design

creative inspiration

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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!

2nd annual LA printers fair

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lead letterpress characters

this past weekend was the 2nd annual printer’s fair at the international printing museum in torrance. the LA chapter of AIGA teamed up with the OC chapter and took a table to meet the attendees and let any designers, printers, and creatives know about what we do. the international printing museum has a great collection of print machinery for letterpress and linotype, bringing the history of printing to life for all audiences.

letterpress cards by fugu press

the vendors who sell at this fair are split between those with equipment and supplies to sell to people who would like to do their own printing or supplement their collections, and those who do printing and design, selling products or services. much of the work was so nice to experience, the combination of great design and the elegance of letterpress makes most print designers want to buy everything in sight.

handmade books

some of the vendors combined personal crafts with print matter, such as michelle moode, who created many handmade books with some application of printed material, sewn stitching, and typographic ornaments. these books were designed as journals with blank paper, but i know i’d have trouble making the move to write in it.

i have always been interested in the letterpress process, so it’s great to know i’d have an option to shop for a press one day. for now, i’m still just a customer.

creative inspiration

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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.

aia/la awards exhibition at a+d museum

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aia awards exhibition at a+d museum

i stopped in at the a+d museum on friday to catch some of the aia/la awards and view the exhibition during the opening. the show is absolutely stunning, grids of artful photography of truly outstanding work in architecture by los angeles-based firms as well as renderings of future project plans. much of the work resides in los angeles as well, which is always fun to see.

the aia/la awards exhibition runs september 10 – october 27, 2010 at the a+d museum. if you love amazing architecture, stop in and enjoy!

aia awards exhibition at a+d museum

creative inspiration

| heather parlato

identity

landfit logo
[image: designedbygoodpeople.com]
this logo for a gardening matchmaking service is really appealing to those of us who love gardening. and i love the concept, a service that pairs people who want to garden but have no land with those who have land & want a garden, but don’t want to do it. brilliant!

publications

ferocious quarterly
[image: ferocious quarterly]
announcements of a new publication, ferocious quarterly, have been posted in a few design communities. from their site: Ferocious is a curated, quarterly publication that collects illustrators, graphic artists, short fiction authors and written text. indeed! thanks how magazine for the link.

parse is a new blog project from how magazine, aiming to make sense of issues and information relevant to design practitioners. check it out!

this just in from the design review of books, a review of jost hochuli, detail in typography.

design industry

take a spin through the annals of design history: graphic design through the decades series: the 70s, from inspiredology.com

if you’re a creative professional in need of some marketing mentoring, ilise benun’s marketing groups are about to kick off for fall. join the track that’s right for you and get one-on-one help from a creative industry marketing pro: marketing mentor’s advanced marketing groups.

another great installment from design*sponge: biz ladies: using a blog to grow your business.

culture

some interesting looks at labor day, what it’s not currently, and what it could be. labor day is almost meaningless now. we can change that, by steve mccallion for fastcodesign.com: With an increasing belief that socioeconomic mobility is now less possible in the US than in other countries, Labor Day has the potential to reclaim some of its initial promise — a celebration of American labor and an inspiration to the American worker.

another look includes what ever happened to labor, by seth godin: In a world where labor does exactly what it’s told to do, it will be devalued. Obedience is easily replaced, and thus one worker is as good as another. And devalued labor will be replaced by machines or cheaper alternatives. We say we want insightful and brilliant teachers, but then we insist they do their labor precisely according to a manual invented by a committee…

article of the week

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what design can't do, by mine design, san francisco
[image: mine design, san francisco]

what design can’t do by christopher simmons for aiga.org

if the above graphic doesn’t drive the point home, simmons’ stance is that design can only express what comes from the top down, through a staff working toward a goal through shared vision and strategy. design isn’t going to change your product, your approach to customer service, or turn your average idea into a great one. the attempt to slap a smashing design on an average service will only temporarily distract people, if that, and when their opinions recalibrate to match reality, you’ll be out valuable time and money that could have been spent reworking your system so it’s in line with the brand you want to be. excellent read!

creative inspiration

| heather parlato

books

maps everywhere
[image: from here to there on imprint.printmag.com]
i may have mentioned, even yesterday, that i love maps of all kinds. enter this gem maps, maps everywhere! from print magazine and now i not only know there’s a new book on hand-drawn maps, from here to there, i know there is a hand-drawn map association, which puts me over the moon! [don’t worry, i can map it for you.]

six novels in woodcuts
[image: how design blog]
a 2-volume set of six novels told in woodcuts doesn’t need much more explanation, but the idea that lind ward chose to create this body of work is pretty unbelievable: wordless novel, from how design blog.

typography

recherche script by laura worthington
[image: myfonts.com]
laura worthington creates beautiful original script fonts for myfonts.com, and this month she talks about design and hand-drawn type here: creative characters: laura worthington.

design industry

if there ever came a time to redesign american currency, there would be endless ideas abounding everywhere, it’s an interesting proposition. utne reader pointed me to this piece dowling duncan redesign: US bank notes in which a really cool set of US bills have been revised with a modern twist and more of a spin on our history of achievement rather than leaders.

following up from last week’s piece on buying design, mule is back with presenting design like you get paid for it outlines all the best points on how, why & when to present your work.

biz ladies: promoting your business tastefully online, another infinitely helpful how-to from designspongeonline.com.

little lies and small promises, from seth godin is a nice reminder about how your work ethic can be a slippery slope.

international freelancer’s day is coming up in september, with a free online conference especially for solopreneurs!

animation

lab still by don shank
[image: don shank]
print magazine’s imprint blog got it right when they said i may not know don shank by name, but i know his work. i’ve actually been a longtime fan of his animation for samurai jack and the powerpuff girls, so it’s not surprising that a spin through his prints and original work have already set off an imaginary wish list. i love this stuff!

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