resource spaghetti carbonara, from la cucina italiana.

delicious, simple, healthy, and another seasonally-independent dish white bean salad (salatet fassoulia), from saveur.

i’m a fan of rick bayless’ recipes, so i was happy to see this nice round up: authentic mexican: five recipes from rick bayless, from thekitchn, all of which are seasonal for the summer-fall changeover.

looking for some natural, preventative allergy treatments? design sponge has these answers for you: small measures: diy seasonal allergy treatments.

a humorous look at language: when is it okay to use the F word, from penelope trunk, another person who often-says but seldom-writes this glorious expletive.

beyond design

| heather parlato

food

alice waters' gazpacho
[image: blake royer]
tomatoes are everywhere this time of summer, and everyone knows i won’t shut up about gazpacho until they’re all gone! 2 great summer recipes from serious eats: dinner tonight: alice waters’ gazpacho and weekend cook and tell round up: squash invasion.

a great collection from thekitchn.com this week: 5 cool melon soups for the last days of summer, recipe: lima beans with cumin-mint dressing, 5 quick and delicious lunches under 400 calories, thick and creamy: how to make greek-style yogurt. yum!

this article about the secret life of trader joes has been going around, and i’ve found it pretty fascinating! inside trader joes, full version, from fortune magazine.

wine

municipal winemakers refill bottle
[image: municipal winemakers]
i absolutely love this idea from municipal winemakers, it’s a reusable bottle designed for taking home young table wine, enjoying & bringing back the bottle for more. i have to try this next time i’m in santa barbara!

neighborhood

the LA times turns it’s eye to our neighborhood this week as well, with a piece on edendale, the oldest part of the echo park / silver lake area, right at the heart of the two: LA’s edendale, alive and thriving.

culture

an interesting look at public workspaces and the popularity of coffee shops in an increasingly solopreneurial marketplace: coffee shop office hybrids: the workplace of the future? from fastcodesign.com

i’ve heard of a few really outstanding programs designed for correctional facilities that all focus on self-expression as a means of therapy. introspective podcasts created by youth in utah jevenile corrections facility, from utne reader showcases the sending messages program in salt lake city.

breakthroughs in science! from sight to synesthesia: what happens when senses can be rewired, from hplusmagazine.com explains the vOICe device and how it helps the blind to see “using aural information in their ears.”

how has the changing economy affected consumerist habits? take a look: understanding the consumer of the future, from inc.com.

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.

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.