trixine of the cat planet

[the art of the letter, doyald young]

it's been nearly a month since doyald young passed away. i've found myself thinking about him, about the amazing work he did, and what a nice guy he was. earlier this month, mohawk paper offered to ship a book they did with him awhile back, the art of the letter, for free, so for the cost of shipping i didn't hesitate. you may still be able to order one following the link in this post.


[hotel east 21 logo study]

i met doyald at my first design job, working in a service bureau on the studio city / hollywood border. i hadn't started there with a design career in mind, but after a few years of seeing so much work from all over LA, i was compelled to make it my own. doyald was a regular customer, but i had no real concept of his legacy. he was just this really nice guy who always seemed to be tweaking the prudential stationery, ordering one sheet of paper or film with each visit, which seemed like a relatively small project compared to the 4-color ads and full book layouts that came through the shop. i remember thinking it was cool that he was still working past retirement age.

as i learned more and moved up, i landed a design position at a company with an employee education budget, so i joined AIGA and started going to events and conferences. at one of the early Y-design conferences with the san diego chapter, doyald gave a presentation of his hand-drawn logotypes and letterforms, and it utterly blew my mind. all those years i had known him as a nice, grandfatherly gentleman, but had no idea i was talking to one of the most amazing talents in graphic design. i bought all his books from the shop and asked him to sign them. i remember gushing somewhat apologetically that i hadn't realized who he was. but this was bound to happen, after all, he was a modest guy and i was 19 & not formally educated in design just yet.

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originally posted at parlatodesign.com, please leave comments here.

[rainbow canyon from father crowley point]

we took a trip to death valley with some friends this past weekend. as it happens, last week, my longtime camera [an ancient nikon coolpix 4300] moved into its last gasping breaths, so i shot what i could with my iphone, in anticipation of shopping for a much-needed upgrade the following week.


[walking along the mesquite dunes]

death valley is hard to do in a day, but we managed to make it through just as night fell. we started off with an obligatory beer at the stovepipe wells saloon, then on to walk among the mesquite sand dunes.


[devil's golfcourse]

death valley has quite a range of vast open spaces, textures and colors. i have liked devil's golf course since i was a child, though back then i'd imagine tiny people living in salt castles. now i just marvel at how big it is.


[artist's palette]

minerals in the rocks create lots of colors in the mountain ranges. when i was little, my sister and i got souvenir mineral samples, a box with small colorful rocks glued down and labeled, which we kept for years.


[the panamint mountains from artist's drive]


[colorful cliffs on artist's drive]


[amargosa mountains to the east]


[salt flats at badwater basin]


[looking north from the small accumulation of rainwater at badwater basin]

all my pictures ended up to be horizons.

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originally posted at parlatodesign.com, please leave comments here.

branding


[image: the click design consultants / identitydesigned.com]
as a person who frequents state and national parks, i really love it when branding for public spaces is done well, with reverence to the landscape. this makeover for burlingham woodland walks gives an elegant and instinctive feel to our connection to nature. see the whole package at identitydesigned.com.

infographic


[image: fastcodesign.com]
for a bit of fun, fastcodesign.com presents 14 surprising facts about beer in a super-cute poster-sized infographic. check their post for the full graphic.

design industry

if you're looking for inspiration of the reading variety, fastcodesign.com profiled pentagram's interactive site where you can click on your favorite designer and get their favorite reading suggestion.

mike montiero delivers his expert mix of humor with the straight truth in how to pick the right clients, my favorite quote from which is: Beware of clients that wait to call you until they have a perfect diagram of what they need. If they’re not coming to you for strategy and problem-solving, they’re not coming to you for design, they’re coming to you for production. And if you take on production work, you don’t get to call yourself a designer. (Yes, there’s a union. And we’re vicious.)

if you're looking for ways to meet these clients and that same old elevator pitch doesn't seem to be connecting with anyone, try rethinking what you're saying with marcia hoeck's ditch your elevator speech for parse blog.

finally, part 2 of my sustainability series for neenah paper is up on the against the grain blog: green with envy? put green ideas to action!

los angeles

some fun things floating around LA recently include this hike through the silver lake hills, a new electronics recycling center right here in echo park, and the oddly-comforting, instantly-beloved you are listening to los angeles.

food



some fun things going on food-wise include the fact that it's springtime and flowers are everywhere. i've been foraging it up with dandelions, and finding all kinds of fun things to do with nasturtiums. before that, we celebrated the coming of spring with green garlic. get to picking and get down with your bad self!

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originally posted at parlatodesign.com, please leave comments here.

[hundreds of dandelions]

a couple weeks ago, i spent a warm pre-spring afternoon foraging for dandelions. i just heard that my friend, emily, had set up the first LA food swap and i immediately signed up, planning out a few seasonal food projects i could share and trade with others. a recipe for dandelion jelly i found last year made me think i should try some kind of dandelion infusion, so i set out with my scissors and a cloth bag and got to collecting.

once i got home, i cut the base of each flower off, and separated the petal cluster from the surrounding leaves, and dropped each into a jar. as i worked, i noticed that dandelions have a scent that somewhat resembles banana, which made me wonder just what flavors will bloom in this process.

it's been about 2 of the 3 suggested weeks, and the flavor has developed, though i'm not sure what it's developed into. it has a very interesting floral flavor, which has been aided in part by the addition of some honey. another week should do it, then i'll thin it out with some soda and find out what we're dealing with here.

some other infusions i'm experimenting with include blood orange, which is outstanding, and has the distinct flavor of blood oranges, rather than just a general orange flavor. i'm also working with lemon verbena, which has just grown several shocks of fresh leaves. this extraction is very flavorful and should make some fantastic cocktails. finally, i've had lemongrass infusing for 2 weeks, and while it finally has some color, i'm not sure the flavor is anywhere near what i'd expect of lemongrass. perhaps this would be better as a simple syrup. i'll give it another week, but i'm not sure alcoholic infusion is its best use.

my confirmed contributions to the LA food swap is a chunky, slow-cooked, mixed citrus marmalade [including navel, cara cara and blood oranges, meyer lemons and pink grapefruit], and garlic confit [slow simmered garlic cloves in canola oil for all kinds of savory uses]. if the dandelion liqueur works out, i'll bring some bottles to trade, or make a mix of the well-matched successful infusions. and if i think of something else to make, i'll try it out, but so far that's all i've got.

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originally posted at parlatodesign.com, please leave comments here.

[artist's palette, death valley]

i just got back from a weekend in the eastern sierras and death valley, with a matinee at the amargosa opera house. i've also been on a bit of a blogging hiatus, so it's time to change that and jump back into the swing. good thing i've got just the thing for that.

what i'm doing:

wednesday, march 23, 6:30 - 8:30pm shine: the entrepreneur's journey screening at blankspaces, FREE with rsvp! a short documentary produced by biznik, stories of solopreneurs and indie pros and how they got started, how they keep going & why they do what they do.

other design events for this week:

tuesday, march 22, 6:30 - 9pm, adobe illustrator users group LA, FREE with rsvp.

thursday, march 24, 7-9:30pm postmodern suicide FREE at art center.

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originally posted at parlatodesign.com, please leave comments here.

[foraged dandelions]

i'm heading to santa fe this week for an identity development intensive with my dad for his new business. we're starting from the ground up, sure to be exciting! in the meantime, here's a great round-up of design events for this week & next and be sure to rsvp for Talk Story: Who You Looking At, riCardo?

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originally posted at parlatodesign.com, please leave comments here.

Moving Beyond the Automobile: Biking from Streetfilms on Vimeo.

LA streetsblog started this great series, moving beyond automobiles, the first of which was about transit oriented development, and this week's installment is about biking, above.

branding


[image: underconsideration.com]
i'm loving this new simple & quirky rebrand for the ifc channel, going from a film sprocket detail to celebrating the offbeat art that is independent film. there are all kinds of details to appreciate over at underconsideration.com.

car design


[image: miniforum.com]
i've had my mini long enough that i no longer look at the next iterations off the assembly line with them, but when someone posted this, i found it really cute. look at those doors! i really hope they use william shatner's version of rocket man for the ads, ha! a slew of illustrations await at miniforums.com.

packaging design


[image: thedieline.com]
this packaging for wine stash has lots of elements i love in packaging: throwbacks to retro labeling systems, a stampy logo in the lower left corner, and a simple 2-color system with a palette that sings. see more at thedieline.com.

design industry

the case for the case study talks about rethinking how you present your work to clients, so instead of bombarding them with all your best looking stuff, you target one project that's highly relevant to them, and go more in-depth about process.

listen to mule design's mike montiero talk about running his firm and selling design ideas on the pipeline podcast.

i've been working to debunk the mysteries of transitioning from full-time, in-house work to self-employment with ilise benun of creative freelancer blog and alisa bonsignore of clarifying complex ideas:
freelance 101: how to begin getting clients
freelance 102: balancing two jobs
freelancing 103: when to make the leap to f/t freelancing
and finally, a podcast on my own experience for marketing mentor: interview with heather parlato on freelancing

freelance switch offers 110 ideas to get more freelance work and generate new client leads. hot dang, there's got to be some new possibilities in there we haven't thought of before.

los angeles

one of my favorite new clients, mohawk bend, talks to echo park online about the new restaurant they're bringing to the neighborhood. can't wait to unveil more of this brand, but for now, the main logo is up. check it out!

if you're looking for new, hidden treasures around LA, los angeles magazine offers "hidden LA" with a great run-down of places to visit.

food


we're in the crossover from winter to spring in the LA area, so this week's seasonal eats talks about the various avocado cultivars you can enjoy at different times of year. last week's spotlight was on all the great things to do with cauliflower!

in my blog travels this week, i noticed emily ho's suggestion to grill citrus for use in a vinaigrette dressing, what a fantastic idea!

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originally posted at parlatodesign.com, please leave comments here.

normally up & running:


today, down for repairs:


in the meantime...
enjoy this video i shot on vacation while snow shoeing with my friend and her awesome, snow-loving dog.

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originally posted at parlatodesign.com, please leave comments here.

[the overnight snowfall on aileen's picnic table]

the epic storm was predicted, and we got to tahoe just ahead of the tell-tale winds. it was a sunny drive up and the streets were clear last night, so i was surprised to wake up to this. we're going to marvel, and shovel, and make comfort food today.

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originally posted at parlatodesign.com, please leave comments here.

happy valentine's day today! i'm heading to machine's we love dumpling's party tonight and then off to tahoe tomorrow until next week for my annual aileen visit!

in the meantime, i'm full of congratulations for esperanza spalding who took the grammy for best new artist last night. it seems there are a lot of people who ran to the internet to say "who is she?" well, here's a post on the very same internet for you.

she honored stevie wonder with a rendition of overjoyed for the obamas, live at the white house:


she promoted her grammy nomination on all the late night shows, like letterman:


and here she is in the studio with my sister playing jobim's inutil passagem:


so. that's a bit of it, now you know!

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originally posted at parlatodesign.com, please leave comments here.