design

creative inspiration

| heather parlato

design industry


[underconsideration.com credits photos to notcot.com]

kraken press kit from underconsideration.com. the black ink of the kraken was the inspiration for this black spiced rum. this press kit is stunning! read & view more in the original post.

HOW conference early bird deadline is friday, march 12! i’m making my final decision in the next 24 hours, but it looks like i’m going to add the HOW conference to my creative freelancer conference and have a super ridiculous design week in denver this june!

the power of colour in brand design another look at how much impact color has in a strong brand.

scent as design symposium from howdesign.com. i am fascinated with this new area of study into scent as design and signed up for this one day symposium. curious!

HOW and Print magazine have formed a partnership in design leadership with AIGA. i’m happy to hear that my favorite tenets of the industry are working together in a leadership role for designers everywhere.

make your own graph paper. i like funny tools like this, this site will allow you to generate a pdf sheet of graph paper to whatever specs you like.

typography


[image from jessicahische.com]

jessica hische, and illustrative initial every day is a project by jessica hische where she illustrates a decorative letter every work day. each one is quite extraordinary!

alphabattle! from lettercult.com. post up your best examples of each letter and join in on the fun.

mostardesign is offering 25% off all their fonts at myfonts.com through april 10.

nature


[photo by zota]

the santa monica office of sustainability and environment is holding a sustainable landscape design contest for their demonstration gardens on 3200 airport avenue. interesting!

event calendar: march 8-14, 2010

| heather parlato

this week has a nice spread of networking, design & business education, and ends with daylight saving’s time, so exciting!

here’s what i’ll be doing

tuesday, march 9, 7:30-9am it’s tipping the scale tuesday at the LA area chamber referral network breakfast. i’m looking forward to connecting with my LA area chamber friends.

wednesday, march 10, 5:30-8pm i’m hosting the march LA biznik happy hour at jerry’s in the marina. this event fills to capacity every month, but there are a few last minute schedule shuffles, so if you’re a biznik member and you see an open spot, please join us. if you’re not a biznik member, joining is FREE and great promotion for your business.

other events for this week

wednesday, march 10, 7:30-9pm check out 3×3: starting and running a graphic design business from aigalosangeles.org. Each term Art Center’s graphic design department brings together three LA-based design professionals to discuss a particular topic. These presenters run design studios that are from 2-5 years old. They represent motion design, packaging, branding and interactive work. ALL of them are Art Center grads. i am so sorry to miss this, because i love hearing from other designers on running their businesses, but if you’re free and near pasadena, head up to art center!

thursday, march 11, 6:30pm mujer, art=genesis+power opening reception, FREE at the latino museum from aigalosangeles.org. The Latino Museum of History, Art & Culture cordially invites you to celebrate Women’s History Month with Mujer, art=genesis+power. Come and enjoy highlights from The Latino Museum’s permanent collection.

creative inspiration

| heather parlato

design industry

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=9084072&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1

2010/01 Michael Bierut from CreativeMornings on Vimeo.

eco-friendly business envelopes from green la girl. if you’re thinking of running a stationery package or designing one for a client, be sure to get the latest on eco-friendly envelope options!

top 10 web sites for designers [march 2010] from how magazine.

starting a successful link-building campaign from the marketing mix blog. boost your own search ranking with an intelligently-planned link campaign.


[photo: fortmakers]

fortmakers: blankets & quilts re-imagined from apartment therapy. nana spears and naomi clark use blankets and quilts found at thrift stores and flea markets to make these artfully repurposed blankets. cool!

branding

caribou coffee leaps into the future from underconsideration.com. i think this retooling of caribou coffee’s identity is really nice, and i even disagree with armin, i think the caribou doesn’t look like a jumble in all it’s trying to communicate, and reads as a great rendering.

event calendar: march 1-7, 2010

| heather parlato

i’m pretty much laying low this week due to lots of work [yay!] and taking a breather for the slam-packed social calendar coming up next week.

here’s what i’ll be doing

thursday, march 4, 7pm margo chase: make change lecture at art center, FREE. this is a great chance to hear from an amazing designer and aiga fellow.

other events for this week

friday, march 5, 11am–1:30pm freedom on the fence at loyola marymount university, FREE. excerpted from aiga los angeles: FREEDOM ON THE FENCE looks at the history of Polish posters and their role in the political and cultural life of Poland. Covering the period from WWII through the fall of Communism, it captures the paradox of how this unique graphic art form flourished within a Communist regime.

saturday, march 6, 10am–12pm biznik educational workshop in burbank, FREE. getting more referrals using social media i’m glad to see more biznik events popping up around los angeles. if you’re interested in learning about social media to build your business, check it out!

sunday, march 7, 3-6pm LA freelance march meetup with crystal cassidy talking “brass taxes.” Find out the single most overlooked, but most important strategy you can use to lower your taxes over your lifetime! from meetup.com

creative inspiration

| heather parlato

typography


font aid for haiti from the how design blog. two great things packaged together: love of ampersands and supporting relief for haiti. this set of 400 ampersands will retail for $20 with the proceeds benefiting doctors without borders.


justin perricone has made this beautiful poster listing all the ingredients in hot pockets in beautiful lettering. makes you think about just what’s in those suckers!


hat trick design’s typographic deck of cards & poster from underconsideration.com. these cards use typographic letter forms to create some variation of the referential suit. quite lovely!

design industry


[photo: http://www.helkatdesign.co.uk]
handprinted pillows by helkat design from apartment therapy. get regal! these pillows are really cute.


flaunt, by armin vit and bryony gomez-palacio from the how design blog. “Written and designed by creative power couple Armin Vit and Bryony Gomez-Palacio, Flaunt is an exploration of what it takes to make a great portfolio. The book will start shipping on Feb. 22, but the digital version is available now.” looks lovely!


vintage-inspired ceramics by heyday design from apartment therapy. these porcelain recreations of vintage jars and glassware are exquisite!

craft


[photo: psimadethis.com]
how to make adler-inspired pottery from apartment therapy. inspired by the vintage porcelain above and want to put your own spin on it diy-style? i thought this project looked really cute and a great way to reuse containers while creating a decor theme.


[photo: blog.creativekismet.com]
paper bag inspiration booklet from creative kismet via the craft magazine blog. no matter how you decorate it, i think this inspiration “caterpillar” book is such a cool fold for a colorful piece, i wanted to share it.

nature


[photo by peggy archer]
it’s time to get outside and see the wildflowers! thanks <a href="
greenlagirl.com for the info!

event calendar: february 22-28, 2010

| heather parlato

this week is on the slower side in terms of running around town. for the most part i’m keeping it local, but there are some great design events happening as well.

here’s what i’ll be doing

eeps, i had to cancel out of everything, due to sickness!

other events for this week

tuesday, february 23, 7:30am bimonthly referral breakfast at the LA area chamber of commerce. check in with regulars and meet new business owners from all parts of LA.

tuesday, february 23, 6:30-9:30pm aiga studio tour at adams/morioka. i can’t make it to this, but i’ve seen them present various times at aiga events, and their work is phenomenal! if you’re working in design and want a look at the studio side of an amazing team, sign up for this studio visit if it’s not full already.

wednesday, february 24, 6:30-9:30pm beautiful loser film screening & director/curator aaron rose from aiga los angeles. this screening is FREE! on a first-come first-served basis.

wednesday, february 24, 8:30pm i can’t make it to the M-Z portion of the typographic bike ride but i do suggest it as a fun & educational bike ride about typography and design.

thursday, february 25, 6-8pm the all chamber roundup — west meets east held by the LA area chamber of commerce. meet even more new people from chambers all around the los angeles area.

thursday, february 25, 6-9pm stimulatté: coffee & conversation. attn: students! this is a great way to meet and network with other design students around los angeles. check it out!

thursday, february 25, 7-9:30pm durre design at ucla extension from <a href="aiga los angeles. FREE! but you must be registered.

article of the week: maira kalman

| heather parlato

i found this interview of maira kalman this week and wanted to share it, because she is one of my favorite people of all time in the design world. i love her children’s books, i love her blogs, i love her handwriting, i love the way her mind works and that she expresses herself so effectively with both written and visual language. i love the wacky characters she paints and her ability to convey a moment by bringing you in to her calm sense of acuity.

her latest year-long blog and the pursuit of happiness from january – december 2009 is still up on the new york times site if you’d like to read it. i suggest you get some tea and do it when you have some decompression time to spare for something wonderful!

creative inspiration

| heather parlato

color

fall forecast: conservative from the how design blog. the pantone color matching system has released it’s fall color forecast, and though it’s on the conservative side, it sure is pretty!

color theory for designers from smashing magazine. a great primer for anyone interested in the meaning of the colors they’re using. this is first in a series, here are the next 2 as well: understanding concepts and terminology and creating your own color palettes.

typography

helvetica typeface cookie cutters by beverly hsu from designyoutrust.com

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=9001402&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1

Colosseo: Available March 2010 from Cameron Moll on Vimeo.

300&65 is showcasing a different ampersand every day of the year!

concepts

design quotes is a really cool site that rotates quotes about design or by designers through a spectrum of color. take a look!

maybe a new street sign is what the world needs now from the ted blog [gary lauder]. i love the concept that drivers would stop falling back on right-of-way or road rage and work together to make safe transportation and cooperation happen. this sign gives me hope that an effective cycling awareness sign can’t be far behind. from the ted blog: Lauder has registered the sign with a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND license — so share it freely (just credit him, don’t modify the sign, and don’t sell it). And imagine a world where every street sign contains the word “Please.”

design industry

limited run pillows by hola amiga from <a href="apartment therapy. these pillows are a really exciting pop of color, run only 20 at a time. sweet!

best practices: press forward from print magazine. I found three people who work as consultants or within their own companies to come up with new and creative approaches to green the production process. Their innovative thinking could change everything about how designers print, from the paper chosen for a project to the boxes used to ship the final product. [jeremy lehrer] read the article to see what designers are doing to stay true to best practices.

event calendar: february 15—21, 2010

| heather parlato

after a whirlwind of mixers last week, i’ve planned a pretty low-key schedule for socializing for this week. time to switch from networking & promotion to research and work, recharging for events to come.

here’s what i’ll be doing:

tuesday, february 16, 9pm ET i’m going to watch Self-Employment: How to get the guts to take the leap on brazen careerist. i’ve been reading penelope trunk for awhile now and i’m curious about what she and ryan paugh have to say about self-employment.

wednesday, february 17, 5pm ET i’ll be planted on my couch, front & center at my laptop to join in on the live webcast of lemonade. Lemonade is an inspirational film about 16 advertising professionals who lost their jobs and found their calling, encouraging people to listen to that little voice inside their head that asks, “What if?.”

& then at 8:30pm i’m joining in on this awesome typographic bike ride that my friend the royal academy put together. check the full midnight ridazz description, and come along!

thursday, february 18, 7:30pm i’m going to hear marian bantjes talk at art center about reinventing her design practice. event information at aiga los angeles.

other events for this week:

creative circus graduate portfolio review tuesday, february 16, 12-5pm. If you are in the position to hire, or know someone who is, we would love for you to join us or pass this along. Recent Creative Circus graduates of copywriting, art direction and design will be in LA to showcase their work. Savory refreshments will be served and great connections will be made.

2010 one show entertainment awards wednesday, february 17, 6:30-10pm. Our newest event honors creativity in branded entertainment that goes beyond typical product placement and recognizes this rapidly-growing segment in advertising. It also marks the only One Show event that takes place outside of New York City.

gauge presents cynthia murnane thursday, february 18, 7:30-9:30pm. The GAUGE Speaker Series brings design industry professionals to campus to stimulate discussion, inspire excellence and build community among the design students, alumni, faculty and staff of California State University Los Angeles.

[aloud] at the LA central library check out who will be speaking at upcoming [aloud] events! Since the reopening of the Central Library in 1993, the Library Foundation’s award-winning ALOUD at Central Library series has provided the people of Los Angeles and beyond with lectures, readings, performances, and conversations featuring key figures in the arts and humanities, business, politics, and science. These dynamic programs, generally provided free of charge, are designed to stimulate conversation and provide a space for civic dialogue.