A short tribute to a wonderful dad. Dad, I am keeping it short, not because you do not deserve a much lengthier post, but because I can already hear you saying…”ok, ok, wrap it up! ” (you know my ability to ramble-on all too well) 
I have always loved this picture of you. So groovy + cool.
Dad, I am thankful for so many things you taught me throughout my life. You helped me become the person I am today and your guidance and love will always be with me as I trip, stumble and fly through this crazy life.
You taught me that being happy comes from being true to myself.
You helped me realize that I am smarter and stronger than I usually believe I am.
You taught me to look beyond my comfort zone of where I lived and who I was to experience different cultures and beliefs in this beautiful world we live in. Because of this, I have lived in so many wonderful places and met even more amazing people.
You taught me not to be afraid to make mistakes. You would say, “Everybody makes mistakes. Use your head. Do the best you can. If you make a bad decision, learn from it and move on. It is just a little piece of the big picture. Just don’t be stupid and do it again.”
You taught me and encouraged me to follow my dreams, to create my own life.
Most importantly, you truly believed in me. By doing so, you taught me to believe in myself.
All of this you taught me in your easy-going, light-hearted, fun-loving manner.
I am sure that raising three very independent girls was no small task.
Selfishly, it makes me sad that I cannot come to you for guidance anymore, but I know you have already given me more than I could ever need.
Thank you, Dad. I love you.
Happy Father’s Day!
This is the third and final post of the “new seat for stylish old ride” design mini series. It’s been quite a fun little project. If you missed parts 1 & 2 you can see them here and here.
So the custom bench is now finished and in full use. yay! As I mentioned before. My friend Matt decided on sketch #1. The concept behind the design was to incorporate Matt’s initials (MMW) into the bench in way that correlated with the aesthetic and detailing of the truck itself and was easy to fabricate. I chose to use the chevron form (visible on the hood and sides of the truck) to create somewhat of a double M that when strung together form a W.
The colors selected by Matt were two shades of gray. The idea was to have the M / W graphic to be in the darker gray and the rest of the bench to be a lighter gray. Here are some pictures of the finished bench.
All in all I think it turned out great! I would have liked to see a bit more contrast between the two grays and some double stitching to emphasize the M/W form, but overall I think the upholsterer did a great job interpreting the design from the sketch. As I mentioned in part 2, the upholsterer Matt decided to use [Javier, at a Bill Dunn’s Auto Upholstery] interprets/stitches his work by hand.
Here’s a picture of Matt with his awesome Powerwagon looking pensive, yet satisfied. (He’s also in the first picture but inside the cab). I just love the images of the truck in front of the beautiful graffiti.
I have always LOVED independent and documentary films (well, depending on the subject, I suppose). I was SO spoiled having lived out in Los Angeles and New York for a total of about 11 years where there were always several local theaters showing these films on a regular basis.
Moving to Florida about six years ago was a bit of a culture shock. I spent my first year in Sarasota and have spent the past 5 years in Tampa. Each place has ONE lovely theatre that shows independent films. Both theaters are great: Burns Court Cinema (Sarasota) and, Tampa Theatre (in, well….Tampa) (which I love). Unfortunately Tampa Theatre has only one beautiful (and it is quite lovely) theater and has limited showtimes so the number of films and opportunities are slim.
Anyway, the point of this post is not to complain, really… I mean it. It’s just that within the past couple months there have been quite a few great looking documentary films that I have come across that have left me wishing little ole Tampa had just a bit more exposure to the indie film scene. I have posted all of these on Twitter but was feeling the need to start a running list.
I am hoping to eventually see these films and maybe even in a theater but I thought if I can’t watch them just yet, I’d blog about them and share them with all you lovely people who happen to stumble upon my little blog.
So here goes, three films I wish I could see NOW and their trailers to wet your appetites
OBJECTIFIED by Gary Hustwit
Gary Hustwit who also is responsible for “Helvetica” a great film about the best typeface ever has recently released “Objectified” a film looking at the design and use of the everyday objects in our lives and the people who designed them. You can read about it here
VISUAL ACOUSTICS: The Modernism of Julius Shulman by Eric Bricker
This film, narrated by Dustin Hoffman, is a tribute to the life and work of famed photographer of modern architecture, Julius Shulman (love him!). The film not only provides an in depth look into the life and work of Shulman, but also has a great compilation of interviews with “architect Frank Gehry, designer Tom Ford, artist Ed Ruscha, actress Kelly Lynch and writer Mitch Glazer, publisher Benedikt Taschen, Academy Award – nominated cinematographer Dante Spinotti, and a host of others”. Sounds amazing, right?!! You can read more about the film “Visual Accoustics” and Julius Shulman at the film’s site here. There is also a great interview/article from Dwell’s blog about the film here
[Click image to watch the trailer]
COAST MODERN: Open Space, Open Mind by Michael Bernard and Gavin Froome
A multi-generational look into the modernist movement along the West Coast of America from the 1920’s through present day. Mmmmmm modernism!! You can read about it more here They also have a great blog
Ok, so those are the three on my current must see list….any other recommendations?? Thanks!
I just received some progress photos of the bench for my friend’s Dodge Power Wagon designed in my previous post and I thought it would be fun to have this be a three part post. I always love seeing the fabrication process and thought you may like to see it as well.
As you can tell by the pictures below, sketch #1 was the winner. In the pictures you can see my friend Matt talking to the upholsterer, Javier, at a Bill Dunn’s Auto Upholstery shop in Santa Monica, CA. The shop is well-known for its custom upholstery. (It has actually been featured on TLC’s Overhaulin’). Matt and Javier are reviewing Javier’s interpretation of my sketch which is marked out on the foam of the bench.
One modification to the foam sketch: we are having them taper the chevrons more at the top. This was the intent of my sketch and is also truer to the chevron form.
The chevrons will be in a dark graphite grey and the rest of the bench will be in a lighter graphite grey. The stitching will be a dark grey as well.
The bench should be complete in a couple days! I will post the pics when it’s finished.
Who says interior design has to be limited to buildings? I just worked on a quick little design project for a good friend out in California and thought I’d share it with you here. I just love designing outside of my typical realm. I find it so inspiring and fun.
My friend Matt just bought this fabulous 1957 Dodge Powerwagon. He plans on giving it a face-lift and asked me to design a custom bench seat for the cab. How could I refuse?! How fun!
For design direction, he asked me to draw from some of beautiful graphic details of the truck as well as possibly incorporating his initials “MMW”. I found that translating some of these to upholstery to be a bit challenging but all part of the fun.
He plans on using an anthracite grey leather for the bench with black stitching and possibly painting the exterior of the truck anthracite as well while keeping the interior the teal color.
Here are the quick concept sketches I came up with:
I just got off the phone with Matt and I think number 1 may be the winner. Number 3 was also a favorite, but may prove to be to expensive to fabricate since the upholsterer will be fabricating this by hand. I can’t wait to see the final product! I will post a picture of it when it is finished.
I don’t know about you guys, but my life has been caught up in quite a whirlwind lately. Not necessarily bad, actually, things are good. They are just spinning in five thousand directions. While I tend to usually enjoy and welcome unpredicted paths keeping things interesting, sometimes I need a little grounding to find center. (that’s the yoga talking)
Life is a funny thing: the next chain of events really caught my attention. Maybe its just me searching for things, but check this out:
I was on the phone for hours last night, talking to a few good friends and my mom. We talked about a bunch of things, one of which was me saying over and over I sure would welcome some peace and direction in my life right now. (wouldn’t we all?)
Well, later last night when I should have been sleeping, I decided to play around on-line instead and made a little mellow mix tape on 8tracks to share with some friends and also to help me chill.
One of the songs on the mix is by one of my new favorite artists Patrick Watson. His music is just so soothing to me lately. The song I chose for the mix is called Big Bird in a Small Cage. A lovely song. Don’t worry, I wont try to sing it for you! Ha! go have a listen though I’m not sure if this song fits in with my story, but it calmed me last night and just happens to be about a bird.
This morning as I struggled to get out of bed having already hit snooze on my alarm twice and sent the Goose away twice, I awoke to the sweet sound of the cooing of a beautiful little mourning dove. I had my blinds on my windows closed so I had no idea where outside it was coming from.
The Goose was very interested as any good cat would be in a bird. I opened the blinds, and looked at the nearby branches but there was no dove in sight. So I dismissed it and went into the kitchen for much needed coffee.
A few seconds later, I heard the dove again. As the Goose and I walked slowly toward the window I saw that the little dove was sitting right on my sill and didn’t even flinch when I walked right up to the window. It was most likely there before but I just didn’t know where to look. (hmmmm….) It just sat there and looked at me for a long time and continued to coo.
It eventually turned around and flew away only to return a few minutes later. This time with a friend. So now there are two doves calmly sitting on my window sill.
I know a little bit about birds, and doves actually and think that these are probably two males preparing to nest or at least checking out my window sill as a probably nest.
Anyway, there is so much symbolism in the dove and being visited by a dove. I do not always go for the symbolism in things, but this morning it brings me peace so how can I turn it away? Doves have been known throuhout history to be a symbol of peace, renewal of life, new beginnings.
Yay! Just what I need right now! So that long story aside, check out the pictures I quickly snapped to remind that peace is right outside my window
My poor little blog. I am working on my next post, a book review of an awesome design book, but first, I have to find the time to read it. (minor detail)
So here’s a meaningless post. (yay!) The view from my desk as I daydream out the windows of my apartment today. The building I live in is a renovated Church + Sunday school. I am in the Sunday school. (My entire family finds this funny for some reason) Suddenly it feels appropriate that I often daydream out these awesome windows. (I have four of them!!!) :)
Well, I am embarrassed to say that my latest answer to the question above is, “um, no, but I can give you my contact information” I know what you are thinking…”WHAT?!” Don’t worry, I’m thinking the same. I simply have not made it my priority to design my own card. Sure, I have done it many times in the past, but haven’t needed to do so for over 5 years.
So now, because I haven’t made it a priority of mine, I get to feel like a schmuck when asked the faithful question.
Actually, due to the poor economy and high layoffs these days, many designer friends of mine are now going out on their own and as such have a need for a quick yet stylish business card on a tight budget. This week I am working on several business card designs; one for myself and also for a couple of close friends.
As I am sure most of you know…us designers are picky, er, I mean”selective”. I cringe, shutter and get the shakes (really) with the thought of a pre-designed layout on a flimsy card. In my mind, there is just absolutely NO reason to succumb to this. Sure, super custom cards can be expensive, but there are a bevy of online sources for printing business cards at affordable rates, many with custom options that can provide a nice quality and more distinctive aesthetic than the local quick-and-cheap card options.
After all, a business card is an impression of you. You hand it to someone as a point of contact, a reminder of who you are and what you represent. Important, right? I sure hope you are nodding your heads….very good, my brainwashing is complete.
Ok, all that being said, I had a small list online print companies of my own but knew there had to be many more. So today I sent out a question on Twitter to the graphic design community asking for sites. I want to thank everyone who responded to me so quickly. (please see list below for contributors). I also had many people asking me to let them know what I found out so I decided to write this post as a little list.
I want to add that I have not used any of these sites so I cannot speak for their product, but am posting this as a quick list / review of options each company has to offer. I hope it is helpful. The companies are in no particular order. If you know of others, please feel free to add to the list by commenting on the post. Also as a note, I did my best to list as many of the companies provided to me as possible but did not include some that only offered preselected layout options.
[logos link to websites]
Standard size cards only but available w/ rounded corners and satin coating (the cardstock and satin coating are really nice, I have seen samples) They will send you a sample set.
Fun booklet tear-off business cards. You have the option to print different things on each card in booklet and you can design the booklet cover.
Print business cards with up to 50 images (great for cards displaying product) also have “mini” cards if you have small hands
Three sizes of standard cards with custom sizes available. Gloss or satin coatings available as well as 4 standard die-cut options.
print100.com
Global printing company, prints international standard and US standard sized cards as well as custom size options available. Spot UV, hole punching, rounded corners, hot stamping, diecutting and folding options available.
Standard business card size only but with options of matte, glossy finish. Foil option also available. Visit www.vistaprint.com/twitter for a 25% discount.
Standard business card size only. UV coating available. I believe custom options are available but I am not sure how limited they are.
Standard card size. Free gloss or matte coating and rounded corners available.
Standard card size but custom sizes are available. Paper stock available in glossy or matte. Stock die-cuts, rounded corners, custom cuts plus foil stamping, UV coating, folding also available.
Standard card size with rounded corners. Cards are availble in clear, frosted and solid plastic with single or double sided printing.
Standard sized cards in .010 thick stainless steel is standard. Regular steel, brass, copper are available as well as other thicknesses if you feel the need to use them as a weapon. Graphics are photoetched into the metal. Laser cutting is available as well.
Studio On Fire
Custom letterpress cards. They offer custom presswork to individual designers. Other options available are die cutting, matrix scoring, stock duplexing, and edge coloring.
Again, many thanks to people listed below for the links:
Hi Guys! It’s an exciting new video post! Yay! I won’t say much here because I rambled plenty below-hee hee. Enjoy!
Woo hoo! My first post in a LONG time…sorry for the delay guys.
So I just returned from a quick trip to Atlanta (mid-town area) While I’ve lived in cities all over this lovely country, I have never been to Atlanta (well unless you count hanging out in the airport or driving through the city on the way up to Chicago).
Whenever I visit a new city, one of my favorite things to do is to walk around…..and walk around….and walk around! Seriously, for hours.
So what do you think I did in my free time in Atlanta? You guessed it….I stayed in my hotel. Ha! Just kidding.
Actually my feet still hurt from walking so much…love it! I did, however stop in my tracks a few times, to snap a few pictures of some of the buildings I thought were pretty cool. I have no idea the history, architect, etc. on any of them, sorry. I could do research to provide all of you with this information, but then you may never see this post. (Again, sorry, but I need to come back to this lovely blog in baby steps)
So here are a few pictures of some of the beautiful buildings that broke my walking stride…Enjoy!
like the little space between the two front teeth on a sexy smile - smokin' hot
beautiful raw concrete and dreamy green glass - love
lovely black tower of the "W" hotel - up close it looked like they dripped heavy tar over the concrete structure - ooooh saucy
silhouette building- graphics + architecture = boogie man fun
concretalicious
