wine

creative inspiration

| heather parlato

typography: halloween!

scary type cards
[image: will staehle]
this week, everyone is nuts about typography, so i’m going with it. first up, send your friends these cool b-movie typeset cards by will staehle for a tastefully retro spook during halloween week. thanks, how magazine for the link.

typography: in print!

ligature, loop & stem poster
[image: ligatureloopandstem.com]
this stunning typographic elements poster by ligature loop and stem was featured on the FPO blog this week. it’s already so clean and stylish, but then they even ran it as letterpress. bravo!

typography: wine packaging!

vina sios
[image: thedielinewine.com]
this packaging for viña siós uses a simple type treatment, but it’s bold, unique and elegant in its simplicity. nice work!

typography: make your own!

design sponge veer alphabet contest
[image: design sponge]
after a week of type-related design posts on design sponge, a contest was announced that i can really get behind. design sponge has challenged people everywhere to create a typeface, and veer has donated a cash & credit prize to the winner. the best part–this isn’t one of those crowdsourcing spec deals where veer takes rights, it’s really just to get everyone excited about creating stuff, sharing it and appreciating it. cool!

if you really want to get down and dirty, kernspiracy, cinema speakeasy, echo park film center and machine project present A TYPOGRAPHIC JOYRIDE, in which you can carve type into potatoes, create a group typeface, and then watch a typographic documentary. type-tastic!

beyond design

back to halloween: serious eats wants you to send them pics of the pumpkin you carve. it’s a contest!

speaking of pumpkins, you can use them like a terrine and bake soup right in them. neither i, nor saveur, would ever joke about something so delicious: pumpkin soup in a pumpkin.

and speaking of fall, and things like leaves, i hate leaf blowers. i guess i just thought everyone else loved them and invited them to my neighborhood every week, but i’m glad i’m wrong. the leaf blower wars, thanks utne reader.

and finally, we weren’t speaking of this, but i love it when LA natives rediscover our city and get all i ❤ LA about it: must see list, from los angeles magazine by anne taylor-fleming.

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!?

a coastal drive and a change of season

| heather parlato

cloudy drive on the 101

as we transitioned out of record heat last week, jason and i took a drive up to san francisco, where he was scheduled for a talk at arse elektronika. rather than rush the drive in a day, we took our time and stopped overnight in paso robles. the paso robles inn is a lovely historic hotel, and so so quiet.

nojoqui farms

one of our favorite stops is nojoqui farms in buellton. we originally found them for their clearly marked sign off the highway, but we keep coming back because their produce is delicious and always reliably stocked in their barn store. this time, the goats were out eating pumpkins and the barn cat was having a nice nap in the hay.

nojoqui farm cat

one thing i have wanted to do for awhile is stop in at the municipal winemakers tasting room. i’ve been a fan of their approach to promotion in the wine industry, and curious to taste the wines they make, so we took the opportunity and stopped in.

municipal winemakers

overall, their wines were really tasty, smooth mouthfeel, robust and highly drinkable. some favorites were the bright red and the sweetness riesling. we decided to get in on the reusable bottle action and had it filled with syrah. hopefully we’ll make stopping in a regular thing when we head up to santa barbara.

municipal winemakers refillable bottle
[image: municipal winemakers]

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

pure awesome

operation nice: nice notes
[image: operationnice.com]
so there’s this really nice girl, melissa, and she’s celebrating the 2-year anniversary of her blog operation nice by encouraging people to be super nice by writing these nice notes to leave for friends, co-workers, family, strangers—anyone really, so long as you write something nice on them! you download the pdf, print it, write your nice note & leave it for someone to find. to top it off, if you do it today, july 15, and send in a photo, she’ll donate $3 per note to the hunger project. that’s nice!

sustainable solutions

goats clearing angel's flight, downtown los angeles
[image: greenlagirl.com]
i never get tired of hearing about these goats helping clear hillsides in downtown los angeles. greenlagirl.com has this story and a few more good bits on LA here: checklist: new green sights in los angeles.

publications

slake
[image: slakemedia.org]
we have a new quarterly literary arts publication in echo park with a southern california focus: slake. their site has a list of resellers if you’re curious to pick up a copy.

food

chicken skewers
[image: lacucinaitalianamagazine.com]
it’s grilling season, so if you eat chicken, grab some arugula & cucumber from your local farmers market and enjoy the outdoors: chicken skewers with chopped cucumber, arugula and olives.

cucumber noodles
[image: romulo yanes / gourmet]
i’ve tried the zucchini noodles both cooked and raw, but i have to admit, i wrote off cucumber for the same use, figuring it couldn’t stand up to a thin slice. however, thanks to faith durand at thekitchn.com for cucumber noodles, it looks like they do fine after a julienne cut and a quick blanching. sounds like they’d be great hot or cold! another fun thing to try this summer!

wine

i haven’t put anything up on wine in awhile, but i just came across this great list of 90 point wines for under $15. go to town! her list starts at 85 points, but it’s a great collection of wine ratings, especially if you’re tasting something new.

diy

so, i tried this once before and somehow gave up after awhile, but i decided to give it a try again: the no shampoo alternative, wherein you wash your hair with baking soda, and rinse with a mix of lemon juice and apple cider vinegar. i think i’ve found the balance my hair likes after about a week [i tend to need more baking soda, less vinegar]. i’m really happy with the results too, my hair stays cleaner longer, and holds a curl without any product as well. there are so many benefits to doing this, but i can’t decide which one i like best among what i’m eliminating: chemicals from my skin, pollutants from the water supply, packaging from the recycling system & financial dependence on a convenience product i can make myself. i forgot my camera today, but i’ll post some pics soon.

plant cloning at machine project

| heather parlato

plant clones at machine project
this weekend, i went down to machine project with a few friends for the clone home with critter salon plant cloning workshop. i took some cuttings and separated some offshoots from some of my succulents and headed down, prepared to share & trade with friends. they had a great selection of herbs, succulents and house plants to choose from, along with mixed soils for each type of plant. i took a selection of succulents i don’t currently have in my garden, and explained what my tiny specimens would grow into to others. some people made some really cool mini gardens combined in one pot.

green wall at machine project
one project they’re working on at machine is the conversion of the vent window above the display window into a small green wall. as the summer season approaches, the air conditioner [just behind this guy] runs at most events, dripping a good amount of water off the condenser. they’ve created a gutter to collect this water to feed the succulents that grow in the afternoon sun. i was happy to see cuttings from my own plants that i grew from cuttings myself going into this wall. hopefully it will become a sprawling succulent jungle.

making a contact blueprint
since i have most of the plants people were trading, i decided to try out this contact printing project, using blueprint paper, some plant cuttings, and the sun as an exposure lamp. you chose your arrangement, then set it up quickly on the light-sensitive paper, let it expose for about 3 minutes, and then wash in water to stop the exposure.

contact blueprint of plant cuttings
at first, the print is this lovely aqua color, but it deepens to bright indigo as it dries.

contact prints drying at machine project
over the course of the day, several people had made interesting prints using leaves, plant cuttings and other found objects. it made a nice display in the gallery.

happy hour at el prado
after all the plant cloning festivities, we decided it was time to take our plants to el prado for their first happy hour. we also needed to talk about web design and the upcoming 5th of st. robot event at betalevel. and to do this, it was important to have olives, tapenade, cheese, crackers, and drinks. with all these things in place, we got everything sorted out.

spring bouquet at el prado
el prado is a nice space to talk and drink, especially when it’s early before the crowds. they had a really lovely bouquet set up at our table, so i tried to take a picture. cheers!